Research

Dr. Agazzi has a longstanding interest in mental health and behavioral health interventions for pediatric populations, with a focus on disruptive behaviors in early and young childhood. Our research primarily focuses on youth birth-12 years, and we work with neurotypical and neurodivergent youth. We are particularly interested in adapting evidence-based interventions, as needed, to meet the needs of youth with developmental disabilities, mental health problems, and trauma, including when these conditions are co-occurring. To that end, our research contributes to advancing the mental health intervention, early intervention, and developmental disabilities treatment literature. We have three main lines of research, though we have a number of collaborations on related topics with researchers both at USF and at other institutions.

For papers already published, see Dr. Agazzi's CV.

Full-text publications for many papers can be found on ResearchGate and citation information can be found on GoogleScholar.

Research Areas

Illustration of a mother and child with the Docs Parenting logo

Behavioral Parent Training

Behavioral parent training (BPT) is the most documented intervention for caregivers of children with disruptive behaviors. We currently have funding to provide group-delivered BPT with the DOCS Parenting programs. These programs emphasize a positive behavior support lens to identifying 'function' of behavior and teaching a child adaptive skills to get their needs met, engage with others, and improve quality of life. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is the gold-standard BPT and we conduct research on PCIT for youth with autism, anxiety, and callous-unemotional traits.
Animated girl with curly hair smiling in front of a brick building.

Trauma and PTSD Interventions

Adverse childhood experiences are common and can have livelong impacts on development, mental health, and well-being. Our work spans across childhood (0-18 years) with trauma-informed care in early intervention (e.g., Smart Start program), implementing multi-tiered interventions to create trauma informed elementary and middle schools, and implementing Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with special populations.
Two animated babies, one standing, the other sitting, both smiling.

Autism Automated Diagnosis

Autism spectrum disorder affects 1 in 31 children in the United States. Access to care can greatly delay the diagnosis during the early childhood years when intervention can have powerful effects on a child's developmental trajectory. Dr. Agazzi collaborates with USF colleagues in Computer Science and their work aims to create a multimodal algorithm to screen for autism during well child checks.