Dr. Veronica L. Coriano currently works as a certified school psychologist in Phoenix, AZ. She works with students and their families (preschool through 8th grade), general education teachers, special education teachers, administrators, related service providers (e.g., occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech-language pathologists), and other school staff to ensure that the needs of students in both general education and special education settings are met. Dr. Coriano conducts psychoeducational and comprehensive developmental assessments and also consults and collaborates with school teams to provide prevention and intervention services for students. Her goal is to increase positive social, emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes for all children, especially those from populations that are traditionally underserved.
Dr. Coriano earned her Bachelor's degree from Elmhurst University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a major in psychology and a minor in intercultural studies. After graduating, she worked as a researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) for 2 years before deciding to further pursue her passion for learning. Dr. Coriano then went on to complete her Master's Degree and her Ph.D. in psychology at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA . With a passion for education, learning, and facilitating positive development and psychological wellbeing in children, she completed both her internship and postdoctoral training within the school system in order to further develop her expertise in school psychology.
Dr. Coriano understands the importance of education as a powerful tool to alter trajectories, and, furthermore, that understanding each child's strengths and challenges within the home, school, and community can contribute to a more successful educational experience. Beyond cognitive abilities and academic skills, social, emotional, and behavioral functioning must also be addressed in order for children to be able to reach their maximum potential. With this in mind, Dr. Coriano strives to optimize students' educational experiences, by building on their strengths and supporting their needs within the school setting.
Education and Affiliations:
2011 B.A. (Major - Psychology; Minor - Intercultural Studies) - Elmhurst University, Elmhurst, IL
2015 M.S. (Psychology) - Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
2019 Ph.D. (Psychology) - Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
2019-2020 - Postdoctoral Fellowship, Arizona Psychology Training Consortium
Select Scholarly Works:
Baker, C. N. Saybe, M., Black, C.L., Coriano, V.L., Hill, T.L., & Moberg, S (March 2019). A pilot feasibility study of the Pre-K TIPS coaching model in preschools serving low-income children. Poster presentation at Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Baltimore, MD.
Yates, A.K., Peele, H.M., Coriano, V.L., Petrovic, L., Obus, E., Davis, W & Wing, S. (August 2018). A Critical Analysis of Female Slave Narratives, Part II: A "Herstorical" Intergenerational Account of Trauma, Control, & Policing of Black Bodies Close to Home. Poster presentation at the American Psychological Association 126th Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA.
Coriano, V.L., & Baker, C.N. (August 2017). The impact of racism and discrimination on the psychological well-being of Black and Latinx children: A critical review. Poster presentation at the American Psychological Association 125th Annual Convention, Washington, DC.
Lay Abstract: Racism and discrimination can lead to negative psychological, emotional, and physical health outcomes for people of color. While there is a sizeable literature exploring the psychological impact of racism and discrimination, adolescents and adults have been the focus of the majority of this research. This study explored the relationship between student perceptions of racial discrimination and internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors as well as the potential of teacher cultural competence to buffer against unfavorable outcomes. This study included 688 elementary school students and 65 teachers from six predominantly Black charter schools in New Orleans, Louisiana. Findings indicated that student perceptions of racial discrimination were not linked to internalizing symptoms . However, student perceptions of racial discrimination were linked to externalizing behaviors for Black students. Analyses run for the smaller Latinx population in this study did not detect any relationships between key research variables within this population. Additionally, a comparison of the correlational data from the Black and Latinx subpopulation revealed that Latinx students experienced and/or reported fewer internalizing symptoms and externalizing behaviors in this study, despite endorsing overall higher levels of perceived discrimination than their Black counterparts, suggesting differences in the way that racial discrimination is experienced between these groups. Implications for promoting well-being for Black and Latinx students are discussed.
Yates, A.K., Peele, H.M., Coriano, V.L., Petrovic, L., Obus, E., Wing, S., & Davis, W. (August 2017). A critical analysis of female slave narratives: A herstorical development of fear toward policing. Poster presentation at the American Psychological Association 125th Annual Convention, Washington, DC.
Coriano, V.L., & Baker, C.N. (May 2015). Cultural adaptation in mental health programming. Are we doing enough to promote change? Poster presentation at the Society for Prevention Research Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.
Lay Abstract: Cultural adaptation has emerged as a promising method to reduce mental health disparities that exist between White and ethnic minority groups. Although previous research has been conducted to develop methods for culturally adapting interventions for physical health as well as to culturally adapt mental health interventions for adult populations, minimal research has evaluated cultural adaptation in the context of early childhood mental health. Given the promise of effective early childhood prevention and intervention programs to prevent unfavorable outcomes across the lifespan, understanding cultural adaptation within this context is critical. The first aim of this study was to develop a tool that would provide a standardized method for researchers to rate the level of cultural adaptation in evidence based programs that are being considered for use with ethnic minority populations. The second aim focused on revealing the extent to which cultural adaptation was being implemented within early prevention and intervention programming. The results of this study indicated that while some features of cultural adaptation are being mentioned in the literature, there is a lack of explicit discussion of cultural adaptation methods being utilized in the early childhood prevention and intervention literature and therefore the impact of cultural adaptation is difficult to measure. Although this study was unable to detect a relationship between cultural adaptation and intervention effectiveness, a positive relationship between treatment fidelity and intervention effectiveness was detected. Furthermore, a standardized method of measuring cultural adaption was developed.