Faculty

Bridget K. Biggs Yo Jackson Michael Roberts

Ric Steele Eric Vernberg

Bridget K. Biggs
Email

Ph.D. from University of Kansas, completed internship at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, and Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center.

Research Interests

• Friendships and social networks in childhood and adolescence
• Peer acceptance, rejection, and conflict
• Bullying and peer victimization
• Anxiety disorders in childhood and adolescence

I work from a developmental-contextual model to understand children’s social-emotional development in the peer context. That is, I am interested in how children and adolescents’ experiences with peers (e.g., friendships, peer acceptance, victimization by bullies) influences and is influenced by their feelings, thoughts, and actions. I am also interested in how these processes unfold across time and developmental stages. My work has addressed questions related to friendship jealousy, friendship quality following relocation, enemy relationships, bully-victim dynamics, and school-based interventions. My research currently focuses on the potential impact anxiety may have on friendships and how peer relations may influence emotional development in early adolescence. I aim to understand better anxious youth’s social development, the processes underlying their difficulties and successes in the peer world, and how these experiences affect their well-being. Related to this area of research, I am also interested in measurement issues such as investigating the cross-cultural validity of measures and reporter effects. Ultimately, I strive for my research to have clinical application, either directly or indirectly, and lead to greater treatment success for children and adolescents.

 

Clinical Interests

Clinically, I am interested in the treatment of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents, social skills training, interventions addressing bully-victim problems, and school-based interventions. I am familiar with a wide variety of evidence-based treatments. My theoretical framework draws strongly from the cognitive-behavioral and systems traditions but is also influenced by interpersonal and psychodynamic perspectives.

 

Publications

Randall, C. J., & Biggs, B. K. (in press) Enhancing therapeutic gains: Fidelity to the Intensive Mental Health Program treatment model. Journal of Child and Family Studies.

Roberts, M. C., Vernberg, E. M., Biggs, B. K., Randall, C. J., Jacobs, A. K. (in press). Lessons Learned from the Intensive Mental Health Program: A school based, community oriented program for children with serious emotional disturbances. Journal of Child and Family Studies.

Vernberg, E. M., Roberts, M. C., Jacobs, A. K., Randall, C. J, Biggs, B. K., & Nyre, J. E. (in press). Outcomes and findings of program evaluation for the Intensive Mental Health Program. Journal of Child and Family Studies.

Varela, R. E., Sanchez-Sosa, J. J., Biggs, B. K., & Luis, T. (in press). Anxiety Symptoms and fears in Hispanic and European American children: Cross-cultural measurement equivalence. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment.

Vernberg, E. M., Greenhoot, A., & Biggs, B. K. (2006). Intercommunity relocation and adolescent friendships: Who struggles and why? Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 511-523.

Vernberg, E. M., Roberts, M. C., Randall, C. J., Biggs, B. K., Nyre, J. E., & Jacobs, A. K. (2006). Intensive mental health services for children with serious emotional disturbances through a school-based, community-oriented program. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 11, 417-430.

Varela, R. E., & Biggs, B. K. (2006). Reliability and validity of the RCMAS across samples of Mexican, Mexican American, and European American children: A preliminary investigation. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping: An International Journal, 19, 67-80.

Parker, J. G., Low, C. M., Walker, A. R., & Gamm [Biggs], B. K. (2005). Children’s friendship jealousy: Assessment of individual differences and links to sex, self-esteem, aggression, and social adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 41, 235-250.

Dill, E. J., Vernberg, E. M., Fonagy, P., Twemlow, S. W., & Gamm [Biggs], B. K. (2004). Negative affect in victimized children: The roles of social withdrawal, peer rejection, and attitudes toward bullying. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32, 159-173.

Parker, J. G., & Gamm [Biggs], B. K. (2003). Describing the dark side of children’s peer experiences: Four questions (and data) on children’s enemies. In E. V. E. Hodges & N. Card (Eds.), The (unwanted) company they keep: Enemy relationships in childhood and adolescence. New Directions in Child Development (pp.55-72). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Vernberg, E. M., & Gamm [Biggs], B. K. (2003). Resistance to violence prevention interventions in schools: Barriers and solutions. Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 5, 125-138.