Professional Bio

Current Courses

SOC 5 - Social Problems (The Social Construction of Social Problems)

SOC/CRIM 479 - Special Topics: Community Engaged Research: Science for the Greater Good

Academic and Professional Interests

Socioeconomic and Health Disparities

Youth Development, Identity, and Culture

Community Research

Popular Music and Media Studies

Recent Presentations and Talks

Ahlkvist, J. A. (September 2019). Supporting and Empowering First-Generation College Students. Paper presented at the Annual Division of Undergraduate Studies Conference on Promoting Innovative Scholarship on Academic Advising, Penn State University, University Park, PA.

Wadsworth, M.E. & Ahlkvist, J. A. (April 2019). Reducing the Biological and Psychological Toxicity of Poverty-related Stress: Building a Strong Identity and Coping Skills. Paper presented at the Global Mental Health Research without Borders 10^th anniversary conference, Bethesda, MD.

Ahlkvist, J. A., Gilfillan, B. (March 2019). Helping First-Generation Students Find & Keep their Balance in College. Presentation for the Penn State University Undergraduate Education Steering Committee, University Park, PA.

Wadsworth, M., Broderick, A., Loughlin-Presnal, J., & Ahlkvist, J. A. (September 2018). Physiologic reactivity to and recovery from acute social-evaluative stress: Differential associations with preadolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology, Irvin, CA

Recent Publications

Wadsworth, M.E., Broderick, A.V., Loughlin-Presnal, J.E., Bendezú, J.J., Joos, C., Ahlkvist, J.A., Perzow, S.E.D.,  & McDonald, A. (In Press - 2019). Co-activation of SAM and HPA Responses to Acute Stress: A Review of the Literature and Test of Differential Associations with Preadolescents’ Internalizing and Externalizing. Developmental Psychobiology.

Wadsworth, M.E., McDonald, A., Perzow, S.E., Joos, C.M., Ahlkvist, J.A., Tilghman-Osborne, E.M., & Brelsford, G.  (in press - 2019). Reducing the Biological and Psychological Toxicity of Poverty related Stress: Building a Strong Identity and Coping Skills. American Journal of Community Psychology.

Wadsworth, M. E., Ahlkvist, J. A., McDonald, A., & Tilghman-Osborne, E. (2018). Future directions in research and intervention with youths in poverty. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2018.1485108

Wadsworth, M. E., Bendezú, J. J., Loughlin-Presnal, J., Ahlkvist, J. A., Tilghman-Osborne, E., Bianco, H., . . . Hurwich-Reiss, E. (2018). Unlocking the black box: A multilevel analysis of preadolescent children’s coping. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 47(4), 527-541. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2016.1141356

Wadsworth, M. E., & Ahlkvist, J. A. (2015). Inequality begins outside the home: Putting parental educational investments into context. In P. R. Amato, A. Booth, S. M. McHale & J. Van Hook (Eds.), Families in an era of increasing inequality: Diverging destinies; families in an era of increasing inequality: Diverging destinies (pp. 95-103, Chapter xiv, 242 Pages) Springer International Publishing, Cham. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08308-7_7

Ahlkvist, J. (2015). Climbing the charts: What radio airplay tells us about the diffusion of innovation. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 44(4), 550-552.

Selected Earlier Publications

Ahlkvist, Jarl A. 2011. “What Makes Rock Music ‘Prog?’ Fan Evaluation and the Struggle to Define Progressive Rock.” Popular Music and Society, 34 (5) December: 639-660.

Rhoades, G. K., McIntosh, D. N., Wadsworth, M. E., Ahlkvist, J. A., Burwell, R. A., Gudmundsen, G. R., . . . Rea, J. G. (2007). Forgiving the september 11th terrorists: Associations with coping, psychological distress, and religiosity. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal, 20(2), 109-128. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1061580070119540

Ahlkvist, J. A., & Faulkner, R. (2006). Are they playing our song? programming strategies on commercial music radio. In J. Lampel, J. Shamsie & T. K. Lant (Eds.), The business of culture: Strategic perspectives on entertainment and media; the business of culture: Strategic perspectives on entertainment and media (pp. 155-176, Chapter xv, 328 Pages) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, Mahwah, NJ.

Ahlkvist, J. A. (2001). Programming philosophies and the rationalization of music radio. Media, Culture & Society, 23(3), 339-358.

Ahlkvist, J. A. (1999). Music and cultural analysis in the classroom: Introducing sociology through heavy metal. Teaching Sociology, 27(2), 126-144.