Faculty Profile

Beverly Wilson

Beverly​ Wilson

Professor of Clinical Psychology; IRB Coordinator

Email: bjwilson@spu.edu
Phone: 206-281-2832
Office: Marston 109


Education: BA, California State University, Fresno, 1985; MA, California State University, Fresno, 1987; PhD, University of Washington, 1994. At SPU since 1998.

Bev Wilson earned her PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Washington. She completed her clinical internship through the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington.  Before coming to SPU, she was a faculty member at Oregon State University for several years.

Dr. Wilson’s research investigates how self-regulation and emotion processes are related to children’s positive development. She is especially interested in the potential protective function of these skills for at-risk children, such as children with autism spectrum disorders, general cognitive delays, or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, as well as children with conduct problems and children from low-income families. With her research team she also investigates the roles of child individual differences, such as temperament and parenting in children’s development of self-regulation skills. Dr. Wilson is passionate about her work with children with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. She is the cofounder and director of the Initiative for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, the goals of which are to train students and professionals working in this field as well educate the larger SPU and Seattle communities regarding disabilities. 

At SPU Dr. Wilson teaches courses in developmental psychology and child psychopathology and interventions for clinical doctoral students, as well as a child development class for undergraduate students. An important aspect of her teaching involves mentoring doctoral students on her child clinical research team. As the research coordinator for the School of Psychology, Family, and Community, Dr. Wilson reviews all research with human subjects proposed by her fellow faculty and their students.


​Selected publications

Zhou, V. & Wilson, B. J. (2020). A cross-sectional study of inhibitory control in young children with autism spectrum disorder. Early Child Development and Care, doi:10.1080/03004430.2020.1835880

Wilson, B. J., Manangan, C., Dauterman, H., & Davis, H. (2014). ADHD symptoms moderate the relation between ASD status and internalizing symptoms in 3 to 6-year-old children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44, 1347-1356. doi.10.1007/s10803-013-1995-4

Wilson, B.J., Petaja, H.B., Yun, J., King, K., Berg, J., Kremmel, L., & Cook, D. (2014). Parental emotion coaching: Associations with self-regulation in aggressive/rejected and low aggressive/popular children. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 36, 1–26. doi:10.1080/07317107.2014.910731

Wilson, B.J., Nelson, M., McNeill, J., & Montague, R. (2012). The attention skills and academic performance of boys with developmental delays. Early Child Development and Care, 1–12. doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2012.682727

Wilson, B.J., Petaja, H., & Mancil, L. (2011). The attention skills and academic performance of aggressive/rejected and low aggressive/popular children. Early Education and Development, 22(6), 907–930. doi: 10.1080/10409289.2010.505258

Wilson, B.J., Berg, J., Zurawski, M., King, K. (2013). Autism and externalizing behaviors: Buffering effects of parental emotion coaching. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7(6), 767–776. doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2013.02.005

Please view Dr. Wilson’s CV (PDF) for additional publications.

Why I Teach at SPU

Beverly Wilson, Professor of Clinical Psychology

“I teach at SPU because I am passionate about mentoring students as scientists-practitioners. It is a privilege to participate in their training and professional development, and a joy to share in their future achievements.”

Study of Autism and Self-Regulation

Researchers at Seattle Pacific University are recruiting two groups of children ages 3 to 6 years old, children with typical development and autism spectrum disorders, for a study of self-regulation skills. Dr. Wilson is principal investigator.