David Oppenheim, PhD
The Center for Research in Child Development | The School of Psychological Sciences
University of Haifa, Israel
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About Me
About Me
I am a Developmental Psychologist and currently Head of the Center for the Study of Child Development. My primary research interests are in parent-child relationships during early childhood and their impact on children's socioemotional development. My interests are in parenting of Typically Developing children but also those with Atypical Development, such as children with Autism.
I see parental insightfulness – the capacity to see and feel things from the child's point of view as a powerful factor that underlies sensitive parenting and provides children a deep feeling of being understood and secure.. Read More
Latest Publications
2026
Sher-Censor, E., Feniger-Schaal, R., Oppenheim, D., Koren-Karie, N., Raya, M., & Klertag, O. (2026). Understanding the Impact of War on Mothers and Children Through the Family Stress Model and Adverse Childhood Experiences Framework. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9459838/v1 View
Sher-Censor, E., Harel, M., Aran, A., & Oppenheim, D. (2026). Parental Representations and Emotional Availability: The Case of Children with Autism and Severe Behavior Problems. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 56(4), 1489-1502.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06629-3 View
2025
Oppenheim, D. (2025). Foreword. In K. R. Kelly (Ed.), Narrative Story Completion Methodologies: Research Approaches Across the Lifespan (pp. viii - x). Oxford University Press.
Oppenheim, D., Dolev, S., Hamburger, L., Lottan, R., Kunst, S., Friedelman, J., ... & Yirmiya, N. (2025). The Association Between Classroom Quality and the Social Competence of Autistic Preschool-Age Boys. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-9. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-025-06747-6 View
Oppenheim, D., Mottes-Peleg, M., Dolev, S., & Yirmiya, N. (2025). Play interactions of autistic preschoolers with their mothers and fathers without toys yield more positive interactions than play with toys. Autism, 29(8), 1987–1997
https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613251329975 View
Oppenheim, D., Mottes‐Peleg, M., Hamburger, L., Slonim, M., Maccabi, Y., & Yirmiya, N. (2025). The social skills of autistic boys in preschool: the contributions of their dyadic and triadic interactions with their parents. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 66(3), 322-332. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.14061 View
Slonim, M., Oppenheim, D., Maccabi, Y., Hamburger, L., Kalir, C., Koren-Karie, N., & Yirmiya, N. (2025). Coparenting Representations and Interactions Among Parents of Preschoolers with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Parenting, 25(1), 23-38. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2024.2426675 View
2024
Moshe, S., Oppenheim, D., Slonim, M., Hamburger, L., Maccabi, Y., & Yirmiya, N. (2024). Positive and challenging themes in parents’ perceptions of their relationships with their child with autism: Comparison between mothers and fathers. Autism, 28(3), 744-754. DOI: 10.1177/13623613231182513 View
Oppenheim, D., Bernard, K., Dozier, M., Lieberman, A. F., Mays, M & West, J. (2024). An Invited Commentary on Mentoring in Infant Mental Health: A Symposium Commemorating Robert N. Emde. Infant Mental Health Journal, 45(5), 569-578. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.22127 View
Oppenheim, D., & Koren-Karie, N. (2024). Parents’ Insightfulness: The Importance of Keeping the Inner World of the Child in Mind for Parenting Plan Evaluations. Invited contribution for the 3rd edition of K. Kehnle, & L. Drozd (Eds.), Parenting plan evaluations: Applied research for the family court (pp 67-85). New York: Oxford University Press.
Oppenheim, D., Koren-Karie, N., Slonim, M., Mottes-Peleg, M., Sher-Censor, E., Dolev, S., & Yirmiya, N. (2024). Maternal and paternal insightfulness and reaction to the diagnosis in families of preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder: Associations with observed parental sensitivity and inter-parent interaction. Attachment & Human Development, 26(1), 22-40. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2024.2326416 View
Sher-Censor, E., Fengier-Schaal, R., Oppenheim, D., Koren-Karie, N., Raya, M., & Klartag, O. (2024). Risk and resilience in parents and children in the face of the events of October 7 and the 'Iron Swords' war. Psychoactualia, 96, 40-48. [In Hebrew]. View
Sher-Censor, E., Harel, M., Oppenheim, D., & Aran, A. (2024). Parental Representations and Emotional Availability: The Case of Children with Autism and Severe Behavior Problems. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1-14. View
Tamari, R., Aviezer, O., & Oppenheim, D. (2024). Early maternal guidance of mother-child emotion dialogues predicts adolescents’ attachment representations: a longitudinal study. Attachment & Human Development, 26(5), 446-463. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2024.2391310 View
2023
Ariav-Paraira, I., Oppenheim, D., & Sagi-Schwartz., A., & Zreik, G. (2023). Disrupted Maternal Communication and Disorganized Attachment in the Arab Society in Israel. Infant Mental Health Journal, 44(3), 335-347. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.22047 View
Opie, J. E., Booth, A. T., Rossen, L., Fivaz‐Depeursinge, E., Duschinsky, R., Newman, L., ... & McHale, J. P. (2023). Initiating the dialogue between infant mental health and family therapy: a qualitative inquiry and recommendations. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 44(4), 412-439. https://doi.org/10.1002/anzf.1569. View
Oppenheim, D., Koren-Karie, N., Hamburger, L., Maccabi, Y., Slonim, M., & Yirmiya, N. (2023). Parental insightfulness is associated with cooperative interactions in families of preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64(9), 1359-1368. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13788. Online ahead of print. https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jcpp.13788 View
Yuval-Adler, S. & Oppenheim, D. (2023). The contribution of mother-father-child interactions to children’s emotion narratives. Social Development, 32(1), 299–314. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12642 View
Current Projects
Current Projects
Family interactions with preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Read more..
The effectiveness of the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) in a community setting: Relation with maternal sensitivity, child social responsiveness and the moderating role of maternal insightfulness. (Yamit Karabeknik, PhD project). Read more..
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