Biography
Christi is a child/pediatric intern in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Tuskegee University in 2004 and obtained her Master’s degree from the University of South Alabama in 2007. Prior to her doctoral training, she worked as a research coordinator on a R01 funded traumatic brain injury study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Christi is completing her doctoral training at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville under the mentorship of Dr. Deborah L. Welsh.
Research Focus
Christi’s primary research interests center around at-risk children/adolescents, protective factors (i.e. social support), and resiliency. Christi has conducted research with numerous at-risk populations, including adolescent mothers. Christi is currently assessing the impact of social support in the lives of at-risk adolescents involved in mentoring programs as part of her dissertation.
Clinical Focus
Christi is interested in working with children and adolescents with a range of symptomatology, but is especially interested in adolescents with reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. Christi recently completed an advanced practicum with children and adolescents in a rural mental healthcare setting. Since that time, she has also been interested in implementing evidence-based treatments in an integrated healthcare setting.
Courses Taught
- Psychology 110 Introduction to Psychology
Professional Memberships
- Society of Clincial Child & Adolescent Psychology (APA Division 53)
- Society for Research on Adolescents
- Society for Research in Child Development
Publications
Gray, S.L., Culpepper, C., Welsh, D. (2010). Adolescence. In S. Ramachandran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 2nd Edition.
McGowan, M. W., Smith, L., Noria, C. W., Culpepper, C. L., Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., Borkowski, J. G., & Turner, L. A. (2008). Intervening with at-risk mothers: Supporting infant language development. Child and Adolescent Social Work, 4, 245-254.
Turner, L. A., McGowan, M. W., Culpepper, C. L., & Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J. (2007). Social support for adolescent mothers: The role of community mentors. Adolescent Behavior Research Advances. (Ed). Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Presentations
Culpepper, C.L., Kivisto, K.L., Gray, S.L., Welsh, D., Holmes, R., Bishop, N., Preddy, T., Norona, J. Ties that Bind: Dating Partners, Psychological Distress, and the Transition to College. Poster presented at the Society for Research on Child Development Themed Meeting: Transitions from Adolescence to Adulthood, Tampa, FL, October, 2012.
Culpepper, C.L., Kivisto, K.L., Welsh, D.P., Baldwin, D., Fischer, S., Gray, S. Adolescent Alcohol Problems in Context: From Biological Vulnerability to Social Support. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting for the Society for Research on Adolescence, Vancouver, B.C., March, 2012.
Kivisto, K.L., Culpepper, C.L., Welsh, D.P., Baldwin, D., Fischer, S. Multiple Pathways to Adolescent Alcohol Problems: Direct and Indirect Effects of Biobehavioral Markers of Emotional Dysregulation. Paper presented during paper symposium at the Biennial Meeting for the Society for Research on Adolescence, Vancouver, B.C., March, 2012.
Culpepper, C.L., Gray, S.L., Welsh, D.P., Holmes, R.M., Bishop, N. Make New Friends: Students’ Communication in the Transition to College. Poster presented at the Conference on Emerging Adulthood, Providence, RI, October, 2011.
Gray, S.L., Culpepper, C.L, Welsh, D.P., Holmes, R.M., Bishop, N. Communication patterns in 1st year college students: Descriptive analyses of a longitudinal study on the transition to college. Poster presented at the Conference on Emerging Adulthood, Providence, RI, October, 2011.