Shane Sacco

Graduate Student, Allied Health (Affiliate)

Research Overview

I am interested in the stress and coping of chronic illness patients. Particularly, understanding how situational factors impact coping effectiveness, and its relation to well-being. As an InCHIP Graduate Student Affiliate, and under the supervision of Dr. Tricia Leahey and Dr. Tania Huedo-Medina, I plan to examine some of these situational effects, like perceived control, in a sample of individuals struggling with obesity. Moreover, I hope to more clearly explain which coping behaviors are related to well-being outcomes, such as quality of life and depressive symptoms.

In the past, I have worked on projects with multiple institutions and organizations. I have worked with the UCONN Stress and Coping Laboratory for over 8 years, under the supervision of Dr. Crystal Park. In this time, I have explored relevant factors like appraisal and meaning-making which may influence well-being in heart failure patients. As a result, we have published two articles, and have another in review. I have also worked on projects with a number of faculty members at Central Connecticut State University, including but not limited to, the Brain and Alcohol Research with College Students study and a number of studies from the Psychophysiology and Biofeedback Laboratory. Recently, I spent the summer working at the Yale Stress Center. I assisted with a number of concurrent studies, examining the effects of alcohol dependence and BMI and their relation to biomarkers of stress, well-being, cognitive functioning, and food cravings

Education

Master of Arts in General Psychology from Central Connecticut State University, 2012
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from University of Connecticut, 2010