Elizabeth B. Owens, Ph.D., Research Psychologist and Lecturer

Overview of research interests:

I am primarily interested in understanding individual differences in the development of psychopathology.  Which factors predict and which causal mechanisms explain differences in developmental trajectories toward or away from psychopathologic outcomes? Why does one child become affected and not another?  In pursuit of answers to these questions, I focus my research efforts in three substantive areas:  a) the etiology and prevention of antisocial and other forms of externalizing behavior, b) children at high risk for developing psychopathology who demonstrate resilience, and c) the development of young children from impoverished families.  Additionally, I am keenly interested in the proper methodological and statistical approaches to the study of developmental change.  I am committed to improving the scientific methods used to study individual differences in the development of psychopathology in children, especially the conceptual issues, research methods, and statistical approaches related to risk and resilience, key explanatory paradigms within the field of developmental psychopathology.