Alexis Dawson, MA

Biography

Alexis is a graduate student in the Child Track of the SFU Clinical Psychology program and a member of the Institute for the Reduction of Youth Violence. After completing her BA at the University of Washington (UW), she worked as a research assistant at the UW School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences as well as the UW Center for Child and Family Well-Being. Under the supervision of Dr. Lynn Katz and Dr. McMahon, Alexis has enjoyed working closely on an NIMH-funded study investigating an emotion coaching enhanced parent management training program intervention for children ages 3-7 with low prosocial emotions and externalizing behaviour. Alexis is currently assisting in a study evaluating the relationship between mother-child attachment and callous-unemotional (CU) traits in childhood/adolescence. She looks forward to continuing her research on various family factors (parenting, maternal mental health, exposure to violence) that contribute to youth behaviour problems. Outside of her research and clinical responsibilities, Alexis also serves as the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) student representative at SFU and is a member of the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute Trainee Council.

Representative Presentations

Katz, L.F., McMahon, R.J., Kerns, S.E.U., Pullmann, M., Gurtovenko, K., Pasalich, D.S., Dorsey, S., Galtieri, L., Dawson, A., & Cyr, M. (2020, November). Parent management training and emotion coaching for children with callous-unemotional traits: Initial outcomes and treatment feasibility. In M. Rooney (Chair), Personalizing parent management training: Innovative approaches for improving treatment outcomes. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Philadelphia, PA.

Dawson, A., Rhew, I., McCauley, E., McMahon, R.J., Vander Stoep, A. (2020, March). Cumulative burden of adolescent psychopathology: Young adult outcomes and mental health service utilization. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, San Diego, CA. (Cancelled due to COVID 19.)

McMahon, R.J., Katz, L.F., Kerns, S.E.U., Pullmann, M.D., Gurtovenko, K., Pasalich, D.S., Shannon Dorsey, S., Dawson, A., Galtieri, L., & Cyr, M. (2019, May). Parent management training and emotion coaching for children with callous-unemotional traits: Initial outcomes. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy, Las Vegas, NV.

Dawson, A., Gurtovenko, K., Katz, L. F., McMahon, R. J., Kerns, S., Pullman, M., Pasalich, D. S., & Dorsey, S. (2018, November). Caregiver depression and parenting: The moderating effects of emotion regulation in caregivers of children with oppositional behavior and callous-unemotional traits. Poster presented at the meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, DC.

Vander Stoep, A., Dawson, A., & McCauley, E. (2018, May). What role does the cumulative burden of adolescent depression and conduct problems play in young adult functioning? Paper presented at the meeting of the Life History Research Society, Paris, France.