Paul Devereux, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, School of Public Health Ph.D. in Social Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno B.S. Psychology/Biology, Northern Arizona University

Current Research:

My theoretical scholarship areas explore social psychological influences on health and well-being. Specifically, I study social support and emotion. The link between social support and health is well established and my work in social support has addressed the distinctions among support types and how to maintain support from others. In emotion, I have examined the psychophysiology of laughter and the influence of disclosure of emotion on cardiovascular functioning, social support, and health care use. I study these topics in populations outside of college students and have collected data from research samples including older adults, people with disabilities, incarcerated populations, and both non-parenting and parenting adolescents.

My community-based applied research has focused on HIV/AIDS in Nevada. Specifically, I have conducted program evaluations and analyses of extant databases for the Nevada State Health Division. My evaluation research has examined the impact of community and state programs on adherence to medical treatment and immune functioning.

Selected Publications:

Devereux, P.G., Bullock, C.C., Bargmann, J & Kyriakou, M. (2005). Maintaining Support in People with Paralysis in the United States: What works? Qualitative Health Research, 15(10).

Devereux, P.G., Ragavan, A., & Hirokawa, D. Discharge Planning for Inmates with HIV/AIDS: Impact on Adherence and Recidivism. Manuscript accepted and in revision for AIDS Care.

Devereux, P.G., & Bullock, C. (In press -2005) Disability content in social and behavioral dimensions of health graduate courses. To appear as a book chapter in D. Allen (Ed.). Health and Disability in the Public Health Curriculum. JAI Publisher.

Devereux, P.G., & Heffner, K. (In press -2005). Psychophysiological Approaches to the Study of Laughter: Towards an Integration with Positive Psychology. To appear as a book chapter in A. D. Ong & M. Van Dulmen (Eds.). Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology. Oxford Publisher.

Devereux, P.G., Whitley, R., & Ragavan, A. (2002). Discharge planning for male inmates with HIV: Can it help increase adherence to medical treatment and lower recidivism? Corrections Today, 64(6), pp. 127-129.

Spoon M., Devereux P.G., Benedict J., Leontos C., Constantino N., Christy D., & Snow G. (2002). Usefulness of the Food Habits Questionnaire in a Worksite Setting. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 34, pp. 268-272.

Devereux, P.G., & Ginsburg, G.P. (2001). Sociality effects on the production of laughter. Journal of General Psychology, 128(2), 227-240.

Weigel, D., Devereux, P.G., Leigh, G.K., & Ballard-Reisch, D. (1998). A longitudinal study of adolescents’ perceptions of support and stress: Stability and change. Journal of Adolescent Research, 13(2), 158-177.

Contact Info:

You can e-mail Dr. Devereux at devereux@unr.edu