Nikko Da Paz, PhD

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Dr. Nikko Da Paz holds a BA from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Health Psychology from the University of California, Merced. Dr. Da Paz’s research investigates the science of stress, which includes stress effects on mental health and physiology, and psychological resources that protect from stress (stress resilience). She has conducted studies of interventions to promote resilience to stress in parental caregivers. She is focusing on chronic caregiving stress and resilience interventions in families parenting a child on the Autism Spectrum, a growing population of highly distressed individuals who are at risk of major depression and stress-related comorbidity.

Publications: 

Acceptance or Despair? Maternal Adjustment to Having a Child Diagnosed with Autism.

Journal of autism and developmental disorders

Da Paz NS, Siegel B, Coccia MA, Epel ES

A randomized controlled trial of culturally tailored dance and reducing screen time to prevent weight gain in low-income African American girls: Stanford GEMS.

Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine

Robinson TN, Matheson DM, Kraemer HC, Wilson DM, Obarzanek E, Thompson NS, Alhassan S, Spencer TR, Haydel KF, Fujimoto M, Varady A, Killen JD

Stanford GEMS phase 2 obesity prevention trial for low-income African-American girls: design and sample baseline characteristics.

Contemporary clinical trials

Robinson TN, Kraemer HC, Matheson DM, Obarzanek E, Wilson DM, Haskell WL, Pruitt LA, Thompson NS, Haydel KF, Fujimoto M, Varady A, McCarthy S, Watanabe C, Killen JD

Parental cultural perspectives in relation to weight-related behaviors and concerns of African-American girls.

Obesity research

Beech BM, Kumanyika SK, Baranowski T, Davis M, Robinson TN, Sherwood NE, Taylor WC, Relyea G, Zhou A, Pratt C, Owens A, Thompson NS

Dance and reducing television viewing to prevent weight gain in African-American girls: the Stanford GEMS pilot study.

Ethnicity & disease

Robinson TN, Killen JD, Kraemer HC, Wilson DM, Matheson DM, Haskell WL, Pruitt LA, Powell TM, Owens AS, Thompson NS, Flint-Moore NM, Davis GJ, Emig KA, Brown RT, Rochon J, Green S, Varady A

Recruitment of African-American pre-adolescent girls into an obesity prevention trial: the GEMS pilot studies.

Ethnicity & disease

Story M, Sherwood NE, Obarzanek E, Beech BM, Baranowski JC, Thompson NS, Owens AS, Mitchell M, Rochon J