To celebrate the launch of our FELLOWS for the 2026 MQ Round, we received one of our most recent fellows Dr. Rebecca Etrikin from the Yale School of Medicine.
Rebecca became an MQ Fellow in 2024 and is studying the effectiveness of a new parenting intervention to help children with anxiety called space. You can read more about Rebecca’s project here.
Please provide a brief summary of your academic career to date:
I received my bachelor’s degree in psychology and Spanish from Johns Hopkins University. After graduating, I worked as a project manager in the family lab at the University of Notre Dame, where I deepened my research experience, where I deepened my interests in child and family health. I then completed my PHD in Clinical Psychology in Buffalo, where my research focused on adolescent social development and internalizing problems (eg, shame, anxiety). Following graduate school, I joined the Yale Children’s Study Program for Yale Countres & Mood Dispreders as a PostDoctoral Associate and, after becoming an MQ fellow, transitioned to a faculty position.
How long have you been at your current university/institute and what do you like about it??
It has been in Wales since 2019. The Child Study Center is a collaborative, supportive and thoughtful place to be a physician – scientist. Science informs every aspect of what we do, ensuring that our care for youth and families is based on evidence and innovation. Every day I get to work with colleagues and mentors who are not only brilliant and creative, but also lovely people with an exemplary dedication to helping others. I have learned much from their various genres and techniques, and their influence has shaped my research in meaningful ways.
What is your area of study?
My research focuses on the development and treatment of adolescent anxiety disorders and related challenges. I am very interested in how social relationships of young people – especially with peers and parents – shape the course of their anxiety and how these relationships can be strengthened in treatment to improve outcomes.
What prompted you to study this area? Do you have a personal connection to the topic?
Going back as far as my teenage years, I have had an interest in child development and a desire to help young people. As I began my training not only as a researcher but also as a clinician, I saw first-hand how young people’s relationships shape their mental health from time to time as powerful moments of protection. This experience led me to specialize in family-centered therapy.
My training at Yale is where these interests intersect. I have had the privilege of working with leading experts in youth anxiety and learning about family accommodation as an important factor in maintaining a criminal record. My MQ project represents the next step in this trajectory by integrating research and clinical practice into a parent-based treatment for adolescent anxiety that targets this affective process.
