Education

• BS, Brigham Young University 1993
• MS, University of Miami 1996
• PhD, University of Miami 1998
• Clinical Intern, Durham VA Medical Center 1997-1998
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Duke University Medical Center 1998-2000

Research Interests

• Clinical health psychology and behavioral medicine
• Stress and the development/progression of cardiovascular disease
• Cross cultural health psychology
• Spirituality and health

Selected Publications

• Steffen, P.R., McNeilly, M., Anderson, N., & Sherwood, A. (In Press). The effects of perceived racism and anger inhibition on ambulatory blood pressure in African Americans (Psychosomatic Medicine).


• Carpenter, B., & Steffen, P.R. (In press). Stress. Invited book chapter for Handbook of Psychology in Primary Care.


• Sherwood, A., Steffen, P.R., Blumenthal, J.A., & Hinderliter, A.L. (2002). Nighttime blood pressure dipping: The role of the sympathetic nervous system. American Journal of Hypertension, 15, 111-118.


• Steffen, P.R., Blumenthal, J.A., Hinderliter, A.L., & Sherwood, A. (2001). Religious coping, ethnicity, and ambulatory blood pressure. Psychosomatic Medicine, 63, 523-530.


• Steffen, P.R., Sherwood, A., Gullette, E.C.D., Georgiades, A., Hinderliter, A., & Blumenthal, J.A. (2001). Effects of exercise and weight loss on blood pressure during daily life. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 33, 1635-1640.


• Sherwood, A., Thurston, R., Steffen, P., Blumenthal, J.A., Waugh, R.A., & Hinderliter, A.L. (2001). Blunted nighttime blood pressure dipping in postmenopausal women. American Journal of Hypertension, 14, 749-754.


• Shipley, R., Steffen, P.R., & Riley, K. (1999). Effectiveness of a stop-smoking program for veterans with and without psychiatric diagnoses. Veterans Health System Journal, 4(5), 65-67.


• Blumenthal, J.A., Sherwood, A., Babyak, M., Thurston, R., Tweedy, D., Georgiades, A., Gullette, E., Khatri, P., Steffen, P., Waugh, R., Light, K., & Hinderliter, A. (1999). Mental stress and coronary disease: The Smart-Heart Study. North Carolina Medical Journal, 60(2), 95-99.