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Angela J Narayan

Angela J Narayan

Associate Professor

angela.narayan@du.edu

303-871-4124 (Office)

https://www.du.edu/ahss/psychology/protect-lab/index.html

Personal

Frontier Hall, 2155 S. Race St. Denver, CO 80208

What I do

My research program is grounded in a developmental psychopathology perspective and investigates how early adversities (e.g., maltreatment, violence exposure, poverty and homelessness, parental psychopathology, war and disaster) in parents' histories and their children's family environments affect psychological health and wellbeing. My goals are to understand the enduring nature of early experiences and the mediating and moderating processes that account for lifespan and intergenerational pathways of risk and resilience. I focus my research on hard-to-reach populations, including residentially-unstable, impoverished families, and young, low-income pregnant women and fathers-to-be. I am invested in employing measures that span multiple levels of analysis, ranging from parents' expressed emotion and biomarkers of stress to observed parent-child interactions and cultural influences on parenting and child development. To address my goals, I conduct three interrelated lines of research to 1) understand how the developmental timing of early adversity and benevolent experiences affect lifespan and intergenerational pathways of risk and resilience; 2) develop effective methodologies that assess protective processes to buffer the effects of early adversity on maladaptive functioning; and 3) advance the parenting and resilience literatures through systematic review, data aggregation, and meta-analytic techniques.

Specialization(s)

Developmental Psychopathology; Perinatal Mental Health; Resilience, Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma; Fatherhood

Professional Biography

Angela J. Narayan, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Clinical Child Psychology Ph.D. program at the University of Denver, and an assistant adjunct professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She completed her doctoral training in clinical child psychology at the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota and her postdoctoral training at the Child Trauma Research Program within the Department of Psychiatry at UCSF. Her research focuses on developmental psychopathology, childhood trauma, perinatal and infant mental health, and resilience. One of her current research directions focuses on understanding how the prenatal period is a key turning point to buffer the intergenerational transmission of risk in pregnant women and fathers-to-be with histories of childhood trauma and promote resilience in parents and infants. Dr. Narayan is also a licensed clinical psychologist and a clinical supervisor in the Child and Family Clinic within the University of Denver Department of Psychology.

Degree(s)

  • APA-Accredited Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Clinical Psychology Internship/Fellowship, Maternal, perinatal, and infant mental health, University of California, San Francisco, 2016
  • Ph.D., Clinical Child Psychology, University of Minnesota, 2015
  • MA, Child Psychology, University of Minnesota, 2011
  • BA, Psychology, Cornell University, 2007

Licensure / Accreditations

  • Registered Health Service Psycholoist
  • Licensed Psychologist (L.P.)

Professional Affiliations

  • American Psychological Association Division 53: Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
  • American Psychological Association Division 56: Trauma Psychology
  • American Psychological Association Division 7: Developmental Psychology
  • International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
  • Zero to Three

Awards

  • Early Career Award for Ethnic Minority Psychologist in Trauma Psychology, APA Division 56 (Trauma Psychology)
  • Public Impact Fellow, University of Denver
  • Rising Star Alumni Award, University of Minnesota, College of Education and Human Development

Graduate Mentorship

​​​​​​Dr. Narayan will be reviewing applications for fall 2025 admission.