Faculty Bibliography

The goal of this study is to examine the role of social support from multiple sources, including the extended family, caregivers, classmates, peers and teachers, in improving the school outcomes (grades and attendance) of children orphaned by AIDS in Uganda. Data for this study comes from a 4-year randomized control trial, called Suubi-Maka (Hope for families), conducted in the Southwestern part of Uganda from 2008 to 2012. Using multivariate regression modeling - controlling for several individual-level and school-level characteristics, we find that social support (perceived emotional and information support received from parents, classmates and teachers), caregiver's acceptance and warmth, and family cohesion have positive effects on children's school grades and attendance. This finding underscores the importance of strengthening relationships within the extended family and the school environment to serve as a net of strength that can influence not only family functioning but also vulnerable adolescents' educational trajectories.

Background: Partnership, engagement, and collaboration (PEC) are critical factors in dissemination and implementation (D&I) research. Despite a growing recognition that incorporating PEC strategies in D&I research is likely to increase the relevance, feasibility, impacts, and of evidence-based interventions or practices (EBIs, EBPs), conceptual frameworks and methodologies to guide the development and testing of PEC strategies in D&I research are lacking. To address this methodological gap, a review was conducted to summarize what we know, what we think we know, and what we need to know about PEC to inform D&I research. Methods: A cross-field scoping review, drawing upon a broad range of PEC related literature in health, was conducted. Publications reviewed focused on factors influencing PEC, and processes, mechanisms and strategies for promoting effective PEC. The review was conducted separately for three forms of partnerships that are commonly used in D&I research: (1) consumer-provider or patient-implementer partnership; (2) delivery system or implementation team partnership; and (3) sustainment/support or interagency/community partnership. A total of 39 studies, of which 21 were review articles, were selected for an in-depth review. Results: Across three forms of partnerships, four domains (cognitive, interpersonal/affective, behavioral, and contextual domains) were consistently identified as factors and strategies for promoting PEC. Depending on the stage (preparation or execution) and purpose of the partnership (regulating performance or managing maintenance), certain PEC strategies are more or less relevant. Recent developments of PEC frameworks, such as Partnership Stage of Change and multiple dynamic processes, provide more comprehensive conceptual explanations for PEC mechanisms, which can better guide PEC strategies selection and integration in D&I research. Conclusions: This review contributes to D&I knowledge by identifying critical domain factors, processes, or mechanisms, and key strategies for PEC, and offers a multi-level PEC framework for future research to build the evidence base. However, more research is needed to test PEC mechanisms.

OBJECTIVE/UNASSIGNED:are considered as potential moderators. DESIGN/UNASSIGNED:age = 4.43 years). Parent and teacher assessments of child internalizing and externalizing were also collected at baseline and 12 months later. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:At Time 1, male child gender was positively correlated with concurrent spanking; familial social support and U.S. American cultural knowledge were negatively correlated with mothers' spanking. Verbal punishment at Time 1 was associated with externalizing problems at Time 2 among both Mexican and Dominican American children, and this relation was not moderated. Additionally, verbal punishment was associated with Time 2 child internalizing problems among Mexican American children. There were no significant associations between spanking and later child internalizing or externalizing behaviors. CONCLUSION/UNASSIGNED:It is important that researchers examine both physical and verbal discipline strategies to understand their unique influences on Latino child outcomes, as well as contextual influences that may elucidate the use and long-term effects of spanking and verbal punishment on Latino children at different developmental stages.

Children in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are burdened by significant unmet mental health needs. Despite the successes of numerous school-based interventions for promoting child mental health, most evidence-based interventions (EBIs) are not available in SSA. This study investigated the implementation quality and effectiveness of one component of an EBI from a developed country (USA) in a SSA country (Uganda). The EBI component, Professional Development, was provided by trained Ugandan mental health professionals to Ugandan primary school teachers. It included large-group experiential training and small-group coaching to introduce and support a range of evidence-based practices (EBPs) to create nurturing and predictable classroom experiences. The study was guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, the Teacher Training Implementation Model, and the RE-AIM evaluation framework. Effectiveness outcomes were studied using a cluster randomized design, in which 10 schools were randomized to intervention and wait-list control conditions. A total of 79 early childhood teachers participated. Teacher knowledge and the use of EBPs were assessed at baseline and immediately post-intervention (4-5 months later). A sample of 154 parents was randomly selected to report on child behavior at baseline and post-intervention. Linear mixed effect modeling was applied to examine effectiveness outcomes. Findings support the feasibility of training Ugandan mental health professionals to provide Professional Development for Ugandan teachers. Professional Development was delivered with high levels of fidelity and resulted in improved teacher EBP knowledge and the use of EBPs in the classroom, and child social competence.

BACKGROUND: ParentCorps is a family-centered enhancement to pre-kindergarten programming in elementary schools and early education centers. When implemented in high-poverty, urban elementary schools serving primarily Black and Latino children, it has been found to yield benefits in childhood across domains of academic achievement, behavior problems, and obesity. However, its long-term cost-effectiveness is unknown. METHODS: We determined the cost-effectiveness of ParentCorps in high-poverty, urban schools using a Markov Model projecting the long-term impact of ParentCorps compared to standard pre-kindergarten programming. We measured costs and quality adjusted life years (QALYs) resulting from the development of three disease states (i.e., drug abuse, obesity, and diabetes); from the health sequelae of these disease states; from graduation from high school; from interaction with the judiciary system; and opportunity costs of unemployment with a lifetime time horizon. The model was built, and analyses were performed in 2015-2016. RESULTS: ParentCorps was estimated to save $4387 per individual and increase each individual's quality adjusted life expectancy by 0.27 QALYs. These benefits were primarily due to the impact of ParentCorps on childhood obesity and the subsequent predicted prevention of diabetes, and ParentCorps' impact on childhood behavior problems and the subsequent predicted prevention of interaction with the judiciary system and unemployment. Results were robust on sensitivity analyses, with ParentCorps remaining cost saving and health generating under nearly all assumptions, except when schools had very small pre-kindergarten programs. CONCLUSIONS: Effective family-centered interventions early in life such as ParentCorps that impact academic, behavioral and health outcomes among children attending high-poverty, urban schools have the potential to result in longer-term health benefits and substantial cost savings.

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the relations of early socialization of anger with change in adolescent depression, and moderation by child anger. Using a sample of low-income, ethnic minority children at familial risk for psychopathology in the United States (n = 92; ages 3-5; 53% female; 65% African American; 27% Latina/o), early anger socialization (i.e., parent response to child anger) was tested as a predictor of change in depression from preadolescence to adolescence [i.e., age 8 (n = 63), 11 (n = 58), and 13 (n = 44)]. A videotaped parent-child interaction was coded for parental socialization of preschooler anger, and psychiatric interviews of depression were conducted three times across preadolescence and adolescence. Major depression diagnoses increased from preadolescence to adolescence. Latent growth modeling indicated parent discouragement of child anger was a significant predictor of an increase in the child's later depression from preadolescence to adolescence, and child anger intensity was a significant moderator.

This study focused on social support and its association with child developmental outcomes, indirectly through parenting practices, in families of 4-5 year old Latino children. Data were collected from mothers and teachers of 610 Mexican American (MA) and Dominican American (DA) children. Mothers reported on perceived social support, parenting practices and children's problem and adaptive behavior functioning at home, and teachers reported on mothers' parent involvement and children's problem and adaptive behavior functioning in the classroom. Results showed that support received from family was higher than support received from school networks for both ethnic groups. Moreover, familial support was associated with child behavior, mediated by positive parenting practices, whereas support from school networks was not associated with child outcomes. During early childhood, social support from family members may be an important protective factor that can promote positive behavioral functioning among Latino children.

Contrary to the "model minority" myth, Asian American children, especially those from low-income immigrant families, are at risk for both behavioral and emotional problems early in life. Little is known, however, about the underlying developmental mechanisms placing Asian American children at risk, including the role of cultural adaptation and parenting. This study examined cultural adaptation, parenting practices and culture related parenting values and child mental health in a sample of 157 English speaking Asian American immigrant families of children enrolled in early childhood education programs in low-income, urban neighborhoods. Overall, cultural adaptation and parenting cultural values and behaviors were related to aspects of child mental health in meaningful ways. Parents' cultural value of independence appears to be especially salient (e.g., negatively related to behavior problems and positively related to adaptive behavior) and significantly mediates the link between cultural adaptation and adaptive behavior. Study findings have implications for supporting Asian American immigrant families to promote their young children's mental health.

Depression is one of the most prevalent mental health challenges in low- and middle-income countries. However, the mechanisms of parental depression on children's development are understudied in these countries. This study examined the prevalence of parental depression, contextual predictors of parental depression, and the associations between parental depression, parenting and children's development in one of the Sub-Saharan African countries-Uganda. Three hundred and three Ugandan parents of young children were recruited and interviewed. Results indicated that about 28 % of parents were depressed. Contextual factors such as low educational attainment, food insecurity, low social support, and high number of children were associated with parental depression. Structural equation modeling also indicated that Ugandan parents' depression was associated with less optimal parenting, and higher problem behavior, lower social competence, and poorer physical health and school functioning in children. Results provide several cross cultural consistency evidence in associations among parental depression, parenting, and child development.

This study examined mother- and teacher-rated internalizing behaviors (i.e., anxiety, depression, and somatization symptoms) among young children using longitudinal data from a community sample of 661 Mexican and Dominican families and tested a conceptual model in which parenting (mother's socialization messages and parenting practices) predicted child internalizing problems 12 months later. Children evidenced elevated levels of mother-rated anxiety at both time points. Findings also supported the validity of the proposed parenting model for both Mexican and Dominican families. Although there were different pathways to child anxiety, depression, and somatization among Mexican and Dominican children, socialization messages and authoritarian parenting were positively associated with internalizing symptoms for both groups.