Timothy Nelson

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Timothy Nelson

Mildred Francis Thompson Professor Psychology University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Contact

Address
Stadium East C89
Lincoln , Nebraska 68588-0156
Phone
402-472-7707 On-campus 2-7707
Email
tnelson3@unl.edu

Dr. Nelson received his Ph.D. in clinical child psychology from the University of Kansas in 2008 following a clinical internship at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He subsequently completed his post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric psychology in the Stanford University School of Medicine before joining the UNL faculty in 2009. He currently serves as the Director of the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior (CB3) and the Associate Director of the Rural Drug Addiction Research Center (RDAR) at UNL.

Lab site: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab                Pediatric Health Lab

Research Interests:

Dr. Nelson’s research interests are in pediatric health neuroscience. Specifically, his work explores the interplay between brain, behavior, and environment in influencing child and adolescent health and development. Much of his recent work has focused on understanding the development and deployment of regulation abilities in the context of health, with a particular emphasis on the role of regulation in “high-impact” health behaviors (e.g., sleep, diet, physical activity, substance use) and related outcomes (e.g., obesity, mental health problems) in adolescence. To this end, Dr. Nelson and his collaborators leverage methodologies from diverse fields, including cognitive neuroscience (e.g., fMRI, EEG/ERP, neuropsychological tasks), health behavior science (e.g., actigraphy, multiple 24-hour dietary recall), and health systems science (e.g., geocoding of food and physical activity environments). The broad goal of this research program is to inform the timing and targets of novel interventions to promote long-term health by addressing both neural and environmental vulnerabilities for poor health outcomes.

Contextualized Neural Vulnerabilities for Adolescent Obesity. Longitudinal study examining the interplay between reward, regulation, and environment in predicting adolescent weight and health behavior trajectories.

Executive Control and Adolescent Health. Longitudinal study examining the role of executive control across development on adolescent health-related factors (e.g., weight status, diet, physical activity, sleep, stress reactivity, substance use, psychopathology), with an emphasis on the environmental context in which executive control and health interact.

Modifiable Predictors of Neural Vulnerabilities for Obesity. Study exploring various modifiable factors (including executive control, key health behaviors, and obesogenic neighborhood environment) in childhood and adolescence as potential predictors of emerging neural vulnerabilities for obesity in young adulthood.

Teaching Interests:

Dr. Nelson's teaching interests are in clinical child psychology. He teaches courses in child psychopathology, assessment, and treatment. He also mentors graduate students and undergraduate students with interests in pediatric health and neuroscience.

Selected Publications Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

  • Thilges, H., Phillips, E.M., Goldberg, E.L., Brock, R.L., Kidwell, K.M., Yaroch, A.L., Hill, J.L., Espy, K.A., Nelson, J.M., Mason, W.A., & Nelson, T.D. (2025). Evaluating bidirectional, longitudinal associations between adolescent executive control and eating behaviors. Appetite. Published online December 4, 2025.
  • Kidwell, K.M., Brock. R.L., Tomaso, C.C., Phillips, E., James, T.D., Yaroch, A.L., Hill, J.L., Nelson, J.M., Huang, T.T., Mason, W.A., Espy, K.A., & Nelson, T.D. (2025). Adolescent health behavior profiles and associations with mental health in a longitudinal study. Journal of Health Psychology, 30(9), 2232-2249. 
  • Sarwar, S., Mason, W.A., Nelson, J.M., Espy, K.A., & Nelson, T.D. (2025). Longitudinal associations between adolescent electronic cigarette use and eating behaviors. Substance Use and Misuse, 60(14), 2144-2153.
  • Phillips, E.M., Goldberg, E.L., Brock, R.L., Hamburger, E.R., Nelson, J.M., Mason, W.A., Espy, K.A., & Nelson, T.D. (2025). Adolescent sleep as a transdiagnostic factor: Associations between objective night-to-night sleep metrics and adolescent psychopathology. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Open, 3(3), 701-712.
  • Goldberg, E.L., Brock, R.L., Yaroch, A.L., Hill, J.L., Mason, W.A., Nelson, J.M., Espy, K.A., & Nelson, T.D. (2025). Examining longitudinal associations between early environmental deprivation and unpredictability and dietary quality and eating behaviors a decade later. Appetite. Published online August 27, 2025.
  • Tomaso, CC., James, T.D., Brock, R.L., Yaroch, A.L., Hill, J., Huang, T.T., Nelson, J.M., Mason, W.A.,Espy, K.A., & Nelson, T.D. (2024). Early childhood executive control modulates negative affectivity’s role in adolescent body mass index trajectories. Pediatric Obesity. e13144.
  • Laifer, L. M., Brock, R. L., Tomaso, C. C., James, T., Yaroch, A. L., Hill, J. L., Huang, T. T., Nelson, J.M., Mason, W. A., Espy, K. A., & Nelson, T. D. (2024). Exploring the interaction between preschool executive control and caregiver emotion socialization in predicting adolescent weight trajectories. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 53, 656-668.
  • Nelson, T.D., & Stice, E. (2023). Contextualizing the neural vulnerabilities model of obesity. Nutrients, 15, 2988.
  • Kidwell, K.M., James, T.D., Brock, R.L., Yaroch, A.L., Hill, J.L., Nelson, J.M., Mason, W.A., Espy, K.A., & Nelson, T.D. (2023). Preschool executive control, temperament, and adolescent dietary behaviors. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 57(3), 260-268.
  • Phillips, E.M., Brock, R.L., James, T.D., Nelson, J.M., Mason, W.A., Espy, K.A., & Nelson, T.D. (2023). Does preschool executive control mediate the impact of early environmental unpredictability and deprivation on the general factor of psychopathology a decade later? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64(10), 1505-1516.
  • Patwardhan, I., Guo, Y., Hamburger, E.R., Sarwar, S., Fleming, C.B., James, T.D., Nelson, J.M., Espy, K.A., Nelson, T.D., & Mason, W.A. (2023). Childhood executive control and adolescent substance use: The mediating roles of physical and relational aggression and prosocial behaviors. Child Neuropsychology, 29(2), 235-254.
  • Laifer, L.M., Tomaso, C.C., Chang, O.D., Phillips, E.M., James, T.D., Nelson, J.M., Espy, K.A., Mason, W.A., & Nelson, T.D. (2023). Early executive control buffers risk for adolescent psychopathology during the Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Adolescence, 95, 1205-1219.
  • Tomaso, C.C., James, T.D., Nelson, J.M., Espy, K.A., & Nelson, T.D. (2022). Longitudinal associations between executive control and body mass index across childhood. Pediatric Obesity, 17, e12866.
  • Nelson, T.D., James, T.D., Nelson, J.M., Tomaso, C.C., & Espy, K.A. (2022). Executive control in elementary school: Factor structure and associations with early childhood executive control. Developmental Psychology, 58(4), 730-750.
  • Phillips, E.M., Brock, R.L., James, T.D., Nelson, J.M., Espy, K.A., & Nelson, T.D. (2022). Empirical support for a dual process model of the p-factor: Interaction effects between preschool executive control and preschool negative emotionality on general psychopathology. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, 131(8), 817-829.
  • Nelson, T.D., Brock, R.L., Yokum, S., Tomaso, C.C., Savage, C.R., & Stice, E. (2021). Much ado aboutmissingness: A demonstration of full information maximum likelihood versus listwise deletion to address missingness in fMRI data. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15, 1-12.
  • Tomaso, C. C., Johnson, A. B., James, T. D., Nelson, J. M., Mason, W. A., Espy, K. A., & Nelson, T. D. (2021). Emotion regulation strategies as mediators of the relationship between internalizing psychopathology and sleep-wake problems during the transition to adolescence: A longitudinal study. Journal of Early Adolescence, 41(5), 657-682. 
  • Mason, W.A., Patwardhan, I., Fleming, C.B., Stevens, A.L., James, T.D., Nelson, J.M., Espy, K.A., & Nelson, T.D. (2021). Associations of childhood executive control with adolescent cigarette and e-cigarette use: Tests of moderation by poverty level. Addictive Behaviors, 119, 106923. 
  • Tomaso, C. C., Johnson, A. B., & Nelson, T.D. (2021). The effect of sleep deprivation and restriction on mood, emotion, and emotion regulation: Three meta-analyses in one. SLEEP, 44(6), 1-30. 
  • Cheadle, J. E., Goosby, B. J., Jochman, J.J., Tomaso, C.C., Kozikowski, C. & Nelson, T.D. (2020). Race and ethnic variation in college student’s allostatic regulation and racism-related stress. PNAS, 117(49), 31053-31062.
  • Nelson, T.D., James, T.D., Nelson, J.M., Johnson, A.B., Mason, W.A., Yaroch, A.L., & Espy, K.A. (2020). Associations between specific components of executive control and eating behaviors in adolescence: A study using objective and subjective measures. Appetite, 154(1), 1-10.
  • Nelson, T.D., Nelson, J.M., Mason, W.A., Kozikowski, C.B., Tomaso, C.C., & Espy. K.A. (2019). Executive control and adolescent health: Toward a conceptual framework. Adolescent Research Review, 4(1), 31-43.
  • Nelson, T.D., Kidwell, K.M., Nelson, J.M., Tomaso, C.C., Hankey, M., & Espy, K.A. (2018). Preschool executive control and internalizing symptoms in elementary school. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 46(7), 1509-1520.
  • Nelson, T.D., Kidwell, K. M., Hankey, M., Nelson, J. M., & Espy, K. A. (2018). Preschool executive control and sleep problems in early adolescence. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 16(5). 494-503.
  • Nelson, T.D., Nelson, J.M., James, T.D., Clark, C.A., Kidwell, K.M., & Espy, K.A. (2017). Executive control goes to school: Implications of preschool executive performance for observed elementary classroom learning engagement. Developmental Psychology, 53(5), 836-844.
  • Kidwell, K.M., Van Dyk, T.R., Lundahl, A., & Nelson, T.D. (2015). Stimulant medications and sleep for youth with ADHD: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 136, 1145-1153.
  • Lundahl, A., Kidwell, K.M., & Nelson, T.D. (2014). Parental underestimates of child weight: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 133, e689-703.
  • Nelson, T.D., Smith, T.R., Thompson, R.W., Epstein, M.H., Griffith, A.K., Duppong Hurley, K., & Tonniges, T.F. (2011). Prevalence of physical health problems among youth entering residential treatment. Pediatrics, 128, e1226-1232.

Current and Recent Funding:

  • 2R01DK116693, Neural vulnerabilities for obesity: A contextualized, longitudinal study in adolescence. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)/National Institutes of Health (NIH), June 2025-March 2029. Role: Multiple Principal Investigator.
  • R01DK125651, Modifiable predictors of neural vulnerabilities for obesity. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)/National Institutes of Health (NIH), July 2020-April 2026. Role: Multiple Principal Investigator.
  • P20GM130461, Nebraska Rural Drug Addiction Research (RDAR) Center. National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)/National Institutes of Health (NIH), April 2019-February 2029. Role: Associate Director.
  • R01DK116693, Executive control and adolescent weight trajectories. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)/National Institutes of Health (NIH), July 2018-April 2024. Role: Principal Investigator.
  • R01DA041738, Role of executive control in adolescent substance use and co-occurring problems. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)/National Institutes of Health (NIH), February 2017 - November 2022. Role: Multiple Principal Investigator.
  • R01HD087384, Household income and child development in the first three years of life. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)/National Institutes of Health (NIH), September 2017-August 2028. Role: Co-Investigator/UNL Site Multiple Principal Investigator.