Laura Pittman

Research Interests

My research is in the area of developmental psychopathology where I consider how family factors are linked to psychological outcomes in children and adolescents taking into account the context of the family (e.g. poverty status, cultural background, single parenthood) and other stressors (e.g. discrimination, exposure to natural disasters, pandemic stress). Family factors considered include parenting behaviors (e.g. warmth/rejection, behavioral control, ethnic socialization), involvement of grandparents, family conflict and co-parenting. Understanding how these family factors may buffer the risk associated with the family context as well as the complex mechanisms that explain the ways family processes are linked to child outcomes are commonly examined.

Frequently Taught Classes

• PSYC 315: Behavior Disturbances in Children
• PSYC 649: Ethics and Professional Issues in Psychology
• PSYC 654: Practicum in Psychotherapy

Representative Publications

• Pittman, L.D., Brendle, C. R. and Ioffe, M. (2023). Quality and quantity of grandparent contact: Associations with late adolescents’ psychological adjustment. Journal of Family Issues, 44(12), 3059-3088.
• Shelleby, E., Pittman, L. D., Bridgett, D. J., Keane, J., Zolinksi, S. and Caradec, J. (2022). Associations between COVID-19 pandemic stress and financial concerns and parent and child functioning. Journal of Family Psychology, 36(6), 932–942.
• Kochanova, K., Pittman, L. D. and McNeela, L. (2022). Parenting stress and child internalizing and externalizing problems among low-income families: Transactional associations. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 53(1), 76-88.
• Ioffe, M., Pittman, L. D., Kochanova, K. and Pabis, J. (2020). Parent-adolescent communication influences on anxious and depressive symptoms in early adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(8), 1716-1730.
• Pittman, L. D., Cutright, N. H., McNeela, L., Awada, S., Pabis, J. and Shelleby, L. (2020). Coping strategies and psychological symptoms among children on St. Thomas in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 33, 151–160.
• Cutright, N. H., Padgett, E. E., Awada, S., Pabis, J. and Pittman, L. D. (2019). The role of mindfulness in psychological outcomes for children following hurricane exposure. Mindfulness, 10, 1760-1767.
• Gummadam, P., Pittman, L. D. and Ioffe, M. (2015). School belonging, ethnic identity, and psychological adjustment among ethnic minority college students. Journal of Experimental Education, 84, 289-306.