Groups: Previous MA, PHD, and Honor’s Thesis Students
Sarah completed her master’s degree in the ADP program at GMU in 2022. She graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University in 2021. At Penn State, she was on the board of a national nonprofit organization, Camp Kesem, where she organized a summer program for children whose parents are afflicted with cancer. Her research interests include Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in education as well as criminal and social justice. Ultimately, Sarah hopes to pursue a Psy.D.
Groups: Previous MA, PHD, and Honor’s Thesis Students
Elana Norman defended her Master’s thesis in 2022. She graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from Emory University. While at Emory, Elana conducted cross-cultural development research in Samoa and continued this work in the Cognitive Development lab with children from the Atlanta area. She went on to research trauma in women and children at the University of Memphis and later worked to understand pre-school children’s narrative development in conjunction with Rhodes College. Elana has worked in a wide range of clinical settings with typical and non-typical developing children, which have provided her with a desire to study the development of coping skills. She is particularly interested in exploring emotion-regulation strategies and looking at how these skills can moderate maladaptive behaviors, increase resilience, and improve an individual’s well-being. Elana strives to conduct research with individuals diverse in ability, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status for findings to be most applicable and beneficial.
Peer-Reviewed Posters
Norman E.M., Kornienko, O., Davila, M., & Ha, T. (2021, April). The associations among aspects of ethnic-racial identity development and peer network integration in adolescence. Poster presented at the virtual biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development
Groups: Previous MA, PHD, and Honor’s Thesis Students
Sedona defended her Master’s thesis and completed M.A. in ADP at GMU in 2021 and joined an M.A. program in School Psychology at GMU. She graduated with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Biology from Virginia Tech in 2018. As an undergraduate, she studied how incremental and entity themes in parent-child discourse correlate with children’s healthy habits and snack choices, and was able to present her findings at both an undergraduate research symposium and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology’s annual convention. After graduating with her B.A., Sedona interned for a family services company in Richmond, VA where she helped counsel elementary-aged, inner city children with behavioral issues. Overall, her research interests include how and to what extent social and emotional experiences in one’s childhood contribute to the development of various internalizing and externalizing mental disorders.
Peer-Reviewed Posters:
Whitmore, S., Kornienko, O., Davila, M., & Ha, T. (2021, April). Individual differences in appraisals of social relationships predict loneliness among ethno-racially diverse adolescents. Poster presented at the virtual biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development
Groups: Previous MA, PHD, and Honor’s Thesis Students
Nicole received her Master’s in the Applied Developmental Psychology at George Mason University in 2021 where she studied loneliness, social networks, and risk and resilience in adolescence. Throughout her research work and course studies, she has developed an interest in the mechanisms and psychological correlates that are related to resiliency and adaptive functioning.
Peer-Reviewed Papers and Posters
Kornienko, O., Riis, J., Davila, M., White, N., & Garner, P.W. (2022). Preliminary insights into associations between C-reactive protein and social network dynamics. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 139, 105690. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105690
White, N.S., Kornienko, O., Ha, T., Rogers, A.A., Hernández, M.H., & Quiroz, S. (2022, March). Social media use and peers: Does digital status seeking predict friendship and rejection networks in adolescents? Poster submitted to the Society for Research on Adolescence Biennial Meeting.
Groups: Previous MA, PHD, and Honor’s Thesis Students
Reem graduated cum laude from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Psychology in 2017. To further develop her research skills, she joined the applied developmental psychology graduate program at George Mason University and earned her Master’s Applied Developmental Psychology in 2020. As a research assistant in Dr. Olga Kornienko’s Peer Network and Development lab she was able to significantly improve her understanding of quantitative research processes and data analysis. Reem is now a second-year doctoral student at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social work. Her research interests focus on how identity development and social networks impact well-being among emerging adults.
Peer-Reviewed Presentations
Shawkat, R., Kornienko, O., & Adams, L. M. (2019, October). A systematic review of religion and culture as predictors of social identity, psychological adjustment, and belonging among immigrants from Middle Eastern and North African countries in the United States and Europe. Poster presented at the Society for Study of Emerging Adulthood, Toronto, Canada.
Groups: Previous MA, PHD, and Honor’s Thesis Students
Marissa’s research interests include examining associations between adolescent peer relationships and internalizing behaviors (social anxiety, depressive symptoms) and externalizing behaviors (aggression, risk-taking behaviors, and substance use); associations between discrimination and ethnic-racial identity development and peer relationships; using social network analysis methods to understand how adolescent development is shaped by peer network position, structure, and dynamics, friendships, and antipathies in racially diverse settings.
Marissa completed her B.A. in Psychology at Wesleyan University in 2014, M.A. in Psychology at American University in 2016, and her PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology at GMU in 2022. In 2022, she started a position of Postdoctoral Associate at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University.
Peer-Reviewed Papers
Kornienko, O., Santos, C.E.,Seaton, E.K.., Davila, M., & Garner, P. W. (2023).Racial discrimination experiences and friendship network dynamics among Black and Latinx Youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 52, 685–700. http://doi : 10.1007/s10964-023-01746-1
Kornienko, O., Riis, J., Davila, M., White, N., & Garner, P.W. (2022). Preliminary insights into associations between C-reactive protein and social network dynamics. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 139, 105690. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105690
Davila, M., & Kornienko, O. (2022). Making, maintaining, and influencing friends: Examining the role of fear of negative evaluation and gender in adolescent networks. School Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000481
Kornienko, O., Davila, M., & Santos, C. E. (2019). Friendship network dynamics of aggressive and rule-breaking antisocial behaviors in adolescence. Journal of Youth &Adolescence, 48, 2065-2078. doi: 10.1007/s10964-019-01109-9
Peer-Reviewed Posters and Presentations
Kornienko, O., White, N.S., & Davila, M. (2022, May). Peers and discrimination: A systematic review and next steps with social network analysis. Paper presented at the SRCD 2022 Special Topic Meeting: Construction of the ‘Other’: Development, Consequences, and Applied Implications of Racism, Prejudice and Discrimination.
Davila, M., Kornienko, O., Clary, L. K., & Ha, T. (2022, March). Adolescent relational aggression and internalizing symptoms in adulthood: The protective role of network centrality. Poster presented at the Society for Research on Adolescence Biennial Meeting.
Davila, M., & Kornienko, O. (2021, July). Making, maintaining, and influencing friends: Examining the role of fear of negative evaluation and gender in adolescent networks. Paper presented at the Networks 2021 Conference. Virtual/ Washington, D.C.
Norman E.M., Kornienko, O., Davila, M., & Ha, T. (2021, April). The associations among aspects of ethnic-racial identity development and peer network integration in adolescence. Poster presented at the virtual biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development
Whitmore, S., Kornienko, O., Davila, M., & Ha, T. (2021, April). Individual differences in appraisals of social relationships predict loneliness among ethno-racially diverse adolescents. Poster presented at the virtual biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development
Davila, M., & Kornienko, O. (2020, March). Peer influence on social anxiety in adolescent friendship networks. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, San Diego, CA.
Davila, M., & Kornienko, O. (2019, May). Social anxiety predicts declines in best friendships’ intimacy for adolescent girls, but not boys. Poster presented at the American Psychological Science Association Meeting, Washington, DC.
Kornienko, O., Davila, M., & Santos, C. E. (2019, March). Dynamic pathways between depressive symptoms and risk-taking behavior in adolescent peer networks. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.
