Education: PhD in Clinical /Developmental Psychology 2004 University of Windsor; Pre-doctoral Internship in Clinical Psychology 2004 Children’s Hospital, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cultural Psychology and Human Development 2006 University of Chicago
Theoretical Orientation:
Developmental psychopathology is an overarching framework guiding my research and clinical practice. I particularly value this framework because psychopathology is defined in reference to normal development, and is considered a dynamic process rather than a static entity. In addition, contexts of development (family, community, and culture) are central in understanding psychopathology.
Research Interests:
My research interests focus on parenting, child development, and psychopathology in cultural context, with a particular emphasis on understanding children’s emotions. Although expressions of intense negative emotions are considered inappropriate by Caucasian middle-class groups in the West, emotional expression is generally viewed favorably. In contrast, Asian collectivist cultures value emotion control rather than expression. Emotions and emotional disorders are considered less acceptable than physical symptoms (Kirmayer, 2001). What do children in such cultures learn about emotions? Do children in these cultures who inhibit the expression of emotion end up with compromised health, or do they end up “just fine”? In today’s globalizing world economy, these questions become important not just for the theoretical advancement of the science of psychology, but also to inform policy decisions concerning the world’s largest populations (i.e., India and China).
One of my projects focuses on articulating a model of normative emotion expression and parental socialization in South Asian Hindu children, and the ways in which it is distinct from the model in Caucasian middle-class. A second project examines variation in such a model across South Asian children who present with various forms of psychopathology . A third project explores anger and aggression in street youth in India using a qualitative methodology that compliments quantitative research designs.
Opportunity for Graduate Students:
I welcome graduate students to collaborate with me on my existing projects or to design their own research projects in the area of parenting, socio-emotional development, and psychopathology in culturally diverse populations. Students will be encouraged to utilize both quantitative and qualitative approaches, conceptualize their research from an interdisciplinary perspective, and participate in professional development activities (i.e., conference presentations and publications). Opportunities could also be structured for graduate students to travel abroad to work on one of my existing projects.
Recent
Publications
Raval, V. V., & Kral, M. J., (2004). “Core versus periphery”: Dynamics of personhood over the life-course for a Gujarati Hindu woman. Culture and Psychology, 10 (2), 162-194.
Raval, V. V., & Martini, T. S. (Manuscript under review). Mothers’ Responses to their Children’s Expressions of Anger, Sadness, and Physical Pain in Gujarat, India.
Raval, V. V. & Martini, T. S. (Manuscript under review). Socialization and regulation of emotion in children with internalizing, externalizing, and somatic problems in Gujarat, India.
Raval, V. V., Martini, T. S., & Raval, P. (2007). “Would others think it’s okay to express my feeling?”: Regulation of anger, sadness, and physical pain in Gujarati children in India. Social Development, 16 (1), 79-105.
Raval, V. V., Martini, T. S., & Raval, P. (Manuscript under review). Indirect expression or acting out?: Emotion regulation in children with behavior problems and their asymptomatic counterparts in Gujarat, India.
Jeyakumar, S. L. E., Warriner, E. M., Raval, V. V., & Ahmad, S. A. (2004). Balancing the need for reliability and time efficiency: Short forms of the WAIS-III. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64 (1), 71-87.
Selected Conference Presentations:
Raval, V. V., & Martini, T. S. (2007, August). Emotion regulation and socialization in Asian-Indian children with behavior problems. Abstract accepted. 115th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
Raval, V. V.(2005, October). Negotiating the conflict between personal desires and others’ expectations in Gujarati Hindu women. Paper presented in the symposium “The familial self revisited.” 34 thAnnual Conference on South Asia, Madison, WI.
Raval, V. V. (2005, April). Negotiating Autonomy and Personal Boundaries in Gujarati Hindu Women . Paper presented in the symposium “Boundaries of the self in South Asia .” Society for Psychological Anthropology Biennial Meeting, San Diego , CA .
Raval, V. V., Martini, T. S., & Raval, P. (2005, April). Situational Antecedents of Anger, Sadness, and Physical Pain in Asian Indian Children. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta, GA.
Raval, V. V., & Martini, T. S. (2005, April). Emotion Regulation, Socialization, and Psychopathology in Asian Indian Children: Culturally shared patterns. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Atlanta, GA.
Raval, P., Raval, V. V., Panchal, I., & Chakravorty, T. (2003, August). Gujarati adaptation of the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 6-18. Poster presented at the 111th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, ON.
