Northern Illinois University
Families and Development in Context Lab
Department of Psychology

Background

I received my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Connecticut in 1996. While there, I worked with Vicky Phares, Ph.D and the late J. Conrad Schwartz, Ph.D., and focused on risk and resilience among children and adolescents, especially as it related to family factors including parenting and family cohesion.

After completing my internship at Crestwood Children's Center in Rochester, NY, I was a postdoctoral research fellowship with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Family Research Consortium. Through this training program I worked with P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, Ph.D., a developmental psychologist focused on policy issues, on projects focused on children and adolescents growing up in low-income families. I stayed on with Lindsay as a Research Scientist on Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study, which explored the impact of the welfare reforms in the late 1990s. I joined NIU's faculty in 2002. In 2011, I became the director of the Clinical Training program. While 2011-2012 was a transition year for me (in terms of learning to balance new responsibilities), with motivated graduate students, I have been able to keep moving forward with my research as well as the students' research.

Current Research

My current research continues to focus on risk and resilience in children and adolescents, specifically, how parents, as well as broader contextual factors, may buffer the expected negative influence of known risk factors (e.g., parental depression, poverty). Many of my studies have examined how grandparents may play a protective role in the lives of children and adolescents at risk. I also have a developing interest in how fathers may co-parent their children. Through my work with some of my graduate students, I also have a growing interest in how culture/race/ethnicity may influence development in children and adolescents, considering the question both demographically as well as through cultural aspects like ethnic identity and racial socialization.

Teaching

I enjoy being a professor, which gives me the opportunity to mentor young professionals and help them grow and develop both in their clinical and research skills.

Graduate Courses Taught

• PSYC 645 - Developmental Psychopathology 
• PSYC 649 - Professional Issues in Clinical Psychology (i.e., ethics and multiculturalism)
• PSYC 654 - Practicum (i.e., supervision in the clinic )

Undergraduate Courses Taught

• PSYC 315 - Developmental Psychopathology (abnormal child psychology)
• PSYC 418 - Introduction to Clinical Psychology

Personal

On the personal side, I love New England, where I grew up and take the opportunity to get to the ocean whenever I can. However, Chicago seems to keep pulling me here, first to study as an undergraduate at Northwestern University, next as a post-doctoral/research scientist at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, and now as a faculty member at NIU. I have applied my knowledge in the real world, as I have raised two daughters, one who is in college and one who is working full-time in New York City.  I also love reading and spending time with my husband and our two family dogs..

If you are interested in learning more about my research or have questions, please contact me at lpittman@niu.edu.