Jennifer Piscitello

Jennifer Piscitello, Ph.D., is a Research Assistant Professor at the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University.

Dr. Piscitello completed her undergraduate training in Psychology and Political Science at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook. Following graduation, she obtained employment working with families requiring public assistance in a transitional (temporary) housing program on Long Island, NY. She also completed a post-bachelor Research Assistantship at Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Piscitello completed her doctoral training in Psychology with a specialization in Child and Adolescent Psychology at Louisiana State University and completed her internship/residency at the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Piscitello was awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein Institutional National Research Service Award (T32) Fellowship (NIH/NIDA) at the Center for Children and Families (CCF) at FIU and joined the CCF faculty as a Research Assistant Professor in 2022.

Dr. Piscitello's research program encompasses three primary areas: (1) Examining the transactional relationship between child and caregiver psychological adjustment; (2) Developing and evaluating assessment tools for understanding child, adolescent, and parent functioning; and (3) Optimizing treatment gains for children and their families, particularly for those who are traditionally underrepresented in psychological research. She has explored these ideas within a multitude of contexts and populations (e.g., natural disasters, childhood behavioral problems, underserved and traditionally marginalized communities). Within a developmental psychopathology framework, her research aims to identify risk and protective factors that can be leveraged to enhance optimal treatment sequencing, as well as the acceptability, cultural relevance, and efficacy of treatment for diverse families. She is also interested in the use of novel technology in improving assessment and treatment of child disruptive behavior disorders (e.g., ADHD, ODD). An important secondary interest includes examining the impact of public health stressor events (e.g., natural disasters, COVID-19) on the bidirectional relationship between parent and child functioning.

Dr. Piscitello is also a licensed Clinical Psychologist and currently serves as Co-Assistant Director for the Summer Treatment Program – Elementary (STP-E), an intensive, evidenced based intervention for children with ADHD and related behavioral concerns, and is the Co-Clinical Director of the After School Program (ATP), a program modeled after the STP-E.

Research Areas

• Reciprocal/transactional nature of caregiver-child interactions in children with disruptive behavior disorders and related comorbidities
• Development and evaluation of assessment, treatment, progress monitoring tools
• Leveraging novel technologies to improve treatment and assessment of child behavior problems

Education

• 2020 - 2022, Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (T32) Postdoctoral Fellowship, Center for Children and Families, Florida International University
• 2020, Ph.D. (Child Clinical Psychology), Louisiana State University
• 2020, Pediatric Clinical Psychology Predoctoral Internship, 2020, Mailman Center for Child Development, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine
• 2017, M.A., Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
• 2010, B.A., Psychology and Political Science, Stony Brook University, SUNY, Stony Brook, NY

Selected Publications