Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics

Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics

The Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (DDBP) is comprised of approximately 180 academic faculty, staff physicians and psychologists, allied health professionals, and support staff representing a variety of disciplines.  Research is conducted in close collaboration with faculty from other divisions at CCHMC, as well as faculty outside of the medical center and the country.  Current research projects involving faculty and staff within the division include basic science research, behavioral research, bioimaging, clinical effectiveness and quality improvement research, clinical research, and healthcare quality research. 

Given the breadth of conditions seen within DDBP, the range of research areas is also considerable. Sample research themes include:  aging in adults with Down syndrome (Esbensen); development of a research screening interview for Autism Spectrum Disorder (Bishop); pharmacogenetic predictors of stimulant medication response and side effects in children with predominantly inattentive attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Froehlich); assessing developmental outcomes in children who are deaf/hard of hearing (Wiley); the impact of social development instruction  in elementary school-age children on reducing the onset of risk behaviors (Schonfeld); correlates and outcomes of socially excluded adolescents (Gilman); how friendships buffer the effects of peer victimization for obese adolescents (Adams); parent-child interaction therapy with military families (Gurwitch); quality improvement efforts related to pediatric management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in under-served settings (Anixt); and sleep, physical activity and diet and its relationship to life satisfaction, weight gain, and genetic factors among children in China (Jiang).