Alexis Dawson, MA

Biography

Alexis is a graduate student in the Child Track of the SFU Clinical Psychology program and a member of the Institute for the Reduction of Youth Violence. After completing her BA at the University of Washington (UW), she worked as a research assistant at the UW School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences as well as the UW Center for Child and Family Well-Being. Under the supervision of Dr. Lynn Katz and Dr. Robert McMahon, Alexis has worked closely on an NIMH-funded study investigating an emotion coaching enhanced parent management training intervention for children ages 3-7 with low prosocial emotions and externalizing behaviour. Her Master's thesis examined the role of maternal childhood trauma, attachment, and child outcomes in adolescents mothers and their children. Her doctoral dissertation examines crossover effects of the Fast Track preventive intervention, a multi-component program initiated in kindergarten for children at high risk of developing serious Conduct Problems (CP). Although Fast Track was designed to reduce CP, her dissertation investigates unintended benefits (i.e., crossover effects) for related outcomes such as ADHD, depression, and anxiety. Alexis has completed practica placements with the Early Childhood Mental Health Clinic through Vancouver Coastal Health, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Clinic at BC Children's Hospital, Cornerstone Child and Family Psychology Clinic, and the Maples Adolescent Treatment Centre.

Representative Publications and Presentations

Katz, L.F., Kerns, SEU., Gurtovenko, K., Pasalich, D., Goulter, N., Dorsey, S., Pullmann, M., Dawson, A., Galtieri, LR, McMahon, RJ. Integrating Parent Management and Emotion Coaching for Young Children with Callous-Unemotional Traits. (2025). Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 99, 101808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2025.101808

Craig, S. G., Dawson, A., Chen, S., Moretti, M. M., & Pepler, D. J. (2024). A systematic review of callous-unemotional traits and attachment in children and adolescents. Attachment & Human Development, 26 (2), 133-158. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2024.2349569

Dawson, A., McMahon, R.J., Goulter, N., Gurtovenko, K., Kerns, S., Pasalich, D., Katz, L.F. (2023, June). The role of maternal CU traits, maternal depression, and parenting practices in clinic-referred young children with oppositional behavior and low prosocial emotions [Conference Presentation]. International Congress on Evidence-based Parenting Support. Virtual.

Katz, L.F., McMahon, R.J., Kerns, S.E.U., Pullmann, M., Gurtovenko, K., Pasalich, D.S., Dorsey, S., Galtieri, L., Dawson, A., & Cyr, M. (2020, November). Parent management training and emotion coaching for children with callous-unemotional traits: Initial outcomes and treatment feasibility. In M. Rooney (Chair), Personalizing parent management training: Innovative approaches for improving treatment outcomes. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Philadelphia, PA.

Dawson, A., Rhew, I., McCauley, E., McMahon, R.J., Vander Stoep, A. (2020, March). Cumulative burden of adolescent psychopathology: Young adult outcomes and mental health service utilization. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, San Diego, CA. (Cancelled due to COVID 19.)

McMahon, R.J., Katz, L.F., Kerns, S.E.U., Pullmann, M.D., Gurtovenko, K., Pasalich, D.S., Shannon Dorsey, S., Dawson, A., Galtieri, L., & Cyr, M. (2019, May). Parent management training and emotion coaching for children with callous-unemotional traits: Initial outcomes. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy, Las Vegas, NV.

Dawson, A., Gurtovenko, K., Katz, L. F., McMahon, R. J., Kerns, S., Pullman, M., Pasalich, D. S., & Dorsey, S. (2018, November). Caregiver depression and parenting: The moderating effects of emotion regulation in caregivers of children with oppositional behavior and callous-unemotional traits. Poster presented at the meeting of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Washington, DC.

Vander Stoep, A., Dawson, A., & McCauley, E. (2018, May). What role does the cumulative burden of adolescent depression and conduct problems play in young adult functioning? Paper presented at the meeting of the Life History Research Society, Paris, France.