Bio

Kathleen J. Pottick (Ph.D., Michigan, 1982) is professor in Rutgers University's School of Social Work and Core Senior Faculty at Rutgers’ Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research. She has served in a variety of administrative roles in the School of Social Work, including Acting Dean (2011-2013) and Associate Dean for Faculty Development (2009-2011).

The bulk of her research has focused on better understanding the barriers to the provision of effective mental health services for children and adolescents, and disadvantaged populations, and on developing strategies for removing them. One line of research investigates racial and ethnic disparities in mental health service use for youths with serious emotional disorders in the United States. Another line targets clinicians' attributions of youths' emotional problems, and the correlates of biased perceptions.

She is co-author of The Parents' Perspective: Delinquency, Aggression and Mental Health, (with Paul Lerman), an analysis of minority inner-city adolescents receiving outpatient mental health services in Newark, New Jersey. She publishes in the fields of social work, psychology, and psychiatry, with recent articles appearing in Social Service Review, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and American Journal of Psychiatry. Her research studies have been funded by federal government and foundation sources (e.g., National Institute of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Annie E. Casey and Robin Hood Foundations).

She is on the advisory board of the international social work journal, Ethics and Social Welfare, and is a licensed clinical social worker in the State of New Jersey.

Courses Taught: 

  • Dissertation Seminar (PhD)
  • Theory Development in Direct Social Work Practice (PhD)
  • Current Perspectives in Direct Social Work Practice (PhD)
  • Social Work Foundation Practice I (MSW)
  • Social Work Foundation Practice II (MSW)

Selected Recent Publications: 

Asterisks indicate publication with undergraduate*, graduate** or post-doctoral student***

Pottick, K.J., Warner, L.A., Vander Stoep, A., & Knight, N.M.* (online, ahead of print). Clinical characteristics and outpatient mental health service use among transition-age youth in the USA. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, DOI 10.1007/s11414-013-9376-5.

Warner, L.A., Song, N.**, & Pottick, K.J.(online, ahead of print, 2013). Outpatient psychotropic medication use in the US: A comparison based on foster care status. Journal of Child and Family Studies, DOI 10.1007/s10826-013-9985-0.

Franco, L.M.**, Pottick, K.J., & Huang, C-C. (2010). Early parenthood in a community context: Neighborhood conditions, race-ethnicity, and parenting stress. Journal of Community Psychology.38,574-590.

Fontanella, C.A.***, Pottick, K.J., & Warner, L.A. (2010). Effects of medication management and discharge planning on early readmission of psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents. Social Work in Mental Health,8, 117-133. (lead article)

Pottick, K. J., Bilder, S.**, Vander Stoep, A., Warner, L. A., and Alvarez, M. F.* (2008). U.S. patterns of mental health service utilization for transition-age youth and young adults. Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research. In: Special issue: Transition to Adulthood Research: Process and Outcomes. H. B. Clark, N. Koroloff, J. Geller, and D. L. Sondheimer (eds.), 35(4):373-389.

Warner, L.A., Fontanella, C.*** & Pottick, K.J. (2007). Initiation and change of psychotropic medication regimens among adolescents in inpatient care. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology.17, 701-712

Pottick, K.J., Kirk, S.A., Hsieh, D.K**, and Tian, X.** (2007). Judging mental disorder: Effects of client, clinician, and contextual differences. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75:1-8 (lead article).

Featured in: Harvard Mental Health Letter (June 2007). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School. Story: Uncovering Diagnostic Biases Monitor on Psychology (April 2007). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 38(4):11. Story: Clinicians slower to diagnose ethnic minority children(www.apa.org/monitor/may07/previous.html)

Warner, L.A., Fontanella, C.***, and Pottick, K.J. (2007). Initiation and change of psychotropic medication regimens among adolescents in inpatient care. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. 17:701-712.

Warner, L.A. & Pottick, K.J. (2006). Functional impairment among preschoolers in mental health services. Children and Youth Services Review, 28,473-486 (lead article).

Featured in: Maternal and Child Health Alert (MCH Alert), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, May 5, 2006 (www.mchlibrary.info/alert/archives.htm)

Wakefield, J.C., Kirk, S.A., Pottick, K.J., Hsieh, D.K.**, & Tian, X**. (2006). The lay concept of conduct disorder: Do nonprofessionals use syndromal symptoms or internal dysfunction to distinguish disorder from delinquency? Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 51, 33-40.

Warner, L.A., Pottick, K.J., & Bilder, S.** (2005). Clinical and Organizational Correlates of Psychotropic Medication Use among Youths in Outpatient Mental Health Services in the U.S. Social Service Review, 79, 454-81

Pottick, K.J., Warner, L.A., & Yoder, K. A.*** (2005). Youths living away from families in the U.S. mental health system: Opportunities for targeted intervention. Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, 32, 264-281.

Warner, L.A., Pottick, K.J., & Mukherjee, A.* (2004). Psychotropic medication use among youth with single and co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses in the U.S. mental health service system. Psychiatric Services, 55, 309-311.

Pottick, K.J., Wakefield, J.C., Kirk, S.A., & Tian, X.** (2003). Influence of social workers’ characteristics on the perception of mental disorder in youths. Social Service Review, 77, 431 454.

Oxford University Press: Superstorm Sandy