Dr. Ovsanna Leyfer is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and a licensed clinical psychologist in the Child and Adolescent Fear and Anxiety Treatment Program at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University. Dr. Leyfer specializes in the cognitive-behavioral treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders as well as other behavioral and emotional difficulties in children and adults. Her past and current research includes the risk factors for developing anxiety disorders in children and adolescents with typical development and developmental disorders and designing developmentally appropriate treatments for youths with emotional disorders. Dr. Leyfer has recently completed the investigation into the application of d-cycloserine in an intensive treatment of panic disorder in adolescents.  Dr. Leyfer holds a M.A. in Child Development from Tufts University and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Louisville.

Selected Publications

Leyfer, O., Gallo, K., Cooper-Vince, C., & Pincus, D. (2013). Comorbidity of DSM-IV anxiety disorders in a clinical sample of children and adolescents. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 27, 306-11.

 Leyfer, O., John, A.E., Woodruff-Borden, J., & Mervis, C.B. (2012). Factor structure of the Child Behavior Questionnaire in children with Williams Syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42, 2346-53.

Leyfer, O. & Brown, T.A. (2010). The Anxiety-Depression Spectrum. In D.H. Barlow (Ed.), Handbook of Clinical Psychology (pp.279-293).  New York: Oxford University Press.

Brown, T.A. & Leyfer, O. (2010). Classification of anxiety disorders: current status and future directions.  In D.J. Stein, E. Hollander, & B. Rothbaum (Eds.), Textbook of Anxiety Disorders (pp. 17-34).  Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

 Leyfer, O., Woodruff-Borden, J., & Mervis, C.B. (2009). Anxiety disorders in children with Williams syndrome, their mothers, and their siblings: Implications for the etiology of anxiety disorders.  Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 1, 4-14.

 Leyfer, O., Tager-Flusberg, H., Dowd, M., Tomblin, J.B., & Folstein, S.E. (2008). Overlap between autism and specific language impairment: Comparison of Autism Diagnostic Interview and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule scores. Autism Research, 1, 284-297.

Ballash, N. G., Leyfer, O., Buckley, A. F., & Woodruff-Borden, J. (2006). A developmental analysis of parental control in the etiology of anxiety.  Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 9, 113-133.

Leyfer, O., Folstein, S. E., Bacalman, S., Davis, N. O., Dinh, E., Morgan, J., Tager-Flusberg, H., & Lainhart, J. E. (2006). Comorbid psychiatric disorders in children with autism:  interview development and rates of disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36, 849-861.

Leyfer, O., Ruberg, J., & Woodruff-Borden, J. (2006). Examination of the utility of the Beck Anxiety Inventory and its factors as a screener for anxiety disorders. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 20, 444-458.

Leyfer, O., Woodruff-Borden, J., Klein-Tasman, B. P., Fricke, J., & Mervis, C. B. (2006). Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in 4 to16-year-olds with Williams syndrome. American Journal of Medical Genetics, 141B, 615-622.

Woodruff-Borden, J. & Leyfer, O. (2006). Anxiety and fear. In M. Hersen (Ed.), Clinical Handbook of Behavioral Assessment, (Vol. 1, pp. 267-289). New York: Academic Press.

Tadevosyan-Leyfer, O., Dowd, M., Mankoski, R., Winkloski, B., Putnam, S., Tager-Flusberg, H., McGrath, L., & Folstein, S. E. (2003). A discriminant factor analysis of the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised.  Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 864-872.