Lab Updates
March 2024
Congratulations to Brianna Ricker on receiving the Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship for the 2024-2025 academic year!
Brianna Ricker received an Honorable Mention for the Routh Research and Dissertation Grant from the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.
February 2024
The Prevention & Intervention Lab began offering free positive parenting seminars for families living in Texas. For additional information, click here.
Brianna Ricker received a $1,500 Graduate Student Research Grant from Texas Tech University to support her dissertation project.
January 2024
Antonio Pagán, Brianna Ricker, Dr. Cooley, and Carlos Sanchez published a manuscript in Child Psychiatry & Human Development entitled “ADHD Symptoms and Sleep Problems During Middle Childhood: The Indirect Effect of Peer Victimization.” Overall, results from this cross-sectional study suggest that peer victimization (traditional and cyber) may link ADHD symptoms to children’s sleep disturbance and sleep-related impairment. Link.
December 2023
Congratulations to Brianna Ricker on successfully proposing her dissertation!
Carlos Sanchez, Dr. Cooley, and Brianna Ricker published a manuscript in Development and Psychopathology entitled “Associations Between Forms of Aggression and Peer Victimization: Does Prosocial Behavior Matter?” Findings from the study revealed that physical aggression predicted more stable patterns of peer victimization over a 2-year period, and prosocial behavior moderated the longitudinal association between relational aggression and peer victimization; interestingly, it appears that the use of relational aggression can be adaptive when children also exhibit higher levels of prosocial behavior. Link
November 2023
Brianna Ricker and Dr. Cooley published a manuscript in the Journal of Child and Family Studies entitled “Parental Psychological Control and Childhood Externalizing Problems: Indirect Effects Through Peer Victimization.” Findings from the study suggest that parents can have an impact on children’s involvement in aggression, delinquency, and rule-breaking behavior through their impact on peer relations. Link
The Prevention & Intervention Lab was active at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 2024 Annual Convention in Seattle, WA. Dr. Cooley presented a talk on “Modular CBT for Victims of Bullying With Co-Occurring Mental Health Needs: Results From a Pilot Study.” Brianna Ricker presented a poster entitled “Parental Psychological Control and Peer Victimization: The Moderating Role of Maladaptive Cognitive Appraisals.” Carlos Sanchez presented a poster entitled “The Role of Parents and Teachers in the Bidirectional Associations Between Peer Victimization and Callous-Unemotional Traits.” Brooke Streicher presented a poster entitled “The Influence of Parental Hostility on Internalizing Problems in Middle Childhood: The Indirect Effect of Emotion Dysregulation.” To see photos from the conference, click here.
October 2023
Dr. Cooley, Gabriela Lelakowska, and Brianna Ricker published a manuscript with colleagues at TTU Health Sciences Center and Dr. Caroline Cummings in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology entitled “Latent Profiles of Sleep Disturbance and Impairment in Elementary School-Age Youth: Concurrent and Longitudinal Associations with Emotional, Behavioral, and Academic Functioning.” Findings from this study highlight the importance of examining self-reports of sleep problems and the need for intervention among children exhibiting elevated sleep disturbance and impairment. Link
September 2023
Our name has changed to the Prevention & Intervention Lab (we were previously known as the TTU Peer Relations Lab).
Congratulations to Brianna Ricker on successfully defending her qualifying examination and becoming a doctoral candidate!
Dr. Cooley, Brianna Ricker, and Victoria Dennis were trained in Triple P—Positive Parenting Program—Selected Seminar Series.
August 2023
Congratulations to Carlos Sanchez on successfully defending his master’s thesis!
Our lab has moved to a newly renovated office at Tech Plaza.
May 2023
Congratulations to Brianna Ricker on being selected for the TTU Department of Psychological Sciences’ Robert Earl Maxey Memorial Clinical Psychology Scholarship for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Congratulations to our undergraduate research assistant, Sarah Sadek, on graduating from Texas Tech!
April 2023
Texas Tech Today published an article on Dr. Cooley & Dr. Mitchell’s suicide prevention project. To see the story, click here.
Dr. Cooley was recently interviewed by KCBD NewsChannel 11 regarding talking with children about school shootings. To see the story, click here.
Dr. Cooley and Brianna Ricker published an article in the Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment with colleagues from the University of Kansas entitled “Bidirectional Links Between Coping Strategies and Sibling and Peer Victimization Among Elementary School-Age Youth.” Findings from this study revealed that associations between victimization and coping strategies appear to vary somewhat depending on who the aggressor is, but the majority of effects are similar for boys and girls. Link
March 2023
We are thrilled to have Jenna Sims joining the TTU Peer Relations Lab next Fall! She was selected as a Helen DeVitt Jones Fellow in the TTU Department of Psychological Sciences for the 2023-2027 academic years.
The TTU Peer Relations Lab was busy at the Society for Research in Child Development 2023 Biennial Meeting in Salt Lake City, UT. Dr. Cooley presented a talk entitled “Nonlinear Effects of Childhood Aggression on Social Functioning in Early Adulthood,” as part of a symposium. Brianna Ricker presented a flash talk entitled “Interactive Effects of Parental Support and Psychological Control on Children’s Emotion Regulation.” Carlos Sanchez presented a poster entitled “Associations Between Peer Victimization and Callous-Unemotional Traits: The Role of Parents and Teachers.” Lizzy Gunder presented a poster entitled “The Indirect Effects of Sleep Problems on the Associations Between Peer Victimization and Emotional Problems.” Brianna Ricker also presented a poster entitled “Teacher Conflict Moderates the Prospective Associations Between Parental Hostility and Children’s Internalizing Problems.” To see photos from the conference, click here.
February 2023
We are so excited to have Elizabeth (“Lizzy”) Gunder (one of our former undergraduate research assistants) staying with the TTU Peer Relations Lab and joining the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program at Texas Tech next Fall!
December 2022
Congratulations to Carlos Sanchez for successfully proposing his master’s thesis.
Congratulations to our undergraduate research assistant, Brooke Streicher, on graduating from Texas Tech!
November 2022
Dr. Cooley, Carlos Sanchez, and Brianna Ricker presented a flash talk at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies entitled “Peer Victimization and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among Children.”
September 2022
Dr. Cooley was selected as a recipient of the 2022 American Psychological Foundation (APF) John and Polly Sparks Early Career Grant for Psychologists Investigating Serious Emotional Disturbance. This will provide $22,000 to support an ongoing project entitled “Initial Evaluation of a Brief Preventive Intervention for Aggressive-Victims.”
July 2022
The TTU Peer Relations Lab contributed three presentations to the Biennial Research Conference on Relational Aggression. Dr. Cooley provided an invited talk entitled “Initial Evaluation of a Brief Intervention for Aggressive-Victims.” Carlos Sanchez provided a data blitz presentation entitled “Prospective Associations Between Forms of Aggression and Peer Victimization: The Moderating Role of Prosocial Behavior.” Brianna Ricker provided a data blitz presentation entitled “Teacher Closeness Buffers the Impact of Parental Hostility on Child Aggression.”
June 2022
Dr. Cooley and Dr. Sean Mitchell in the TTU Department of Psychological Sciences will receive a $1.54 million contract from the State of Texas for a 2-year youth suicide prevention project. This will involve training primary care providers across the West Texas region on evidence-based screening and intervention methods for child and adolescent patients who are experiencing suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors.
We’re proud to announce that Carlos Sanchez was selected for the 2022 cohort of the Towards 2044: Horowitz Early Career Scholar Program through the Society for Research in Child Development.
May 2022
Congratulations to our wonderful graduating undergraduate research assistants: Alessandra Velasquez, Elizabeth Gunder, Megan Chilton, and Jocelyn Dooley.
April 2022
We are so excited to have Montana Baker joining the TTU Peer Relations Lab next Fall! She was selected as a Helen DeVitt Jones Fellow in the TTU Department of Psychological Sciences for the 2022-2023 academic year.
One of our undergraduate research assistants, Brooke Streicher, was awarded the Sharon Shoemaker Scholarship by the TTU Department of Psychological Sciences.
Gabriela Lelakowska, Brianna Ricker, Carlos Sanchez, and Dr. Cooley collaborated with Dr. Tarrah Mitchell at TTU Health Sciences Center on a poster presented at the Annual Conference of the Society of Pediatric Psychology, which was entitled “Latent Profiles of Sleep Disturbance and Impairment in Elementary School-Age Youth: Associations with Emotion-Related Variables.”
March 2022
Dr. Cooley was selected as the recipient of Texas Tech’s 2022 President’s Emerging Engaged Scholarship Award for an ongoing lab project entitled “Mental Health Screening and Prevention Within Elementary Schools.”
Congratulations to Brianna Ricker on being selected for the TTU Department of Psychological Sciences’ C. Mahone Clinical Psychology Scholarship for the 2022-2023 academic year.
February 2022
Brianna Ricker, Dr. Cooley, Carlos Sanchez, and several undergraduate research assistants published a manuscript in the Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment entitled “Prospective Associations between Peer Victimization and Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescence: The Protective Role of Hope.” Findings from this study provide initial support for the notion that hope, or goal-directed thinking, can serve as a protective factor among youth who are victims of peer aggression. Link
Congratulations to Carlos Sanchez on being selected for the Society for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology Diversity Professional Development Award.
Dr. Cooley published a manuscript in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery with colleagues from the Medical University of South Carolina entitled “Differences in Mental Health Engagement and Follow-Up Among Black and White Patients After Traumatic Injury.” Findings from this study revealed that rates of enrollment and engagement were comparable among Black and White patients served by a stepped-care model designed to accelerate mental health recovery following severe injury necessitating hospitalization. Link
January 2022
Dr. Cooley published a manuscript in the Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment with colleagues from the University of Kansas entitled “The Role of Emotion Dysregulation in the Links Between Sibling Victimization and Internalizing Symptoms in Middle Childhood.” Findings from this study indicate that emotion dysregulation mediates the association between sibling victimization and depressive, but not anxiety, symptoms over a 1-year period. Link
November 2021
Major congratulations to Brianna Ricker for successfully defending her master’s thesis!
Dr. Cooley published a manuscript in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology entitled “Interactive Effects of Coping Strategies and Emotion Dysregulation on Childhood Peer Victimization.” Findings from this study suggest that some youth may require interventions that focus on both enhancing emotion regulation skills and teaching strategies for responding to peer victimization in a more adaptive manner. Link
Dr. Cooley published a manuscript in Child Psychiatry & Human Development with colleagues from the University of Kansas entitled “Impact of Sibling Victimization on Child Internalizing Symptoms.” Findings from this study indicate that sibling victimization is more strongly related to depressive symptoms over a 6-month period than peer victimization. Link
August 2021
We are delighted to officially welcome Carlos Sanchez to the TTU Peer Relations Lab and the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program at Texas Tech University! He was selected for a Distinguished Graduate Student Assistantship for the 2021-2025 academic years.
July 2021
Dr. Cooley published a manuscript in Child Maltreatment entitled “Anger and Attention Problems as Mechanisms Linking Maltreatment Subtypes and Witnessed Violence to Social Functioning Among Children in Out-of-Home Care.” Findings from this study highlight the need for interventions to target anger regulation and attentional control among children in out-of-home care in order to mitigate their risk for social maladjustment. Link
June 2021
Brianna Ricker, Carlos Sanchez, Dr. Cooley, and several undergraduate research assistants presented a poster, entitled “Prospective Associations between Peer Victimization and Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescence: The Protective Role of Hope,” at the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology Future Directions Forum.
May 2021
Dr. Cooley published a manuscript in Cognitive and Behavioral Practice entitled “Trauma-Focused CBT in the Context of Parental Chronic Medical Conditions: A Case Report.” Results suggest that TF-CBT offers a promising approach for treating symptoms of posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depression among children of parents with chronic medical conditions, and clinical trials to investigate its effectiveness among this population may be warranted. Link
Dr. Cooley and Brianna Ricker presented a flash talk, entitled “The Costs and Benefits of Bystander Behavior During Elementary School,” at the Association for Psychological Science (APS) Virtual Convention.
April 2021
Dr. Cooley started the TTU Peer Relations Clinic, which will provide free therapy services for children and adolescents (grades 3-8) who have recently experienced peer problems, including bullying and peer victimization.
Dr. Cooley published a manuscript in Prevention Science with colleagues from the University of Denver entitled “Fostering Healthy Futures Preventive Intervention for Children in Foster Care: Long‑term Delinquency Outcomes from a Randomized Controlled Trial.” Findings from this study indicate that a mentoring and skills group program in preadolescence can reduce delinquency and justice involvement for maltreated youth who are at high risk for these outcomes. Link
Congratulations to Brianna Ricker on successfully proposing her Master’s Thesis.
Brianna Ricker presented a poster, entitled “Early Developmental Trajectories of Externalizing Behaviors and Academic Achievement,” at the Virtual Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) based on her work at the University of Texas at Dallas.