Deborah J. Jones, Ph.D.

Professor
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:
Email:djjones@email.unc.edu
Website: http://deborahjones.web.unc.edu/

Research Interests & Goals:
Dr. Jones’ research program rests upon the assumption that normal and abnormal development must be understood in context. At the center of Dr. Jones’ work is the family context, characterized by demographic aspects of the family (e.g., income, race), as well as family systems and processes (e.g., parenting, coparenting). Accordingly, throughout her career, Dr. Jones has strived to move the literature beyond the identification of “at-risk” families to more contextualized models of risk and protective processes for specific children and families at-risk for specific negative outcomes. Most recently, Dr. Jones has taken this line of research a step further by conducting applied work that aims to improve service delivery options for vulnerable, yet underserved families. Such work necessitates that Dr. Jones moves beyond the disciplinary boundaries of clinical child psychology to a perspective informed by public health, the intersection of clinical, developmental, and community psychology, and, most recently, telehealth. This multidisciplinary approach is critical for work that demands the utilization of innovative engagement strategies for working with vulnerable and, in turn, often difficult to recruit and retain families.