Professor, Department of Psychology
New York State Licensed Psychologist
Dr. Del Vecchio directs the Child and Family Research Group at St. John's University. She earned her Ph.D. from Stony Brook University and her B.A. from the University at Albany. Her research examines how aggressive behavior develops from infancy through the preschool years, with particular focus on the cognitive and emotional processes that shape both parent-child relationships and intimate partner dynamics. Through this work, she investigates how early family experiences influence children's social and emotional development.
www.researchgate.net/profile/Tamara_Del_Vecchio
Our lab collaborates with our St. John's University colleagues on research projects exploring shared interests in child development and family relationships.
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology
Dr. Peckins earned her Ph.D. in Biobehavioral Health from Pennsylvania State University and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in Developmental Psychology at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on the biological embedding of childhood adversity and its impact on health and behavior during childhood and adolescence.
Research Associate, Department of Psychology
Dr. Peets earned her Ph.D. from the University of Turku, Finland. Her primary research interests are at the intersection of social, personality, and developmental psychology. Much of her work focuses on understanding children’s aggression and problematic social interactions. In addition to her research focus on aggression, she has broadened her research interests to include the study of antecedents and consequences of authenticity in various relationships and the correlates of narcissism during adolescence.
Cassie graduated as a student-athlete from the College of the Holy Cross in 2020 with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in neuroscience. Her research interests include how familial factors, parent-child interactions, and early adversity influence developmental outcomes in young children. Clinically, she aims to provide evidence-based interventions to children, adolescents, and families to promote positive adjustment in at-risk youth.
Li Yin is currently in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program at St. John's University. She earned her B.M in Music Therapy with a Minor in Psychology at Berklee College of Music, as well as her M.A. in Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University. Her primary research interests include parenting techniques and how they can be used to regulate young children's emotions and mitigate childhood aggression.
Gabriella is a doctoral student in the adult track of the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at St. John's University. She also completed my B.A. in Psychology at St. John's in 2016. Upon graduation, she joined NYU's Family Translational Research Group where she worked on a multitude of developmental, health psychology, and military projects related to aggression in couples and parent-child dyads. Gabriella is interested in coercive processes and aggression broadly, and how conflict and violence impact family systems.
Jordan is a doctoral student in the Clinical PhD program, Child Track. She received her BA in Psychology and a Minor in Applied Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her interests include working with youth with mood disorders and studying how parenting can influence toddler development.
Samuel Jackson, M.A., is a doctoral student in the lab and a current intern at Bio Behavioral Institute. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 2015, and he completed his M.A. in Clinical Psychology at St. John’s University in 2022. His research primarily examines barriers and facilitators to parents’ mental health help-seeking for their children.
Megan graduated from the Fordham College at Lincoln Center in 2019 with a B.S. in Psychology, and later received a M.A in Psychological Sciences from the Catholic University of America in 2023. Her primary research interests include toddler aggression and parent-child relationships, specifically how certain parenting practices and styles influence children’s development.
Clarissa received her B.A. in Psychology from New York University in 2022 and minored in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies (CAMS). Her research interests primarily surround parent-child conflict and the relationship between caregiver emotion regulation and childhood maladaptive behaviors. She is currently a doctoral student in the Clinical PhD program, Child Track.
Serah received her B.A. in Psychology from Binghamton University and is currently a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program at St. John’s University. Her research interests focus on toddler aggression and parenting outcomes.
Shira attended NYU undergrad where she majored in Applied Psychology and specialized in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies (CAMS). Shira is now in the School Psychology PsyD program at St. John’s and is a clinical extern at the NYU Child Study Center. Shira’s research areas include the implementation of evidence-based practices across mental health settings and the relationship between parent/child distress tolerance and accommodation of child (mis)behavior.
Annette Schieffelin, MA., is a clinical psychology doctoral student at St. John’s University in the Child and Adolescent track. She is a current intern at Western Youth Services. Annette’s research interests include examining the role of parenting on the development and maintenance of externalizing behaviors (e.g., aggression) as well as prosocial behaviors from infancy through the preschool years. She is also interested in the development, evaluation, and dissemination of brief, accessible, targeted parenting interventions to address the social, emotional and behavioral needs of young children.
Rachel is a doctoral student of the Clinical Psychology PhD program. Her research explores the cognitive and emotional correlates of maladaptive relationship behaviors, including intimate partner violence and emotional flooding. Clinically, she is interested in working with children, adolescents, young adults, and their families in treating anxiety and mood disorders.