Faculty and Staff Profile

Jody Nicholson

Educational Background

2009 University of Notre Dame Ph.D. Developmental Psychology

2006 University of Notre Dame Ph.D. Developmental Psychology

2003 University of Texas at Austin B.S. Human Development and Family Studies

Courses Taught

Undergraduate:
Child and Adolescent Development
Lifespan Development
Health Psychology

Graduate:
Human Development

Profile

My research concentrates on health promotion and prevention in aging. Currently, I am a co-PI on two studies funded by the National Institute of Aging (NIA): the National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE; https://sites.psu.edu/nsde) and Preventing Alzheimer’s with Cognitive Training (PACT; PACTstudy.org). For NSDE, my primary research interests relate to predictors of daily prospective and retrospective memory lapses. For PACT, my primary research interest is in motivation to participate in clinical trials and intervention acceptability. I accept undergraduate students to my Creative Inquiry team on a rolling basis. I am considering graduate students for the 2027 application cycle (applications due by January 15, 2027 to start August 2027). Please visit my personal website: www.JSNPHD.com

Research Publications

Collie, A., Phills, C., & Nicholson, J.S. (2025). Emerging adults’ perception of the typical dementia patient based on gender and race. The American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias. doi:10.1177/15333175251378275

Almedia, D.M, Charles, S.T., Piazza, J.R., Stawski, R.S., Cichy, K.E., Cerina, E.S., Rush, J., Nicholson, J.S., Homberg, J.C., Cramer, N., & Mogle, J. (2025). The National Study of Daily Experiences: Protocol for intensive phone assessment and salivary biomarker collection. JMIR Research Protocols. doi. 10.2196/preprints.76453

Stephan, A.T., Chai, H.W., Nicholson, J.S., McVey, A., Phillips, C., & Ross, L. (2025). Participant motivation typologies as correlates of study participation and retention in randomized, controlled trials targeting cognitive aging through computerized cognitive training. The Gerontologists, 65(12), gnaf252. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaf252

Aviles, A.*, Cline, S.*, Tian, Z.*, Betar, S. K., Jacobvitz, D. & Nicholson, J. S. (2024). Parental parenting stress, parental mental health, and child behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, Journal of Family Psychology. doi. 10.1037/fam0001181

Wright, L., Marsland, C.*, Ross, J., Arikawa, A., Nicholson-Bell, J., & Epps, J. (2023). Investigation of the multidimensional determinants of negative nutrition coping strategies and tradeoffs in adults accessing food relief: A secondary data analysis. Nutrition and Health, doi. 10.1177/02601060231170248

Baker, L., Witherspoon, D., Nicholson, J. S., & Fuglestad, A. (2023). The Roles of Child Temperament, Parent Stress, and Parenting Style in Family Mealtimes. Appetite. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2023.106758

Nicholson, J. S., Hudak, E.M., Phillips, C.B., Chanti-Ketterl, M., O’Brien, J.L., Ross, L.A., Lister, J.J., Burke, J.R., Potter, G., Plassman, B., Woods, A.J., Krischer, J. & Edwards, J.D. (2022). The Preventing Alzheimer’s with Cognitive Training (PACT) Randomized Controlled Trial, Contemporary Clinical Trials, 123, 1-8. doi. 10.1016/j.cct.2022.106978.

Lopez, B., Nicholson, J. S., Johnson, H., Garcia, R., Powers, T., & Hughes, C. (2022). Review and meta-analysis for the Caregiver’s Feeding Styles Questionnaire administered to low-income families. Eating Behaviors, 46, 1-9. doi. 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2022.101659

Nicholson, J. S., Villamor, M., & Wright, L. (2021). A developmental lens on food insecurity: The role of children in the household and age groups on food insecurity impacting mental health. Aging & Mental Health, 1-10. doi. 10.1080/13607863.2021.1989376

Edwards, J., Phillips, C. B., O’Connor, M.L., O’Brien, J.L., Hudak, E.M., & Nicholson, J. S. (2021). Applying the Health Belief Model to quantify and investigate expectations for computerized cognitive training. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 5, 51-61. doi. 10.1007/s41465-020-00183-3

Nicholson, J. S., Barton, J., & Simons, A.* (2018). Ability to categorize food predicts food choices in Head Start preschoolers. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 50, 238-246. doi. 10.1016/j.jneb.2017.09.026

Nicholson, J.S. (2018). A community-based intervention for low-income families to reduce children’s blood lead levels between 3-9.9 µg/dL. Children’s Health Care, 47(4), pg. 379-396. doi. 10.1080/02739615.2017.1370673

Nicholson, J.S., & James, L. (2017). Parental self-efficacy: The development of a measure to prevent children’s environmental contaminant exposure. Journal of Behavioral Health, 6(1), 36-42. doi. 10.5455/jbh.20160914121117

Nicholson, J. S., Deboeck, P., & Howard, W. (2017). Attrition in developmental psychology: A review of modern missing data reporting and practices. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 41(1), 143-153. doi. 10.1177/0165025415618275

Nicholson, J.S., & Cleeton, M. (2016). Sensitivity and specificity of pediatric lead screener questions for detecting lower levels of lead exposure and environmental risk. Clinical Pediatrics, 55(2), 129-136. doi. 10.1177/0009922815584944.

Deboeck, P., Nicholson, J.S., Kouros, C. D., Little, T., & Garber, J. (2015). Interfacing theory and methodology: Using derivatives to articulate change theories, models, and inferences. Applied Development Science, 19(4), 217-231. doi. 10.1080/10888691.2015.1021924

Nicholson, J.S., McDermott, M., Huang, Q., Zhang, H., & Tyc, V.L. (2015). Full and home smoking ban adoption after a randomized controlled trial targeting secondhand smoke exposure reduction. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 17(5), 6-12. doi. 10.1093/ntr/ntu201

Clawson, A. M., Nicholson, J. S., McDermott, M., Klosky, J. L., & Tyc, V. L. (2015). Tobacco use and exposure among youth undergoing cancer treatment. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 29(1), 80-87 doi. 10.1016/j.pedhc.2014.07.004

Weed, K., & Nicholson, J.S. (2014). Differential social evaluation of pregnant teens, teen mothers, and teen fathers by university students. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 1–16. doi. 10.1080/02673843.2014.963630

McDermott, M., Nicholson, J. S., & Tyc, V.L. (2013). Accuracy and concordance in reporting secondhand smoke exposure among adolescents undergoing treatment for cancer and their parents. Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, 2(3), 125-129. doi. 10.1089/jayao.2012.0026.

Tyc, V. L., Huang, Q., Nicholson, J. S., Hovell, M. F., Lensing, S., …Schultz, B. (2013). Intervention to reduce secondhand smoke among children with cancer: A controlled trial. Psycho-Oncology, 22(5), 1104-1111. doi. 10.1002/pon.3117

Farris, J. R., Bert, S. C., Nicholson, J. S., Glass, K., & Borkowski, J. G. (2013). Effective intervention programming: Improving maternal adjustment through parent education. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research. 40, 211-223. doi. 10.1007/s10488-011-0397-1

Nicholson, J. S., Tyc, V. L, & Lensing, S. (2012). Parental psychosocial predictors of secondhand smoke exposure for children with cancer. Journal of Child Health Care, 16(3), 211-223. doi. 10.1177/1367493511426422