Dr. John Perez: research interests- spirituality, depression, Latino mental health

John E. Pérez, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Department of Psychology

University of Massachusetts Boston

100 Morrissey Boulevard

Boston, MA 02125-3393

Tel. (617) 287-6434

Fax (617) 287-6336

E-mail: john.perez@umb.edu

John Pérez was born and raised in Orange County, California. He received a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Notre Dame in 1988. He worked as a high school teacher and football coach for seven years before completing an M.A. in Psychology at California State University Fullerton in 1997. Dr. Pérez completed a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Yale University in 2002. In addition, he completed an NIMH-funded postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco from 2002-2004. He began teaching at UMass Boston in the fall of 2004.

Dr. Pérez’s primary research interest is to understand how spirituality and religiousness influence mental health across the lifespan. He is particularly interested in the ways people use religious or spiritual resources (e.g., prayer and support from religious communities) to cope with chronic illness and stressful life events. A related research interest focuses on identifying the cognitive, social, and cultural mechanisms that buffer high-risk people against depression. His work is based on social cognitive theory and utilizes cognitive-behavioral interventions. Across both of these research domains, Dr. Pérez is committed to enhancing the welfare of low-income, multicultural populations, especially Latinos.

Currently, Dr. Pérez and his students in the Spirituality and Health Lab are examining the types of prayer that cancer patients use to cope with stressful situations and looking at which types of prayer may be beneficial (or harmful) to mental health and well-being. Together with colleagues from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston University, Dr. Pérez and his team are also developing and pilot-testing an intervention to promote cancer screening among low-income Latinos in faith-based settings. These pilot projects are funded by the National Cancer Institute through a U56 Comprehensive Cancer Partnership Grant between the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and UMass Boston.

Representative publications:

Pérez, J. E., Little, T. D., Henrich, C. C. (2009). Spirituality and depressive symptoms in a school-based sample of adolescents: A longitudinal examination of mediated and moderated effects. Journal of Adolescent Health, 44, 380-386.

Pérez, J. E., Chartier, M., Koopman, C., Vosvick, M., Gore-Felton, C., & Spiegel, D. (2009). Spiritual striving, acceptance coping, and depressive symptoms among adults living with HIV/AIDS. Journal of Health Psychology, 14, 88-97.

Pérez, J. E., & Muñoz, R. F. (2008). Preventing depression in Latinos. In S. A. Aguilar-Gaxiola & T. G. Gullotta, (Eds.), Depression in Latinos: Assessment, treatment, and prevention (pp. 117-140). New York: Springer.

Pérez, J. E., Riggio, R. E., & Kopelowicz, A. (2007). Social skill imbalances in mood disorders and schizophrenia. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 27-36.

Pérez, J. E. (1999). Integration of cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal therapies for Latinos: An argument for technical eclecticism. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 29, 169-183.