All Faculty

Sarah Schwartz, PhD

Associate Professor, Psychology

Send a Message

Education

  • PhD, University of Massachusetts, Boston
  • MEd, Harvard Graduate School of Education
  • BA, Brown University

Internship: Riverbend Community Mental Health
Postdoctoral Fellowship: Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School

Specialty Areas

Adolescent risk and resilience; school- and community-based intervention and prevention programs; youth mentoring; positive youth development; transition to adulthood; youth community organizing; climate anxiety and climate activism.

The goal of my research is to identify, develop, and evaluate effective strategies to foster healthy developmental outcomes during adolescence and the transition to adulthood, with the goal of advancing social, economic, and environmental justice. My research focuses on the need for relationships and contexts that both allow youth to feel supported by adults and make space for youth to take the lead in advocating for themselves and their communities. Some current areas of study include: mentoring relationships and social capital; help-seeking; mental health stigma; youth community organizing; and climate anxiety and climate activism.

Selected Publications

  • Schwartz, S. E. O., Parnes, M. F.*, Browne, R. K.*, Austin, L. A.*, Carreiro, M.*, Rhodes, J. E., Kupersmidt, J., Kanchewa, S. (2023). Teaching to fish: Impacts of a social capital intervention for college students. American Educational Research Journal, 60(5), 986-1022.
  • Parnes, M. F.*, Herrera, C., Keller, T. E., Tanyu, M., Jarjoura, G. R., & Schwartz, S. E. O. (2023). Formal youth mentoring relationships in the context of risk: What is the role of caregiver–mentor collaboration? Journal of Community Psychology.
  • Schwartz, S. E. O., Benoit, L., Clayton, S., Parnes, M.*, Swenson, L., & Lowe, S. (2022). Climate change anxiety and mental health: Environmental activism as buffer. Current Psychology.
  • Browne, R. K.*, Duarte, B. A.*, Miller, A. N.*, Schwartz, S. E. O., & Graham-LoPresti, J. (2022). Racial discrimination, self-compassion, and mental health: The moderating role of self-judgment. Mindfulness, 13, 1994-2006.
  • Parnes, M. F.* & Schwartz, S. (2022). Adverse childhood experiences: Examining latent classes and associations with physical, psychological, and risk-related outcomes in adulthood. Child Abuse & Neglect, 127, 105562.
  • Browne, B.*, Jarjoura, R., Keller, T., Tanyu, M., Herrera, C., Schwartz, S. (2022). Mentoring and depressive symptoms of youth: Examining prospective and interactive associations with mentoring relationship quality. American Journal of Community Psychology, 70, 291-304.

*Student/mentee co-author

Faculty Default

Contact Me

Office Hours

    Wednesdays 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (in-person)

    Tuesdays 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. (via Zoom)

    Also by appointment

  • Schedule an Appointment

Courses Taught

  • PSYCH-321-A Introduction to Counseling Skills
  • PSYCH-336-A Developmental Psychopathology
  • PSYCH-428-A Honors Senior Capstone
  • PSYCH-704 Social and Developmental Aspects of Behavior
  • PSYCH-771-A Writing Seminar