Erika Felix of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School has been awarded a 2016 Hellman Family Faculty Fellowship. Felix’s research project is entitled “The Impact of Media Exposure to Mass Violence and Terrorism on Youth Adjustment.”
Felix’s research focuses on the impact of collectively-experienced traumas on youth, families, and communities. The collectively-experienced traumas she has studied include natural disasters, terrorism, and mass violence. Her Hellman-funded project will extend this research beyond those directly impacted, to those who are indirectly exposed, through the increasingly frequent news coverage of mass violence and terrorism. The ultimate goal is to support evidence-informed strategies for helping families and communities contend with the aftermath of mass violence (if directly affected) and to manage the constant feelings of threat to safety that high levels of media exposure to mass violence and terrorism can impart.
Established in 1995 by Warren and Patricia Christina Hellman, the fund for these fellowships helps ensure that important research by junior faculty receives needed support. For many past recipients, the Hellman has played a critical role in their careers — leading to publication, important new contacts, research funding from other sources, or new research directions.
Erika Felix is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology and a licensed psychologist. She received her B.A. in psychology from the University of Southern California and her Ph.D. in clinical-community psychology from DePaul University. After completing a postdoctoral research fellowship at UCSB, she continued as a professional researcher for several years before joining the faculty in 2014. Dr. Felix is committed to a career that contributes to evidence-based efforts to promote the mental health and educational well-being of diverse children and youth. Her research is focused on understanding the individual, relational, and contextual factors that promote positive youth development or recovery despite contexts of risk, trauma, or stress; informing and evaluating prevention efforts; and improving service delivery. Her research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, private foundations, and local community organizations.