Erika M Manczak

Assistant Professor

Faculty

Frontier Hall, 2155 S. Race St. Denver, CO 80208

What I do

I am an Assistant Professor studying the interplay between biological and environmental processes in the development of depression in children and parents.

Specialization(s)

Clinical psychology, immunology, child development; depression

Professional Biography

I joined the Department of Psychology in 2018 as an Assistant Professor and I am affiliated with the clinical child psychology Ph.D. program and the Stress, Early Experience, and Development (SEED) Research Center. I received my Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Stanford University.

Degree(s)

Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, Northwestern University, 2017
MS, Clinical Psychology, Northwestern University, 2013
BA, College Scholar Program: "Psychonarrative Application", Cornell University, 2007

Licensure / Accreditations

Licensed Psychologist

Research

My program of research examines the biological and psychological mechanisms through which experiences during childhood and adolescence confer risk for mental and physical health disorders. I am especially interested in how important social relationships affect immune processes that in turn increase risk for depression in adolescence; however, my work also examines risk across other developmental periods (e.g., adulthood, prenatal) and considers a variety of additional biological pathways (e.g., epigenetic modifications, somatic fitness).

Areas of Research

Depression

child psychopathology

inflammation

family relationships

immune system

Featured Publications

Manczak, E. M., Basu, D., & Chen, E. (2016). The Price of Perspective Taking: Child Depressive Symptoms Interact with Parental Empathy to Predict Immune Functioning in Parents. Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 4(3), 485-492.

Manczak, E. M., DeLongis, A., & Chen, E. (2016). Does empathy have a cost? Diverging psychological and physiological effects within families. Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 35(3), 211-8.

Manczak, E. M., Ordaz, S. J., Singh, M. K., Goyer, M. S., & Gotlib, I. H. (2019). Time spent with parents predicts change in depressive symptoms in adolescents with major depressive disorder. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 47(8), 1401-1408. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-019-00526-5

Manczak, E. M., Dougherty, B., & Chen, E. (2019). Parental depressive symptoms potentiate the effect of youth negative mood symptoms on gene expression in children with asthma. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 47(1), 99-108. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0420-z

Manczak, E. M., Miller, J. G., & Gotlib, I. H. (2020). Water contaminant levels interact with parenting environment to predict development of depressive symptoms in adolescents. Developmental Science, 23(1), e12838. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12838

Graduate Mentorship

Dr. Manczak will NOT be reviewing applications for fall 2024 admission.