Avshalom Caspi, PhD

Edward M. Arnett Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

My expertise is in longitudinal methods, developmental psychology, personality assessment, life-course epidemiology, and genomics in behavioral science.

Avshalom Caspi's research spans the fields of psychology, epidemiology, and genetics. His current work is concerned with three broad questions:

How do genetic differences between people shape the way they respond to their environments?
How do childhood experiences shape the course of health inequalities across the life span?
What are the best ways to assess and measure personality differences between people?

For his research, he has received the American Psychological Association's Early Career Contribution Award, the John Hill Memorial Award for contributions to understanding adolescent development from the Society for Research on Adolescence, and the Mortimer D. Sackler Prize for Distinguished Achievement in Developmental Psychobiology.

Research Interests

Psychiatric Genetic

Children's Mental Health

Personality Assessment

Developmental Origins of Adult Disease

Recent Publications

Assessing the co-variability of DNA methylation across peripheral cells and tissues: Implications for the interpretation of findings in epigenetic epidemiology.

Hannon, E; Mansell, G; Walker, E; Nabais, MF; Burrage, J; Kepa, A; Best-Lane, J; Rose, A; Heck, S; Moffitt, TE; Caspi, A; Arseneault, L; Mill, J

March 19, 2021

Need for Psychometric Theory in Neuroscience Research and Training: Reply to Kragel et al. (2021).

Elliott, ML; Knodt, AR; Caspi, A; Moffitt, TE; Hariri, AR

March 8, 2021

Association of History of Psychopathology With Accelerated Aging at Midlife.

Wertz, J; Caspi, A; Ambler, A; Broadbent, J; Hancox, RJ; Harrington, H; Hogan, S; Houts, RM; Leung, JH; Poulton, R; Purdy, SC; Ramrakha, S; Rasmussen, LJH; Richmond-Rakerd, LS; Thorne, PR; Wilson, GA; Moffitt, TE

February 17, 2021

Three recommendations based on a comparison of the reliability and validity of the predominant models used in research on the empirical structure of psychopathology.

Forbes, MK; Greene, AL; Levin-Aspenson, HF; Watts, AL; Hallquist, M; Lahey, BB; Markon, KE; Patrick, CJ; Tackett, JL; Waldman, ID; Wright, AGC; Caspi, A; Ivanova, M; Kotov, R; Samuel, DB; Eaton, NR; Krueger, RF

February 4, 2021

Pervasively Thinner Neocortex as a Transdiagnostic Feature of General Psychopathology.

Romer, AL; Elliott, ML; Knodt, AR; Sison, ML; Ireland, D; Houts, R; Ramrakha, S; Poulton, R; Keenan, R; Melzer, TR; Moffitt, TE; Caspi, A; Hariri, AR

February 1, 2021

Identifying Adolescents at Risk for Depression: A Prediction Score Performance in Cohorts Based in 3 Different Continents.

Rocha, TB-M; Fisher, HL; Caye, A; Anselmi, L; Arseneault, L; Barros, FC; Caspi, A; Danese, A; Gonçalves, H; Harrington, HL; Houts, R; Menezes, AMB; Moffitt, TE; Mondelli, V; Poulton, R; Rohde, LA; Wehrmeister, F; Kieling, C

February 1, 2021