About

Aubyn Stahmer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on areas within psychology, including biological psychology, developmental psychology, perception, cognition, cognitive neuroscience, and social and personality psychology. She is involved in research labs and affiliated research facilities, contributing to the advancement of knowledge in these fields. Her work emphasizes understanding psychological processes and supporting community and support initiatives related to her areas of specialization.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Medicine
• Clinical psychology
• Psychiatry
• Computer Science
• Business
• Developmental psychology
• Applied psychology
• Nursing
• Marketing
• Pediatrics

Selected publications

• Teachers’ and Caregivers’ Predictions of Autistic Students’ Kindergarten Transition Success

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Early Intervention and Children’s Academic Outcomes—Why Part C Matters

  JAMA Network Open · 2026-02-09

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Federally funded early intervention (EI) programs through Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) aim to "enhance the development of infants and toddlers with disabilities and to minimize their potential for developmental delay." 1 The study by Stingone et al 2 provides compelling and timely evidence that EI programming is associated with population-level improvements in later educational outcomes.The investigators evaluated third-grade academic outcomes among children born in New York City between 1994 and 1998, comparing those who received services through the EI program with those who did not.The study population included 214 370 children with available third-grade academic records through 2007.Notably, the study linked EI program data with Department of Education records, systems that are typically administratively separate.The primary exposure was receipt of any EI services before 3 years of age, and primary outcomes were third-grade standardized test scores in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA).Third grade is a key assessment point as children transition from "learning to read" to "reading to learn," with not meeting literacy benchmarks at this stage being associated with increased risk of not completing high school. 3To reduce confounding and enhance between-group exchangeability, investigators used propensity score matching to compare outcomes between EI recipients and nonrecipients.This quasi-experimental approach was novel and necessary given the ethical and legal constraints precluding randomization of policy-mandated EI services.Results showed that EI recipients had greater likelihood of meeting third-grade test standards in ELA and math relative to nonrecipients.The magnitude of association was greatest among the subgroup that was determined to need special education services after 3 years of age (28% and 17% increased likelihood for ELA and math, respectively).

  PublisherDOI

• Safety-Net Leadership Perspectives on Collaborative Care for Children With Developmental Disabilities

  Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics · 2026-03-25

  articleSenior author

  OBJECTIVE: To identify key barriers and facilitators to designing and implementing collaborative care (CC) for children with developmental disabilities (DD) in safety-net primary care. METHODS: This pre-implementation qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews with safety-net primary care leaders. Using purposive and respondent-driven sampling, interviews were conducted with 16 leaders across 9 safety-net organizations in Northern California between August 2024 and January 2025. Key Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) constructs guided data collection. Data were analyzed using the Rapid Assessment Process and validated through structured member checking. RESULTS: Leaders from 8 of 9 organizations reported existing integrated behavioral health programs staffed by mental health counselors and/or psychiatrists, but nearly all noted that these programs did not address the specific needs of children with DD. When asked about developing a CC intervention for this population, leaders identified implementation barriers and facilitators that mapped to CFIR inner and outer setting domains. Four themes were distilled: inner setting barriers (space and cost), inner setting facilitators (perceived clinical need among leadership), outer setting barriers (restrictive Medicaid reimbursement policies and limited performance measurement pressure), and outer setting facilitators (alternative financing mechanisms). CONCLUSION: Safety-net leaders indicate a clinical need for CC models specifically for children with DD, but implementation success will depend on addressing space, financing, and policy barriers through targeted implementation strategies.

  PublisherDOI

• Examination of the Provider Motivation Inventory in Autism Implementation Trials

  Evidence-Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health · 2026-02-25

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Caregiver concerns for autistic children differ between publicly funded educational and mental health settings: Findings from a community implementation-effectiveness trial

  Autism · 2025-05-16 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  = 161) named, in their own words, the top three concerns for their child. A modified version of Weisz et al.'s Top Problem coding system was developed to expand beyond the original codes, capturing child emotional and behavioral problems, autism features, and adaptive behaviors. Most caregivers (61.8%) identified externalizing behaviors like aggression, as well as social differences (36.3%) and attention difficulties (35.4%) as top problems. Caregivers also mentioned autism-specific concerns related to social responsiveness (54.7%). Participant characteristics, including child age and caregiver race/ethnicity, were associated with concerns. Controlling for child age and caregiver ethnicity, concerns differed by setting; caregivers in mental health (vs. school) settings named more externalizing behaviors, while those in school settings named more restricted repetitive behaviors and social differences. Findings highlight the need to implement setting-specific interventions individualized to caregivers' priorities and to ensure opportunities for cross-system coordination.Lay abstractThis study explored what concerns caregivers have about their autistic children when receiving care from either mental health programs or schools. Caregivers shared, in their own words, the top three concerns they worry about most for their child. Caregivers had many different concerns, including worries about their child's emotions and behaviors, autism-related traits, daily living skills, and ability to manage feelings and behavior. The study also found that caregivers' concerns were linked to family characteristics like their child's age, the caregiver's race or ethnicity, and how many children live in the home. Caregivers' concerns also differed based on where they were getting help. Caregivers in mental health programs were more likely to worry about challenging behaviors like aggression. Caregivers in school settings were more likely to be concerned about their child's social skills and repetitive behaviors. These findings help us better understand what caregivers worry about when seeking support for their child. The findings also show why it is important to use the right strategies in each setting to meet the specific needs of caregivers and their children.

  PublisherDOI

• Critical Examination of Autism Screening Tools: A Reply to Øien

  Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · 2025-02-06

  letter
  PublisherDOI

• Effectiveness of Multilevel Implementation Strategies for Autism Interventions: Outcomes of Two Linked Implementation Trials

  Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · 2025-01-13 · 11 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Examining a Decade of Changes in Autism Identification and Inclusion by Race and Ethnicity in California Education System

  The Journal of Special Education · 2025-03-20 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Disparities exist in autism identification and service access in U.S. public schools. Over- or under-identification of autism may limit access to appropriate services. This study examined racial and ethnic differences in autism identification, general education inclusion, and service access in the California education system and examined trends in autism identification by race and ethnicity in special education from 2008 to 2018. Hispanic/Latino and Pacific Islander students were less likely to be identified with autism than other groups. Black autistic students were less likely to be included in general education settings. A narrowing gap in autism identification over the past decade between White and Hispanic/Latino students suggests some improvement in equitable identification practices, although continued disparities exist.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evaluating Intervention Fidelity and Adaptation Within Context: A Mixed-Methods Study of Implementation Practice Within Public Early Intervention Systems

  Implementation Research and Practice · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Background: The science of intervention adaptation is rapidly expanding, yet there has been limited research evaluating how context affects intervention fidelity and adaptation. The current study sought to address this gap by closely characterizing the delivery of an autism evidence-based practice (EBP), Project ImPACT, within an Early Intervention (EI) system to understand how context shaped both intervention adaptation and providers' coaching fidelity. Method: Twenty-one EI providers were trained in Project ImPACT. Following training, providers submitted videos of each of their Project ImPACT sessions, which were scored for Project ImPACT coaching fidelity, Project ImPACT adaptation, and the presence and quantity of supplemental therapeutic content. After each session, EI providers also completed a brief survey about how they delivered Project ImPACT and adaptations they made. Results: Mixed methods data from 100 sessions demonstrated that how providers reported delivering Project ImPACT was misaligned from adaptations that were observed within the same session. Overall, providers' Project ImPACT fidelity was variable and driven by the integration of other content areas within the confines of relatively short therapy sessions. EI providers adapted Project ImPACT in approximately half of their sessions and spent about 17% of their recorded session time covering other therapeutic content. Spending a greater percentage of session time integrating other content areas was significantly associated with dropping core Project ImPACT coaching activities and having lower Project ImPACT fidelity within that same session. Conclusion: The current study highlights the critical role of context in shaping providers' Project ImPACT coaching fidelity. Fidelity outcomes in this study were consistent with other EI implementation trials and raise questions about fidelity benchmarks and normative delivery within community settings. Findings also highlight the need for holistic fidelity tools and training models that support the delivery of core intervention functions in relationship to child-, family-, and system-level factors.

  PublisherDOI

• Bridging the Leadership Gap in Autism Care: A Global Imperative for Effective Implementation—Authors Reply

  Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · 2025-07-24

  letter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant F31MH010385

  NIH · $12k

• NIH Grant R21MH083893

  NIH · $480k · 2012

• NIH Grant K01MH065325

  NIH · $748k · 2007

• 2/2 Effectiveness of a Multi-Level Implementation Strategy for ASD Interventions

  NIH · $3.3M · 2017–2022

Frequent coauthors

• Jessica Suhrheinrich

  San Diego State University

  78 shared

• David S. Mandell

  May Institute

  66 shared

• Laura Schreibman

  49 shared

• Sarah R. Rieth

  San Diego State University

  47 shared

• Lauren Brookman‐Frazee

  Health Services Research & Development

  36 shared

• Sarah R. Reed

  35 shared

• Kelsey S. Dickson

  San Diego State University

  22 shared

• Géraldine Dawson

  Center for Autism and Related Disorders

  21 shared

Labs

• Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Lab (Trainor)PI

Education

• PhD, Psychology

  University of California San Diego

  1993

• MA, Psychology

  University of California San Diego

  1990

• BA, Psychology

  University of Colorado Boulder

  1989