Paul Frick, Professor, Roy Crumpler Memorial Chair

Office: 208 Audubon Hall
Department of Psychology
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA  70803
Telephone:  225-578-0865
E-Mail:  pfrick@lsu.edu

View the Developmental Psychopathology Lab page

Dr. Frick is not accepting new students.

Research Interests

Dr. Frick's research investigates the many interacting causal factors that can lead children and adolescents to have serious emotional and behavioral problems. The work of his lab uses this research to a) enhance the assessment and diagnosis of childhood psychopathology and b) design more effective interventions to prevent and treat such problems. Some key goals of this work are to:

• To advance knowledge on the dispositional and contextual factors that can place children and adolescents at risk for developing severe antisocial, aggressive, and violent behavior that results in a diagnosis of Conduct Disorder or an arrest for illegal behavior;
• To uncover the many different causal processes that can lead children to display serious conduct problems, with a special focus on children who show a callous and unemotional interpersonal style (e.g., lacking empathy and guilt);
• To study people at various developmental stages (e.g., infancy, preschool, elementary school-age, adolescence, young adulthood) in order to gain a lifespan perspective on antisocial and aggressive behavior;
• To integrate forensic research on the psychopathic personality and developmental research on conscience development; and
• To use research to improve assessments and interventions for antisocial and aggressive youth in mental health settings, schools, and the juvenile justice system.

Dr. Frick collaborates on research with scholars throughout the world. His research has been supported by the Louisiana Models for Change in Juvenile Justice Initiative, which is funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to provide research-based tools and techniques to make juvenile justice more fair, effective, rational and developmentally-appropriate. Work in this laboratory has also been funded by the National Institute of Justice and the W.T. Grant Foundation. Research from the laboratory was also used by the American Psychiatric Association to revise its diagnostic criteria for Conduct Disorder in the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Dr. Frick supervises graduate students in the Clinical Psychology doctoral program at LSU, as well as undergraduate students. Undergraduate students work on teams with graduate students on one of the ongoing projects in the lab, either in the field (working in schools, conducting field interviews, or working in the juvenile justice system) or in the Psychology Services Clinic on campus. Students would also get experience in data entry and data analyses. Preference for undergraduate research assistants will be given to psychology majors who have an overall GPA of 3.3 or higher. Interested undergraduate students should contact Dr. Frick at pfrick@lsu.edu and provide their year at LSU, their GPA, and a summary of their interests and career goals.

Representative Publications

Kemp, E.C., Frick, P.J., Matlasz, T.M., Clark, J.E., Robertson, E.L., Ray, J.V., Thornton, L.C., Myers, T.D.W., Steinberg, L., & Cauffman, E. (2023).  Developing cut-off scores for the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) in justice-involved and community samples.  Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 52, 519-532.

Matlasz, T. M., Frick, P.J., & Clark, J.E. (2023).  A comparison of parent, teacher, and youth ratings on the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits.  Assessment, 30, 210-224.

Robertson, E.L., Ray, J.V., Frick. P.J., Vaughan, E.P., Thornton, L.C., Wall Myers, T.D., Steinberg, L., & Cauffman, E. (2023). The bidirectional effects of antisocial behavior, anxiety, and trauma exposure: Implications for our understanding of the development of callous-unemotional traits.  Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, 132, 445-460.

Vaughan, E.P., Frick, P.J., Robertson, E.L., Ray, J.V., Thornton, L.C., Myers, T.D.W., Steinberg, L., & Cauffman, E. (2023).  Interpersonal relationships and callous-unemotional traits during adolescence and young adulthood: An investigation of bidirectional effects in parent, peer, and romantic relationships.  Clinical Psychological Science, 11, 391-408.

Fleming, G.E., Neo, B., Briggs, N.E., Kaouar, S., Frick, P.J., & Kimonis, E.R. (2022).  Parent training adapted to the needs of children with callous-unemotional traits:  A randomized controlled trial.  Behavior Therapy, 53, 1265-1281

Frick, P.J. (2022).  Some critical considerations in applying the construct of psychopathy to research and classification of childhood disruptive behavior disorders.  Clinical Psychology Review, 96, 102188. 

Fine, A.D., Beardslee, J., Mays, R., Frick, P.J., Steinberg, L., & Cauffman, E. (2022). Measuring youths’ perceptions of police: Evidence from the Crossroads Study. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 28, 92-107.

Matlasz, T. M., Frick, P.J., & Clark, J.E. (2022). Understanding the social relationships of youth with callous-unemotional traits using peer nominations. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 51, 530-542.

Vaughan, E.P., Speck, J.S., Frick, P.J., Robertson, E.L., Ray, J.V., Thornton, L.C., Myers, T.D.W., Steinberg, L., & Cauffman, E. (2022). Longitudinal associations of parental monitoring and delinquent peer affiliation: The potential influence of parental solicitation and monitoring rules. Journal of Adolescence, 94, 656-666.

Cauffman, E., Beardslee, J., Fine, A., Frick, P.J., & Steinberg, L. (2021). Crossroads in juvenile justice: The impact of initial processing decision on youth five years after first arrest. Development and Psychopathology, 33, 700-713.

Frick, P.J. & Kemp, E.C. (2021). Conduct disorders and empathy development. Annual Review in Clinical Psychology, 17, 391-416.

Hawes, D.J., Kimonis, E.R., Diaz, A.M., Frick, P.J., & Dadds, M.R. (2020). The Clinical Assessment of Prosocial Emotions (CAPE 1.1): A multi- informant validation study. Psychological Assessment, 32, 348-357.

McMahon, R.J., Goulter, N., & Frick, P.J. (2021). Moderators of psychosocial intervention response for children and adolescents with conduct problems. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 50, 525-533.

Ray, J.V. & Frick, P.J. (2020). Assessing callous-unemotional traits using the total score from the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits: A meta -analysis. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 49, 190-199.

Robertson, E.L., Frick, P.J., Walker, T.M., Kemp, E.C., Ray, J.V., Thornton, L.C., Myers, T.D.W., Steinberg, L., & Cauffman E. (2020). Callous-unemotional traits and risk of gun carrying and use during crime. American Journal of Psychiatry, 117, 827-833.

Dadds, M.R., & Frick, P.J. (2019). Toward a transdiagnostic model of common and unique processes leading to major disorders of childhood: The REAL model of attention, responsiveness, and learning. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 119, 103410.

Kimonis, E.R., Fleming, G., Briggs, N. Brouwer-French, L., Frick, P.J., Hawes, D.J., Bagner, D.M., Thomas, R., & Dadds, M. (2019). Parent-Child Interaction Therapy adapted for preschoolers with callous-unemotional traits: An open trial pilot study. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 48 (S1), S347-S361.

Clark, J.E. & Frick, P.J. (2018). Positive parenting and callous-unemotional traits: Their association with school behavior problems in young children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 47:sup1, S242-S254.

Robertson, E.L., Frick, P.J., Ray, J.V., Thornton, L.C., Myers, T.D.W., Steinberg, L., & Cauffman, E. (2018). The associations among callous-unemotional traits, worry, and aggression in justice involved adolescent boys. Clinical Psychological Science, 6, 671-684.

Frick, P.J. & Ray, J.V. (2015). Evaluating callous-unemotional traits as a personality construct. Journal of Personality, 83, 710-722.

Frick, P.J., Ray, J.V., Thornton, L.C., & Kahn, R.E. (2014). Can callous-unemotional traits enhance the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of serious conduct problems in children and adolescents? A comprehensive review. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 1-57.

White, S.F., Frick, P.J., Lawing, K., & Bauer, D. (2013). Callous-unemotional traits and response to functional family therapy in adolescent offenders. Behavioral Science and the Law, 31, 271-285.