Research Interests
Adult Development and Aging
Healthful Behavior and Activity Engagement (e.g., Social, Physical, Cognitive Activities)
Multi-Temporal and High-Frequency Assessment (e.g., Ecological Momentary Assessment, Daily Diary, Measurement Burst Designs)
Biography
Dr. O’Brien joined the faculty in the Department of Psychology at the University of Mississippi as an Assistant Professor in the Fall of 2024. She earned a B.S. in Sociology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virgina Tech) in 2014 and a Ph.D. in Psychology from North Carolina State University in 2019. Before joining the faculty at the University of Mississippi, she completed postdoctoral training in the Center for Healthy Aging at Pennsylvania State University as a fellow in a T32 program and a recipient of a K99/R00 award.
Dr. O’Brien is a developmental psychologist and health scientist. Her research focuses broadly on understanding how individuals’ thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and actions relate to each other in the natural contexts of their everyday lives. Her ongoing work focuses specifically on how psychological factors, such as self-knowledge, self-regulation, and motivation, affect individuals’ engagement in healthful behaviors as they age. She has particular interest in examining how these relationships unfold in daily life – by measuring individuals repeatedly over short periods of time – and across the adult lifespan – by measuring people over longer periods of time. A goal of Dr. O’Brien’s work is to inform and deliver interventions that promote positive health outcomes in later life.
Dr. O’Brien has published her work in several journals that focus on topics related to adult development and aging. These include The Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences; The Gerontologist; Psychology and Aging; Aging and Mental Health; Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition.
Please return to this page in early Fall to find a link for the new Lab website!
O’Brien, E.L., & Smyth, J.M. (2023). Between-person and daily within-person variation patterns in measures of views of aging. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 78, 1686-1690. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbad083
O’Brien, E.L., Torres, G.E., & Neupert, S.D. (2021). Cognitive interference in the context of daily stressors, daily awareness of age-related change, and general aging attitudes. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 76, 920-929. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbaa155
Hess, T.M., Lothary, A.F., O’Brien, E.L., Growney, C.M. & DeLaRosa, J. (2021). Predictors of engagement in young and older adults: The role of specific activity experience. Psychology and Aging, 36, 131-142. doi: 10.1037/pag0000561
Education
Ph.D. Psychology, North Carolina State University-Raleigh (2019)