Meet the PCI Research Team

Current PCI Research Team Members

Barbara Mowder, PhD, PCI Director
Margalie Etienne, MSEd, PhD Doctoral Student
Joelle Francisco, PsyD Doctoral Student
Diana Jandunandan, MSEd, PsyD Doctoral Student
Janelle Maxwell, PsyD Doctoral Student
Triha Harshad Modha, MA Student
Phylicia Mussington-Matthews, MSEd, PsyD Doctoral Student
Jinge Ren, Graduate Assistant, PsyD Doctoral Student
Rebecca Ross, MSEd, PhD Doctoral Student
Madeline Seitles, MA Student
Lisa Sholomon, PhD Doctoral Student
Whitney Smith, PsyD Doctoral Student
Masha Voronchenko, PsyD Doctoral Student

Current Research

Parenting Workshops

Current PCI research focuses on six brief, developmentally sensitive, evidence-based online parenting workshops based on Parent Development Theory (PDT) and the Working With Parents Manual (WWPM). Each of the six parenting workshops targets a specific developmental stage: parenting infants and toddlers, preschoolers, elementary-aged children, adolescents, late adolescents, and adult aged children. The study examines, in part, whether viewing a single online workshop shifts participants’ importance of positive parenting behaviors.

Parenting Workshops Research Consent Form

Other Ongoing Research in the Lab: Parenting Young Children During Covid-19

PCI researchers are currently examining a comprehensive COVID-19 parenting dataset originally collected in late 2020 by Pace University’s Mind, Movement, Interaction and Development (MMID) research group. Now housed within PCI, this dataset includes information on, for example, child temperament, demographic variables, medical, mental health, and parents’ narrative accounts of their parenting experiences during the pandemic. Parents completed a number of measures, such as PCL5, DASS21, PSI-SF, and temperament assessments, including the IBQ and ECBQ. Previous studies using this dataset have explored changes in parenting behaviors during the pandemic, links between child temperament and parent stress, and the unique challenges faced by families of children with developmental delays.

Links to Evidence-Based Programs

Research Team Meetings

Members of the PCI research team meet weekly during the academic year to conduct, discuss, and plan research regarding parents and children. Each member of the team has specific responsibilities, although some members are more active participants in certain aspects of research projects than others. Over time, members of the research team have presented research ﬁndings at a number of regional, national, and international meetings, including, for example, the American Psychological Association (APA), the International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (ICCAP), and the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP).

Three Pace University Psychology students standing together, posing in front of a building in Portugal

Pace University Psychology student presenting with a screen next to her at a conference

Pace University Psychology student Andrea Iacampo standing with her arm extended, presenting

Pace University Psychology Parent Child Institute team members standing together at an international conference in London

PCI Research Team members at the 2025 meeting of the International Association of School Psychologists (ISPA) in Coimbra, Portugal.

PCI Research Team member presenting at the 2025 meeting of the International Association of School Psychologists (ISPA) in Coimbra, Portugal.

PCI Team Member, Dr. Andrea Iacampo, is seen presenting her research at the 2024 conference of the International School Psychology Association in Riga, Latvia.

PCI Research Team members at the 2019 International Conference on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (ICCAP) in London, England.

PCI Research Team members at the 2014 meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA) in Washington, D.C.

About the Research Team

Pace University Psychology professor Barbara Mowder

Barbara Mowder, PhD

PCI Lab Director and Professor at Pace University, NYC

Barbara Mowder, PhD, has been involved in parenting research for over two decades. She has written extensively on early childhood psychology, parent role development, and parenting in relation to child development outcomes. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 16, School Psychology; Division 52, Society for Global Psychology; Division 53, Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology) and member of many other professional organizations.