Liz Essel

Elizabeth Cipriano Essel received her PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from the Pennsylvania State University in 2010. She currently is a Contributing Faculty Member for Walden’s MS Psychology CBE TEMPO program. From 2012-2024, she served as a Contributing Faculty Member for Walden’s Psychology/Developmental MS and PhD Program. She is also currently an undergraduate instructor in Human Development and Family Studies for Pennsylvania State University’s World Campus. Professionally, she has worked as a researcher on various projects exploring how children’s social and emotional development is impacted by individual differences in temperamental reactivity and regulation, parenting processes, and experiences of child maltreatment.

Courses Taught

DPSY 8125 - Lifespan Development

DPSY 8111 - Themes and Theories in Developmental Psychology

DPSY 8121 - Development in the Digital Age

Education

PhD, Pennsylvania State University

MS, Pennsylvania State University

BA, University of Michigan

Awards / Honors

1T32MH070327-03. NIMH Early Childhood Mental Heal, Pennsylvania State University, 2006

Translational Research in Child Neglect Consortium, , 2009

Building Careers in Research for Child Maltreatmen, , 2012

Publications

Essel, E. C., Skowron, E., Gatzke-Kopp, L. (2011). ). Children’s cardiac reactivity moderates the relationship between exposure to family violence and behavioral adjustment. . Child Maltreatment,

Van Epps, J., Skowron, E., Essel, E. C., Woehrle, P. A role for Bowen Family Systems Theory in guiding cross-disciplinary, translational research and effective intervention: Current developments and future directions. .

Skowron, E., Essel, E. C., Gatzke-Kopp, L., Teti, D., Ammerman, R. (2014). Early adversity, RSA, and inhibitory control: Evidence of children's neurobiological sensitivity to social context. . Developmental Psychobiology

Essel, E. C., Skowron, E., Stifter, C., Teti, D. (2013). Heterogeneity in maltreated and non-maltreated preschool children’s inhibitory control: The interplay between parenting quality and child temperament. . Infant and Child Development

Presentations

Skowron, E., Essel, E. C. (2009). Child neglect, mother differentiation of self, and cardiovascular reactivity in low-income rural families. .