Biography

Dr. GiShawn Mance is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Dept. of American University in Washington, DC. Her primary research interests are understanding how context and culture influence symptom presentation in communities of color, with a particular interest in youth residing in low-income enviornments. Her goals include developing, implementing, and evaluating cultural and contextual interventions for youth who have witnessed or experienced multiple traumas that create vulnerability to depression. Additionally, she is interested in determining if community networks such as familial relationships and community prevention and intervention programs act as protective factors, how these protective factors change over time, and how to maintain the protective nature of these networks.