Contacts
After completing my postgraduate degrees in Australia, I worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Children and Families, Florida International University, USA and at the Institute for the Reduction of Youth Violence, Simon Fraser University, Canada. In Jan 2016 I returned to Australia to begin a Lecturer position at ANU. I have been registered as a Psychologist (endorsement in Clinical Psychology) since 2011, and have practiced in various community and university settings. My research and clinical expertise is in child and family psychology.
Research interests
- Parenting and the parent-child relationship
- Child maltreatment and out-of-home-care
- Family-based treatment and prevention
- Child and youth antisocial behaviour and callous-unemotional traits (e.g., lack of guilt and empathy)
Grants
2017-2020: Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award.
2014-2017: Parent training and emotion coaching for children with limited prosocial emotions. Funding body: National Institute of Mental Health (USA). Principal Investigators: Lynn Katz, Robert McMahon; Co-Investigators: Shannon Dorsey, Suzanne Kerns, Dave Pasalich, Michael Pullman.
2013-2016: Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship (Canada).
2013-2015: Child & Family Research Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship (Canada). (Funding declined in favour of the MSFHR Postdoctoral Fellowship.)
Groups
- Leader, Child Wellbeing Research Group
Projects
- Principal investigator, Connecting Kin Research Project: Evaluation of a Trauma- and Attachment-Based Support Program for Kinship Parents
- Supervisor, A systematic review of the effectiveness of attachment-based and emotion-focused parenting interventions for reducing externalising and internalising behaviours
- Supervisor, Affective quality of the kinship parent-child relationship and child behavioural and emotional adjustment
- Supervisor, Assessing adolescents’ perspectives of the quality of the parent-teen relationship
- Supervisor, Seeking Practitioners to Provide their Opinions on Timeout!
Book Chapters
Pasalich, D. S., & Palfrey, N. (2021). Working with families of children who have experienced maltreatment. In J. Allen, D. Hawes, & C. Essau (Eds.), Family-based intervention for child and adolescent mental health: A core competencies approach. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
McMahon, R. J., & Pasalich, D. S. (2020). Evidence-based interventions for oppositional behavior and other conduct problems in young children. In R. G. Steele and M. C. Roberts (Eds.), Handbook of evidence-based therapies for children and adolescents (2nd ed.). New York: Springer.
McMahon, R. J., & Pasalich, D. S. (2020). Parenting and family intervention in treatment. In M. Sanders & A. Morawska (Eds.), Handbook of parenting and child development across the lifespan. New York: Springer.
Moretti, M. M., Pasalich, D. S., & O’Donnell, K. A. (2018). An attachment-based program for parents of teens. In H. Steele & M. Steele (Eds.), Handbook of attachment-based interventions. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
McMahon, R. J., & Pasalich, D.S. (2016). Family-based interventions for young children with conduct problems as a means of delinquency prevention. In D.J. Pepler, J. Cummings, & W.M. Craig (Eds.), Healthy development, healthy communities (pp. 145-166) (PREVNet Series, Volume IV). Kingston, ON: PREVNet.
Kimonis, E. R., Pardini, D. A., Pasalich, D. S., & McMahon, R. J. (2014). Callous and unemotional specifier for conduct disorder. In G. Gabbard (Ed.), Gabbard's treatments of psychiatric disorders (5th ed., pp. 747-754). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
Pardini, D. A., Pasalich, D. S., Kimonis, E. R., & McMahon, R. J. (2014). Conduct disorder. In G. Gabbard (Ed.), Gabbard's treatments of psychiatric disorders (5th ed., pp. 739-746). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
Pasalich D. S., McMahon, R. J., Kimonis, E. R., & Pardini, D. A. (2014). Oppositional defiant disorder. In G. Gabbard (Ed.), Gabbard's treatments of psychiatric disorders (5th ed., pp. 725-731). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
Hawes, D. J., Dadds, M. R., & Pasalich, D. S. (2013). Observational coding methods. In R. Comer & P. Kendall (Eds.), Oxford handbook of research strategies for clinical psychology (pp. 120-141). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Journal Articles (*students under my primary supervision at time of publication)
Suomi, A., Bolton, A., & Pasalich, D. S. (in press). The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in birth parents in child protection services: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.
Chia*, K., Pasalich, D. S., Fassnacht, D. B., Ali, K., Kyrios, M., Maclean, B., & Grisham, J. R. (in press). Interpersonal attachment, early family environment, and trauma in hoarding: A systematic review. Clinical Psychology Review.
Canning*, M. G., Jugovac*, S., & Pasalich, D. S. (in press). An updated account on parents’ use of and attitudes towards time-out. Child Psychiatry & Human Development.
McKenna*, S., Olsen, A., & Pasalich, D. S. (in press). Understanding strengths in adolescent–parent relationships: A qualitative analysis of adolescent speech samples. Journal of Research on Adolescence.
Pasalich, D. S., Moretti, M. M., Hassall*, A., & Curcio, A. (in press). Pilot randomized controlled trial of an attachment- and trauma-focused intervention for kinship caregivers. Child Abuse & Neglect.
Pasalich, D. S., Craig, S. G., Goulter, N., O’Donnell, K. A., Sierra Hernandez, C., & Moretti, M. M. (in press). Patterns and predictors of different youth responses to attachment-based parent intervention. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology.
Hassall*, A., van Rensburg*, E. J., Trew, S., Hawes, D. J., & Pasalich, D. S. (in press). Does kinship vs. foster care better promote connectedness? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review.
Bui*, N. H., & Pasalich, D. S. (2021). Insecure attachment, maladaptive personality traits, and the perpetration of in-person and cyber psychological abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36, 2117-2139.
McKenna*, S., Hassall*, A., O'Kearney, R., & Pasalich, D. S. (2020). Gaining a new perspective on the quality of parent–adolescent relationships from adolescent speech samples. Journal of Family Psychology, 34, 938-948.
Goulter, N., McMahon, R. J., Pasalich, D. S., & Dodge, K. A. (2020). Indirect effects of early parenting on adult antisocial outcomes via adolescent conduct disorder symptoms and callous-unemotional traits. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 49, 930-942.
Pasalich, D. S., Fleming, C. B., Spieker, S. J., Lohr, M. J., & Oxford, M. L. (2019). Does parents’ own history of child abuse moderate the effectiveness of the Promoting First Relationships® intervention in child welfare? Child Maltreatment, 24, 56-65.
Schuberth, D. A., Zheng, Y., Pasalich, D. S., McMahon, R. J., Kamboukos, D., Dawson-McClure, S., & Miller Brotman, L. (2019). The role of emotion understanding in the development of aggression and callous-unemotional features across early childhood. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 47, 619-631.
Weston, S., Hawes, D. J., & Pasalich, D. S. (2017). The Five Minute Speech Sample as a measure of parent-child dynamics: Evidence from observational research. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26, 118-136.
Zheng, Y., Pasalich, D. S., Oberth, C., McMahon, R. J., & Pinderhughes, E. E. (2017). Capturing parenting as a multidimensional and dynamic construct with a person-oriented approach. Prevention Science, 18, 281-291.
Dadds, M. R., Gale, N., Godbee, M., Moul, C., Pasalich, D. S., Fink, E., & Hawes, D. J. (2016). Expression and regulation of attachment-related emotions in children with conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 47, 647-656.
Pasalich, D. S., Cyr, M., Zheng, Y., McMahon, R. J., & Spieker, S. J. (2016). Child abuse history in teen mothers and parent-child risk processes for offspring externalizing problems. Child Abuse & Neglect, 56, 89-98.
Pasalich, D. S., Fleming, C. B., Oxford, M. L., Zheng, Y., & Spieker, S. J. (2016). Can parenting intervention prevent cascading effects from placement instability to insecure attachment to externalizing problems in maltreated toddlers? Child Maltreatment, 21, 175-185.
Pasalich, D. S., Witkiewitz, K., McMahon, R. J., Pinderhughes, E. E., & the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2016). Indirect effects of the Fast Track intervention on conduct disorder symptoms and callous-unemotional traits: Distinct pathways involving discipline and warmth. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44, 587-597.
Boustani, M. M., Frazier, S. L., Becker, K. D., Bechor, M., Dinizulu, S. M., Hedemann, E. R., Ogle, R. R., & Pasalich, D. S. (2015). Common elements of adolescent prevention programs: Minimizing burden while maximizing reach. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 42, 209-219.
Graziano, P., Bagner, D., Slavec, J., Rodriguez, G., Kent, K., Babinski, D., Derefinko, K., & Pasalich, D. (2015). Feasibility of providing Intensive Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (I-PCIT): Results from an open trial. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 37, 38-49.
Cyr, M., Pasalich, D. S., McMahon, R. J., & Spieker, S. J. (2014). The longitudinal link between parenting and child aggression: The moderating effect of attachment security. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 45, 555-564.
Miller, N. V., Johnston, C., & Pasalich, D. S. (2014). Parenting and conduct problems: Moderation by child empathy. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 36, 74-83.
Pasalich, D. S., Dadds, M. R., & Hawes, D. J. (2014). Cognitive and affective empathy in children with conduct problems: Additive and interactive effects of callous-unemotional traits and autism spectrum disorders symptoms. Psychiatry Research, 219, 625-630.
Pasalich, D. S., Waschbusch, D. A., Dadds, M. R., & Hawes, D. J. (2014). Emotion socialization style in parents of children with callous–unemotional traits. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 45, 229-242.
Pasalich, D. S., Dadds, M. R., Hawes, D. J., & Brennan, J. (2012). Attachment and callous-unemotional traits in children with early-onset conduct problems. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53, 838-845.
Pasalich, D. S., Dadds, M. R., Vincent, L. C., Cooper, F. A., Hawes, D. J., & Brennan, J. (2012). Emotional communication in families of conduct-problem children with high versus low callous-unemotional traits. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 41, 302-313.
Dadds, M. R., Jambrak, J., Pasalich, D. S., Hawes, D. J., & Brennan, J. (2011). Impaired attention to the eyes of attachment figures and the developmental origins of psychopathy. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52, 238-245.
Pasalich, D. S., Dadds, M. R., Hawes, D. J., & Brennan, J. (2011). Do callous-unemotional traits moderate the relative importance of parental coercion versus warmth in child conduct problems? An observational study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52, 1308-1315.
Pasalich, D. S., Dadds, M. R., Hawes, D. J., & Brennan, J. (2011). Assessing relational schemas in parents of children with externalizing behavior disorders: Reliability and validity of the Family Affective Attitude Rating Scale. Psychiatry Research, 185, 438-443.
Pasalich, D. S., Livesey, D. J., & Livesey, E. J. (2010). Performance on Stroop-like assessments of inhibitory control by 4- and 5-year-old children. Infant and Child Development, 19, 252-263.
- PSYC8102 Child Psychopathology & Intervention
- PSYC8410 Foundations of Professional Psychology
