Assistant Professor Angela Bryan of the University of Colorado at Boulder psychology department has received a national award from the American Psychological Association.
Bryan was honored with the association's Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology in the area of health psychology.
Bryan's research is focused on the connection between adolescent alcohol and marijuana use and increased risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.
Research has shown that alcohol and marijuana use among "high-risk" adolescents such as those in the criminal justice system is associated with increases in risky sexual behavior, including not using condoms, according to Bryan. She hopes to develop successful intervention strategies to help adolescents make healthier decisions regarding substance use and sexual behavior.
Current research shows that juveniles involved in the criminal justice system exhibit high levels of risky sexual behavior, so both of Bryan's current alcohol and marijuana studies focus on this population.
She also is studying how best to promote and increase exercise among sedentary adults. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 40 percent of the U.S. population is completely sedentary, according to Bryan. She is working to find out why this large segment of the population doesn't exercise and how best to change this behavior by developing intervention strategies.
Her exercise work uses a "biopsychosocial" perspective to explore genetic, physiological and psychological factors that predict who exercises and who doesn't, and how to use this information to tailor exercise interventions to different individuals.
Bryan joined the CU-Boulder faculty in 1999. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of California at Los Angeles and her doctorate in social psychology from Arizona State University.
The Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology was established in 1974. Bryan will receive the award in August during the American Psychological Association's annual meeting in New Orleans.
Based in Washington, D.C., the American Psychological Association is the largest professional organization of psychologists in the world with 150,000 members.