Britney Duner, LCSW | Research & Publications

Research & Publications

Britney Duner, LCSW is a child and family therapist, PCIT clinician, parent educator, and doctoral-level researcher. Her clinical and research interests center on parent-child relationships, caregiver stress and regulation, child behavior, mental health, and the ways physiological and emotional processes can influence family functioning.

Her research and clinical work reflect a commitment to understanding both children and the adults who care for them, and to translating research into practical support for families.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Frontiers in Psychology · 2025

Mindful Awareness and Its Association With Cumulative Adversity, Autonomic Reactivity, and Current Functioning

Dana, A. N., Pennella, J. L., Goelz, D. V. V., Duner, B. N., Ventura, A. B., Giraldo, S. M., Cuffe, S. P., Porges, S. W., & Dale, L. P. (2025).

Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1630101.

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1630101

Britney Duner, LCSW is a co-author of this 2025 peer-reviewed research published in Frontiers in Psychology. The study examined the relationships among cumulative adversity, autonomic reactivity, mindful awareness, and current functioning in 1,542 U.S. adults with a history of at least one adversity.

Findings indicated that greater autonomic reactivity was associated with lower mindful awareness and was the strongest predictor of mindful awareness in the study. Higher mindful awareness was also associated with fewer dysfunctional coping strategies, lower emotional distress, and fewer PTSD symptoms.

The authors highlight the potential value of addressing both mindful awareness and autonomic regulation among individuals with histories of adversity.

Britney’s contribution to the publication included writing and revising the manuscript as part of a multidisciplinary research team within the University of Florida’s Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine–Jacksonville.

Read the Full Publication

Clinical Research

Current Clinical Research

Ongoing study

Potential Benefits of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)

Principal Investigator: Britney Duner, LCSW
Sponsor: University of Florida
ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT06827951
IRB: IRB202400867

Britney Duner, LCSW serves as a principal investigator for a University of Florida clinical research study examining the potential benefits and mechanisms of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT).

The study explores how individual factors, including autonomic reactivity and prior adversity, may relate to participants’ functioning and response to PCIT. Researchers are also examining changes in parental stress, parent-child attachment, child behavior, emotional well-being, autonomic reactivity, and oxytocin levels throughout the intervention.

Participants complete five online assessments across the study and participate in PCIT. The study is being conducted at UF Health sites in Jacksonville and Gainesville and is designed to enroll approximately 80 participants.

This research reflects Britney’s clinical and academic interest in the intersection of parent-child relationships, caregiver stress and regulation, child behavior, and the physiological processes that may influence how parents experience and respond to stress.

View the Study on ClinicalTrials.gov

Conference Presentations & Workshops

Professional Presentations

Britney Duner, LCSW regularly contributes to professional education and training in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), including presentations focused on caregiver stress and physiology, PCIT implementation, clinical coding, and culturally responsive clinical practice.

These are conference presentations and workshops, not peer-reviewed publications.

2026 PCIT International Convention

Presentation · Virtual

Biobehavioral Insights and Fit in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) Implementation

Integrating Psychophysiological Research into Routine PCIT Delivery: Preliminary Findings from a Multi-Site Longitudinal Study

Presenters: Britney Duner, LCSW; Kourtney Schroeder, PsyD; Liliana Acosta, PhD, NCSP; Melanie Nelson, PhD; Beatriz Mendez, PhD; Lauren Holleb, PhD; Kathryn Guajardo; Hannah Milius, MS; Audrey Dana

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is well established for reducing child disruptive behaviors and improving parent-child relational functioning; however, less is known about the physiological mechanisms through which PCIT may influence parental stress regulation and emotional well-being. As PCIT continues to expand across settings and parental stress reaches unprecedented levels, there is an increasing need for rigorous, feasible approaches to examine mechanisms of change without disrupting clinical care.

This presentation describes preliminary analyses from a multi-site, multi-method longitudinal study examining autonomic reactivity, oxytocin levels, and parent-reported psychosocial functioning across the course of PCIT.

Primary caregivers of children ages 2 to 7 referred for PCIT complete standardized online measures at five predetermined points during treatment and provide saliva samples at two time points associated with treatment progression. Preliminary findings presented include descriptive participant characteristics, early trends in caregiver-reported stress and psychosocial functioning, patterns in clinical session data, and feasibility indicators across sites.

Biomarker (oxytocin) data were not included in this presentation. Because of the sensitivity and analytic requirements of salivary assays, these data will be analyzed in aggregate upon study completion. Findings shared were preliminary, not final study results.

Britney's Role: Presenter

Presentation · Virtual

Cracking the Code: Leveling Up Your Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) Coding Practice

Presenters: Kourtney Schroeder, PsyD; Britney Duner, LCSW

The Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System (DPICS-IV) is fundamental to Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), providing objective data used to track family skill progress and guide clinical decision-making. Because families present with unique language patterns and interactional styles, maintaining coding proficiency requires continuous and frequent practice.

This workshop used game-based learning to bridge the gap between didactic training and clinical mastery. Participants engaged with interactive platforms designed to strengthen coding accuracy across the phases of PCIT, including pre-treatment, Child-Directed Interaction (CDI), and Parent-Directed Interaction (PDI).

The workshop provided clinicians with opportunities to strengthen DPICS competence and develop creative strategies for implementing coding practice within their own clinical programs and settings.

Britney's Role: Presenter

2024 PCIT International Convention

Clinical Case Presentation Workshop: Innovative Applications

Format: Clinical Case Presentation Workshop
CE Hours: 1.00

The workshop included multiple clinical case presentations. Britney Duner, LCSW was a presenter for the case below. Other cases in the workshop, on PCIT for bedwetting and on recognizing and addressing concerns of parents and criticism from professionals, were presented by other clinicians.

Polyamorous Parenting in PCIT

Presenters: Kourtney Schroeder, PsyD; Britney Duner, LCSW

This clinical case presentation explored the application of PCIT with polyamorous families through a diversity, inclusion, and culturally responsive clinical lens. The presentation addressed potential barriers to treatment experienced by LGBTQ+ parents and considered ways clinicians can recognize and respond to parent concerns while supporting engagement in PCIT.

Britney's Role: Presenter

Why Research Matters

From Research to Real-World Parenting

Research is most meaningful when it can help people in their everyday lives. Britney’s clinical and academic work explores how stress, regulation, relationships, and behavior intersect, and how that knowledge can inform the way we support children and caregivers.

Through Connected Parent, the goal is to translate evidence-informed ideas into practical, compassionate tools that parents can actually use.

Research
Understanding
Connection
Practical Support

Want to learn more about Britney?

Britney Duner, LCSW is a child and family therapist, PCIT clinician, parent educator, and researcher. Her work focuses on helping parents better understand child behavior, strengthen connection, and build their own regulation skills along the way.

Meet Britney