Larry Wissow, MD, MPH

Personal Statement

​I am a child and adolescent psychiatrist also trained in pediatrics. The longstanding theme of my research has been on the detection of psychosocial problems in children and families, with a particular interest in what happens at the interface between primary care and mental health care. My initial clinical work as a pediatrician involved families in which child abuse was suspected, and thus my early research on detection of psychosocial problems involved how clinicians might best learn that a given family was experiencing some form of violence.

When I returned to training and became a child psychiatrist, my focus shifted to the more general issue of how, in the course of clinician-child-parent interactions, psychosocial issues were asked about, disclosed, and discussed. I have explored this question from a number of angles, including work in different cultures in the US (African-American, Latin American, American Indian), in different countries (Brazil, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Iran), in differences attributable to provider gender, across a range of sensitive issues (including suicide and end-of-life decision-making), and across clinical settings (pediatric and adult primary care, emergency care, and chronic disease management). 

Education

Clinical Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, 1982-1984
Child Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1994-1995
Adult Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1992-1994
Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1979-1982
MD, Duke University, 1975-1979
MPH, Johns Hopkins University, 1982-1984

Department Affiliations

Recent Publications

Linking Primary Care to Community-Based Mental Health Resources via Family Navigation and Phone-Based Care Coordination.
(2024 Jan 24)
J Clin Psychol Med Settings
Godoy L, Williams R, Druskin L, Fleece H, Bergen S, Avent G, Robb A, Biel MG, Wissow LS, Beers LS, Long M

Youth Mental Health Screening and Linkage to Care.
(2023 Jul 1)
Psychiatr Serv 74(7): 727-736
Karcher NR, Hicks R, Schiffman J, Asarnow JR, Calkins ME, Dauberman JL, Garrett CD, Koli RL, Larrauri CA, Loewy RL, McGough CA, Murphy JM, Niendam TA, Roaten K, Rodriguez J, Staglin BK, Wissow L, Woodberry KA, Young JF, Gur RE, Bearden CE, Barch DM

Effect of General Practitioner Training in a Collaborative Child Mental Health Care Program on Children's Mental Health Outcomes in a Low-Resource Setting: A Cluster Randomized Trial.
(2023 Jan 1)
JAMA Psychiatry 80(1): 22-30
Sharifi V, Shahrivar Z, Zarafshan H, Ashezary SB, Arabgol F, Khademi M, Jafarinia M, Hajebi A, Abolhassani F, Emami S, Ashkezari AB, Stuart EA, Mojtabai R, Wissow L

Impact of pet dog or cat exposure during childhood on mental illness during adolescence: a cohort study.
(2022 Oct 5)
BMC Pediatr 22(1): 572
Gadomski A, Scribani MB, Tallman N, Krupa N, Jenkins P, Wissow LS

Technology-assisted task-sharing to bridge the treatment gap for childhood developmental disorders in rural Pakistan: an implementation science case study.
(2022 Sep 15)
Implement Sci Commun 3(1): 99
Hamdani SU, Huma ZE, Wissow LS

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