Faculty

Rachel A Vaughn-Coaxum, PhD

Rachel A Vaughn-Coaxum, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email
Website
ECYMH Lab

Education & Training

PhD
Clinical Psychology, Harvard University
Clinical Psychology, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital
Clinical Research Training for Psychologists, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Research Interests

Development and treatment of youth depression; Depression treatment targets; Childhood adversity and youth psychopathology
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Vaughn-Coaxum RA, Merranko J, Birmaher B, Dickstein DP, Hafeman D, Levenson JC, ...,Goldstein TR (2021). Longitudinal course of depressive symptom severity among youths with bipolar disorders: Moderating influences of sustained attention and history of child maltreatment. Journal of Affective Disorders, 282, 261-271. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.12.078. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 33418377.
  2. Lindhiem O, Vaughn-Coaxum RA., Higa J, Harris JL,, Kolk, DJ & Pilkonis PA. (2020) Development and validation of the Parenting Skill Use Diary (PSUD) in a nationally representative sample. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34(6), 752-758. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2020.1716366. PubMed PMID: 32027540
  3. Weisz JR., Vaughn-Coaxum RA, Evans SC, Lee E, Thomassin KT, Hersh J, Ng MY, ...Raftery-Helmer J. (2020). Efficient monitoring of treatment response during youth psychotherapy: Development and psychometric assessment of the Behavior and Feelings Survey. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 49(6), 737-751. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2018.1547973. PubMed PMID: 30657721
  4. Vaughn-Coaxum RA, Dhawan N, Sheridan MA, Hart MJ & Weisz JR. (2020). Dimensions of adversity in association with adolescents depression symptoms: distinct moderating roles of cognitive and autonomic function. Development & Psychopathology, 32(3), 817-830. doi: 10.1017/S0954579419001172. PubMed PMID: 31845636
  5. Vaughn-Coaxum RA, Wang Y, Kiely J, Weisz JR, & Dunn EC. (2018). Associations between trauma type, timing, and accumulation on current coping behaviors in adolescents: Results from a large, population-based sample. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 47(4), 842-858. doi:10.1007/s10964-017-0693-5. PubMed PMID: 28555292

Pitt Psychiatry Investigators Receive YourMomCares Research Awards

Pitt Faculty Presented with YourMomCares Award

Congratulations to Heather Joseph, DO (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics), who received the inaugural YourMomCares Brilliance in Research Award. YourMomCares is a kids’ mental health nonprofit, founded by the moms of musicians, actors and athletes, to fund innovations in kids’ mental health and wellbeing. Candice Biernesser, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), and Rachel Vaughn-Coaxum, PhD...

Rachel Vaughn-Coaxum, PhD, Honored as an Association for Psychological Science Rising Star

Dr. Rachel Vaughn-Coaxum

Congratulations to Rachel Vaughn-Coaxum, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), who has been named a Rising Star in the Association for Psychological Science (APS)! Dr. Vaughn-Coaxum studies how childhood adversity can influence depression treatment response. Her research has shown that for some adolescents, childhood adversity can be associated with the employment of ineffective stress-management strategies...

Pitt Psychiatry Hosts a Tremendous Research “Half” Day

2021 Research Day

On June 9, 2021, the Department of Psychiatry held its 2nd virtual Research Day, featuring presentations on health equity research, a speed dat(a)ing session, a keynote address, and honors and awards. The event was billed as a Research “Half” Day, as we hope and expect for the second half of the event, a poster session, to occur in person. (Date: October 5, 2021. Stay tuned to our events page for details!) Below is...