Personal profile
Research interests
Melanie D. Hetzel-Riggin, Ph.D., L.P., is a Professor of Psychology at Penn State Behrend. She is a licensed psychologist, Director of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and serves as a faculty research affiliate at the Susan Hirt Hagen Center for Community Outreach, Research, and Evaluation (CORE) and the Public Policy Initiative (PPI). Dr. Hetzel-Riggin’s research focuses on the effectiveness of prevention education to reduce interpersonal violence, community-level prevention, coordinated community and system responses, trauma risk and resiliency, and trauma-informed care. She also has expertise in mixed-method research and participatory, community-engaged research paradigms.
Teaching and educational interests
Her teaching interests include introductory psychology, personality and adjustment, abnormal psychology, clinical psychology, career counseling, trauma and crisis, and ethics and multiculturalism.
Education/Academic qualification
Clinical Psychology, Ph.D.
Award Date: Aug 6 2005
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
-
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 5 Gender Equality -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities -
SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Finished
-
Creating a Community Response to Cyberbullying
Hetzel-Riggin, M. D. (PI), Jairam, D. (CoPI), Nixon, C. (CoPI) & Shoenberger, N. A. (CoPI)
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
8/1/14 → 10/31/15
Project: Research project
-
Mediating Effects of Hopefulness in the Relationship Between Different Forms of Peer Victimization and Adolescents’ Emotional Dysfunction
Nixon, C., Brown, W., Frausel, R. R., Hodge, J. J., Michael, A. E. & Hetzel-Riggin, M., Sep 2025, In: International Journal of Bullying Prevention. 7, 3, p. 152-165 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
1 Link opens in a new tab Scopus citations -
Online Search Strategies and Results From a Crowdsourced Survey on Asymptomatic Bacteriuria
Bradley, M. S., Hetzel-Riggin, M. D., Knight, J. C., Murillo, A., Zyczynski, H. & Shelton, C. R., Jan 1 2025, In: Urogynecology. 31, 1, p. 43-50 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
The Role of Personality, Just World Beliefs, and Rape Myth Acceptance on Sexual Violence Bystander Intentions
Hetzel-Riggin, M. D., James, S., Willmes, A., Berner, M. & Buczek, T. J., 2025, In: Journal of Child Sexual Abuse: Research, Treatment, and Program Innovations for Victims, Suvivors, and Offenders. 34, 5-6, p. 644-660 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access2 Link opens in a new tab Scopus citations -
Transgender and Genderqueer College Students in Counseling: Presenting Mental Health Symptoms, Risk Factors, and Treatment Use
Keefe, K., Griffith, A. M., Hetzel-Riggin, M. D. & Jensen, C., 2025, In: Journal of College Student Mental Health. 39, 1, p. 110-129 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
1 Link opens in a new tab Scopus citations -
Urinary tract infection symptom management in postmenopausal women: a qualitative exploration
Bradley, M., Irwin, A., Hetzel-Riggin, M. D., Shelton, C. & Macdonald, C., Nov 2025, In: Menopause. 32, 11, p. 1008-1013 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
1 Link opens in a new tab Scopus citations