Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center

Susan Dickstein, PhD

Director of the Early Childhood Clinical Research Center at Bradley Hospital

Associate professor at theWarren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Background Information

Susan Dickstein, PhD, is the director of the Early Childhood Clinical Research Center. She is an expert in the prevention and treatment of adverse developmental outcomes in children from birth to five years old. She specializes in researching children from high-risk families, typically those with maternal depression or from impoverished circumstances.

A committee member for Brown University's clinical psychology internship and postdoctoral program, Dickstein coordinates and supervises a unique early childhood training experience focused on community-based mental health centers serving high-risk children, from birth to five years old, and their families.

Dickstein, an honors graduate of the University of Michigan, earned her master's degree and doctorate, both in clinical psychology, from the University of Illinois.

She is a founding board member of the Rhode Island Association for Infant Mental Health.

Research Interests

Dickstein's clinical and research work focuses on the prevention and treatment of adverse developmental outcomes in children from birth to five years old. She specializes in conducting research and clinical interventions with children from high-risk families, typically those in which the mother is depressed or those living in impoverished circumstances. She has collaborated on several National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants within the realm of developmental psychopathology, attachment theory, family risk, maternal depression and early childhood mental health issues

She is currently the principal investigator on an Administration for Children and Families (ACF) grant to assess child outcomes in Head Start as a function of program evaluation practices. More specifically, this project examines the impact of an intervention designed to enhance Head Start teachers' ability to use a classroom-based system of tracking and monitoring child developmental progress (Head Start MAP:0-5) for child outcomes. The intervention is a manualized, domain-specific approach to providing teacher feedback, supervision, and training that specifically links an on-going program evaluation system with improved child outcomes by targeting teachers' ability to: 1) enhance child developmental performance, 2) individualize curricula, and 3) maintain optimal classroom learning environments.

Dickstein has also conducted National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded longitudinal investigations exploring the impact of maternal psychopathology on child and family developmental outcomes. Focus has been on the extent to which levels of family functioning are inter-related and impact child outcomes. Further, specific examination has been made of the extent to which marital attachment may function as a protective factor in the transmission of insecure attachment relationships across generations. She has developed unique interview methods (Marital Attachment Interview) as well as family observational coding systems (Mealtime Interaction Coding System); and has participated in the Family Narrative Consortium (funded by the MacArthur Foundation) to develop narrative-based assessment protocols.

Honors

Since September 2005, Dickstein has been the president of the Rhode Island Association for Infant Mental Health.

Selected Publications

Mitchell, M. J., Powers, S. W., Byars, K. C., Dickstein, S., & Stark, L. J. (in press). Family functioning I young children with cystic fibrosis: Observations of interactions at mealtime. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

Maxted, A., Dickstein, S., Miller-Loncar, C., High, P., Spritz., B., Liu, J., & Lester, B.L. (2005). Infant Colic and Maternal Depression. Infant Mental Health Journal, 26, 56-68.

Dickstein, S. (2004). Marital Attachment Narratives and Family Functioning. In B.F. Fiese and M. Pratt (Eds.), Family Stories and Life Course: Across Time and Generations. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc., Inc.

Walders, N., McQuaid, E., & Dickstein, S. (2004). Asthma in Head Start and Early Head Start: Staff awareness and training priorities. Journal of School Health, 74 (1), 32-34.

Seifer, R., Sameroff, A.J., Dickstein, S., Schiller, M., & Hayden, L.C. (2004). Your Own Children are Special: Clues to the Sources of Reporting Bias in Temperament Assessment. Infant Behavior and Development, 27, 323-341.

Miller, A. L., Gouley, K. K., Seifer, R., Dickstein, S., & Shields, A. (2004). Emotions and behaviors in the Head Start classroom: Associations among observed dysregulation, social competence, and preschool adjustment. Early Education and Development, 15,147-165.

Dickstein, S., Seifer, R., Albus, K.E. (2004). Attachment patterns across multiple family relationships in adulthood: Associations with maternal depression. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 735-752.

Miller, A. L., Gouley, K. K., Shields, A., Dickstein, S., Seifer, R., Dodge-Magee, K., & Fox, C. (2003). Brief functional screening for transition difficulties prior to enrolment predicts socio-emotional competence and school adjustment in Head Start preschoolers. Early Child Development and Care, 173 (6), 681-698.

Dickstein, S. (2002). Postpartum depression. In: Neil J. Salkind (Ed.), Macmillan Psychology Reference Series, Vol. 1: Child Development. New York: Macmillan Reference USA.

Dickstein, S. (2002) Family routines and rituals: The importance of family functioning. Journal of Family Psychology, 6(4), 441-444.

Dickstein, S. (2002). Head Start: Ready or Not? The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, vol. 18 (no. 8), 8.

Dickstein, S., Seifer, R., Eguia, M., Kuersten, R., Magee, K.D. (2002). Early Head Start MAP: Manualized Assessment of Progress. Infant Mental Health Journal, 23, 231-249.

Dickstein, S. & Martin, S. (2002). What's for Dinner?: Family Functioning, Maternal Depression, and Early Childhood Outcomes. Zero to Three, 22 (4), 21-28.

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