Headshot of Katie.

Katie Firestone

Graduate Student
Entry Year: 2025-2026
Faculty Mentor(s): Jeremy Jamieson

Office Location
472 Meliora Hall

Research Overview

Katie studies how stress impacts performance, particularly in athletes, and develops methods to improve acute stress responses and well-being. Her goal is to leverage psychological research methods and sports analytics to advance both theory and real-world application.

Selected Publications

  • Slavich, G. M., Mengelkoch, S., Gassen, J., Moriarity, D. P., Alley, J. C., Kim, L. Y., Firestone, K., Roos, L. G., Afshar, K., Thota, D. D., Mayer, C., Alavi, A., Perelman, D., Krupnick, J. L., May, M., Bowman, K., Hua, J., Lieberman, A. F., Butte, A. J., … Snyder, M. P. (2025). Precision Intervention for Stress and Resilience (PRECISE): A randomized clinical trial [Manuscript submitted for publication]. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles.

Selected Conference Presentations

  • Firestone, K., Gassen, J., & Slavich, G. M. (2025, August). Turning stress into success: Exploring the impact of stress mindset on athletic performance. Poster presented at the American Psychological Association 2025 Conference “Society for Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology”; Denver, CO.
  • Firestone, K., Gassen, J., & Slavich, G. M. (2024, August 24-25). Stress mindset and the relationship between lifetime stress exposure and performance outcomes in college baseball players [Oral presentation]. Sabermetrics, Scouting, and Science of Baseball Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
  • Firestone, K., Mengelkoch, S., Kim, L. Y., Bowman, K., & Slavich, G. M. (2024, May 23-26). Body awareness moderates the efficacy of a precision stress management intervention. Poster session presented at the Association for Psychological Science Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
  • Firestone, K., Azpeitia, J., & Cheryan, S. (2022, February). Are Black athletes perceived as having more natural athletic ability than White or Asian athletes? Poster session presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA.

Honors

  • Association for Applied Sports Psychology Seed Grant (Awarded $500)—The Association for Applied Sport Psychology offers seed grants ranging from $250 to $5,000 to support research by early career professionals or students.