Tracy Sbrocco, Ph.D

Tracy Sbrocco

Phone: 301-295-9674
E mail: tsbrocco@usuhs.mil
Associate Professor of Medical & Clinical Psychology
Director of Research, USU Center for Health Disparities
Education: B.S. (1983) in Biology & Chemistry, University of Akron; Ph.D. (1994) in Clinical Psychology, Vanderbilt University
 
Research and Teaching
Recent Publications
Professional Activities

Sbrocco Lab

Research and Teaching

Research Topics: Dr. Sbrocco conducts research designed to promote long-term behavior change in the treatment of obesity. She develops and examines the efficacy of community-based weight management programs for African American women in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. Her goal is to develop ways to empower communities to support behavior change that prevents weight-related diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancers. She also is involved in research examining ethnic differences in biological (e.g., HPA axis) and psychological (e.g., body image, anxiety) responses to stress, especially among people who are overweight or obese. In addition, her research group conducts studies on sexual behavior and disorders.
 
Methods and Approach: field and laboratory studies (human); psychological, social, behavioral, and biological measures.
 
Current Grant Support: NCMHD/NIH
 
Medical Student Teaching: Lectures on Obesity, Sexual Behavior & Dysfunction.
 
professional development meeting Graduate Student Teaching: Adult Psychopathology, Research Grant Writing, History of Psychology.
 
Mentoring: Dr. Sbrocco has supervised doctoral dissertations in Medical & Clinical Psychology. She currently is training six students in her laboratory and several students in clinical settings. She also mentors postdoctoral fellows.

Selected Recent Publications

Freedman, R.E.K., Carter, M.M., Sbrocco, T., & Gray, J.J. (2004). Ethnic preferences for female weight and waist-to-hip ratio: A comparison of African-American and White-American college and community samples. Eating Behaviors, 5, 191-198.
 
Sbrocco, T., Carter, M. M., Lewis, E.L., Vaughn, N.A., Kalupa, K.L., King, S., Suchday, S., Osborn, R.L., & Cintron, J.A. (2005). Church-based Obesity Treatment for African-American Women Improve Adherence, Ethnicity and Disease,15 (2). 246-255.
 
Cintron, J.A., Carter, M.M, Suchday, S., Sbrocco, T., & Gray, J. (2005). Factor Structure and Construct Validity of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index among Island Puerto Ricans. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 19, 51-68.
 
Carter, M.M., Sbrocco, T., Miller, O., Suchday, S., Lewis, E.L., & Freedman, R. E. (2005). Factor Structure, Reliability, and Validity of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire: Differences between Among African American College Students. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 19, 827-843.
 
Cintron, J.A., Carter, M.M., & Sbrocco, T. (2006). Ataques de Nervios in Relation to Anxiety Sensitivity among Island Puerto Ricans. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 29, 415-431.
 
Carter, M.M., Lewis, E.L., Sbrocco, T., Tanenbaum, R., Oswald, J.C., Sykora, W., Williams, P., & Hill, L. (2006). Cultural competency training for Third-Year Clerkship Students: Effective of an Interactive Workshop on Student Attitudes. Journal of the National Medical Association, 98, 1772-1778.
 
Freedman, R.E.K., Carter, M.M., Sbrocco, T., & Gray, J.J. (in press). Do Men Hold African-American and Caucasian Women to Different Standards of Beauty? Eating Behaviors

Selected Professional Activities

Selected Professional Activities: Dr. Sbrocco is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and the Association for the Advancement of Behavior and Cognitive Therapy (AABCT). She has been a member of the White House Interagency Working Group on Overweight and Obesity and NIH research review groups. She also has served as an advisor to the Department of Health and Human Services’ African-American Health program and is a licensed clinical psychologist in Maryland.
 
Selected Awards and Honors: USU Center for Health Disparitities Building Partnerships for Better Health Award (2007).

Contact Information

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
4301 Jones Bridge Road
Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4799


Center for Deployment Psychology
Center for Health Disparities