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David J. Kolko, PhD

  • Professor

David J. Kolko, Ph.D., ABPP, is Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, Pediatrics, and Clinical and Translational Science, at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and serves as Adjunct Staff in the Section of Behavioral Health at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. He is Director of the Special Services Unit at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, a program devoted to the development and dissemination of evidence-based practices for children/adolescents served in diverse community settings (e.g., juvenile justice, child welfare, pediatric primary care, mental health).  

His treatment research interests include the study and treatment of child abuse/family conflict, child behavior disorders/antisocial behavior, including firesetting and sexual offending, and the integration of pediatric behavioral health services and collaborative care in primary care practices and family health centers. He is conducting an implementation trial to evaluate the role of provider care team and practice leadership facilitation to support the use of collaborative care for the treatment of behavior problems and comorbid ADHD in pediatric primary care settings.  He is the senior developer of Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, an intervention for family conflict and coercion that is being disseminated across the U.S. and internationally. He is serving in his 38th year as core faculty in the Pre-Doctoral Clinical Psychology Internship Training Committee and routinely supervises/mentors undergraduate/honor’s students, graduate students, residents, post-doctoral fellows, and local faculty. 

Professional and Scientific Society Memberships

  • American Psychological Association, 1976-Present
    • Member, 1984-Present
    • Division 12 (Clinical Psychology), 1984-Present
    • Divison 37 (Children, Youth and Families), 1984-Present
      • Section on Child Maltreatment, Children, Youth and Families, 1994-Present
    • Division 53 (Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology), 1985-Present
    • Division 56 (Trauma Psychology), 2006-Present
  • Association for Advacement of Behavior Therapy (now, the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies), 1976-Present
    • Member, 1984-Present
    • Special Interest Group in Dissemination and Implementation, 2009-Present
  • Interantioanl Society of Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, 1984-Present
  • International Society of Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 1987-Present
  • Americna Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, 1990-Present
  • Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, 1998-Present

Education & Training

  • BA, University of Cincinnati, 1975
  • MA, New School for Social Research, 1977
  • PhD, Georgia State University, 1982
  • Pre-Doctoral Internship, Brown University, 1982
  • Research Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1983
  • Outpatient Therapist Trainee, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1983

Selected Publications

Lindhiem, O., Burke, J.D., Feldman, J.A. et al. Deficits in Parent Knowledge of Behavior Management, Skills is Strongly Associated With CD Symptoms but not ODD Symptoms. J Psychopathol Behav Assess (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-022-09989-1

McGuier EA, Rothenberger SD, Campbell KA, Keeshin B, Weingart LR, Kolko DJ. Team Functioning and Performance in Child Advocacy Center Multidisciplinary Teams. Child Maltreat. 2022 Aug 9:10775595221118933. doi 10.1177/10775595221118933. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35943489.

Radovic, A., Kirk-Johnson, A., Coren, M., George-Milford, B., & Kolko, D. (2022). Stakeholder perspectives on digital behavioral health applications targeting adolescent depression and suicidality: Policymaker, provider, and community insights. Implementation Research and Practice, 3. https://doi.org/10.1177/26334895221120796

Kolko, D. J., Foster, K.T., Torres, E., Hart, J., Rounds, J., & Rumbarger, K. (2023). Sexual Offense Disclosure Assessment in Youth Referred to Community Treatment: A Latent Class Analysis.  Sexual Abuse, 35, 6, 716-747.  Nov 25;10790632221139165. doi: 10.1177/10790632221139165.
 
McGuier, E.A., Gregory A.A. Byrne; K.A., Campbell, K.A., Keeshin, B., Rothenberger, S.D., Weingart, L.R., Salas, E., &  Kolko, D.J. (in press).  Associations between teamwork and implementation outcomes in multidisciplinary cross-sector teams implementing a mental health screening and referral protocol Implementation Science Communications. 

Coren, M., Peterson, N., Lindhiem, O.D., & Kolko, D. J. (in press). National Norms and Percentiles for the Pediatric Emotional Distress Scale.  Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma. 

McGuier; E. A., Aarons, G. A., Wright, J., Fortney, J.C., Powell, B. J., Rothenberger; B., Weingart, L. R., Miller, E., Kolko, D. J. (in press).  Team-focused implementation strategies to improve implementation of mental health screening and referral in rural Children’s Advocacy Centers. Study protocol for a pilot cluster randomized hybrid type 2 trial.  Implementation Science Communications.

Anderson, N.P., Lindhiem, O., Jagadeesh, D., Kennedy, T., Gaffney, D., Kolko, D. J. (in press). Quantifying Potential Bias Resulting from Child Age on Screening for Hyperactive/Impulsive Presentations of ADHD.  Journal of Attention Disorders.

McGuier, E. A., Feldman, J., Bay, M. Ascione, S., Tatum, M., Salas, E., & Kolko, D.J. (2023) Improving teamwork in multidisciplinary cross-sector teams: Adaption and pilot testing of a team training for Child Advocacy Center teams.  Children and Youth Services Review, 153, OCT, 107096. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107096

Baumann, B., McGuier, E.A., Rounds, J.L., Rumbarger, K.M., Kolko, D.J.  (2023). Comparing In-Person and Synchronous Online Training for an Evidence-Based Treatment Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, Published online, 27 August, 2023.  

Academic and Research Interests

  • Collaboraetive care
  • Implementation trial
  • Implementation strategies
  • Pediatric behavioral health

Research Grants

DA049721, A Prospective Examination of Stimulant Diversion and Related Risk Factors for Young Adults with Childhood- or Adult-diagnosed ADHD, Principal Investigator: Brooke Molina, Ph.D. Co-investigator (10%)

MH124914, Care Team and Practice Level Implementation Strategies to Optimize Pediatric Collaborative Care: A Cluster-Randomized Trial. Principal Investigator: David Kolko, Ph.D. (22.5%)

CV

File cv_kolko_10_1_2023.docx