Professional Bio

Research Interests

Child clinical psychology and family processes and risk issues. Her work focuses on maternal behavior, child abuse, gender and aggression, and legal issues affecting families (e.g., definitions of parental competence for custody evaluations; racial, ethnic, and class bias in legal treatment of families).

Recent selected publications

Azar, S.T., McGuier, D.J., Horton, W.J., Cooley, D.T., Miller, E.A., & Bartell, P.A. (2017). Delayed phase, sleep instability, sleep concordance, and awakenings: Preliminary associations with social and neurocognitive difficulties and parenting risk. Journal of Sleep and Sleep Disorders Research 40, 264.

Azar, S. T., McGuier, D. J., Miller, E. A., Hernandez-Mekonnen, R., & Johnson, D. R. (2016). Child neglect and maternal cross-relational social cognitive and neurocognitive disturbances. Journal of Family Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000268

Azar, S.T., Miller, E.A., McGuier, D. J., Stevenson, M. T., O’Donnell, E., Olsen, N., & Spence, N. (2016).  Maternal social information processing and the frequency, duration, and severity of mother-perpetrated physical abuse. Child Maltreatment, 21(4), 308-316.

Azar, S. T., Miller, E. A., Stevenson, M. T., & Johnson, D. R. (2016). Social cognition, child neglect, and child injury risk: The contribution of maternal social information processing to maladaptive injury prevention beliefs within a high-risk sample. Journal of Pediatric Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsw067

Azar, S.T. & Maggi, M. (2016). A blueprint for systemic change: Enhancing services to better serve the needs of parents with intellectual disabilities.  In J.R. Lutzker, K.M. Guastaferro, and M.L. Graham (Eds).  (2015). Maltreatment of Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Across the Lifespan (pp. 263-300). Washington: AAIDD.

Azar, S. T., Okado, U., Stevenson, M., & Robinson, L. (2013). A preliminary test of a social information processing model of parenting risk in adolescent males at risk for later physical child abuse in adulthood. Child Abuse Review.doi:10.1002/car2244.

Azar, S. T., Stevenson, M. T., & Johnson, D. R. (2012). Intellectual disabilities and neglectful parenting: Preliminary findings on the role of cognition in parenting risk. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 5, 94-129.

Azar, S. T., Reitz, E. B., & Goslin, M. C. (2008). Mothering: Thinking is part of the job description: Application of cognitive views to understanding maladaptive parenting and doing intervention and prevention work. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology,29(4), 295-304.

Azar, S.T., & Weinzeirl, K. N. (2005). Child maltreatment and childhood injury research. A cognitive behavioral approach. Journal of Pediatrics, 31, 1-17.