Dr. Donna Pincus is CAS Professor of Teaching Excellence at Boston University and has been the Director of the Child and Adolescent Fear and Anxiety Treatment Program at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University since 1999. Dr. Pincus graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Brandeis University in 1991 with a B.A. in psychology. She completed her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Binghamton University, specializing in the assessment and treatment of children’s fears and anxieties and children’s coping with stressful events. She completed her clinical internship at the University of Florida Health Sciences Center and joined the faculty at Boston University in 1999.

Dr. Pincus has focused her clinical research career on the development of new treatments for children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and their families, with a particular focus on understudied and highly impaired populations of youth.  She has also investigated the role parents and families play in the development, maintenance, and prevention of childhood disorders.  She has been the recipient of numerous research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), as well as from local foundations. Dr. Pincus is currently collaborating with public school districts to test the feasibility and efficacy of using interactive web-based treatments for panic disorder and other anxiety disorders in middle and high schools. She is also co-leading a pragmatic clinical trial funded by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to evaluate the relative effectiveness of therapist-led versus online formats for treating child and adolescent anxiety in pediatric health care settings in four regions of the U.S. (Pacific Northwest, Southeast, Northeast, and Midatlantic).  Dr. Pincus’ current research focuses on ways to develop and refine treatments for child and adolescent anxiety disorders, as well as on novel ways to integrate treatments for child anxiety into community settings, such as schools and pediatric primary care. Dr. Pincus’ research laboratory involves undergraduate and graduate students, and Dr. Pincus mentors students in developing their own research projects.

Dr. Pincus has also dedicated part of her career to sharing accurate information about effective cognitive behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders to the public. She has appeared on both local and national media networks, including NBC’s Today Show, Nick News, National Geographic Television, Women’s Lifetime Television Network, ABC News’ 20-20 Downtown, and Good Morning America. She has recently published a book for parents and caregivers, Growing Up Brave: Expert Strategies for Helping Your Child Overcome Fear, Stress, and Anxiety (Little, Brown, 2012).  Dr. Pincus regularly gives talks and workshops on child anxiety to parents, teachers, students, and healthcare professionals around the nation.

Selected Books:

Pincus, D.B. (2012).  Growing Up Brave:  Expert Strategies for Helping Your Child Overcome Fear, Stress, and Anxiety.  New York:  Little, Brown and Company. http://books.google.com/books?id=c2ddhxUh7aYC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false)

Pincus, D.B., Ehrenreich, J.T., & Mattis, S.G (2008). Mastery of Anxiety and Panic for Adolescents: Riding the Wave, Therapist Guide. New York: Oxford University Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=Drp89SyJbHcC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false)

Pincus, D.B., Ehrenreich, J.T. & Spiegel, D. (2008). Mastery of Anxiety and Panic for Adolescents: Riding the Wave, Patient Workbook. New York: Oxford University Press. http://www.amazon.com/Riding-Wave-Workbook-Treatments-That/dp/0195335813/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1374687871&sr=1-3

Kaplow, J.B. & Pincus, D.B. (2007).  Samantha Jane’s Missing Smile:  A Story for Children Who Have Lost a Parent. APA Books: Magination Press. http://www.apa.org/pubs/magination/441A808.aspx

Selected Peer Reviewed Papers and Chapters:

O’Connor, E., Holly, L.E., Chevalier, L., Pincus, D.B., & Langer, D.A. (2020).  Parent and child emotion and distress responses associated with parental accommodation of child anxiety symptoms.  Journal of Clinical Psychology. (EPub ahead of print).

Mian, N., Carpenter, A., Pincus, D.B., Bair-Merritt, M., & Perrin, E.C. (2019).  Training residents in the early identification of anxiety disorders:  Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a novel training program.  Clinical Pediatrics 58(7), 761-769.

Leyfer, O., Carpenter, A., * Pincus, D.B. (2019).  N-methyl-D-aspartate partial agonist enhanced intensive cognitive behavioral therapy of panic disorder in adolescents.  Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 50(2), 268-277.

Keller, A.E., Langer, D.A., Pincus, D.B., Elkins, R.M., Kerns, C.E., & Comer, J.S. (2019).  A psychometric evaluation of the Distress Intolerance Index for Youth.  Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 41(3), 447-455.

Carpenter, A.L., Pincus, D.B., Furr, J.M., & Comer, J.S. (2018).  Working from home:  An initial pilot examination of videoconferencing-based cognitive behavioral therapy for anxious youth delivered to the home setting.  Behavior Therapy, 49(6), 917-930.

Green, J.G., Comer, J.S., Nadeau, M., Donaldson, A., Elkins, R.M., Reid, G., & Pincus, D.B. (2017). School functioning and use of school-based accommodations by treatment-seeking anxious children. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.

Elkins, R.M., Gallo, K. P., Pincus, D.B., Comer. J. S. (2016). Moderators of intensive CBT for adolescent panic disorder: The roles of fear and avoidance. Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 21 (1), 30-36.

Chow, C., Pincus, D.B., & Comer, J.S. (2015). Pediatric food allergies and psychosocial functioning: Examining the potential moderating roles of maternal distress and overprotection. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 40(10), 1065-1074.

Elkins, R. M., Pincus, D. B., & Comer. J. S. (2014). A psychometric evaluation of the Panic Disorder Severity Scale for Children and Adolescents. Psychological Assessment, 26(2), 609-618. doi: 10.1037/a0035283. http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2013-42322-001

Pincus, D.B., Elkins, R. M., & Hardway, C. (2014). Intensive treatments for adolescent panic disorder and agoraphobia: Helping youth move beyond avoidance. Psychopathology Review, 1(1), 189-194. doi: 10.5127/pr.033313. http://pr.textrum.com/index.php?art_id=25

Cooper-Vince, C., Pincus, D.B., & Comer, J.S. (2014). Maternal intrusiveness, family financial means, and anxiety across childhood in a large multiphase sample of community youth. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 42(3), 429-438. DOI 10.1007/s 10802-013-9790-4 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23929005

Leyfer, O., Gallo, K., Cooper-Vince, C., & Pincus, D.B. (2013).  Patterns and predictors of comorbidity of DSM-IV anxiety disorders in a clinical sample of children and adolescents. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 27, 306-311. DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.01.010 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0887618513000248

Pincus, D.B., Weiner, C.L., & Friedman, A.G. (2012).  Differential efficacy of home monitoring and cognitive behavioral treatment for decreasing children’s maladaptive nighttime fears. Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 34(1), 1-19. DOI: 10.1080/07317107.2012.654426 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/07317107.2012.654426

Pincus, D.B., Ehrenreich, J.T., Whitton, S.A., Mattis, S.M., & Barlow, D.H. (2010). Cognitive behavioral treatment of panic disorder in adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 39(5), 638-649. DOI: 1080/15374416.2010.501288  http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/15374416.2010.501288

Pincus, D.B., Ehrenreich, J.T., Santucci, L., & Eyberg, S. (2008). The implementation of modified Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for youth with Separation Anxiety Disorder [Special Issue].   Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 15(2), 118-125. DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpra.2007.08.002 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1077722908000291

Pincus, D.B., Madigan, R., Kerns, C., Hardway, C., & Comer, J. (2014). Managing maladaptive mood and arousal. In E. Sburlati, H. Lyneham, C. Schniering, & R. Rapee (Eds.) Evidence Based CBT for Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents: A Competencies Based Approach. Chichester: JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd.

Pincus, D.B., Elkins, R.M., Weiner, C.L., & Hardway, C. (2014). Cognitive behavioral treatment of sleep disorders in children and adolescents. In D. Mostovsky (Ed.), Handbook of Behavioral Medicine (pp. 223-250). Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.