Mary Karapetian Alvord, PhD Resilience Across Borders, Inc. resilienceacrossborders@gmail.com Mental health needs far exceed the availability and affordability of services for many individuals and families.  Approximately 25% of youth meet the criteria for a mental health disorder, and only 1 in 5 children and teens receive the care they need.  It is particularly challenging for…

Pamela Rutledge, PhD, MBAMedia Psychology Research Center & Fielding Graduate Universitypamelarutledge@gmail.com The world is waking up to what media psychologists have known all along: Media is about people.  Media is the manifestation of human behavior, the result of collective and individual actions as people consume, interact, design, create, and connect across the spectrum of mediated…

Mary Karapetian Alvord, PhD Alvord, Baker & Associates, LLC MAlvord@alvordbaker.com Dissemination of accurate mental health information is critical for the well-being of the public.  Disseminating evidence-based information helps empower people to make informed decisions about personal mental health care and seeking professional services.  Mental health information facilitates the understanding of warning signs of difficulties and…

Allycin Powell-Hicks, Ph.D. Independent Consultant allypowellhicks@gmail.com “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”  The sentiment hangs heavy in the air, a specter from the past.  The Nobel Peace Prize recipient, activist, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s (Wiesel, 2020) words are unfortunately all too…

Yemaya Halbrook, PhD Mary Immaculate College yemaya.halbrook@mic.ul.ie It is commonly believed that video games are unhealthy for individuals and for society. Even when discussing my research over the course of my PhD in psychology at the University of Limerick, people often assumed that I study the negative effects of video games. The release of Pokémon…

Roger Klein, PhD University of Pittsburgh rklein@pitt.edu Can real news be fake? Of course. While most news stories are based upon real events, I use the term “fake” here to suggest that with a variety of production strategies, purposeful exaggerations, and other intentional decisions by management, producers, and reporters, the end product—what the audience sees…

Frank Farley, PhD Temple University, Philadelphia frank.farley@temple.edu Youth are of course the inheritors, and future innovators, of our information technology. Given the influence of the internet across contemporary society, it was of interest to take a brief look at how youth internet life might reflect some central long-time concerns and focus of study in psychology…

Pauline Wallin, PhD Private Practice, Camp Hill, PA drwalling@drwallin.com In his 1969 APA President’s address, Dr. George Miller exhorted psychologists to give psychology away. We diligently got to work, doing community presentations and writing articles, opinion pieces, and self-help books. We were interviewed by news reporters and magazine writers. A few of us had call-in…

Wayne Warburton, PhD Macquarie University wayne.warburton@mq.edu.au One issue for media psychologists is that media and technology industries are sometimes driven by different motivators than are most of the psychologists who study them and work with them. Notably, most media and technology entities are for-profit organizations who must compete successfully in a crowded marketplace to be…

Megan Hopper, PhD Illinois State University khopper@ilstu.edu Joshua Fitzgerald, MS Illinois State University Jifitz1@ilstu.edu & Alexander Kritselis, MS Illinois State University agkrits@ilstu.edu Media scholars and educators are often avid media consumers conflicted by their awareness of the negative impact the media can have on individuals (including themselves) and their enjoyment of multiple forms of popular…

Paul Adachi, PhD University of Rochester padachi@ur.rochester.edu Binge watching hit drama TV series seems to be a common practice these days.  Americans spend over 30 hours a week watching TV and dramas are among the most popular genres (Nielsen, 2012, 2017).  Although media psychologists have long been interested in why people watch TV, my colleagues…

Kelly P. Dillon, PhD Department of Communication, Wittenberg University dillonk@wittenberg.edu @KellyPDillon We know from decades of anecdotes, observations, and scientific research that it is critical to make bystanders aware of emergencies occurring in their immediate environment. In the post-9/11 era, the phrase “see something, say something” captured the idea succinctly. But what about less obvious…