Dr. Urooj Tara

Assistant Professor

urooj.tara@cust.edu.pk

+92-51-111-555-666

PROFILE SUMMARY

Dr. Urooj Tara is an Assistant Professor of Psychology with expertise in Clinical Psychology, neurodevelopmental disorders, autism spectrum disorder, and social and emotional development. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. Her academic and professional work combines teaching, research, clinical practice, and student supervision. Her research interests primarily focus on autism, social skills interventions, parent-mediated interventions, psychological assessment, and evidence-based approaches for children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Her doctoral research examined a parent-assisted children’s friendship training intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder using a randomized controlled design. She has contributed to research involving culturally and linguistically appropriate psychological assessment tools and interventions. Dr. Urooj has experience teaching courses including Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods, Data Analysis, Psychopathology, Clinical Internship, and Biological Basis of Behavior. She is also actively involved in research coordination, postgraduate supervision, academic development, and student training. Her professional interests include promoting evidence-based psychological practice, culturally responsive interventions, and the integration of emerging approaches such as neurodiversity-informed practice and digital mental health into psychology education and services.

QUALIFICATION
PhD	Psychology	National Institute of Psychology, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad	2026
MS	Clinical Psychology	Foundation University, Islamabad	2019

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Assistant Professor	Capital University of Science and Technology, Islamabad	Since – 2026

RESEARCH AREAS / INTERESTS
1.	Neurodevelopmental Disorders
2.	Autism Spectrum Disorder
3.	Community-based Interventions

RESEARCH SUPERVISION
1.	MS	Impact of Vicarious Trauma on Burnout and Job Satisfaction among Clinical Psychologists: Role of Self-Compassion
2.	MS	Efficacy of Color Mandala Intervention on Spiritual Attitude, Happiness and Mindfulness among Adults
3.	MS	Role of Rejection Sensitivity and Emotional Intelligence in the Relationship between Alexithymia and Internet Addiction among Young Adults
4.	MS	Impact of Social Media Usage and Deliberate Self-harm on Delinquent Behavior among Adolescents: Role of Moral Disengagement
5.	MS	Impact of Role Ambiguity and Organizational Frustration on Employee Depression: Role of Emotional Intelligence
6.	MS	Making Sense of Rural-to-Urban University Transition among Pakistani Rural-Origin Students: A Qualitative Study
7.	MS	Psychological Capital and Subjective well-being in Adults with Depressive Symptoms: Role of Psychological Flexibility
8.	MS	Psychological Flexibility and Parental Self-Efficacy among parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Role of Autism Severity
9.	BS	AI Anxiety, Perceived Job Insecurity and Career Readiness among Graduating Students
10.	BS	Sleep Quality, Cognitive Failures and Fatigue among University Hostel-Residing Students
11.	BS	Impact of Islamic Gratitude on Self Esteem and Rumination among Adults
12.	BS	Sports Anxiety and Coaching Criticism among Club-level and Domestic Athletes
13.	BS	FOMO, Body Dysmorphia and Appearance Anxiety among the Snapchat Users
14.	BS	Relationship of Islamic Quality of Life with Depression and Anxiety among University Students
15.	BS	Impact of Childhood Trauma and Emotional Dysregulation on Borderline Personality Symptoms Among Females

Sr.	JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS	Year
1	U. Tara and N. Rauf, “Unveiling the interplay of social skills and sociocultural dynamics in children with autism spectrum disorder in Pakistan,” International Journal of Developmental Disabilities, vol. 72, no. 4, pp. 846–858, 2026.	2026
2	U. Tahseen, U. Tara, E. Waheed, M. Rasheed, M. Naveed, and M. Zahra, “Childhood trauma and emotional dysregulation as predictors of borderline personality symptoms among female university students,” Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 143-164, 2026.	2026
3	U. Tara, N. Rauf, and A. Arshad, “Treatment effectiveness of Pakistani version of children’s friendship training program for autistic children,” Current Psychology, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 3227–3237, 2025.	2025
4	U. Tara, N. Rauf, and A. Arshad, “Parent-assisted friendship intervention for improving play and social skills in Pakistani school children with autism: a randomized controlled pilot study,” Journal of Applied Social Science, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 165–178, 2025.	2025
5	A. Warraich, N. K. Rauf, R. Aftab, U. Tara, and S. Shahid, “The cultural adaptation and validation of an Urdu version of the revised social communication checklist (SCC-R) for Pakistani children with autism spectrum disorder,” Social Science Review Archives, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 857–870, 2024.	2024
6	U. Tara and S. Ahsan, “Cognitive hardiness as a moderator in the relationship between generalized workplace harassment and anger among working women in Pakistan,” Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, vol. 30, no. 8, pp. 971–988, 2020.	2020

Sr.	CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS	Year
1	U. Tara, R. Nelofar, and A. Warraich, “Assessing social skills and quality of play in children on spectrum: A preamble for parent-assisted children’s friendship training (CFT) in Pakistan,” INSAR 2024, 2024.	2024
2	U. Tara, N. Rauf, and A. Arshad, “Feasibility of Parent-mediated PEERS Program for Enhancing Social Skills in Children on Spectrum,” 3rd International Conference of Social Sciences, Contemporary World: Challenges and Transformations 2024, Rawalpindi Women University, Pakistan.	2024

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Dr. Urooj Tara

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