Research

Dr. Pittman has a strong background in research and statistical analysis. Her research has focused on causes and consequences of violence, trauma, and self-injury, primarily among adolescents. She was awarded an NRSA fellowship from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to complete her doctoral dissertation. She has also received awards for her research from Virginia Commonwealth University and several national organization. Additionally, Dr. Pittman has collaborated with researchers to develop technology-based mental health interventions, including a cyberbullying text message program, a virtual reality suicide prevention program, and a smart phone app that teaches dialectical behavioral therapy skills. She also gives talks and guest lectures on select topics of expertise, such as risk assessment with youth, self-care, and mindfulness.

If you would like to collaborate with Dr. Pittman in intervention development or a guest lecture, please contact her via email.

Below is a select list of publications that have been published in peer-reviewed journals.

  1. Flannery, D. J., Noriega, I., Pittman, S., Singer, M., Kretschmar, J., & Butcher, F. (2024). Violence Exposure and Trauma Screener for Youth (VETSY). Child abuse & neglect, 153, 106843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106843

  2. Pittman, S. K. (2023). Beliefs about aggression as mediators of relations between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior among adolescents: Review and recommendations. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 26, 242-258. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-022-00417-0

  3. Pittman, S. K., & Farrell, A. D. (2022). Patterns of community violence exposure among urban adolescents and their associations with adjustment. American Journal of Community Psychology, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12598

  4. Farrell, A.D., Pittman, S., Bettencourt, A. F., Mehari, K. R., Dunn, C. & Sullivan, T. N. (2022). Beliefs as mediators of relations between exposure to violence and physical aggression during early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence, 42, 297-326. https://DOI.org/10.1177/02724316211036747

  5. Dunn, C., Pittman, S. K., Mehari, K., Titchner, D., Farrell, A. D. (2022). A qualitative study investigating urban adolescents’ goals in problem situations. Journal of Early Adolescence. ​​https://doi.org/10.1177/02724316211064516

  6. Pittman, S. K., Valois, R. F., Farrell, A. D. (2022). Evaluation of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale in a diverse sample of rural early adolescents. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 40(2), 175-189. https://doi.org/10.1177/07342829211049684

  7. Farrell, A. D., Pittman, S. K., O'Connor, K. E., & Sullivan, T. N. (2022). Peer factors as mediators of relations between exposure to violence and physical aggression in middle school students in a low-income urban community. Psychology of Violence, 12(3), 170–182. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000405

  8. Ranney, M. L., Pittman, S. K., Moseley, I., Morgan, K., Riese, A., Ybarra, M., Cunningham, R. M., & Rosen, R. (2021). Cyberbullying prevention for adolescents: Iterative qualitative methods for mobile intervention design. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 5(8). https://formative.jmir.org/2021/8/e25900

  9. Farrell, A.D., Dunn, C. B., Pittman, S. K., & Bettencourt, A. F. (2021). Patterns of adolescents’ appraisals of responses to problem situations: Associations with aggression, victimization, and contextual factors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50, 641–662. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01404-4

  10. Ranney, M. L., Pittman, S. K., Riese, A., Koehler, C., Ybarra, M., Cunningham, R., ... & Rosen, R. K. (2019). What counts?: A qualitative study of adolescents' lived experience with online victimization and cyberbullying. Academic Pediatrics, 20(4), 485-492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2019.11.001

  11. Liu, R. T., Scopelliti, K. M., Pittman, S. K., & Zamora, A. S. (2018). Childhood maltreatment and non-suicidal self-injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 5(1), 51-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(17)30469-8

  12. Ranney, M. L., Pittman, S. K., Dunsiger, S., Guthrie, K. M., Spirito, A., Boyer, E. W., & Cunningham, R. M. (2018). Emergency department text messaging for adolescent violence and depression prevention: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Psychological services, 15(4), 419-428. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000193