ritika rastogi, ph.d.

˚ ✵ ˚ research trajectory ˚ ⋆ ˚.

My graduate study focused on the use of multiple methods (e.g., quantitative surveys, semi-structured interviews) to examine adolescents' school-based peer relations and socio-emotional development, with particular attention to the experiences of youth of Color and youth from immigrant families. Guided by Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1974) and Critical Race Psychology (Salter & Adams, 2013), I am interested in the effects of relational, school, and societal factors (e.g., social network diversity, school racial composition, school ethnic in-group size, societal attitudes and stereotypes) upon development. In my postdoctoral fellowship, I am working to strengthen my expertise in the areas of Asian American psychology, mental health and race-based traumatic stress (Bryant-Davis, 2007; Carter, 2007), observational methods, and community-engaged research.

My aim is to merge my graduate and postdoctoral training to investigate adolescents' sense-making of, and responses to, the every-day manifestations of oppression (e.g., discrimination, educator bias) with particular attention to their social relationships as a protective context for mental health and coping. I hope to identify areas for intervention in order to promote well-being and empower youth across the transition to adulthood.

Ecological Systems Theory adapted to Black youth
(Stern, Barbarin, & Cassidy, 2021);
illustration by @clinpsych_ind

peer-reviewed papers (* indicates mentored trainee)

Rastogi, R., Woolverton, G. A., Wong, S. H. M., Hahm, H. C., & Liu, C. H. in press. Proactive coping with racial discrimination may exacerbate race-based traumatic stress in diverse young adults. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.
Kubzansky, L. D., Davis, S. H., Rastogi, R., Woolverton, G. A., Zhang, E., & Liu, C. H. in press. Sense of assurance, safety, and security (SASS) in youth: A public health perspective. American Journal of Public Health.
Douglas, R., Alvis, L., Rastogi, R., Golden, C., Ouch, S., Maldonado-Morales, M., & Gaylord-Harden, N. in press. “In a racially unjust world, what good is mindfulness?”: Recommendations for bridging the gap between culturally grounded mindfulness interventions and critical consciousness development programming to support youth of color exposed to ethnic-racial stressors. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.
Woolverton, G. A., Zhang, W., Wong, S. H. M., Wang, J. J., Nguyen, V., Zhao, C., Rastogi, R., Yip, T., Keum, B. T. H., & Liu, C. H. (2025). Vicarious racism and links to negative emotions and mental health in U.S. adults: A scoping review. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 33, 191-212. https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000436.
Zhao, C., Rastogi, R., Woolverton, G. A., Yip, T., Hahm, H. C., & Liu, C. H. (2025). Fluctuating recovery: Trajectories of young adult mental health through the COVID-19 pandemic 2020-2022. Journal of Affective Disorders, 389, 119694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.119694.
Zhao, C., Woolverton, G. A., Rastogi, R., Menor, A., Hahm, H. C., & Liu, C. H. (2025). 2024 presidential election stress and its association with depression and anxiety among U.S. young adults. Psychiatry Research, 116574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116574.
Woolverton, G. A., Yip, T., Rastogi, R., Hahm, H. C., & Liu, C. H. (2025). Differential associations in major, daily, and vicarious racial discrimination on racial trauma among young adults of color. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 38, 330-340. http://doi.org/10.1002/jts.23130.
Rastogi, R., Raval, V. V., Yip, T., Chen, J. A., & Liu, C. H. (2025). The effects of racial exclusion and racial othering on South Asian American identity and population health. American Journal of Public Health, 115(3), 274-278. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307938.
*Chang, A. R., Rastogi, R., Woolverton, G. A., Chen, J. A., Stevens, C. J., Reisner, S. L., & Liu, C. H. (2024). Mental health help-seeking willingness among U.S. college students: A resilience factor associated with many sexual minority identities. Psychiatry Research, 342, 116173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116173.
Rastogi, R., Woolverton, G. A., Yip, T., Lee, R. M., Chen, J. A., Stevens, C., & Liu, C. H. (2024). Microaggression and discrimination exposure on young adult anxiety, depression, and sleep. Journal of Affective Disorders, 363, 141-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.07.083.
Woolverton, G. A., Rastogi, R., Brieger, K., Wong, S. H. M., Keum, B. T., Hahm, H. C., & Liu, C. H. (2024). Barriers and risk factors associated with non-treatment-seeking for suicidality onset during the COVID-19 pandemic among young adults. Psychiatry Research, 340, 116095. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116095.
Rastogi, R., Woolverton, G. A., Stevens, C., Menor, A., Chen, J. A., & Liu, C. H. (2024). Suicidality associated with decreased help-seeking attitudes in college students: Implications for identifying and treating at-risk students. Psychiatry Research, 335, 115825. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2024.115825.
Ibrahim, A., Wong, S. H. M., Kim, S. E., Wong, G. T. F., Macaranas, A. M., Rastogi, R., Chang, A. R., Wang, J. J., Hibara, A., Larkin, P., Yang, S., Chen, J. A., & Liu, C. H. (2024). A scoping review of mental health and discrimination of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nature Mental Health, 2(2), 244-253. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-023-00177-y.
ElTohamy, A., Hyun, S., Rastogi, R., Wong, G. T. F., Kim, G. S., Hahm, H. C., & Liu, C. H. (2024). Effect of vicarious discrimination on race-based stress symptoms among Asian American young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 16(2), 217. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001480.
Rastogi, R., Cerda, I. H., Ibrahim, A., Chen, J. A., Stevens, C., & Liu, C. H. (2023). Long COVID and psychological distress in young adults: Potential protective effect of a prior mental health diagnosis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 340, 639-648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.08.031.
Juvonen, J., Lessard, L. M., Rastogi, R., Schacter, H. L., & Smith, D. S. (2019). Promoting social inclusion in educational settings: Challenges and opportunities. Educational Psychologist, 54(4), 250-270. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2019.1655645.
Rastogi, R. & Juvonen, J. (2019). Interminority friendships and intergroup attitudes across middle school: Quantity and stability of Black-Latino ties. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48(8), 1619-1630. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01044-9.

book chapter

Byrd, C. M., Rastogi, R., & Elliot, E. R. (2020). Engagement with diversity experiences: A self-regulated learning perspective. In L. Parson and C. C. Ozaki (Eds.), Teaching and learning for social justice and equity in higher education (Vol. 1, pp. 137-156). London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

public-facing scholarship (* indicates mentored trainee)

*Exley, W., Rastogi, R. (2021, April). Spanking: How we have normalized hitting our kids and why we need to stop.
*Nemandoust, P., *Brown, G., *Ki, S., *Osterman, C., & Rastogi, R. (2020, July). Friendships during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rastogi, R. (2019, August). How friendships can reduce racial prejudice, and what schools can do to help.
Rastogi, R. (2018, January). No such thing as a “positive” stereotype: Consequences of the Model Minority Myth.

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