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Paul J. Frick, Ph.D.
Department Chair
Research Professor
(University of Georgia)
Director, Applied Developmental Program
Click here for Dr. Fricks' lab and clinic info
Biography
Paul J. Frick, Ph.D is Research Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of New Orleans. He is a Licensed Psychologist in the state of Louisiana. Dr. Frick has published over 140 manuscripts in either edited books or peer-reviewed publications and he is the author of 5 additional books and test manuals. His research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the John T. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation. Dr. Frick is the editor of the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, the official journal of Division 53 of the American Psychological Association which is the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Orebro University in Orebro, Sweden in February of 2004 in recognition of his research contributions. He is currently Present for the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy. Dr. Frick is also a member of the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-V Workgroup for ADHD and the Disruptive Behavior Disorders.
Research Interests
Dr. Frick's research broadly focuses on understanding the many interacting causal factors that can lead children and adolescents to have serious emotional and behavioral problems, and using this research to a) enhance the assessment and diagnosis of childhood psychopathology and b) design more effective interventions to prevent and treat such problems. A primary focus of Dr. Frick’s research is on understanding the dispositional and contextual factors that can place children and adolescents at risk for developing severe antisocial and violent behavior, leading them to be diagnosed with Conduct Disorder or to be arrested for illegal behavior. His work focuses on uncovering and understanding the many different causal processes that can lead children to display such serious conduct problems, with a special focus on children who show a callous and unemotional interpersonal style (e.g., lacking empathy and guilt). Dr. Frick’s line of research investigates the characteristics of these children at various developmental stages (e.g., preschool, elementary school-age, adolescence) and he attempts to integrate this research with forensic research on the psychopathic personality and developmental research on conscience development to provide a lifespan perspective on antisocial and aggressive behavior. Finally Dr. Frick focuses on using this research to improve assessments and interventions for antisocial and aggressive youth in mental health settings, in schools, and in the juvenile justice system.
For more information about my research, please see my research lab homepage.
Selected Recent Peer-Reviewed Publications (click here for curriculum vita)
Dandreaux, D.M. & Frick, P.J. (2009). Developmental pathways to conduct problems: A further test of the childhood and adolescent-onset distinction. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37, 375 - 385.
Frick, P.J., & Viding, E.M. (2009). Antisocial behavior from a developmental psychopathology perspective. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 1111-1131.
Frick, P.J. & White, S.F. (2008). The importance of callous-unemotional traits for the development of aggressive and antisocial behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 359-375.
Kimonis, E.R., Frick, P.J., Munoz, L.C. & Aucoin, K.J. (2008). Callous-unemotional traits and the emotional processing of distress cues in detained boys: Testing the moderating role of aggression, exposure to community violence, and histories of abuse. Development and Psychopathology, 20
Munoz, L.C., Frick, P.J., Kimonis, E.R., & Aucoin, K.J. (2008). Types of aggression, responsiveness to provocation, and callous-unemotional traits in detained adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 15-28.
Viding, E., Jones, A.P., Frick, P.J., Moffitt, T.E., & Plomin, R. (2008). Heritability of antisocial behaviour at age 9: Do callous-unemotional traits matter? Developmental Science, 11, 17-22
Cornell, A. H. & Frick, P.J. (2007). The contribution of parenting styles and behavioral inhibition to the development of conscience in preschool children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 36, 305-318.
Kimonis, E.R., Frick, P.J., Munoz, L.C. & Aucoin, K.J. (2007). Can a laboratory measure of emotional processing enhance the statistical prediction of aggression and delinquency in detained adolescents with callous-unemotional traits? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35, 773-785.
Revised 08/24/09