Dr Rebekah Coley

dr rebekah coley

Fulbright Senior Scholar

Media Profile

"In wealthy developed countries of the world, most of the leading risks to physical and psychological well-being come not from war, severe poverty, or communicable diseases. Instead, the leading risks to the healthy development of young people derive from individual behaviours and experiences."

 

Dr Rebekah Levine Coley, Associate Professor of Psychology in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College, has won a prestigious Fulbright Senior Scholarship to Australia in 2007. Through her Fulbright Rebekah will undertake research at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, into how behaviours such as substance use, risky sexual activity, and lack of adequate exercise, nutrition, and weight control contribute substantial health risks for youth in developed countries.

 

Rebekah, a graduate from the University of Michigan with a PhD in Psychology, will arrive in Sydney in July.  Her Fulbright Scholarship will provide an unparalleled opportunity for international collaborations, research, and experience to carry through her academic career path.

 

“My research will compare levels of health risk behaviours in Australian and American youth, and assess cultural and environmental contributors to such behaviours. It will also assess health risk prevention and health promotion policies targeting youth. My Fulbright will allow collaboration and data collection with researchers, policy makers, and practitioners involved in promotion and prevention efforts, necessary for cultural understanding.”

 

“Behaviours such as substance use, risky sexual activities, and lack of adequate exercise contribute substantial health risks for youth in developed countries, including increased risks for respiratory problems, cancers, unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Clearly potential repercussions are both short and long term.”

 

“The goals of my research are to better understand the prevalence, precursors, and policy response to these three sets of health risk behaviours among Australian youth; and to compare prevalence, precursors, and responses across Australia and the United States.”

 

Rebekah has been the Principal Investigator on a number of research projects funded by the W.T. Grant Foundation and the NICHD, as well as the co-recipient of the Social Policy Award, Society for Research in Adolescence in 2004.

 

“Australia has similarities with the Unites States in economic and behavioural well-being, but also has notable policy and cultural differences – an interesting combination for in-depth comparisons.  The Social Policy Research Centre at University of New South Wales is a top research center with excellent facilities.”