Kaitlyn PritzlPhD Student, Human Development & Family Studies

Kaitlyn is interested in child development and well-being, and the influence of toxic stress on long-term development. More specifically, she is interested in parent-child interactions in the context of stress, and the impact this may have on the developing child. Kaitlyn is currently involved in a research study exploring how to offer child friendly-visits for families who experience parental incarceration via remote video visits on tablets. Kaitlyn is also looking forward to working on the Healthy Brain and Child Development Study to better understand brain growth in the first few years of life.

Education and Relevant Experience

Kaitlyn received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies with a minor in Criminal Justice from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. During her time as an undergraduate student, she volunteered with the Rape Crisis Center and listened to survivors share how trauma impacted their daily lives. After graduation, Kaitlyn learned the importance of foundational developmental skills by working with young children who have autism; she provided play-based therapy to enhance children’s social and communicative skills before starting kindergarten. These experiences motivated her to return to graduate school to study toxic stress and development, with the goal of serving children and families in need of support. In the future, Kaitlyn aspires to continue researching children and families while also connecting research to real-world application through community outreach.

Awards and Recognition

2017 – Outstanding Graduating Senior Award
2020 – 2021 University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School Fellowship
2021 – School of Human Ecology Summer Time Academic Research (STAR) Award

Selected Publications

Pritzl, K., Milavetz, Z., Cuthrell, H., Muentner, L., Poehlmann-Tynan, J. (accepted for publication) Young Children’s Contact with their Parents in Jail and Child Behavior Problems. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2021.2018381.

Poehlmann-Tynan, J., Muentner, L., Pritzl, K., Cuthrell, H., Hindt, L. A., Davis, L., & Shlafer, R. (2021). The Health and Development of Young Children Who Witnessed Their Parent’s Arrest Prior to Parental Jail Incarceration. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(9), 4512.

Poehlmann-Tynan, J., & Pritzl, K. (2019). Parent–child visits when parents are incarcerated in prison or jail. In Handbook on children with incarcerated parents (pp. 131-147). Springer, Cham.