Joan_Christodoulou, Ph.D.
Ιωάννα Χριστοδούλου
As a first generation Greek American, I strongly believe in the value of varied perspectives in language, life, and any field of study. My family, my travels, my relationships, my education, and my investigations guide and nourish me as a researcher, an educator, and life explorer.
Education
Ph.D. in Applied Cognitive Psychology, Claremont Graduate University
M.Phil. in Social & Developmental Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK
B.A., University of California, Berkeley
SERVICES
Editing & Writing
Statistics
Research Methods
COURSES
Introduction to Psychology
Cognitive & Developmental Psychology
Research Methods & Statistics
RESEARCH
Philani: A Home Visiting Intervention in South Africa
The Philani Program is unique as it shifts healthcare tasks to local township women that are trained to be community health workers known as Mentor Mothers. This project aims to evaluate the impact of the home visiting program on maternal and child health in the Townships of Cape Town.
Medication Adherence Trainer (MAT)
Applying cognitive theories based on multisensory learning and positive framing offers the opportunity to address several barriers to medication adherence among youth. This interactive demonstration allows youth to listen to the information about their medication, while looking at a visual demonstration of how it works in their body, and practicing adherence.
EEG Pitzer Baby Lab: Are You Paying Attention?
While behavioral methods, i.e. eye tracking, typically serve as the measure of attention in many attention studies, EEG offers an opportunity to measure both covert and overt attention, even in infants. Our work validated a novel EEG measure of attention for infants using SSVEPs.
DEVELOPING MINDS LAB (DML)
The DML focuses on investigating risk and protective factors influencing development from early childhood into early adulthood in underserved children, youth, and their families.
Elizabeth Shaw is a PhD student in Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University. She is originally from Seattle, WA and graduated from Smith College in 2016 with a BA in psychology. After graduation, she researched the effects of early life adversity using fMRI data at the University of Washington. Elizabeth also worked at the Autism Center, providing therapy for children diagnosed with ADHD and Autism. She is interested in researching resilience in children/adolescents that have experienced early life adversity. Elizabeth is currently working on projects around the impact of COVID-19 on adolescents and the impact of alloparenting in South Africa.
Contact: eshaw@paloaltou.edu
Ellie Vincent is a PhD student in Clinical Psychology at Palo Alto University. She received her B.A. degree in Psychology and Anthropology at Wellesley College in 2019. She is interested in research surrounding children/adolescents as well as cultural factors around mental health. Ellie is currently working on projects around the impact of COVID-19 on adolescents as well as traditional medicine in South Africa. She plans to continue to work with adolescents and young adults through providing therapy. In her free time Ellie teaches gymnastics, enjoys doing crafts, and spends time with her many pets.
Contact: evincent@paloaltou.edu
Gentry is a PhD student in the Clinical Psychology program at Palo Alto University. She has earned three Master’s degrees (Secondary Education, Psychology, and Marriage and Family Therapy). She also has two bachelor’s degrees (Psychology and Criminal Justice). Gentry is interested in pursuing research related to maternal mental health and the maternal bond. In her free time, Gentry enjoys traveling, watching movies, and spending time with her two cats — Remy and Harlow.
Contact: gvest@paloaltou.edu
Elise (she/ her) is a Clinical Psychology PhD student at Palo Alto University. She graduated from Salisbury University with a BS in Elementary and Early Childhood Education in 2016 and a BA in Psychology with a minor in cognitive science in 2020. Elise is currently interested in researching children’s developmental cognitive abilities, such as language, memories, emotion regulation, and executive functioning. During her free time Elise likes to read, go to the beach, and hang out with friends.
Contact: eadamopoulos@paloaltou.edu
Noemie Cloutier is a PhD student in the Clinical Psychology program at Palo Alto University. She received her B.A. degree in Psychology with a minor in English from Lewis and Clark College. She plans to pursue the Trauma area of emphasis with a focus on children and adolescents, and has continuing experience as a teacher with a variety of age groups.
Contact: ncloutier@paloaltou.edu
PUBLICATIONS
- Gordon, S., Rotheram-Fuller, E., Rezvan, P., Stewart, J., Christodoulou, J., & Tomlinson, M. (2021). Maternal depressed mood and child development over the first five years of life in South Africa. Journal of Affective Disorders, 294, 346-356.
- Christodoulou, J., & Lac, A. (2021). Examining the communication of gender roles to parents: a quantitative content analysis of online birth congratulations cards. Psychology & Sexuality, 1-12.
- Tomlinson, M., Fearon, P., Christodoulou, J., da Silva, M., Rotheram-Borus, M. J. (2020). Stop describing and start fixing: The promise of longitudinal intervention cohorts. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 61(12), 1388-1390.
- Stansert Katzen, L., Tomlinson, M., Christodoulou, J., Laurenzi, C., Le Roux, I. M., Baker, V., Nokwanele, M., Le Roux, K., & Rotheram-Borus, M. J. (2020). Home visits by community health workers in rural South Africa have a limited, but important impact on maternal and child health in the first two years of life. BMC Health Services Research, 20(1), 1-10.
- Rezvan, P. H., Tomlinson, M., Christodoulou, J., Almirol, E., Stewart, J., Gordon, S., Blein, T., Rotheram-Borus, M. J. (2020). Intimate Partner Violence and Food Insecurity Predict Early Behavior Problems Among South African Children Over 5-years Post-Birth. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 1-11.
- Rotheram-Borus, M. J., Gordon, S., Christodoulou, J., Tomlinson, M. (2020). Ending HIV/AIDS: Not as close as many would have us believe. South African Medical Journal, 110(2), 80-80.
- Le Roux, K., Christodoulou, J., Davis, E., Stansert Katzen, L., Dippenaar, E., Tomlinson, M., Rotheram-Borus, M. J. (2020). Maternal and child health outcomes in rural South African mothers living with and without HIV. AIDS Care, 32(4), 452-461.
- Simoni, J.M., Tapia, K., Lee, S. J., Graham, S. M., Beima-Sofie, K., Mohamed, Z.H., Christodoulou, J., Ho, R., & Collier, A. C. (2020). A conjoint analysis of the acceptability of long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy among persons living with HIV in the U.S. AIDS & Behavior, 24(4), 1226-1236.
- Bergelson, E., Bergmann, C., Byers-Heinlein, K., Cristia, A., Cusack, R., Dyck, K., … Yurovsky, D. (2020). Quantifying sources of variability in infancy research using the infant-directed speech preference. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 3(1), 24-52.
- Christodoulou., J., Abdalian, S. E., Jones, S. K., Christodoulou, G., Pentoney Jr., S. L., & Rotheram-Borus, M. J. (2019) Crystal Clear with Active Visualization: Understanding Medication Adherence Among Youth Living with HIV. Aids and Behavior, 1-5.
- Christodoulou, J., Rotheram-Borus, M. J., Norris, L., & Tomlinson, M. (2019). Home visiting and depression affect the quality of maternal caregiving in South Africa. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 58(12), 1165-1174.
- Rotheram-Borus, M. J., Christodoulou, J., Hayati Rezvan, P., Comulada, S. W., Gordon, S., Skeen, S., Stewart, J., Almirol, E., Tomlinson, M. (2019). Maternal HIV Does Not Affect Resiliency among Uninfected/HIV Exposed South African Children from Birth to 5 Years of Age. AIDS, 33, S5-S16.
- Rotheram-Borus, M. J., Arfer, K. B., Christodoulou, J., Comulada, S., Stewart, J., Tubert, J. E. & Tomlinson, M. (2019). The Association of Maternal Alcohol Use and Paraprofessional Home Visiting with Children’s Health. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 87, 551-562.
- Christodoulou, J., Stokes, L., Bantjes, J., Tomlinson, M., Stewart, J., Rabie, S., Gordon, S., Mayekiso, A., & Rotheram-Borus, M. J. (2019). Community Context and Individual Factors Associated with Arrests Among Young Men in a South African Township. PLOS ONE.
- Simoni, J. M., Beima-Sofie, K, J. M., Mohamed, Z. H., Christodoulou, J., Tapia, K., Graham, S. M., Ho, R., Collier, A.C. (2019). Long-Acting Injectable Antiretroviral Treatment Acceptability and Preferences: A Qualitative Study among U.S. Providers, Adults Living with HIV, and Parents of Youth Living with HIV. AIDS Patient Care and STDs, 33(3), 104-111.
- Le Roux, K., Christodoulou, J., Stansert Katzen, L., Dippenaar, E., Laurenzi, C., Le Roux, I. M., Tomlinson, M., & Rotheram-Borus, M. J. (2019). A Longitudinal Rural Cohort Study of Adolescent vs Adult South African Mothers and their Children from Birth to 24 Months. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. doi: 10.1186/s12884-018-2164-8
- Christodoulou, J., Le Roux, K., Tomlinson, M., Le Roux, I. M., Stansert Katzen, L., & Rotheram-Borus, M. J. (2019). Perinatal Maternal Depression in Rural South Africa: Child Outcomes Over the First Two Years. Journal of Affective Disorders, 247, 168-174.
- Chukwuemeka N. O., Christodoulou, J., Bantjes, J., Qondela, T., Stewart, J, Shoptaw, S., Tomlinson, M., & Rotherman-Borus, M. J. (2018). Understanding HIV risk behaviors among young men in South Africa: A syndemic approach. AIDS and Behavior, 22, 3962-3970.
- Christodoulou, J., Leland, D., Moore, D. (2018). Overt and Covert Attention in Infants Revealed Using Steady-State Visually Evoked Potentials. Developmental Psychology, 54, 803-815.
- Rotheram-Borus, M. J., Le Roux, K., Le Roux, I. M., Christodoulou, J., & Tomlinson, M. (2017). To Evaluate if Increasing Accountability of South African Government Health Workers’ Home Visits Improves Maternal and Child Outcomes: Study Protocol for A Randomized Control Trial. BMC Trials, 18, 368.
- Christodoulou, J., Moore, D., & Lac, A. (2017) Babies & math: A meta-analysis of the Wynn effect. Developmental Psychology.
- Christodoulou, J., Johnson, S., Moore, D, & Moore, D. (2016). Seeing double: 5-month-olds’ mental rotation of dynamic, 3D block stimuli presented on dual monitors. Infant Behavior & Development, 45, 64-70.
- Christodoulou, J. & Burke, D. M. (2016). Mood induction and memory in young children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 142, 221-229.
- Christodoulou-Smith, J., Gold, J. I., Romero, R., Goodwin, T. M., MacGibbon, K. W., Mullin, P. M., & Fejzo, M. S. (2011). Posttraumatic stress symptoms following pregnancy complicated by hyperemesis gravidarum. Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, 24, 1307-1311.