Anamara Ritt-Olson
· Associate Professor in Residence, Health, Society, & Behavior, Director, Academic Program Development & AccreditationUniversity of California, Irvine · Department of Health, Society, and Behavior
Active 2000–2025
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About
Anamara Ritt-Olson, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Residence in the Department of Health, Society, & Behavior at UC Irvine Wen Public Health. Her expertise lies in mental health as a public health issue, with a focus on factors that promote mental health, resiliency, and well-being among culturally diverse adolescents and young adults. Her recent work has expanded into digital approaches, utilizing social media and technology to improve health outcomes. She participated in the NIH-funded mHealth Training Institute to advance transdisciplinary approaches to mobile health research and serves as the director of training and engagement for the CERES (Connecting the EdTech Research Ecosystem) initiative, a multi-site international collaborative aimed at leveraging digital means to enhance educational opportunities and well-being for young people globally. Her research includes understanding risk factors and designing community-based interventions, especially for cancer survivors, to connect them with care through digital technologies. Dr. Ritt-Olson's work emphasizes engaging social media platforms to address unmet needs and promote mental health, resiliency, and health behaviors among vulnerable populations, including cancer survivors and middle school students. She has designed and evaluated numerous health-promoting programs worldwide and teaches across undergraduate, graduate, and medical education levels, guided by social determination theory.
Selected publications
JCO Oncology Practice · 2022-12-12 · 13 citations
articleOpen accessPURPOSE: Young adult childhood cancer survivors (YACCSs) are often impacted by cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) and psychological distress. Using the Project Forward Cohort, we evaluated the relationship between CRCI and substance use behaviors. METHODS: YACCSs were surveyed between 2015 and 2018 (N = 1,106, female = 50.8%, Hispanic = 51.5%, median age = 25.5 years). Associations between CRCI and substance use (tobacco, binge drinking, marijuana, prescription drug misuse, and e-cigaret…
Beyond depression: correlates of well-being in young adult survivors of childhood cancers
Journal of Cancer Survivorship · 2022-02-21 · 12 citations
articleProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · 2023-09-28 · 5 citations
articleOpen accessAccess to and understanding one's medical history is crucial to maintaining long-term care. As adolescents and young adults childhood cancer survivors age, they must transition and transfer their health care from their pediatric to an adult care institution. In this study, we provide empirical evidence reporting on the after-cancer treatment experiences of childhood cancer survivors through their transition. We report findings from 24 semi-structured interviews with adolescent and young adult ca…
Journal of Psychosocial Oncology · 2024-03-21 · 2 citations
articleOpen accessPURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to examine the protective and risk factors of substance use behaviors (tobacco, marijuana, e-cigarette, and alcohol) among young adult childhood cancer survivors. The study focused on clinical (receipt of cancer-related follow-up care, treatment intensity, late effects, depressive symptoms, self-rated health) and demographic (race/ethnicity, neighborhood socioeconomic status) factors and their associations with substance use. METHODS: = 25.1 years) were recr…
Reducing Risk of ADRDs: Innovative Framework to Inform Behavior Change
Alzheimer s & Dementia · 2023-12-01 · 1 citations
articleOpen accessAbstract Background In the United States alone, more than six million individuals are living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs), with minority groups disproportionately impacted. An estimated one‐third of ADRD cases is associated with eight modifiable risk factors: physical inactivity, smoking, depression, low education, diabetes, midlife obesity, midlife hypertension, and hearing loss. With the ADRD pandemic fast approaching, there is greater urgency to identify and adopt ri…
Awards & honors
- Cancer Fellow at National Cancer Institute (2003–2004)
- Outstanding Graduate Student, California State University, L…
- H-Index Score: 38 (2020)
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