Rate My Professor Christopher Whipple

Christopher Whipple is an Associate Professor of Psychology in the School of Behavioral Sciences and Education at Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg - The Capital College. Trained as a community psychologist, he earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in Community Psychology from DePaul University, completing his doctoral studies in 2019, and holds a B.S. in Psychology from Brigham Young University. His academic career at Penn State Harrisburg focuses on applying basic and applied research to develop, implement, and evaluate community-based interventions aimed at supporting marginalized populations. Whipple's research addresses critical public health challenges, including community violence exposure and suicidal ideation among Black or African American adolescents, the impact of substance use disorders on individuals and communities, and the creation of culturally and contextually relevant interventions.

Dr. Whipple serves as a co-investigator on an NIH-funded grant testing the effectiveness of a culturally relevant suicide prevention program for African American high school students and a state-funded grant to reduce substance use disorder stigma across Pennsylvania. His scholarly contributions include numerous peer-reviewed publications in leading journals. Key works encompass "Reducing suicidal ideation in African American adolescents: A randomized controlled clinical trial" (Robinson et al., 2023, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology), "Opioid use disorder stigma and support for harm reduction in rural communities" (Whipple et al., 2023, Substance Use & Misuse), "Longitudinal patterns and predictors of suicidal ideation in African American adolescents" (Whipple et al., 2023, American Journal of Community Psychology), "Social support coping for urban African American adolescents: A culturally-grounded randomized controlled trial intervention" (Robinson et al., 2023, Prevention Science), and "Addiction frameworks, social stigma, and NIMBY syndrome: Examining barriers to responding to the opioid crisis" (Kruis et al., 2024, Contemporary Drug Problems). He also contributes to the Faculty Advisory Council for the Capital College Honors Program, enhancing student engagement in honors education.