UCLA Professor: Dr. Rena Repetti

When Rena Repetti graduated from her high school in Bronx, New York in 1974, she knew she loved kids and thought she would become a kindergarten teacher. As an undergraduate she was part of a special honors curriculum in which she majored in psychology and minored in math. She graduated Summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. from Hunter College (CUNY) New York in 1978. Her decision to attend graduate school and major in psychology was influenced by her undergraduate mentor as well as the research she was involved in.

Thanks to skipping a year of high school, Rena Repetti was just 20 years old when she graduated from college. She went on to earn both an M.S. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Yale University, in 1981 and 1985 respectively. She was a finalist for the New York Academy of Sciences James McKeen Cattell Award for an Outstanding Dissertation in Psychology in 1985. Graduate school was a positive experience for Doctor Repetti, where she discovered her love for counseling and research, in addition to meeting her husband.

Her numerous appointments include a clinical fellowship in psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard University Medical School, Postdoctoral Scholar at UCLA Department of Psychology, Assistant Research Psychologist II at UCLA, visiting fellow at Yale University, and extensive teaching experience. She has taught at Harvard University Medical School, USC, University of Pennsylvania, New York University, and is currently a full professor at UCLA. Her professional activities include being a fellow of the American Psychological Association as well as the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. She is also a member of the American Psychological Society, Society for Research in Child Development, APA Div. 38 (Health Psychology), Society for Community Research and Action, Western Psychological Association, National Council on Family Relations, Society for Research on Adolescence, and International Society for the Study of Personal Relationships. In addition to being on the Editorial Board for Journal of Family Psychology, she is an Ad Hoc Reviewer for numerous other publications. Dr. Repetti is a prolific author with more than 30 publications to date. Her conference presentations and invited addresses number over 18 and she has made at least 15 poster presentations.

Doctor Repetti�s research interests include family social environment and how it impacts physical and mental health in adulthood. Currently, she is involved in an interdisciplinary study through the UCLA Center on the Everyday Lives of Families in which intensive observations of families are conducted. In addition to filming families in their homes, the researchers are collecting saliva samples in order to study hormonal responses to stress. By studying how biological and emotional responses to everyday stressors are regulated in the family, Dr. Repetti hopes to gain a better understanding of the developmental processes that link childhood family environments to long-term health. Professor Repetti is also very interested in how experiences from outside the home come to permeate the home and shape the family. To understand this phenomenon, she studies the impact that children�s experiences at school and parents� experiences at work have on families. Another area of interest is women�s multiple roles and their impact on health. The newest expression of that interest is a study of adolescent girls� understanding of women�s roles, including their expectations for their own future roles. As a mother of two girls, Professor Repetti is very invested in learning more about teenage girls� perceptions of the challenges and rewards associated with adult work and family roles.

The undergraduate courses Doctor Repetti teaches include abnormal psychology and psychopathology. She feels fortunate to be teaching here at UCLA due to the intellectually stimulating environment. Her husband is also on the faculty in the finance department. She enjoys spending time with her seven and eleven year old daughters, cooking Italian food, reading and gardening. Currently she and her husband are also busy designing and building a home. She is able to juggle an amazing career with family because she enjoys what she is doing, has flexibility, and is able to compromise when necessary.

Dr. Repetti�s best advice to undergraduates is to take advantage of the unique opportunities and rich intellectual environment UCLA offers and to enjoy yourself while doing so. She also recommends finding a topic that you are passionate about and using that enthusiasm to explore it to a greater extent. In addition to high grades and GRE scores, forming a relationship with a faculty mentor can also be helpful in getting into a good graduate school according to Dr. Repetti.

Amy Boersma
UPJ, Editorial Board

Copyright 2002 by the Undergraduate Psychology Journal
(Vol. 1, No.1.)

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