Peter J. Castagna, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Psychology (Child Clinical Concentration) at the University of Alabama. Broadly, his research is aimed at understanding the biological basis of self-referential processing, emotion regulation, and executive functioning which can in turn inform treatments to improve youths’ overall well-being. Peter’s research often incorporates temporally (i.e., electroencephalography, EEG) and spatially (i.e., functional magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI) sensitive neuroimaging modalities. This multimodal (brain-behavior) approach complements his expertise in computational modeling (i.e., drift diffusion and related variants), which provides a mechanistic understanding via statistical inference and systematic decomposition of task-based behavior into its constituent (latent) processes. Clinically, he has interests in both internalizing (anxiety, depression) and externalizing (conduct disorder, callous-unemotional traits) disorders in children and adolescence. Together, his research and clinical interests serve as a foundation for his unique research program aimed at understanding RDoC domains such as self-concept, acute threat, potential threat, predictable/unpredictable threat, and executive functioning domains (i.e., inhibition, updating, shifting).

Peter has over 30 peer-reviewed publications (19 first author) in a wide range of journals, such as Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (formerly Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology), Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychopathology, and NeuroImage. He received his PhD from Louisiana State University (Clinical Psychology), completed his clinical internship at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, and served as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Yale Child Study Center.

1. Castagna, P. J., Waters, A., & Crowley, M. J. (2022). Computational modeling of self-referential processing reveals domain general associations with adolescent anxiety symptoms. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology (formerly Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-022-01012-1
2. Castagna, P. J., Waters, A. C., Edgar E. V., Budagzad-Jacobson, R., & Crowley, M. J. (2023) Catch the drift: Depressive symptoms track neural response during more efficient decision-making for negative self-referents. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2023.100593
3. Castagna, P. J., Farahdel, E., Potenza, M. N., & Crowley, M. J. (2023). The current state-of-the-art in pharmacotherapy for pediatric generalized anxiety disorder. Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy, 24(7). https://doi.org/10.1080/14656566.2023.2199921
4. Castagna, P. J., van Noordt, S. J. R., Sederberg, P. B., & Crowley, M. J. (2023). Modeling brain dynamics and eye-gaze behavior: bias and drift rate relate to frontal midline theta oscillations. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119871
5. Castagna, P. J. & Waschbusch, D. A. (2022). Multi-informant ratings of childhood limited prosocial emotions: Mother, father, and teacher perspectives. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 52(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2022.2151452
6. Castagna, P. J., Babinski, D. E., Waxmonsky, J. G., & Waschbusch, D. (2022). The significance of limited prosocial emotions among externalizing disorders in children European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 31(4), 589-600. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01696-0
7. Castagna, P. J., & Crowley, M. J. (2021). Relationship between puberty and inhibitory control: Computational modeling of the drift-diffusion process. Developmental Neuropsychology, 46(5), 360-380. https://doi.org/10.1080/87565641.2021.1952206
8. Castagna, P. J. (2019). Structure related to function: Prefrontal surface area has an indirect effect on the relationship between amygdala volume and trait neuroticism. Brain Structure and Function, 224 (9), 3309-3320. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-019-01974-x