Adjunct faculty typically have an academic or research appointment at another institution and contribute or collaborate with one or more School of Medicine faculty members or programs.
Adjunct rank detailsCindy Crusto, PhD
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Titles
Professor Adjunct of Psychiatry
Biography
Cindy A. Crusto, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology Section), Yale University School of Medicine, was Associate Dean for Gender Equity and Director of the Office for Women in Medicine and Science and the Director of Program Evaluation and Child Trauma Research at The Consultation Center.
Dr. Crusto has more than 20 years of experience in developing, implementing, and evaluating preventive interventions in schools and community agencies. She also has extensive experience providing training and technical assistance to schools and to community-based organizations on the evaluation of prevention programs. She is interested in culturally relevant interventions for children from racial/ethnic minority and low-income backgrounds and in school-based behavioral health services. Dr. Crusto's research examines the impact of family violence on children and the ecological influences on child and family well-being, and includes rigorous evaluations of community-based initiatives involving substance use and violence prevention, and the promotion of school readiness.
Dr. Crusto earned a B.A. in psychology from Vassar College, an M.A. in clinical-community psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a Ph.D. in clinical-community psychology from the University of South Carolina. She completed pre-doctoral and postdoctoral fellowships in clinical-community psychology at Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry.
Departments & Organizations
- Global Health Studies
- GROW Initiative Leadership
- MORE
- Program for Biomedical Ethics
- Psychology Section
- Yale Center for Health & Learning Games
- Yale Global Mental Health Program
- Yale Ventures
- Yale-UPR Integrated HIV Basic and Clinical Sciences Initiative
Education & Training
- Postdoctoral Associate
- Yale University School of Medicine (2001)
- PhD
- University of South Carolina, clinical/community psychology (2000)
- Pre-doctoral Fellow
- Yale University School of Medicine (2000)
- MA
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte, clinical/community psychology (1996)
- BA
- Vassar College, psychology (1991)
Research
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Overview
Medical Research Interests
Public Health Interests
ORCID
0000-0003-3300-3040
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Publications Timeline
Research Interests
Joy S. Kaufman, PhD
Yihong Zhao
Ishita S. Arora, PhD, MLS
Amy Griffin, MA
Amber W. Childs, PhD
Ariadna Forray, MD
Family
Violence
Domestic Violence
Mental Health
Publications
2025
Using interactive SMS support groups to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in South Africa: a qualitative analysis of social and psychological benefits
Crusto C, Pittenger S, Costeines J, Amutah-Onukagha N, Kydd A, Visser M, Do T, Dean A, Forsyth B. Using interactive SMS support groups to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in South Africa: a qualitative analysis of social and psychological benefits. SAHARA-J Journal Of Social Aspects Of HIV/AIDS 2025, 22: 1989323. PMID: 40844645, PMCID: PMC12377077, DOI: 10.1080/17290376.2021.1989323.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsPrevention of mother-to-child transmissionSupport groupsSocial supportHealth outcomesNegative psychological outcomesPrevention of mother-to-child transmission programmesPsychological outcomesDisclosure of HIV statusMother-to-child HIV transmissionHIV-positive pregnant womenPositive health outcomesPregnant womenMother-to-child transmissionHIV-positive womenSupport womenHIV diagnosisSpiritual supportMedication adherenceEmotional supportThematic analysisHIV statusHIV transmissionPsychological benefitsSocial barriersMobile technologyBuilding a Coalition for Change: The Yale Department of Psychiatry Accountability, Respect, Community & Humanity Task Force
Triplett N, Kaufman J, Krystal J, Crusto C, Respect C. Building a Coalition for Change: The Yale Department of Psychiatry Accountability, Respect, Community & Humanity Task Force. Psychiatric Services 2025, 76: 851-854. PMID: 40776590, DOI: 10.1176/appi.ps.20240541.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH Keywords and ConceptsNeighborhood Deprivation, Trauma Profiles, Coping, and Stress Prospectively Predict Depressive Symptoms Among Young African American Mothers in the InterGEN Study: A Latent Class Analysis
Lane B, Millender E, Harris R, Nowak A, Josiah N, Hall C, Pfeiffer F, Wong F, Crusto C, Potts-Thompson S, Prescott L, Taylor J. Neighborhood Deprivation, Trauma Profiles, Coping, and Stress Prospectively Predict Depressive Symptoms Among Young African American Mothers in the InterGEN Study: A Latent Class Analysis. Journal Of Racial And Ethnic Health Disparities 2025, 1-13. PMID: 40457024, DOI: 10.1007/s40615-025-02498-3.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricConceptsYoung African American mothersNeighborhood deprivationImprove mental healthAfrican American mothersMental healthDepressive symptomsStatistically significant predictors of depressive symptomsEffect of neighborhood deprivationLatent class analysisExposure to neighbourhood deprivationSignificant predictors of depressive symptomsAmerican mothersPredictors of depressive symptomsAvoidant copingResultsIn unadjusted modelsClass analysisAfrican American womenIndividual coping skillsInterGEN StudyExperiences of traumaSocioeconomic disparitiesUnadjusted modelsPsychological supportCoping skillsCommunity strengthsDiscrimination, Coping, and DNAm Accelerated Aging Among African American Mothers of the InterGEN Study
Nyembwe A, Zhao Y, Caceres B, Belsky D, Ryan C, Taylor B, Morrison M, Prescott L, Potts-Thompson S, Aziz A, Aruleba F, Matute-Arcos E, Williams O, Crusto C, Taylor J. Discrimination, Coping, and DNAm Accelerated Aging Among African American Mothers of the InterGEN Study. Epigenomes 2025, 9: 14. PMID: 40407423, PMCID: PMC12101303, DOI: 10.3390/epigenomes9020014.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsExperiences of racial discriminationSocial supportHealth outcomesCoping strategiesHigher levels of social supportRacial discriminationLong-term adverse health outcomesLevels of social supportSecondary analysis of dataInfluence health outcomesSaliva DNA methylationAdverse health outcomesDNA methylationAfrican American womenMaladaptive coping strategiesAfrican American mothersInterGEN StudyBiological agePhenoAge clockGrimAge clockSecondary analysisConsequences of discriminationParticipant ageAmerican womenPsychological factorsPerceived Discrimination, Trauma, Mental Health, and Blood Pressure Outcomes Among Young African American/Black Mothers in the InterGEN Study.
Nyembwe A, Zhao Y, Millender E, Hall K, Caceres B, Taylor B, Morrison M, Prescott L, Potts-Thompson S, Aziz A, Aruleba F, Crusto C, Taylor J. Perceived Discrimination, Trauma, Mental Health, and Blood Pressure Outcomes Among Young African American/Black Mothers in the InterGEN Study. The Journal Of Cardiovascular Nursing 2025 PMID: 40052829, DOI: 10.1097/jcn.0000000000001190.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricConceptsDepressive symptomsSecondary data analysis of dataAssociation of discriminationPresentation of depressive symptomsFactors associated with BPLongitudinal cohort studySecondary data analysisAssociated with blood pressureBlood pressure outcomesExperiences of discriminationInfluence of discriminationChildren aged 3InterGEN StudyMother-child dyadsPsychosocial measuresAA womenBlood pressureMental healthPressure outcomesCohort studyLinear regression analysisCulturally sensitive screening toolsScreening toolMaternal BPSensitive screening toolModerating effect of coping strategies on the association between perceived discrimination and blood pressure outcomes among young Black mothers in the InterGEN study
Nyembwe A, Zhao Y, Caceres B, Hall K, Prescott L, Potts-Thompson S, Morrison M, Crusto C, Taylor J. Moderating effect of coping strategies on the association between perceived discrimination and blood pressure outcomes among young Black mothers in the InterGEN study. AIMS Public Health 2025, 12: 217-232. PMID: 40248417, PMCID: PMC11999812, DOI: 10.3934/publichealth.2025014.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsWomen’s Leadership Development at the Yale School of Medicine: Preliminary Evaluation of an Innovative Program
David D, Arora I, Hussein A, Santana J, Crusto C, Latimore D. Women’s Leadership Development at the Yale School of Medicine: Preliminary Evaluation of an Innovative Program. Women's Health Reports 2025, 6: 274-285. PMID: 40308350, PMCID: PMC12040562, DOI: 10.1089/whr.2024.0188.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsYale School of MedicineAcademic medicineLeadership development programsSchool of MedicineAcquisition of leadership skillsYale SchoolFaculty members' confidenceLeadership development initiativesEnhancing leadership capacityLeadership pathwaysMembers' confidenceMedical schoolsRetrospective survey dataLeadership skillsInnovative programsLeadership developmentOrganizational changeIncreased confidenceLeadership efficacyLeadership visionLeadership capacityLeadership potentialWomenDevelopment programsWomen leaders
2024
Getting Racism Out of Our Work (GROW): Design, Deployment, and Early Outcomes for a Program to Increase Psychology Supervisor’s Multicultural Competence
Childs A, Crusto C, Miller R. Getting Racism Out of Our Work (GROW): Design, Deployment, and Early Outcomes for a Program to Increase Psychology Supervisor’s Multicultural Competence. Training And Education In Professional Psychology 2024, 18: 305-313. DOI: 10.1037/tep0000478.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricConceptsSupervisor multicultural competenceCulturally competent supervisionClinical supervisory practiceSupervisory practicesPsychology traineesMulticultural competenceCompetent supervisionClinical supervisorsPsychologyHigh levels of satisfactionIntegration skillsPilot participantsApplication of programsSkillsTrainee satisfactionHigher levelsClinical practiceSupervisorsTraineesAlternative formatsLevel of satisfactionParticipantsSatisfactionIncrease accessCompetencePerceptions of Care and Perceived Discrimination: A Qualitative Assessment of Adults Living with Sickle Cell Disease
Crusto C, Kaufman J, Harvanek Z, Nelson C, Forray A. Perceptions of Care and Perceived Discrimination: A Qualitative Assessment of Adults Living with Sickle Cell Disease. Journal Of Racial And Ethnic Health Disparities 2024, 12: 3521-3530. PMID: 39227547, DOI: 10.1007/s40615-024-02153-3.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsSickle cell diseaseHealth care providersExperiences of adultsDiagnosis of sickle cell diseaseExperiences of discriminationAssessment of adultsCare providersExperiences of biasPublic health concernTertiary medical centerThematic analysisFocus groupsPoor communicationCell diseaseOutpatient clinicTeaching hospitalPerceived DiscriminationMedical CenterHealth concernAverage ageParticipantsCareEthnic groupsProvidersHealthEpigenome-Wide Association Study of Depressive Symptoms in Black Women in the InterGEN Study
Taylor B, Zhao Y, Perez N, Potts-Thompson S, Crusto C, Creber R, Taylor J. Epigenome-Wide Association Study of Depressive Symptoms in Black Women in the InterGEN Study. International Journal Of Molecular Sciences 2024, 25: 7681. PMID: 39062924, PMCID: PMC11277114, DOI: 10.3390/ijms25147681.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsDepressive symptomsPerceived DiscriminationSuch as low socioeconomic statusBlack womenIncreased risk of depressionStudies of depressive symptomsSecondary analysis of dataBeck Depression InventoryPrevalence of depressionRisk of depressionLow socioeconomic statusExperiences of discriminationInterGEN StudyDepression InventoryDNA methylation sitesSocioeconomic statusEvent ScalePsychosocial stressorsSecondary analysisDepressionDNA methylationEpigenome-wide association studiesPsychological factorsAnalysis of dataIncreased risk
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
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Activities
activity American Evaluation Association
09/01/2012 - 08/31/2014Professional OrganizationsChairpersonDetailsAmerican Evaluation Association Public Statement on Cultural Competence in Evaluation Dissemination Working Groupactivity Yale School of Medicine
09/01/2011 - 06/30/2014CommitteesChairpersonDetailsMinority Organization for Retention and Expansionactivity American Evaluation Association
03/01/2005 - 04/15/2011Professional OrganizationsChairpersonDetailsTask Force on Cultural Competence in Evaluation, Diversity Committee
Honors
honor Healthcare Executive Diversity and Inclusion Certificate (HEDIC) Program
08/18/2023National AwardAssociation of American Medical CollegesDetailsUnited Stateshonor 2022 Outstanding Contributions for Mentorship in Racial Justice Award
06/23/2023National AwardSociety for Community Research and Action (SCRA), Division 27 of the American Psychological Associationhonor Fellow
04/23/2021National AwardHedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) programDetailsUnited Stateshonor Award for Distinguished Contribution to Diversity in Psychology
05/15/2020Regional AwardConnecticut Psychological Associationhonor Fellow
04/01/2019National AwardAmerican Psychological Association, Society for Community Research and Actin (Division 27)DetailsUnited States
News
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News
- July 17, 2023
WHRY's DEIB Committee Holds Listening and Learning Sessions
- May 31, 2023
Crusto Honored by Society for Community Research and Action
- October 19, 2022
New Haven Voices
- August 22, 2022Source: Cell
Organizations in Science and Medicine Must Hold Each Other Accountable for Discriminatory Practices
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