Catherine Gallerani

Graduate Student
Research Area: Clinical Science

I am interested in the development and efficacy of treatment and preventive interventions with depressed, anxious, and pediatric populations.

My research examines the relation of children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development to depressed children’s ability to understand and implement the skills taught to them in therapy. Specifically, my dissertation research examines how children’s metacognitive development predicts the ability to learn cognitive behavioral therapy. This research bridges both developmental and clinical psychology, and is an important step in a research program aimed at developing treatments that are tailored to children’s developmental levels, thereby maximizing the efficacy of clinical interventions. 

In collaboration with my research advisor, Dr. Judy Garber, and Drs. Kirsten Haman and Nina Martin, I also am involved in research examining how best to facilitate parents of children receiving psychiatric treatment to receive their own mental health care. In addition, I have been involved in two others studies being by conducted by Dr. Garber (a) examining the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral program for the prevention of depression in at risk adolescents, and (b) exploring changes in parent-child relationships as parents receive treatment for depression.

I also have studied the relation between anxiety and depression over time, and is interested in understanding the mechanisms that connect these constructs longitudinally. My Master thesis, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, examined the temporal comorbidity of depressive disorders with anxiety, behavioral, and substance use disorders in adolescents.

Currently, I am a trainee of the LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) Training Program, which aims to reduce and prevent these disabilities in children and increase interdisciplinary services.