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Transitions
from Childhood
Transitions
in Childhood
Literacy
Family
and Work
Early
Childhood
Neighborhoods
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TRANSITIONS
FROM CHILDHOOD TO ADOLESCENCE
- Contextual, Behavioral,
and Physiological Processes in Boys
Contacts:
Julia Graber, Ph.D., Andrea Bastiani-Archibald, Ph.D., and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn,
Ph.D., Center for Children and Families, Teachers College, Columbia
University.
Funder: National
Institute of Health
Timeline:
1999 to 2004.
Summary:
The purpose of this research program is to conduct a prospective investigation
of the biological and social correlates of emotional development and
risk during middle childhood and the beginning of puberty in African-American
and White boys. Over the course of four years, 200 boys and their families
from integrated, working and middle-class communities will be studied
in order to examine the influence of individual and social factors on
the psychological development of boys beginning in fourth and continuing
through seventh grade. The goal of this project is to understand in
what ways physiological processes and relationships with parents and
peers set boys on various mental health trajectories (both healthy and
unhealthy). Adjustment is defined in terms of three domains: emotional
development including aggressive and depressive symptoms, identity and
self-concept, and school disengagement. Our goal is to understand better
the processes underlying development prior to and during the transition
into adolescence in order to add to the basic knowledge on development
during this period as well as to identify the processes through which
biological and contextual factors influence boys' adjustment and well-being
during these years. Correlates of development to be considered are the
onset of puberty, individual differences in responsivity to stress,
family relationships and interactions, peer relationships, and identity
and self-concepts. The project is designed to address six primary questions:
(a) Do various indices of pubertal processes render boys at risk for
problems in the three above-mentioned domains? (b) Does high reactivity
to potentially stressful situations amplify the potential effects of
pubertal development, especially in terms of impulse control and aggressive
behavior? (c) Do poor peer relationships prior to the onset of puberty
intensify the effects of pubertal development? (d) Do positive family
relationships protect boys from the possible effects of pubertal development
or the effects of early puberty in conjunction with high reactivity?
(e) Do life events, particularly those in the family, influence pubertal
timing in boys? (f) Finally, are the associations among puberty, reactivity,
and interpersonal relationships vis-a-vis adjustment similar or different
for White and African-American boys? This question is especially salient
given the additional potential stressor of racial discrimination or
rejection by peer groups based on racial group membership that many
African-American boys are likely to experience.
- Building Better Eating:
Pilot Study of Program Effectiveness
Contacts:
Julia A. Graber, Ph.D., Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Ph.D., and Andrea B. Archibald,
Center for Children and Families, Teachers College, Columbia University.
Funders:
N/A
Timeline:
Curriculum was implemented in 1998 -1999 academic year. Curriculum implemented
for in the 1998-99 academic year. Baseline assessments were conducted
in October 1998 and Follow-Up assessments will be conducted
in June 1999.
Summary:
The Building Better Eating (BBE) program was designed by developmental
psychologists at our center in conjunction with youth development specialists
at Asphalt Green Fitness Center. The BBE program has two parts.
The first part is a seminar that includes interesting, interactive lessons
and activities about adolescent girls’ health, development, fitness
and wellness. The seminars meet once a week throughout the school year, last for approximately 30 minutes, and
are lead by Asphalt Green fitness educators and instructors,
trained by our staff and Asphalt Green. A 1 hour physical education
class follows the seminar.In order to address the different developmental
needs, abilities, and interests of younger and older adolescents, two
seminar curriculum were developed: one for 7th and 8th
grade girls, and the other for 9th and 10th grade
girls. Each curriculum was designed to improve girls’ health- and fitness-
related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. The 7th and
8th grade curriculum includes topic-specific material
concerning (1) nutrition and healthy food choices for young women, (2)
fitness and exercise, (3) dieting, (4) pubertal development, and (5)
body image, as well as more general information on decision making and
goal setting. The 8th and 9th grade curriculum
includes topic-specific material concerning (1) body image and media
literacy, (2) fitness-related self-care and hygiene, (3) fitness-related
nutrition, (4) effects of tobacco, alcohol, and drug use on fitness
and health, (5) stress reduction and anger management for a healthy
lifestyle, (6) sportswomanship, and (7) careers in health and fitness,
as well as more general information on decision making and goal setting.
Program effectiveness is being evaluated in a sample of approximately
170, Black, White, and Hispanic 7-10th grade girls from the Young Women’s
Leadership School of Harlem, NY who are participating in the program
during the 1998-99 academic year. Short baseline and post- program
surveys tapping girls’ health- and fitness- related knowledge, attitudes,
and behaviors will be administered. Demographic information, information
on dieting attitudes and behaviors, body image, and self-reported pubertal
timing will also be assessed through surveys and homework assignments,
as potential correlates of the curriculum’s effectiveness.
-
Girls' Health and Development Project
Contacts:
Julia Graber, Ph.D., and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Ph.D., Center for Children
and Families, Teachers College, Columbia University.
Funder:
National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Timeline:
Data collection began in 1995 and will continue with bi-annual and annual
follow-ups through 1999.
The Girls' Health and Development Project is a prospective
investigation of the biological correlates of social and emotional development
during middle childhood and the beginning of puberty in African-American
and White girls. Over the course of 4 years, 140 girls and their families
from integrated, working and middle-class communities in the New York
City area are being studied in order to examine the influence of individual
and social factors on the psychological development of girls beginning
in 3rd and continuing through 6th grade. The goal of this project is
to understand in what ways physiological processes and relationships
with parents and peers set girls on various trajectories leading to
more and less positive adjustment. Correlates of development to be considered
are the onset of puberty, individual differences in responsivity to
stress, family relationships and interactions, peer relationships, and
identity and self-concepts. This is the age at which pubertal processes
are initiated and at which peer relationships become more salient, and
parental relationships may begin to change. Assessments are made via
videotaped observations during home visits, parent and child surveys,
structured interviews, and the collection of biological samples.
The project is designed to address 6 primary questions: (1) Do various
indices of pubertal processes render girls at risk for problems in the
three above mentioned domains? (2) Does high reactivity to potentially
stressful situations amplify the potential effects of early pubertal
development? (3) Do poor peer relationships prior to the onset of puberty
intensify the effects of early development? (4) Do positive family relationships
protect girls from the possible effects of early pubertal development
or the effects of early puberty in conjunction with high reactivity?
(5) Do life events, particularly those in the family, influence pubertal
timing? (6) Finally, are the associations among puberty, reactivity,
and interpersonal relationships vis-a-vis adjustment similar or different
for White and African-American girls? This final question is especially
salient given the additional potential stressor of racial discrimination
or rejection by peer groups based on racial membership that many minority
girls are likely to experience.
- Life Skills Training
Project
Contacts:
Julia Graber, Ph.D., and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Ph.D., Center for
Children and Families, Teachers College, Columbia University;
Gilbert Botvin, Ph.D., (Principal Investigator) Cornell University Medical College.
Funders:
National
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
Timeline:
Time 1 data collection began in winter, 1998; follow-up assessments
were conducted during spring, 1999, and will also done in
spring 2000.
Summary:
This project is an extension of Cornell’s work in implementing and evaluating the Life Skills Training intervention—a school-based
drug abuse and violence prevention program with a sample of 6th
graders in New York City schools. The Life Skills Training Project is a 5-year investigation designed
to identify cognitive-behavioral mediating mechanisms related to the efficacy of a broad-spectrum,
competence enhancement and drug abuse prevention school-based intervention
called Life Skills Training (LST). The LST intervention includes problem-specific
material concerning drug abuse and violence prevention as well as more generic
cognitive-behavioral skills, and was taught to a treatment group of 500 6th grade
students. A control group of 500 6th grade students was given a basic health program.
A substudy is being conducted on 400
adolescents selected from the program and control groups for more analysis
of social skills as assessed in videotaped interactions at the school.
Coding of pre-test interactions is being conducted; codes assess the
adolescent’s effectiveness in refusal skills in peer pressure scenarios,
ability to engage in appropriate social interactions, and effectiveness
in resolution of conflict.
Through this investigation we hope
to determine the extent to which reductions in drug use and aggression
/violence are mediated through changes in generic and problem-specific
cognitive-behavioral skills.
- Promoting Health Among
Teens Project
Contacts:
Julia Graber, Ph.D., and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Ph.D., Center for Children
and Families, Teachers College, Columbia University; Gilbert Botvin,
Ph.D. (Principal Investigator), Cornell University Medical College.
Funders: National
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
Timeline: Data was collected in winter 1998.
Summary:
This project is an extension of Cornell’s work in implementing and evaluating
the Life Skills Training intervention--a school-based drug abuse and
violence prevention program with a sample of 6th graders
in New York City schools. The Life Skills
Training Project is a 5-year investigation designed to identify cognitive-behavioral
mediating mechanisms related
to the efficacy of a broad-spectrum, competence enhancement and
drug abuse prevention school-based intervention called Life Skills Training
(LST). The LST intervention includes problem-specific material concerning
drug abuse and violence prevention as
well as more generic cognitive-behavioral material, and was taught
to a treatment group of 500 6th grade students. A control
group of 500 6th grade students was given a basic health
program.
A substudy is being conducted on 50
adolescents and their families selected from the control group.
The adolescents and their families participated in a home visit at which
time they were interviewed and videotaped
for an analysis of family interactions and stress
reactivity. Some of the goals of the substudy include gaining an understanding
of the ways in which physiological
processes and relationships with parents determine individual
differences in behavior and adjustment. Some of the specific aims of
this investigation are to: (a) examine
how children respond to challenges/stressors of adolescence;
(b) explore how parents or parent figures promote better conflict resolution
and social skills with their
young adolescent children; and (c) increase our understanding of
family interactions and physiological processes and their role in the
etiology and prevention of drug
abuse.
- Intergenerational
Pathways to Success
Pathways
to Adulthood: The Baltimore Prenatal Cohort Follow-up
Contacts:
Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Ph.D., (Principal Investigator), Center for Children
and Families, Teachers College, Columbia University;
Janet B. Hardy, M.D., (Principal Investigator), Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine,
Baltimore, MD.
Funders:
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,
National Institute on Maternal and
Child Health.
Timeline:
Data collection in 1960's and 1993.
Summary:
This project is a thirty-year longitudinal study of families begun in
the late 1950s/early 1960s. The project allows for a comparison
between parenting and childhood in two generations given its unique
30-year focus. Between 1958 and 1965, 2640 low-income women about to
have children were enrolled in the study. Their children (n=3124) were born between 1960 and 1965, and
were followed until the age of In 1993, when these second-generation individuals were
between the ages of 28 and 33, subjects were contacted again and the children of
the second generation were enrolled in the study. The projects
collected detailed assessment information on those members of the third generation who were between ages
7 and 9 at the time of the 30 year follow‑up (n=203).
All of the members of the second generation were seen at this middle
childhood point as well.
Information on fertility, health, employment, poverty,
and social status of the first two generations was obtained, as well as cognitive, linguistic,
and behavioral outcomes during childhood for the second and third
generations. The primary objective is the identification of factors that enable children (second
and third generation) to break out of the disadvantageous circumstances in which they were
raised to become successful, self-sustaining adults.
Information on the Baltimore Study can be obtained directly
from the Baltimore Webpage: http://www.pop.upenn.edu/baltimore/
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