Draft:Eva Kimonis

Eva R. Kimonis is a British-born American-Australian researcher and expert in the fields of developmental psychopathology and child clinical psychology. She is a Professor of Psychology in the School of Psychology at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, where she leads a research lab and directs the Parent-Child Research Clinic that she founded in 2014. The goals of the Parent-Child Research Clinic are to advance understanding of the development, and state-of-the-art assessment and treatment of childhood disruptive behavior disorders and callous-unemotional traits.

Early life and education

Eva Kimonis was born in Portsmouth, England to a Greek-Cypriot father and an Anglo-Indian mother. She was raised in England, the United Arab Emirates, and the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. She earned her undergraduate degree in Anthropology and Psychology, with Honours, from Brandeis University. She completed post baccalaureate research training at the National Institute of Mental Health in Dr. Carolyn Zahn-Waxler’s intramural research lab before moving to New Orleans to pursue graduate study under the mentorship of Dr. Paul Frick at the University of New Orleans. Kimonis received her MS and PhD in applied developmental psychology with a forensics minor from the University of New Orleans. Her graduate research focused on understanding patterns of emotional attention in community children and incarcerated adolescents with psychopathic traits.

Career

After receiving her PhD, Kimonis completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychology and Social Behavior at the University of California Irvine. She then completed forensic and clinical residencies at the Institute of Behavioral Sciences and the Law and University of South Florida’s Department of Pediatrics, respectively, before commencing an Assistant Professor position at the University of South Florida’s Louis de la Parte Mental Health Institute in Tampa. Kimonis has conducted numerous forensic assessments to address issues including competency to proceed, not guilty reason insanity, and risk assessment, and has testified in federal court. She has established herself as an expert in the fields of developmental psychopathology, clinical child psychology, and forensic psychology with a focus on understanding the cognitive-emotional and familial risk factors leading to the development of antisocial and aggressive behavior, and callous-unemotional traits. She also conducts translational research focused on developing targeted treatments for children with callous-unemotional traits. Kimonis is the developer of two treatment protocols for children with callous-unemotional traits, Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: Callous-Unemotional adaptation (PCIT-CU) and Coaching and Rewarding Emotional Skills (CARES). Kimonis has published numerous book chapters on childhood disruptive behavior disorders and psychopathy and received a number of grants to support her research. She served as President of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy (2022-2024) and Associate Editor of the journal, Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology.

Personal life

In her free time, Eva Kimonis enjoys reading, hiking, yoga, playing soccer, and spending time with her friends and family. She also enjoys cooking and experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen.

Notable works and publications

Eva Kimonis has published numerous articles in top-tier academic journals, including "Can callous-unemotional traits be reliably measured in preschoolers?" and "Parent training adapted to the needs of children with callous–unemotional traits: A randomized controlled trial." This work has advanced understanding of the emergence of callous-unemotional traits in early childhood, and different developmental pathways to childhood antisocial behavior involving unique causal models and risk factors. She is known for her work on a secondary variant of juvenile psychopathic traits involving comorbid anxiety, trauma, and heightened emotional sensitivity, as well as her translational research developing treatments for children with callous-unemotional traits. Her research has been cited extensively in the fields of developmental psychology, clinical psychology, and forensic psychology, and she has been recognized with several awards.

Honors and awards

Eva Kimonis has received several awards for her research, including a prestigious Fulbright Scholar grant, the Jevon S. Newman Early Career Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy, and the Eric Taylor ‘Translational Research Into Practice’ award from the Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Community involvement

Eva Kimonis is involved in community-based initiatives focused on reducing access barriers to early intervention. She has worked with several elementary schools to provide state-of-the-art assessment and personalized treatment to young school children with disruptive behavior problems. She is passionate about preventing the problem of adult psychopathy through the conduct of translational research.

Works

• Kimonis, Eva R.; Frick, Paul J.; Cauffman, Elizabeth; Goldweber, Asha; Skeem, Jennifer (August 2012). "Primary and secondary variants of juvenile psychopathy differ in emotional processing". Development and Psychopathology. 24 (3): 1091–1103. doi:10.1017/S0954579412000557. PMID 22781873.
• Kimonis, Eva R.; Fanti, Kostas A.; Anastassiou-Hadjicharalambous, Xenia; Mertan, Biran; Goulter, Natalie; Katsimicha, Evita (May 2016). "Can Callous-Unemotional Traits be Reliably Measured in Preschoolers?". Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 44 (4): 625–638. doi:10.1007/s10802-015-0075-y. PMID 26344015.
• Fleming, Georgette E.; Neo, Bryan; Briggs, Nancy E.; Kaouar, Silvana; Frick, Paul J.; Kimonis, Eva R. (November 2022). "Parent Training Adapted to the Needs of Children With Callous–Unemotional Traits: A Randomized Controlled Trial". Behavior Therapy. 53 (6): 1265–1281. doi:10.1016/j.beth.2022.07.001. PMID 36229121.
• Kimonis, Eva R. (December 2023). "The Emotionally Sensitive Child-Adverse Parenting Experiences-Allostatic (Over)Load (ESCAPE-AL) Model for the Development of Secondary Psychopathic Traits". Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. 26 (4): 1097–1114. doi:10.1007/s10567-023-00455-2. PMC 10640461. PMID 37735279.