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Paula Fite

See also: Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

The etiology and developmental progression of child and adolescent problem behavior.

Research statement

Research within the lab examines developmental models of risk for child and adolescent problem behavior.  That is, we examine the etiology, prevention, and developmental sequelae of antisocial behavior (i.e., aggression, delinquency, and early substance use). Consistent with social learning theory, which posits that behavior is learned and further exacerbated through socialization processes (i.e., modeling, conditioning, and reinforcement), our research has and will continue to examine the impact of social context (e.g., parents and peers) and child characteristics (e.g., temperament) on the developmental progression of child and adolescent problem behavior. The primary research project within the lab examines how subtypes of aggression are related to delinquency and negative emotions (i.e., depression and anxiety) and how parenting and temperament effect these relations.  A secondary goal of this study is to examine how subtypes of aggression are related to risk taking behavior and behavioral inhibition, which are measured using laboratory tasks. Other projects within the lab include: 1) examining developmental questions of interest (e.g., examining individual, familial, and neighborhood factors as predictors of risk for early initial arrest) by performing secondary data analysis on pre-existing longitudinal data sets, and 2) addressing measurement concerns within the literature (e.g., examining how various measures of aggression are related within as well as across informants).

Honors

  • NIDA Jumpstart Your Career Program Mentee and Travel Award Recipient (2003)
  • Graduate Student Association (NYS/GSEU) Professional Development Award (2003)
  • Ad hoc reviewer, Addictive Behaviors
  • Ad hoc reviewer, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
  • Ad hoc reviewer, Journal of Adolescence
  • Ad hoc reviewer, Journal of Marriage and Family

Grants

  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (2004-2007)

Selected Publications

Fite, P. J., Colder, C. R., Lochman, J. E., & Wells, K. C. (in press). Pathways from proactive and reactive aggression to substance use.  Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Fite, P. J., Colder, C. R., Lochman, J. E., & Wells, K. C. (in press). The relation between childhood proactive and reactive aggression and substance use initiation. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.

O’Connor, R. M., Fite, P. J., Nowlin, P., & Colder, C. R. (2007). Children’s implicit and explicit substance use expectancies: Examination of cognitive precursors of alcohol and tobacco use initiation. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 21, 525-533.

Fite, P. J., & Colder, C. R. (2007). Proactive and reactive aggression and delinquent peer affiliations: Implications for prevention and intervention. Journal of Early Adolescence, 27, 223-240.
                       
Fite, P. J., Colder, C. R., Lochman, J. E., & Wells, K. C. (2006). The mutual
influence of parenting and boys’ externalizing behavior problems. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 27, 151-164.

Fite, P. J., Colder, C. R., & O’Connor, R. M. (2006). Childhood behavior problems and peer selection and socialization: Risk for adolescent alcohol use. Addictive Behaviors, 31, 1454-1459.

Fite, P. J., Colder, C. R., & Pelham, W. E. (2006).  A factor analytic approach to distinguish pure and co-occurring dimensions of proactive and reactive aggression. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35, 578-582.

Colder, C. R., Lengua, L. J., Fite, P. J., Mott, J. A., & Bush, N. R. (2006). Temperament in context: Infant temperament moderates the relationship between perceived neighborhood quality and behavior problems. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 27, 456-467.         

MacKenzie, E. P., Fite, P. J., & Bates, J. E. (2004). Predicting outcome in behavioral parent training: Expected and unexpected results. Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 26, 37-54.

Paula Fite

Paula Fite

Assistant Professor
Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo (2007)

Key words: Child and adolescent aggression, delinquency, early substance use, parenting, peer relations, temperament.