Kari N. Thomsen, M.S.

Kari N. Thomsen is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program with a focus on Child and Family Studies at the University of Memphis. Kari graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2018 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. Following, Kari worked as the lab coordinator for a child clinical psychology lab at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Her research interests revolve around pathways of risk and resilience for psychopathology across ecological systems following exposure to childhood adversity.

knthmsen@memphis.edu

Room 403, Psychology Building

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Hasselle, A.J., Howell, K.H., Garza, A., Thomsen, K.N., & Gilliam, H.C. (In Press). A randomized controlled trial examining the effect of Camp HOPE Tennessee on youth functioning: Results from a pilot study. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, & Policy.
Kersey, B., Thomsen, K.N., Bartelli, D., & Howell, K.H. (Under Review). Externalizing problems in children: Examining the role of caregiver and child adversities and parental involvement. American Journal of Undergraduate Research.
Wamser-Nanney, R., Thomsen, K.N., Walker, H.E. Howell, K.H. (Under Review). A comprehensive model of community violence exposure outcomes using an ecological systems framework. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
Thomsen, K.N., Howell, K.H., & Bartelli, D. (In Press). Child social support moderates the association between maternal psychopathology and child school engagement. Child and Youth Care Forum.
Napier, T.R., Howell, K.H., Thomsen, K.N., Park, J.E., Miller-Graff, L.E. (in press). Examining the Moderating Effects of Therapy Attendance on Prenatal Parenting Attitudes Among IPV-Exposed Mothers with Histories of Child Maltreatment. International Journal on Child Maltreatment.
Jamison, L.E., Howell, K.H., Campbell, K.D., Thomsen, K.N., & Hasselle, A.J. (2023). Exploring multisystemic resilience among youth of color exposed to direct and indirect violence. International Journal of Child and Adolescent Resilience.
Thomsen, K.N., Howell, K.H., Gilliam, H.C., & Wamser-Nanney, R. (2022). Mapping Individual, Relational, and Contextual Factors onto Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Resilience. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
Thomsen, K.N., Mateo Santana, A., & Grabell, A.S. (2022). Examining early childhood physiological and cognitive dimensions of emotional awareness using a novel coloring task. Child and Family Behavior Therapy.
Walker, H. E., Thomsen, K. N., Jamison, L. E., Wamser-Nanney, R., & Howell, K. H. (2022). The role of dimensions of emotion dysregulation following exposure to maltreatment and adult victimization. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
Howell, K.H., Napier, T.R., Thomsen, K.N., Martínez Torteya, C., & Källström, A. (2022). Global perspectives on family violence: Prevalence and effects on children across cultural contexts. In S. Moeschberger & L.E. Miller-Graff (Eds.), Building Cultures of Peace: Psychological Perspectives on Understanding and Addressing Violence Against Children. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Grabell, A.S., Mateo Santana, A., Thomsen, K.N., Gonzalez, K., Zhang, Z., Bivins, Z., Rahman, T. (2022). Prefrontal modulation of frustration-related physiology in preschool children ranging from low to severe irritability. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101112
Cohen, J.R., Thomsen, K.N., Tu, K.M., Thakur, H., McNeil, S.L., Menon, S.V. (2020). Cardiac autonomic functioning and post-traumatic stress: A preliminary study in youth at-risk for PTSD. Psychiatry Research.
Cohen, J.R., Thomsen, K.N., Racioppi, A., Ballespi, S., Sheinbaum, T., Kwapil, T.R., & Barrantes-Vidal, N. (2019). Emerging adulthood and prospective depression: A simultaneous test of cumulative risk theories. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 1-12.

Paper Presentations

Thomsen, K.N., Howell, K.H., Gilliam, H.C., Ahmed, A.M., & Thurston, I.B. (2024, April). Social ecological protective factors associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms among adolescents exposed to adversity. Paper presentation to be presented at ResilienceConference, Nashville, TN.
Napier, T.R., Howell, K.H., Thomsen, K.N., Maye, C.E., Thurston, I.B. (2023, November). Violence across the family system: Examining the direct and intergenerational effects of violence victimization on youth’s social competence. In S. Stein, Social determinants of health in intimate partner violence victimization. Symposium presented at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), Los Angeles, California.
Hasselle, A.J., Howell, K.H., Garza, A., Thomsen, K.N., & Gilliam, H.C. (2023, November). A randomized controlled trial examining the effect of camp hope on youth functioning: Results from a pilot study. In A.J. Hasselle (Chair), Innovative Strategies for Addressing Traumatic Experiences Among Racially Diverse Youth. Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Los Angeles, CA.
Maye, C.E., Howell, K.H., Porter, D.V., Ahmed, A., Thomsen, K. N., & Thurston, I.B. (2023, August). Multilevel Risk and Protective Factors associated with Anxious-Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Annual Convention, Washington, DC.
Thomsen, K. N., Howell, K. H., West, K. M. (2022, August). Individual and Relational Factors associated with Child Health and Well-Being. Data blitz presented at the annual convention of American Psychological Association, Minneapolis, MN.
Thomsen, K. N., Howell, K. H., Jamison, J. E., Collier, E. G. (2022, March). Child Behavior Difficulties in Families Exposed to Violence: Examining the Role of Victimization, Attachment, Mental Health, and Social Support. Oral presentation at the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, Virtual Conference.

Poster Presentations

Campbell, K.D., Banks, D. E., Thomsen, K. N., Howell, K. H. (2023, June). Avoidance of Racial Trauma Exposure and Concurrent Substance Use Among Racial/Ethnic Minoritized Young Adults. Poster presented at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
Thomsen, K. N., Howell, K.H., Bartelli, D. (March 2023). Child social support moderates the association between caregiver psychopathology and child school engagement. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Salt Lake City, UT.
Walker, H. E., Thomsen, K. N., Jamison, L. E., Wamser-Nanney, R. A., & Howell, K. H. (November 2022). The role of emotion regulation in lifetime exposure to victimization. Poster presented at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies 38th Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA.
Napier, T.R., Howell, K.H., Thomsen, K.N., Park, J., Miller-Graff, L.E. (2022). Breaking Intergenerational Cycles of Child Maltreatment: Examining the Moderating Effect of Mental Health Treatment on Women’s Prenatal Parenting Beliefs. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), Atlanta, GA.
Howell, K.H., Thomsen, K.N., Napier, T.R., Stobbe, R., & Bartelli, D. (2022, August). Associations between youth resilience and relational factors: The role of friends and family. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA), Minneapolis, MN.
Jamison, L.E., Howell, K.H., Napier, T. R., Thomsen, K. N., Hasselle, A. J. (2022, August). Exploring patterns of violence and mental health outcomes among BIPOC women. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA), Minneapolis, MN.
Gilliam, H.C., Howell, K.H., Thomsen, K.N., Martin, V.T., & Hasselle, A.J. (2021, November). Evaluating the impact of a trauma-informed camp-based intervention on domains of wellbeing among youth exposed to domestic violence. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), virtual.
Thomsen, K.N., Howell, K.H., Napier, T.R., & Bartelli, D. (2021, November). Caregiver anxiety as a moderator between child social support and child school engagement among families exposed to adversity. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), virtual.
Thomsen, K.N., Howell, K.H., Gilliam, H.C., & Wamser-Nanney, R. (2021, August). Mapping individual, relational, and contextual resources onto PTSD and resilience. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA), virtual.
Thomsen, K.N., Howell, K.H., Napier, T.R., & Wamser-Nanney, R. (2021, April). The differential impact of physical and threatened community violence on resilience and depression. Poster presented at ResilienceCon 2021, virtual.
Gilliam, H.C., Howell, K.H., & Thomsen, K.N. (2021, March) Factors associated with caregiver perceptions of youth emotional and behavioral problems. Poster presented at the Association for Women in Psychology (AWP) annual conference, virtual.
Grabell, A.S. & Thomsen, K.N. (2019, Sep). Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy and galvanic skin response as a novel approach to infer limbic-prefrontal processes in early childhood. Symposium and Poster presented at the Annual Meeting for FLUX: The International Congress for Integrative Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, New York, NY.
Thomsen, K.N. & Grabell, A.S. (2019, May). Examining preschool aged children’s understanding of physiological and cognitive dimensions of emotional awareness using a novel coloring task. Poster session presented at the 31st Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, D.C.
Thomsen, K.N. & Cohen, J.R. (2019, March). Threat, deprivation, and psychological distress: The impact of family and community-level childhood adversities. Poster session presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.
Cohen, J.R., Menon, S.V., Thomsen, K.N., Adams, Z.W., & Danielson, C.K. (2017, November). Neglect in the pediatric emergency department. Examining physical and emotional deprivation in a high-risk pediatric population. Presented in S. Hobfoll (Chair) Trauma and Health Disparities: Linking trauma to health and breaking the link. Symposium conducted at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies 32nd Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Menon, S.V., Cohen, J.R., Thomsen, K.N., Shorey, R. C., Le, V. D., & Temple, J. R. (2017, November). Resiliency among youth following exposure to intimate partner violence: A longitudinal study. Oral paper presented at the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies 32nd Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.