Assistant Professor
Contact information (804) 828-8059
Education Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, June 1999
Minor: Developmental Psychology
M.A. in Clinical Psychology, December 1994
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, cum laude, University of California, Irvine, June 1993
Program Affiliation Clinical Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University
Research interests Dr. Corona’s general area of research focuses on the emotional and behavioral adjustment of minority adolescents, particularly Latino and African American youth. She is especially interested in examining the relationships between cultural values, parent-child connectedness (i.e., warmth, closeness, communication, monitoring), and adolescent substance use, sexual risk behavior, and depressive symptoms. She has incorporated what she has learned from her research into the design and evaluation of parent and youth prevention programs aimed at promoting adolescent health and resilience and improving parent-child connectedness. Her particular interests have been on (1) psychosocial adjustment; (2) adolescent sexual health; and (3) families affected by HIV/AIDS.
Recent/current courses taught at VCU Child Psychopathology (PSYC 426)
Minority Issues in Mental Health (PSYC 677)
Individual Tests of Intelligence (PSYC 644)
Clinical Practicum (PSYC 694)
Recent grants or awards Corona, R. (Principal Investigator). Keeping Latino youth and families safe: Identifying substance use, safety, and other health needs in Richmond. Virginia Governor’s Office for Substance Abuse and Prevention, 03/2005 – 02/2006, $15,000 total costs.
Biographical sketch
Program affiliation: Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University
Positions and Employment:
Virginia Commonwealth University
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, 2004 – present
University of California, Los Angeles
Department of Pediatrics,
Assistant Research Professor, 2002 – 2004
Project Director, 2000 – 2002
University of California, Los Angeles
Department of Psychology,
Assistant Clinical Professor, 2003 – 2004
University of California, Los Angeles
Department of Psychology, Clinical Supervisor, 1999 – 2003
RAND Corporation
Consultant, 1999-2004
Other experience:
Anxiety Education Program, Therapist (2001 – 2002). Provided therapeutic services to children with anxiety disorders and their families. Therapy followed a manualized treatment for children (Coping Cat), and a manualized treatment for parent training/education.
TIES for Adoption, Post-Doctoral Fellow (1999 – 2000). Provided pre- and post-adoptive services to families adopting children who were prenatally exposed to alcohol and/or drugs. Services included developmental assessments, individual child play therapy, parent counseling including temperament counseling and parent training, and parent and child support groups. Also assisted in the pre-adoptive preparation and education of parents seeking to adopt special needs children.
Psychology Clinic, Supervisor (1999 – 2004). Supervised UCLA Clinical Psychology graduate students for individual therapy cases and assessments. Supervision consisted of live/video-taped observations of therapy sessions and met weekly with students.
UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute (NPI), Psychology Intern (1998 – 1999). Participated in child and adolescent inpatient and outpatient activities. Provided therapeutic services to severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents (e.g., autism, psychosis, mental retardation, anxiety, depression, and eating disorders) and their families. Conducted psychological assessments of children and adolescents, including neuropsychological assessments. Also provided consultation/liason services to medically fragile children, adolescents, and the treatment team. Worked with outpatients in the Pain Clinic, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Related Anxiety Disorders Clinic, Infant Preschool Clinic, and co-led an Intensive Eating Disorder Process group.
Psychology Clinic, Paid Assessor (1997 – 1998). Conducted psychological assessments for children and adults, including language ability assessments for bilingual children in Head Start.
TIES for Adoption, Psychology Extern (1996 – 1998; see above for duties).
San Fernando Valley Child Guidance Center, Psychology Extern (1995 – 1996). Duties included working with two, long term child cases. The cases were conceptualized using a Family Systems orientation. Also participated in a Family Therapy team which included co-leading 10-12 sessions and participating in group supervision. Co-led therapy groups (e.g., latency age boys group and adolescent girls group), conducted psychological assessments, attended a psychodiagnostic seminar, and occasional in-services.
Clinic for the Behavioral Intervention of Children, Paid Assessor (1995 – 1996). Conducted intake and follow-up assessments of children and adolescents with autism who had received behavioral treatment according to the Lovaas method. Assessment battery consisted of cognitive, language, visual-spatial, and adaptive behavior tests.
Community-University Enrichment in the Schools Project (CUES), Therapist (1994 – 1997). Co-led structured psycho-educational counseling groups for junior high and high school students in the inner city who were exposed to community violence and/or experiencing various emotional or behavioral difficulties.
Psychology Clinic, Therapist (1994 – 1995). Worked with children and adults in short-term therapy using Cognitive-Affective and Cognitive-Behavioral orientations.
Honors:
2005, VCU Grace Harris Leadership Conference Participant
1997 – 1998, UCLA Graduate Divisions Dissertation Year Fellowship
1997, Fogarty International Research Training Grant (Mexico-U.S.)
1994 – 1996, NIH Minority Supplement Program for Research Training Grants
1993 – 1994, American Psychological Association (APA) Minority Fellowship Program (MFP)
1993 – 1997, Project 88 Fellowship, University of California, Los Angeles
1992 – 1993, Ford Foundation Undergraduate Minority Fellowship, University of California, Irvine
Past research support:
Corona, R. (Principal Investigator). Understanding the context and nature of problems faced by Latino youth. Community Engagement Award, Virginia Commonwealth University, 05/2006 – 08/2006, $4,132 total costs.
Corona, R. (Principal Investigator). Keeping Latino youth and families safe: Identifying substance use, safety, and other health needs in Richmond. Virginia Governor’s Office for Substance Abuse and Prevention, 03/2005 – 02/2006, $15,000 total costs.
Sullivan, T.N. (Principal Investigator) & Corona, R. (Co-Principal Investigator). Modification of the assessment series in graduate studies in the Department of Psychology. Faculty Teaching Grant, Virginia Commonwealth University, 11/2004 – 08/2005, $2,351 total costs.
Schuster, M.A. (Principal Investigator), Corona, R. (Co-Investigator), Eastman, K.L., Elliott, M.N., & Kanouse, D.E. Long-term Effects of a Worksite Parenting Program. National Institute of Mental Health, 9/30/04-6/30/08, ~$2,733,000 total costs.
Schuster, M.A. (Principal Investigator), Kanouse, D.K., Murphy, D., Ryan, G., Duan, N., Beckett, M., & Corona, R. (Co-Investigator). Children of HIV-infected Adults. National Institutes of Health, 09/2001 – 08/2006, ~$1,235,791 includes Minority Supplement and AIDS Supplement (Corona Co-PI of supplement).
Corona, R. (Principal Investigator). Indirect effects of a parenting program on parent-adolescent conflict. Research Supplements for Underrepresented Minorities National Institutes of Health, 08/2000 – 05/2003, $397,035 total costs. M.A. Schuster (Principal Investigator of primary grant: Worksite parenting program for parents of adolescents).
