Jennifer Poon

Jennifer Poon photo
Assistant Professor of Psychology
SSB 303D
(907) 786-1717
japoon@alaska.edu

Education

  • Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, George Mason University, 2019
    • Clinical Psychology (Neuroscience concentration)
    • APA-Accredited Doctoral Internship, West Virginia University School of Medicine, 2018-2019
    • Postdoctoral Clinical Fellowship in Adolescent Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 2019-2021
    • Postdoctoral NRSA/F32 NIMH Research Fellowship , Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 2021-20213
  • M.A., Experimental Psychology, The College of William & Mary, 2013
  • B.S., Psychology (Minor: Creative Writing), Virginia Tech, 2011

Teaching Responsibilities

  • PSY A611: Ethics and Professional Issues in Psychology
  • PSY A612: Lifespan Human Development in a Cultural Context 
  • PSY A629: Advanced Intervention II
  • Other courses taught at prior universities: Social Psychology, Research Methods, Behavior Modification, Psych Disorders of Childhood, Developmental Psychopathology

Research Interests

My research broadly focuses on understanding—and ultimately reducing—suicide and other risk behaviors among adolescents. My research experiences lie at the intersection of clinical psychology, developmental psychology, and affective (emotion-related) neuroscience. Rather than focusing on a single “disorder”, I’m most interested in identifying transdiagnostic  mechanisms (e.g., emotion regulation, sleep, minority stress, historical trauma) underlying suicidality. My future program of research will involve elucidating the influence of behavioral and emotion-related processes on the development of suicidal and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors, substance use, disordered eating, and other risky behaviors in teens. I am also interested in identifying mechanisms of resilience (e.g., culture, spirituality, empowerment) at the individual, family, and community levels. As a core faculty member of UAA’s Clinical-Community PhD program—the only APA-accredited program in Alaska—I seek to develop a community-driven program of research that will guide the development highly targeted, timely, and contextually-sensitive prevention and intervention efforts in Alaska.

While I have a strong quantitative background, I am currently collaborating with the Center for Alaska Native Health Research at UAF to receive training in community-based participatory research, qualitative methods, in addition to Alaska Native health, history, culture, and ethics (e.g., data sovereignty). I am especially interested in developing and implementing trauma-informed, culturally-congruent interventions for youth most vulnerable to suicidal thoughts and behaviors, such as sexual and gender minority (e.g., bisexual, trans, or two-spirit youth) and Alaska Native teens. The first goal of the CARIBOU Lab is to create a Community and Youth Advisory Board to ensure that my research incorporates, respects, and honors the cultural values and lived experiences of teens, their families, and their communities. I am currently collaborating with a biology professor on a grant seeking to combine Ecological Momentary Assessment and actigraphy to better understand how Alaska’s seasonal fluctuations in daily sunlight (0-24 hours) impact teens’ sleep and short-term risk for suicide. I am also very interested training students in evidence-based assessment and treatment of eating disorders to expand access to these  services in Alaska. Finally, I will be collaborating with the Alaska SeaLife Center to explore the psychological impacts of climate change.

I will be accepting a doctoral student to begin in Fall 2024. Please feel free to contact me if you’re interested in joining the CARIBOU— Community and Adolescent Research on Inequities in Behavioral OUtcomes—Lab (website coming soon). I welcome qualified, motivated, and passionate applicants with lived experience (broadly defined).

Publications

†Denotes students mentored or supervised. 

Poon, J., †Syntiak, S., †Janze, J., & Wolff, J. (Under review). Adverse Childhood Experiences and Eating Disorder Symptoms among High-Risk Adolescents: Associations with Emotion Regulation, Self-Compassion, and Body Image. 

Katz, B., Cabrera, J., Poon, J., Scrager, S., Goldbach, J., & Feinstein, B. (Under review). A Longitudinal Test of the Relative and Interactive Effects of Sexual Violence Victimization and Minority Stress on Mental Health Among Sexual Minority Adolescents

Poon, J., †Murphy, M., & Shufang, S. (Under review). Links between Childhood Threat vs. Deprivation and Psychopathology among Young Sexual Minority Men: The Differential Roles of Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation Difficulties.

Poon et al., †Katz, B., †Benjamin, I., †Russell, R., & Feinstein, B. (Under review). Affirmative Psychotherapy for Trauma-Exposed Sexual and Gender Minority Youth. Evidence-Based Treatments for Trauma Related Disorders in Children and Adolescents (2nd Ed.)

†Doga, C., †DeCaro, S., †Turnamian, M., Poon, J., Kleiman, E., & Liu, R. (Under review). A multi-method assessment of emotional processes predicting longitudinal anxiety symptom trajectories in an adolescent clinical sample. Journal. Of Mood and Anxiety Disorders. 

Poon, J., Lopez, R., †Marie-Shea, L., & Liu, R. (2023). Longitudinal relations between threat, emotion regulation difficulties, and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors: An 18-Month prospective study of high-risk adolescents. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychology, 1-12.

Poon, J., Panza, E., Feinstein, B., & Selby, E. (2022). Lifetime and daily weight stigma among higher weight   sexual minority women: Links to daily weight-based concerns, avoidance, and negative affect. Stigma & Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/ 10.1037/sah0000421

Poon, J. A., Thompson, J. C., & Chaplin, T. M. (2022). Task-based functional connectivity patterns: Links to     adolescent emotion regulation and psychopathology. Journal of Affective Disorders, 302, 33-40.

Feinstein, B., Dyar, C., Poon, J., Goodman, F., & Davila, J. (2022). The affective consequences of minority stress among bisexual, pansexual, and queer (bi+) adults: A daily diary study. Behavior Therapy, 53(4), 571-584.

Poon, J., Galione, J., Grocott, L., Horowitz, K., Kudinova, A, & Kim, K. (2022). Dialectical Behavior Therapy   for Adolescents (DBT-A): Outcomes among sexual minorities at high risk for suicide. Suicide & Life Threatening Behavior, 52(3), 383-391.

Lopez, R., †Gonclaves, S., Poon, J., Ansell, E., Esposito-Smythers, C., & Chaplin, T. (2021). Sexual identity and its association with emotion dysregulation and depressive trajectories from early to middle adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 53, 1062–1074.

 Poon, J. A., Kerr, P. L., & Kim, K. L. (2020). Suicide and non-suicidal self‐injury among sexual and gender minority adolescents: A stress perspective. The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, 36(1), 1-7. 

 Poon, J., †Niehaus, C., Thompson, J., Forbes, E., & Chaplin, T. (2019). Adolescents' pubertal development: Links between testosterone, estradiol, and neural reward processing. Hormones and Behavior, 114, 104504.

Chaplin, T., Poon, J., Thompson, J., †Hansen, A., Dziura, S., Turpyn, C., †Niehaus, C., Sinha, R., Chassin, L., & Ansell, E. (2019). Sex‐differentiated associations among negative parenting, emotion‐related brain function,       and adolescent substance use and psychopathology symptoms. Social Development, 28(3), 637-656.

Turpyn, C., Poon, J., †Niehaus, C., & Chaplin, T. (2018). The measurement of childhood emotion. In E. Hupp & J. Jewell. (Eds). The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development, 1-12.

Poon, J., Thompson, J., Forbes, E., & Chaplin, T. (2018). Adolescents’ reward-related neural activation: Links to            thoughts of non-suicidal self-injury. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 49, 76–89.

Turpyn, C., Poon, J., †Ross, C., Thompson, J., & Chaplin, T. (2017). Associations between parent emotional arousal and regulation and adolescents’ affective brain response. Social Development, 27(1), 3-18.

Miller-Slough, R., Dunsmore, J., Zeman, J., Sanders, W., & Poon, J. (2017). Maternal and paternal reactions to child sadness predict child psychosocial outcomes: A family-centered approach. Social Development, 27, 1-15.

Poon, J., Zeman, J., Miller, R., Sanders, W., & †Crespo, L. (2017). “Good enough” parental responsiveness to children’s sadness: Links to psychosocial functioning. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 48, 69-78.

Poon, J. A., Turpyn, C. C., Hansen, A., †Jacangelo, J., & Chaplin, T. M. (2015). Adolescent substance use & psychopathology: Interactive effects of cortisol reactivity and emotion regulation. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 40, 368-380.

Folk, J., Zeman, J., Poon, J., & Dallaire, D. (2014). A longitudinal examination of emotion regulation: Pathways to anxiety and depressive symptoms in urban minority youth. Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 19, 243-250.

Sanders, W., Zeman, J., Poon, J., & Miller, R. (2013). Child Regulation of Negative Emotions and Depressive Symptoms: The Moderating Role of Parental Emotion Socialization. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24, 402–415.

Poon, J. (2010). Anybody there?: A comparison of writing-center coaching and crisis counseling. Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, 8, 1-15. 

Psychology