Child and Adolescent Development

Rika Meyer, Ph.D.

Headshot of Dr. Rika Meyer
Assistant Professor
Email:
Office location:
Sequoia Hall 280-D

Biography

Early on in college, I became interested in learning about child development, particularly studying ethnic identity development, social relationships, and academic achievement among adolescents. After receiving my BA in Psychology from UCLA, I decided to pursue a PhD in Developmental Psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I developed an interest in health and risky behaviors during adolescence and wanted to learn more about how health and chronic illness may impact development. After graduating, I became a research scientist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and began studying trauma and parent stress in children with chronic pain. I then became a faculty member in the Psychology Department at Bellevue College. There I was able to pursue my passions of teaching and mentoring students in research. Currently, my research interests include chronic pain and stress in children, adolescents, and their families and ways to promote academic success from childhood to emerging adulthood.

Selected Publications:
Yang, E., Schamber, L., Meyer, R., Gold, J. I. (2018). Happier Healers: Randomized-controlled trial of mobile mindfulness for stress management in medical                       students. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Morrison, C., Mahrer, N. E., Meyer, R. M. L., & Gold, J. I. (2017). Mindfulness for novice pediatric nurses: Smartphone application versus traditional intervention.                  Pediatric Nursing, 36, 205-212.                                                                       

Banerjee, M., Meyer, R. M., & Rowley, S. J. (2016). Experiences with Discrimination and  Depression: Predictors of Academic Efficacy in African Americans.                          Journal of Family Issues, 37(6), 833-854.

Meyer, R. M. L., Li, A., Early, S., Klaristeinfeld, J., & Gold, J. I. (2015). Pediatric Novice Nurses: Examining Compassion Fatigue as a Mediator Between Stress                      Exposure and Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout, and Job Satisfaction. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 174-183. 

Meyer, R. M. L., Gauthier, T., Grefe, D., & Gold, J. I. (2015). An on-the-job mindfulness-based intervention for pediatric ICU nurses: A pilot. Journal of Pediatric                    Nursing. doi:10.1016/j.pedn.2014.10.005

Meyer, R. M. L., Barber, B., Kobylecka, M., & Gold, J. I. (2014). Examining the association between parent illness-related stress and child pain across acupuncture                treatments. Medical Acupuncture, 26.1, 23-30.

Meyer, R. M. L., Gold, J. I., Beas, V. N., Young, C., & Kassam-Adams, N. (2014). Examining the Psychometric Properties of the Child PTSD Symptom Scale                          Spanish Version. Child Psychiatry and Human Development. doi: 10.1007/s10578-014-0482-2 

Rouland, K., Matthews. J., Byrd, C., Meyer, R. M. L., & Rowley, S. J. (2014). Culture clash Interactions between Afrocultural and mainstream cultural styles in                       classrooms serving African American students. Interdisciplinary Journal of Teaching and Learning, 4(3), 186-202.

Evans, A. B., Banerjee, M., Meyer, R., Aldana, A., Foust, M., & Rowley, S. (2012). Racial socialization as a mechanism for positive development among African                       American youth. Child Development Perspectives, 6(3), 251-257