Jessica L Schleider

Jessica Schleider is an American psychologist, author, and an associate professor of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University. She is the lab director of the Lab for Scalable Mental Health.

Education and degrees

Schleider began her academic career at Swarthmore College, working with psychology professor Jane Gillham, Ph.D., as her thesis advisor. In 2011, Schleider received the Wallach Fellowship for her thesis; she continued work on it with Gillham after graduation, resulting in a publication in Current Psychiatry Reviews. She graduated from Swarthmore College in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, next pursuing a master's degree at Harvard University working with psychologist John R. Weisz as her advisor. During her time as a masters student, she received the Stimson Fund Research Grant in 2012, the William H. Talley Award in 2013–2014, and the Karen Stone Fellowship in 2013–2014. With the grant and the award, she completed publications as a co-author with Weisz in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology and the Child Psychiatry and Human Development Journal. In 2014, Schleider received her Master of Arts in psychology. In 2018, she completed her final steps of education with a doctoral internship in clinical and community psychology on a track of consultation, prevention, and program evaluation services at Yale University School of Medicine and finally her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Harvard University.

Positions and roles Associate professor of medical social sciences, pediatrics, and psychology at Northwestern University

Founding director, Lab for Scalable Mental Health.

Research Schleider's research focuses on the development, evaluation, and dissemination of brief (single-session, under 30 minutes) interventions for children and adolescents experiencing mental health difficulties. The goal of developing these single-session interventions (SSIs) is to increase the availability and accessibility of effective evidence-based interventions, particularly for underserved groups (e.g. LGBTQ+ and youth of Color). Schleider leads the Lab for Scalable Mental Health, where these interventions are designed and evaluated. Her research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions (whether they work) and the mechanisms of change (how and why they work). Many of Schleider's brief interventions target symptoms of anxiety and depression among adolescents (ages 11–17). She has also developed SSIs that help parents learn to support their child's mental health treatment.

Honors and awards + Jessica Schleider awards and honors Award !! Year Rising Star Award, International Society for Research on Internet Interventions 2022 Implementation Research Institute Fellow, National Institute of Mental Health 2022–24 Susan Nolen-Hoeksema Early Career Research Award, Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology, Division 12, American Psychological Association 2021 Richard “Dick” Abidin Early Career Award, Society for Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Division 53, American Psychological Association 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Healthcare, Forbes Magazine 2020 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's Early Independence Award, NIH 2019 President's New Researcher Award, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 2019 Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (JCPP) Best Paper Award, Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 2019 Outstanding Student Researcher Award, Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology, Division 12, American Psychological Association 2017 Anne Anastasi General Psychology Graduate Student Research Award, Society for General Psychology, Division 1, American Psychological Association 2017 Career Development Leadership Award, Anxiety & Depression Association of America 2016 Delaware Project Student Award (Honorable Mention), The Delaware Project 2016 Individual National Research Service Award, National Institute of Mental Health 2015 Travel Scholarship, International Society for Research in Child/Adolescent Psychopathology She has written a self-help workbook, titled "The Growth Mindset Workbook for Teens" and co-edited the Oxford Guide to Brief and Low-Intensity Interventions for Children and Young People. Schleider, J.L., Mullarkey, M.C., Fox, K.R., Dobias, M.L., Shroff, A., Hart, E.A., Roulston, C. (2022). A Randomized Trial of Online Single-Session Interventions for Adolescent Depression during COVID-19. Nature Human Behavior, 6, 258–268. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2019.1683852. Schleider, J.L. (2022). Repairing the Research-Service Rupture in Clinical Psychological Science. Nature Reviews Psychology, 1, 2–4. DOI:10.1038/s44159-021-0005-z. Dobias, M.L., Morris, R., Schleider, J.L. (2022). Single-session interventions embedded within Tumblr: A test of acceptability and utility. JMIR Formative Research, 6(7), e39004. DOI:10.2196/39004. Schleider, J.L., Dobias, M.L., Mullarkey, M.C., Ollendick, T. (2021). Retiring, Rethinking, and Reconstructing the Norm of Once-Weekly Psychotherapy. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 48, 4–8. DOI:10.1007/s10488-020-01090-7. Sung, J.Y., Mumper, E., Schleider J.L. (2021). Empowering Parents to Manage Child Avoidance Behaviors: Randomized Trial of a Single-Session Intervention Targeting Parent Accommodation. Journal of Medical Internet Research: Mental Health, 8(7), e29538. DOI:10.2196/preprints.29538 Schleider, J.L., Dobias, M.L., Sung, J.Y., Mullarkey M.C. (2020). Future directions in single-session youth mental health interventions. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 2, 264–278. DOI:10.1007/s10488-021-01146-2 Schleider, J.L., Dobias, M.L., Sung J.Y., Mumper, E., Mullarkey, M.C. (2020). Acceptability and utility of an open-access, online single-session intervention platform for adolescent mental health. Journal of Medical Internet Research: Mental Health, 7, e2013. DOI:10.2196/20513 Schleider, J. L., & Weisz, J. (2017). A single-session growth mindset intervention for adolescent anxiety and depression: 9-month outcomes of a randomized trial. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(2), 160–170. DOI:10.1111/jcpp.12811 Schleider, J. L., & Weisz, J. R. (2017). Little treatments, promising effects? Meta-analysis of single-session interventions for youth psychiatric problems. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 56(2), 107–115. DOI:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.11.007 Schleider, J. L., & Weisz, J. R. (2016). Reducing risk for anxiety and depression in adolescents: Effects of a single-session intervention teaching that personality can change. Behavior Research and Therapy, 87, 170–181. DOI:10.1016/j.brat.2016.09.011