Rate My Professor Vanessa Johnson

Vanessa K. Johnson is Professor of Psychology and Chairperson of the Department of Psychology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where she has served since joining the faculty in 1999. She earned a B.S. from the University of Washington, Seattle, an M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed her internship and postdoctoral training in minority mental health at the University of California, San Francisco. Johnson teaches a range of undergraduate and graduate courses, including Multicultural Psychology (PSY120), Research Methods (PSY246), Abnormal Psychology (PSY375), Developmental Psychology of Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence (PSY382), Research in Psychology (PSY410), Adult Psychopathology (PSY517), Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (PSY519), Psychotherapy (PSY559), and Research Practicum (PSY740).

Her research focuses on developmental psychopathology, examining how family relationships influence social, emotional, and academic wellbeing across development, including the prevention of maladjustment in early childhood and family environment's role in emotion regulation during the transition to college, in collaboration with Dr. Susan Gans. Key publications include the co-edited volume The Family Context of Parenting in Children's Adaptation to Elementary School (2005, Monographs in Parenting, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates), 'Parent Cortisol and Family Relatedness Predict Anxious Solitude Symptoms in Emerging Adults' (2016), 'Managing the Transition to College: Family Functioning, Emotion Coping, and Adjustment in Emerging Adulthood' (2010, Journal of College Student Development), 'From Early Childhood to Adolescence: Linking Family Functioning and School Behavior' (2010, Family Relations), 'Children's Classroom Behavior: The Unique Contribution of Family Organization' (1999, Journal of Family Psychology), and 'Linkages between Parent-Child Interaction and Conversations of Friends' (1994, Social Development). Johnson has led significant initiatives, including spearheading the Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) program and community mental health clinic, serving as Interim Dean of the Graduate School, co-chair of the Equity Scorecard team, director of the Moon Shot for Equity mission, and consultant for the COMPASS mentorship program. She received the 2019 Outstanding Advising Award and recognition as one of the 150 Most Influential Women of West Chester University.