Research interests include the effects of early adversity on brain development in childhood and adolescence with an emphasis on prenatal drug exposure and foster care.

Neuropsychological assessment; clinical interviewing, infant behavioral coding

Ackerman, J. & Dozier, M. (2005). The influence of foster parent investment on children's representations of self and attachment figures. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 26, 507-520.

 

Bernier, A., Ackerman, J., & Stovall-McClough, K.C. (2004). Predicting foster infants’ attachment behaviors from early maternal report: The Parent Attachment Diary. Infant Behavior and Development, 27, 366-381.

 

Dozier, M., Peloso, E.,  Lindhiem, O., Gordon, M. K., Manni, M., Sepulveda, S., Ackerman, J., Bernier, A. & Levine, S. (2006). Developing evidence-based interventions for foster children: An example of a randomized clinical trial with infants and toddlers. Journal of Social Issues, 62, 767-785.

 

Lewis, E., Dozier, M., Ackerman, J., & Sepulveda-Kozakowski, S. (2007). The effect of placement instability on adopted children's inhibitory control abilities and oppositional behavior. Developmental Psychology, 43, 1415-1427.

 

Nair, P., Black, M., Ackerman, J., Schuler, M., & Keane, V. (In Press). Children’s cognitive-behavioral functioning at 6 and 7: Prenatal drug exposure and caregiving environment. Ambulatory Pediatrics.

 

Zabel, T. A., Gray, R. M., Gardner, J., & Ackerman, J. (2005). Use of school-based one-to-one  aides for children following traumatic brain injury: A proposed practice model. Physical  Disabilities: Education and Related Services 24(1), 5-22.