Kimberly Dienes

I'm interested in how stress affects our bodies, our emotions, and our thoughts. I use surveys, interviews, and focus groups to understand people’s perceptions of stress, and I sample salivary cortisol (a stress hormone), and measure heart rate and skin conductance to look at biological stress processes. I’m especially interested in how chronic stressors (like the coronavirus pandemic) interact with acute stressors (like an exam) to lead to personal experience and biological outcomes. I also assess how well various interventions work to reduce our stress levels.

I have a BA in Human Biology and MA in Psychology from Stanford University and a PhD in clinical psychology from UCLA. I completed my internship and postdoctoral work at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. I practiced as a clinical psychologist in the US from 2009-2016. Currently I teach on the MSc in Clinical Psychology and Mental Health at Swansea University.

I am the Co-Director (with Simon Williams) of the Public Views of COVID-19 (PVCOVID) Project exploring UK public views of social isolation, public messaging, and non-pharmaceutical behavioural interventions (i.e. social distancing) during the coronavirus pandemic. If you have any interest in participating, please click on the link.