The graduate training program addresses a currently under-represented discipline of Occupational Safety and Health, namely, Occupational Health Psychology (OHP). OHP involves the application of psychological principles to improving the quality of work life and promoting the safety, health, and well-being of people at work. Our goal for the program is to serve as a national model for an OHP training program that successfully balances science and practice perspectives while remaining multidisciplinary in nature. The OHP curriculum is based in the Ph.D. in Applied Psychology. OHP serves as a minor area consisting of 4 required courses (i.e., Advanced Organizational Psychology, Occupational Safety and Health, Seminar on Occupational Health Psychology, and Work &Well-Being), a minimum of 2 elective courses, and an OHP-related internship. At least one elective must be from a list of approved electives that are offered in other departments at Portland State (e.g., School of Community Health), through the Oregon Masters in Public Health, or that are offered at Oregon Health &Science University. Examples of such courses students can or have taken include Principles of Health Behavior, Epidemiology, Concepts in Environmental Health, and Foundations of Public Health. OHP students also conduct their thesis and dissertation research on a topic related to OHP. Examples of recent OHP thesis and dissertation topics include: the effects of work-family conflict on safety compliance and safety motivation, the effects of shift work on work and health outcomes, and the relationship between job insecurity and work-family conflict. The OHP program supplements training for doctoral students beyond their major program of study both within psychology and outside of psychology. There are currently 6 core OHP faculty and 6 supporting faculty. In addition, the Program has graduated a total of 6 Ph.D. students with the minor in OHP, 5 of whom are employed in safety and health related fields.
| Jennings, Kristen S; Sinclair, Robert R; Mohr, Cynthia D (2016) Who benefits from family support? Work schedule and family differences. J Occup Health Psychol 21:51-64 |
| Sinclair, Robert R; Sliter, Michael; Mohr, Cynthia D et al. (2015) Bad Versus Good, What Matters More on the Treatment Floor? Relationships of Positive and Negative Events With Nurses' Burnout and Engagement. Res Nurs Health 38:475-91 |
