USC.edu

Steven Lopez

Professor of Psychology and Social Work
Pronouns He / Him / His Email lopezs@usc.edu Office SGM 1001 Office Phone (213) 740-6310

Center, Institute & Lab Affiliations

  • Foundation for Psychocultural Research, Advisory Board Member

Biography

Steven Regeser López is a professor of psychology and social work at the University of Southern California. His research provides a critical cultural perspective to the study of psychopathology, assessment, and intervention of Latinos and other ethnic minority groups. The overall goal of his research is to reduce disparities in mental health care for Latinos in the United States and Mexico. To do so Lopez and his research team have developed studies along three pathways to care for those with serious mental illness. To facilitate the recognition of psychosis in a timely manner, Lopez and colleagues have developed a novel Spanish language public education program to help relatives identify the key signs of psychosis in their loved ones. They have demonstrated that the program, which they refer to as La CLAve, increases psychosis literacy. In a second line of study, Lopez and colleagues examine how families relate to their ill relatives and how that is associated with the course of schizophrenia. One key finding is that emotional overinvolvement is the prominent family factor associated with relapse with primarily Mexican immigrant families. In a third line of research, Lopez’ research team tests a model of cultural competence that they have developed to improve treatment of Latinos. The model encourages clinicians to develop a collaborative relationship that promotes the development of shared narratives and an understanding of what is at stake in their client’s local social world.

Education

  • Ph.D. Psychology (Clinical), UCLA, 8/1983

  • Tenure Track Appointments

    • Professor of Psychology and Social Work, University of Southern California, 01/01/2008 –
    • Associate Professor of Psychology 1992-97; Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Chicano Studies 1997-2007, University of California, Los Angeles, 01/01/1992 – 12/31/2007
    • Instructor 1982-83; Asst Professor of Psychology1983-89; Assoc Professor of Psychology 1989-1991, University of Southern California, 08/1982 – 12/31/1991

  • Summary Statement of Research Interests

    Culture and psychopathology, assessment, and intervention with particular attention given to Latino communities, both in the United States and Mexico.

  • Book Chapters

    • Kopelowicz, A., Lopez, S. R., Vega, W. A. (2009). Disabled Populations. pp. 198-209. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: Disparities in psychiatric care: Clinical and cross-cultural perspectives.
    • Lopez, S., Guarnaccia, P. (2008). Conceptions of psychopathology: The social world’s impact on mental illness. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.

    Journal Article

    • Lopez, S. R. (2012). From documenting to eliminating disparities in mental health care for Latinos. American Psychologist. Vol. 67, pp. 511-523.
    • Kopelowicz, A., Zarate, R., Wallace, C. J., Lopez, S. R., Liberman, R. P., Mintz, J. (2012). The ability of multifamily groups to improve treatment adherence in Mexican Americans with schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry. Vol. 69, pp. 265-273.
    • Medina-Pradas, C., Navarro, J. B., Lopez, S. R., Grau, A., Obiolos, J. E. (2011). Dyadic view of expressed emotion, stress, and eating disorder psychopathology. Appetite. Vol. 57 (3), pp. 743-748.
    • Lee, C. S., Lopez, S. R., Hernandez, L., Colby, S. M., Caetano, R. (2011). A cultural adaptation of motivational interviewing to address heavy drinking among Hispanics. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. Vol. 17, pp. 317-324.
    • Medina-Pradas, C., Navarro, J. B., Lopez, S. R., Grau, A., Obiolos, J. E. (2011). Further development of a scale of perceived expressed emotion and its evaluation in a sample of patients with eating disorders. Psychiatry Research. Vol. 190, pp. 291-296.
    • Aguilera, A., Lopez, S. R., Breitborde, N. J., Kopelowicz, A., Zarate, R. (2010). Expressed emotion, sociocultural context and the course of schizophrenia. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. Vol. 119, pp. 875-885.
    • Breitborde, N. J., Lopez, S. R., Kopelowicz, A. (2010). Expressed emotion and health outcomes among Mexican-Americans with schizophrenia and their caregiving relatives. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. Vol. 198, pp. 105-109.
    • Lopez, S., Lara Munoz, M., Kopelowicz, A., al., e. (2009). La CLAve to Increase Psychosis Literacy of Spanish-speaking. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Vol. 77, pp. 763-774.
    • Lopez, S. R., Ramirez Garcia, J. I., Ullman, J. B., Kopelowicz, A., Jenkins, J., Breitborde, N. J., Placencia, P. (2009). Cultural variability in manifestation of expressed emotion. Family Process. Vol. 48, pp. 179-194.
    • Polo, A. J., Lopez, S. (2009). Culture, context, and the internalizing distress of Mexican American youth. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. Vol. 38, pp. 1-13.
    • Breitborde, N. J., Lopez, S., Neuchterlein, K. (2009). Expressed emotion, human agency, and schizophrenia: Toward a new model for the EE-relapse association. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry.. Vol. 33, pp. 41-60.
    • Breitborde, N. J., Lopez, S. R., Neuchterlein, K. (2009). Expressed emotion, human agency, and schizophrenia: Toward a new model for the EE-relapse association. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry. Vol. 33, pp. 41-60.
    • Breitborde, N. J., Lopez, S. R., Chang, C., Kopelowicz, A., Zarate, R. (2009). Emotional overinvolvement can be deleterious to for caregivers’ health: Mexican Americans caring for an ill relative with schizophrenia. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. Vol. 44, pp. 716-723.
    • O’Brien, M. P., Zinberg, J. L., Bearden, C. E., Lopez, S., Kopelowicz, A., Daley, M., Cannon, T. D. (2008). Parent attitudes and parent adolescent interaction in families of youth at risk for psychosis and with recent-onset psychotic symptoms. Early Intervention in Psychiatry. Vol. 2 (268-276)
    • Dorian, M., Ramirez Garcia, J., Lopez, S., Hernandez, B. (2008). Acceptance and expressed emotion in Mexican American caregivers of relatives with schizophrenia. Family Process. Vol. 47 (2), pp. 215-228.
    • Lee, C. S., Abrantes, A. M., Colby, S. M., Lopez, S., Jordan, T. (2008). Medical student judgments of adolescents with alcohol use disorders (AUD. Substance Use and Misuse. Vol. 43 (5), pp. 709-721.
    • Aguilera, A., Lopez, S. (2008). Community determinants of Latinos’ use of mental health services. Psychiatric Services. Vol. 58 (4), pp. 385-394.

  • Office Hours

      TTH : T 12-1; TH 2-3 and by appt