Faculty

Michael C. Roberts

MICHAEL C. ROBERTS, Ph.D.

Professor, Applied Behavioral Science
Courtesy Professor, Department of Pediatrics, KU Medical Center
Director, Clinical Child Psychology Program

2009 Dole Human Development Center
Department Phone: 785.864.4840
Office phone: 785.864.3580
Fax: 785.864.5024
E-mail: mroberts@ku.edu

B.A. University of Missouri-Columbia (Psychology), 1973
M.S. Purdue University (Clinical Psychology), 1974
Ph.D. Purdue University (Clinical Psychology), 1978
Licensed Psychologist, Kansas
Diplomate in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (American Board of Professional Psychology)
Diplomate in Clinical Psychology (American Board of Professional Psychology)

Research Interests

His research interests have been focused on general issues in clinical child and pediatric psychology, psychotherapeutic outcomes, program evaluation, and professional issues, including ethics and training. Previously and with some continuing projects, Roberts’ work has focused on prevention, especially injury control.
Specifically, these include:

  1. children's and parents' perceptions of pediatric and psychological conditions and treatments; treatment adherence issues;
  2. program evaluation and mental health service delivery (psychotherapeutic outcomes);
  3. positive psychology and children's development, especially hope and benefit finding
  4. prevention of injuries in children and health promotion;
  5. effects of traumatic effects and mitigation of problems following natural and human made disasters (stress, coping, and resilience), including interpersonal violence.

A significant initiative for the next several years will be working with developing taxonomies of mental and behavioral disorders for children and adolescents and definitional criteria for clinical and research purposes.

Graduate and undergraduate members of his research team have current projects on such topics as: meta-analyses of pediatric treatment adherence; impact on quality of life of peanut allergies; service coordination and outcomes in the therapeutic classrooms project; positive psychology (hope and benefit finding) and relationship to chronic illness; mother-blaming in the psychological literature; treatment outcomes; exposure to violence and psychological sequelae.

Representative Publications

Roberts, M.  C., & Ilardi, S.  S. (Eds.). (2003). Handbook of research methods in clinical psychology. Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell.

Roberts, M. C. (Ed.). (2003). Handbook of pediatric psychology (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford. [Translated into Japanese, 2007, Elsevier)

Steele, R. G., & Roberts, M. C. (Eds.).  (2005). Handbook of mental health services for children, adolescents, and families. New York: Kluwer/Plenum Academic.

Steele, R. G., Elkin, D., & Roberts, M. C. (Eds.). (2008). Handbook of evidence-based therapies for children and adolescents. New York: Springer.

Roberts, M. C., Kamps, J., & Betan, E. (2003).  Investigating professional issues in clinical psychology.  In M. C.

Roberts & S. S. Ilardi (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in clinical psychology (pp. 396-417). London: Blackwell Publishers.

Brown Kirschman, J. K., Johnson, R. J., Bender, J. A., & Roberts, M. C. (in press). Positive psychology for children and adolescent: Development, prevention, and promotion. In S. Lopez (Ed.), Handbook of positive psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford.

Roberts, M. C., Jacobs, A. K., Puddy, R. W., Nyre, J. E., & Vernberg, E. M. (2003). Treating children with serious emotional disturbances in schools and community: The Intensive Mental Health Program.  Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 34, 519-526.

Roberts, M. C., Lazicki-Puddy, T. A., Puddy, R. W., & Johnson, R. J. (2003). The outcomes of psychotherapy with adolescents: A practitioner-friendly research review.  Journal of Clinical Psychology/In Session, 59(11), 1177-1191.

Boles, R. E., Roberts, M. C., Brown, K. J., & Mayes, S. (2005). Children’s risk taking behaviors: The role of child-based perceptions of vulnerability and temperament.  Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 30, 562-570.

Brown, K. J., Roberts, M. C., Mayes, S., & Boles, R. E. (2005). Effects of parental viewing of children’s risk behavior on home safety practices. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 30, 571-580.

Kamps, J., Roberts, M. C., & Varela, R. E. (2005). Development of a new fear of hypoglycemia scale: Preliminary     results. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 30, 287-291.

Roberts, M. C., Borden, K. A., Christiansen, M. D., & Lopez, S. J. (2005). Fostering a culture shift: Assessment of competence in the education and careers of professional psychologists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 36, 355-361.

Roberts, M. C., Ilardi, S. S., & Johnson, R. J. (2006). Reputation strength as a determinant of faculty employment: A test of the step-down thesis among clinical psychology Ph.D. programs. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62(7),881-891.

Vernberg, E. M., Roberts, M. C., Randall, C. J., Biggs, B. K., Nyre, J. E., & Jacobs, A. K. (2006). Intensive mental health services for children with serious emotional disturbances through a school-based, community-oriented program. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 11(3), 417-430.

Roy, K., Roberts, M. C., & Stewart, P. K. (2006). Research productivity and academic lineage in clinical psychology: Who is training the faculty to do research? Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62(7), 893-905.

Mayes, S., Roberts, M. C., Boles, R. E., & Brown, K. J. (2006). Children’s knowledge of household safety rules. Children’s Health Care, 35, 269-280.

Prinstein, M. J., & Roberts, M. C. (2006). The professional adolescence of clinical child and adolescent psychology: Grown up and striving for autonomy. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 13, 263-268.

McNeal, R., Handwerk, M. L., Field, C. E., Roberts, M. C., Soper, S., Huefner, J. C., & Ringle, J. L. (2006). Hope as an outcome variable among youth in a residential care setting. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 304-311.

Roberts, M. C. (2006). Essential tension: Specialization with broad and general training in psychology. American Psychologist, 61, 862-870.

Stewart, P. K., Roberts, M. C., & Roy, K. (2007). Scholarly productive in clinical psychology PhD programs: A normative assessment of publication rates. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 14,151-171.

Stewart, P. K., Wu, Y. P., & Roberts, M. C. (2007). Top producers of scholarly publications in clinical psychology PhD programs. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63(12), 1209-1215.

Vernberg, E. M., Roberts, M. C., & Nyre, J. E. (2008). The Intensive Mental Health Program; Development and structure of the model of intervention for children with serious emotional disturbances. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 17(2), 169-177.

Vernberg, E. M., Roberts, M. C., Jacobs, A. K., Randall, C. J., Biggs, B. K., & Nyre, J. E. (2008). Outcomes and findings of program evaluation for the Intensive Mental Health Program. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 17(2), 178-190.

Jacobs, A. K., Roberts, M. C., Vernberg, E. M., Nyre, J. E., Randall, C. J., & Puddy, R. W. (2008). Factors related to outcome in a school-based Intensive Mental Health Program: An examination of nonresponders. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 17(2), 219-231.

Roy, K. M., Roberts, M. C., Vernberg, E. M., & Randall, C. J. (2008). Measuring treatment outcome for children with serious emotional disturbances: Discriminant validity and clinical significance of the Child and Adolescent Functioning Assessment Scale. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 17(2), 232-240.

Roberts,  M. C., Vernberg, E. M., Biggs, B. K., Randall, C. J., & Jacobs, A. K. (2008). Lessons learned from the Intensive Mental Health Program: A school-based community oriented program for children with serious emotional disturbances. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 17(2), 277-289.

Wu, Y. P., & Roberts, M. C. (2008). A meta-analysis of interventions to increase adherence to medication regimens for pediatric otitis-media and streptococcal pharyngitis. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 33(7), 789-796.

Kamps, J., Rapoff, M., Roberts, M. C., Varela, R. E., Barnard, M., & Olson, N. (in press). Improving adherence to inhaled corticosteroids in children with asthma: A randomized clinical trial. Children’s Health Care.

Boles, R. E., & Roberts, M. C. (in press). Supervising children during parental distractions. Journal of Pediatric Psychology.

Bender, J. A., & Roberts, M. C. (in press). Exposure to violence, perceived peer relationships, and corresponding psychological sequelae. Journal of Child and Family Studies.