Thomas G. O'Connor, PhD

Academic and Clinical Appointments

Associate Professor of Psychiatry and of Psychology
and Director, Laboratory for the Prevention of Mental Disorders

Contact Information

Department of Psychiatry
300 Crittenden Blvd.                                                             
Rochester, NY 14642

ph: (585) 273-1221
fax: (585) 273-2065

tom_oconnor@urmc.rochester.edu

Education

Research
Focus and
Interests

1. The mechanisms underlying the links between prenatal anxiety/stress and child behavioral, cognitive, and immunological development;
   
2. The persisting effects of early caregiving experiences on attachment and social behavior in the child;
   
3. The mechanisms through which parenting interventions effect change in the child;
   
4. Family processes associated with divorce and remarriage;
   
5. Developing novel methods for testing genetic and family-level influences on individual development.

Professional Overview

I trained as a clinical and developmental psychologist.  Following clinical internship and completion of my PhD research in 1995, I moved to the Institute of Psychiatry in London to collaborate and lead several investigations.  Some of the main studies examined the mechanisms by which early (pre- and postnatal) experiences have persisting effects on long-term biobehavioral development and elucidated the processes associated with healthy versus poor adjustment in children and adults following normative and non-normative stresses (divorce and remarriage).  Each project includes a mix of research design and analytic strategies, from large-scale epidemiological work to smaller, clinical investigation.  More recently, my work in these areas incorporates interventions, both to test causal hypotheses and to clarify the clinical and public health significance of putative risk processes. 

In the summer of 2003 I moved to the University of Rochester Medical Center to develop a laboratory for the prevention of mental disorders.  The initial focus of this work is to examine prenatal anxiety/stress as a scientific and clinical prevention model.  The laboratory also includes Emma Robertson-Blackmore, PhD, who joined in 2004 to strengthen research on serious mental disorders in the perinatal period.

Selected recent publications

Beckett, C., Maughan, B., Rutter, M., Castle, J., Colvert, E., Groothues, C., Kreppner J., O’Connor, T.G., Stevens, S., Sonuga-Barke, EJ. (2006.) Do the effects of early severe deprivation on cognition persist into early adolescence? Findings from the English and Romanian Adoptees study. Child Development, 77,696-711.

Bolton, D, Eley, T.C., O’Connor T.G., Perrin, S., Rabe-Hasketh, S., Rijsdijk, F., Smith, P. (2006). Prevalence and genetic and environmental influences on anxiety disorders in 6-year-old twins. Psychological Medicine 36, 335-344.

Castle, J., Rutter, M., Beckett, C., Colvert, E., Groothues, C., Hawkins, A., Kreppner, J., O’Connor, T.G., Stevens, S.E., Sonuga-Barke, E. (2006). Service use by families with children adopted from Roman. Journal of Children’s Service, 1, 5-15.

Cheng, H., O’Connor, T.G., Dunn, J., Golding, J., and the ALSPAC Study Team. (2006). Factors Moderating Children’s Adjustment to Parental Separation: Findings from a Community Study in England. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 230-241.

Creswell, C., & O’Connor, T.G. (2006). ‘Anxious cognitions’ in children: An exploration of associations and mediators. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24, 761-766.

Creswell, C., O’Connor, T.G., & Brewin, C.R. (2006). A longitudinal investigation of maternal and child anxious cognitions. Cognitive Therapy and Research.

Glover, V., & O’Connor, T.G. (2006). Why antenatal maternal mental health matters: Effects on the fetus and the child. British Journal of Midwifery, 14, 663-667.

O’Connor, T.G., & Cameron, J.L. (2006). Translating Research Findings on Early Experience to Prevention: Animal and Human Evidence on Early Attachment Relationships. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 31, S175-S181.

O’Connor, T.G., Dunn, J., Jenkins, J.M., & Rasbash, J. (2006). Predictors of Between-Family and Within-Family Variation in Parent-Child Relationships. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 498-510.

O’Connor, T.G. (2006). Toward integrating behavioral genetics and family process. Families, Systems, and Health, 24, 416-424.

Roe, A.E.C., Bridges, L.J., Dunn, J., O’Connor, T.G. (2006). Young children’s representations of their families: A longitudinal follow-up study of family drawings by children living in different family settings. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 30, 529-536.

Bolton, D.; Rijsdijk, F; O’Connor, T.; Perrin, S; Eley, T. (2007). Obsessive compulsive disorder, tics and anxiety in 6-year-old twins. Psychological Medicine, 37 39-48.

Rutter, M., Colvert, E., Kreppner, J., Beckett, C., Castle, J., Groothues, C., Hawkins, A., O’Connor, T.G., Stevens, S., Sonuga-Barke, E. (2007). Early adolescent outcomes for institutionally-deprived and non-deprived adoptees. I: Disinhibited attachment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48, 17-30.

Collishaw, S., Dunn, J., O’Connor, T.G., Golding, J., and the ALSPAC study team. (2007). Maternal childhood abuse and offspring adjustment over time. Development and Psychopathology, 19, 367-383.
O’Connor, T.G., & Byrne, J.G. (2007). Attachment measures for research and practice. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 12, 187-192.

Bridges, L.J., Roe, A.E.C., Dunn, J., O’Connor, T.G. (2007). Children’s perspectives on their relationships with grandparents following parental separation: A longitudinal up study. Social Development, 16, 539-554.

O’Connor, T.G., Caprariello, P., Robertson Blackmore, E., Gregory, A.M., Glover, V., Fleming, P. and the ALSPAC Study Team. (2007). Prenatal mood disturbance predicts sleep problems in infancy and toddlerhood. Early Human Development, 83, 451-458.

Sarkar, P., Bergman, K., Fisk, N.M., O’Connor, T.G., & Glover, V. (2007). Ontogeny of foetal exposure to maternal cortisol using midtrimester amniotic fluid as a biomarker. Clinical Endocrinology, 66, 636-640.

Minnis, H., Reekie, J., Young, D., O’Connor, T.G., Ronald, A., Gray, A., & Plomin, R. (2007). Genetic, environmental and gender influences on attachment disorder behaviours. British Journal of Psychiatry, 190, 490-495.

Holmes, E.A., Creswell, C., & O’Connor, T.G. (2007). .Posttraumatic stress symptoms in London school children following September 11th 2001: An exploratory investigation of peri-traumatic reactions and intrusive imagery. Journal of Behavioral Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 38, 474-490.

Kreppner, J.M., Rutter, M., Beckett, C., Castle, J., Colvert, E., Groothues, C., Hawkins, A., O’Connor, T.G., Stevens, S., Sonuga-Barke, E. (2007). Normality and impairment following early institutional deprivation: A longitudinal follow-up into early adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 43, 931-946.

Sarkar, P, Bergman K, Fisk NM, O’Connor TG, Glover V. (2007). Amniotic fluid testosterone: relationship with cortisol and gestational age. Clinical Endocrinology, 67, 743-747.

Beckett, C., Maughan, B., Rutter, M., Castle, J., Colvert, E., Groothues, C. Hawkins, A., Kreppner, J., O’Connor, T.G., Stevens, S., & Sonuga-Barke, E.J. (2007). Scholastic attainment following severe early institutional deprivation: A study of children adopted from Romania. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35, 1063-1073.

Bergman, K., Sarkar, P., O’Connor, T.G., Modi, N., & Glover, V. (2007). Maternal stress during pregnancy predicts cognitive ability and fearfulness in infancy. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 46, 1454-1463.

O’Connor, T.G., Spagnola, M., Clancy, C. (2007). Attachment Disturbances and Disorders in Children: An Update on Assessment and Treatment. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 4, 99-105.

Creswell, C., Brewin, C.R., & O’Connor, T.G. (2008). The impact of parents’ expectations on parenting behaviour: An experimental investigation. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 36,483-490.

Colvert, E., Rutter, M., Beckett, C., Castle, J., Groothues, C., Hawkins, A., Kreppner, J., O’Connor, T.G., Stevens, S., Sonuga-Barke, E.J. (2008). Emotional difficulties in early adolescence following severe early deprivation: Findings From the English and Romanian Adoptees Study. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 547-567.

Ramchandani, P.G., Stein, A., O’Connor, T.G., Heron, J., Murray, L., Evans, J. (2008). Depression in men in the post-natal period and later child psychopathology: a population cohort study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47 390-398.

Futh, A., O’Connor, T.G., Matias, C., Green, J., & Scott, S. (2008). Attachment Narratives and Behavioral and Emotional Symptoms in an Ethnically Diverse, At-Risk Sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 47, 709-718.

Eley, T.C., Rijsdijk, F., Perrin, S., O’Connor, T.G., & Bolton, D. (2008). A Multivariate Genetic Analysis of Specific Phobia, Separation Anxiety and Social Phobia in Early Childhood. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 839-848.

Caserta, M.T., O’Connor, T.G., Wyman, P.A., Wang, H., Moynihan, J., Cross, W., Tu, X., Jin, X. (2008). The associations between psychosocial stress and the frequency of illness, and innate and adaptive immune function in children. Brain, Behavior and Immunity, 22, 933-940.

Sarkar, P., Bergman, K., O’Connor, T.G., and V Glover, V. (2008). Maternal antenatal anxiety and amniotic fluid cortisol and testosterone; possible implications for foetal programming. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 20, 489-496.

O’Connor, T.G., & Creswell, C. (2008). Cognitive-behavioural therapy for children and adolescents. Psychiatry, 7, 363-366.

Bergman, K., Sarkar, P., Glover, V., & O’Connor, T.G. (2008). Quality of child-parent attachment moderates the impact of antenatal stress on child fearfulness. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 1089-1098.

Ramchandani, P, O’Connor, T.G., Evans, J., Heron, J., Murray, L., Stein, A. (2008). The effects of pre- and post-natal depression in fathers: a natural experiment comparing the effects of exposure to depression on offspring. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 1069-1078.

Glover,V., Bergman, K., Sarkar, P., O’Connor, T.G. Association between maternal and amniotic fluid cortisol is moderated by maternal anxiety. (2009). Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 430-435.

Minnis, H., Green, J., O’Connor, T.G., Liew, A., Glaser, D., Taylor, E., Follan, M., Young, D., Barnes, J., Gillberg, C., Pelosi, A., Arthur, J., Burston, A., Connolly. B, & Sadiq FA. (2009). An exploratory study of the association between reactive attachment disorder and attachment narratives in early school-age children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 931-942.

O’Donnell, K., O’Connor, T.G., & Glover, V. (2009). Prenatal stress and neurodevelopment of the child: focus on the HPA axis and the role of the placenta. Developmental Neuroscience, 31, 285-292.

Bolton, D., Rijsdijk, F., Eley, T.C., O’Connor, T.G., Briskman, J., & Perrin, S. (2009/in press). Normative childhood repetitive routines and obsessive compulsive symptomatology in 6-year-old twins. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Education and Teaching

Courses and seminars taught at the Institute of Psychiatry and University of Rochester

Life-Span Human Development

Theories of Change and Development in Child Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Behavioral Genetics

Adolescence and Families

Attachment and Development

Methodology for Longitudinal Studies

Introduction to Clinical Psychology