Amanda Guyer PhD

Amanda Guyer has expertise in the biological, cognitive, and social-emotional aspects of human development during adolescence notably, the behavioral and neural mechanisms that may underlie the way that adolescents think and feel. She is affiliated with the UC Davis Center for Poverty Research, on the training faculty of the Bay Area Affective Science Training Program, an associate editor for Child Development, and a standing member of the NIH's Psychosocial Development, Risk, and Prevention Study Section.

Dr. Guyer investigates neural and behavioral underpinnings of adolescent psychopathology (e.g., depression, anxiety, substance use) via social, emotional, and cognitive processes. She studies how adolescents process facial emotions, social threats, and peer evaluation, and how adolescents regulate their behavior in response to incentives or when making decisions in risk-taking contexts. She examines age-, temperament- and gender-related differences in these processes as well as variability in adolescent development as a function of stressful life events, poverty, and peer and family factors. Dr. Guyer is conducting longitudinal studies of neurobiological, psychophysiological, and environmental influences on the course of depression and substance use in adolescence.