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Psychological Sciences

Psychological Sciences
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David Cole

Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Psychology and Human Development
Director of Graduate Studies

Professor Cole's research interests center around development psychopathology in general and childhood depression in particular. Working from the premise that the origins and perpetuation of mental illness have large interpersonal components, he studies the relation between childhood depression and patterns of peer relations, parent-child interactions, and competency-based feedback from significant others. He suggests that cognitive models of depression must take into consideration the level of the child's cognitive development. His studies imply that adult models of depression need substantial modification when applied to children. 

His most recent research focuses on online platforms that serve as a novel type of social niche – one that conveys not only risks (e.g., cybervictimization) but also benefits (e.g., online social support), in a manner analogous to in-person social relationships. Recent studies have examined the ways that online social relationships are similar to and different from in-person peer relationships. Of particular interest is whether healthy online relationships can offset the negative mental health effects of in-person ostracism and peer victimization.

Professor Cole is also interested in research methods and multivariate statistics.  In particular, he helps to develop new statistical and research methodologies for clinical, developmental, and psychopathology research, validating clinical assessment instruments, and examining change in non-experimental research designs.

Representative Publications

  • Cole, D. A., Cho, S.-J., Martin, N. C., Youngstrom, E. A., Curry, J. F.,  Findling, R. L., Compas, B. E., Goodyer, I. M., Rohde, P., Weissman, M., Essex, M. J., Hyde, J. S., Forehand, R., Slattery, M. J., *Felton, J. W., & *Maxwell, M. A. (in press). Are increased weight and appetite useful indicators of depression in children and adolescents? Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
  • *Tran, C., Cole, D. A., & Weiss, B. (in press). Testing reciprocal longitudinal relations between peer victimization and depressive symptoms in young adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.
  • *Weitlauf, A., & Cole, D. A. (in press). Cognitive development masks support for attributional style models of depression in children and adolescents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.
  • *Tilghman-Osborne, C., Cole, D. A., & *Felton, J. W. (in press). Inappropriate and excessive guilt: Instrument validation and developmental differences in relation to depression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.
  • *Maxwell, M. A., & Cole, D. A. (in press). Development and initial validation of adolescent responses to body dissatisfaction. Psychological Assessment.
  • Maxwell, S. E., Cole, D. A., & *Mitchell, M. A. (in press). Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation: Partial and complete mediation under an autoregressive model. Multivariate Behavioral Research. [Feature article with responsive commentaries]
  • Cole, D. A., Cai, L., Martin, N. C., Findling, R. L., Youngstrom, E. A., Garber, J., Curry, J. F., Hyde, J. S., Essex, M. J., Compas, B. E., Goodyer, I. M., Rohde, P., Stark, K. D., Slattery, M. J., & Forehand, R. (in press). Structure and measurement of depression in youth: Applying Item Response Theory to clinical data. Psychological Assessment.
  • Cole, D. A., *Jacquez, F. M., *LaGrange, B., *Pineda, A. Q., *Truss, A. E., *Weitlauf, A. S., *Tilghman-Osborne, C., *Felton, J., Garber, J. Dallaire, D. H.  Ciesla, J. A. *Maxwell, M. A., & Dufton, L. (in press). A longitudinal study of cognitive risks for depressive symptoms in children and young adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence.
  • *LaGrange, B., Cole, D. A., *Jacquez, F., Ciesla, J., Dallaire, D., *Pineda, A., *Truss, A., *Weitlauf, A., *Tilghman-Osborne, C., & *Felton, J. (2011). Disentangling the prospective relations between cognitive style and depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 120(3), 511-527.
  • Cole, D. A., *Maxwell, M. A., Dukewich, T. L., & *Yosick, R. (2010). Targeted peer victimization and the construction of positive and negative self-cognitions: Connections to depression in children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 39, 421-435.

* Indicates student co-authors