Biography
Christina Newhill earned a PhD in social welfare from the University of California, Berkeley; a master’s degree in social work from Syracuse University; and a BA in sociology from the State University of New York, Binghamton.
Newhill teaches in the direct practice mental health specialization in the Master of Social Work and PhD programs, and received a 2008 Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award, Pitt’s highest teaching honor.
Her primary research interests are community mental health services, the treatment of individuals with severe mental illness, and the assessment of violent behavior; she is the principal investigator on several research studies focusing on violent behavior and risk assessment and is currently examining the relationship of Cluster B personality disorders, emotion-regulation problems, and violent behavior. Newhill has more than 10 years of community mental health practice experience, primarily in psychiatric emergency and inpatient settings. She has conducted training workshops on violence in the workplace at the local, state, and national levels for many years and authored Client Violence in Social Work Practice: Prevention, Intervention and Research, published in 2003 by Guilford Press and recently translated into Chinese and Korean. She is working on a second book addressing clinical social work practice with individuals with severe mental illness and their families. Newhill is a licensed clinical social worker in California and Pennsylvania.
Research Interests
- Violence risk markers and psychopathology
- Risk assessment of violent clients and social worker safety
- Evidence-based treatments for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness
- Emotion regulation and personality disorders
- Psychiatric emergency services
- Racial disparities in mental health services
Selected Publications
Newhill, Christina E., Eack, Shaun M., & Mulvey, Edward P. (in press). Violent behavior in individuals with borderline personality disorder. Journal of Personality Disorders.
Newhill, Christina E., Eack, Shaun M & Conner, Kyaien O. (in press). Racial differences between African and White Americans in the presentation of borderline personality disorder. Race and Social Problems.
Mohanty, Jayashree & Newhill, Christina E. (2008). A theoretical framework for understanding ethnic socialization among international adoptees. Families in Society, 89, 543-550.
Eack, Shaun & Newhill, Christina E. (2008). An investigation of the relations between student knowledge, personal contact, and attitudes toward individuals with schizophrenia. Journal of Social Work Education, 44, 77-95.
Newhill, Christina E. and Harris, Daniel (2007). African-American consumers’ perceptions of racial disparities in mental health services. Social Work in Public Health, 23, 107-124.
Eack, Shaun M., Newhill, Christina E. (2007). Psychiatric symptoms and quality of life in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 33, 1225-1237.
Newhill, Christina E., Mulvey, Edward P., and Pilkonis, Paul A. (2004). Initial development of a measure of emotional dysregulation for individuals with Cluster B personality disorders. Research on Social Work Practice, 14, 443-449.
Newhill, Christina E. and Korr, Wynne S. (2004). Practice with persons with severe mental illness: Rewards, challenges and burdens. Health and Social Work, 29, 297-305.