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News |
Misc. News
- classes
among those voted "Most Fun" by ASU students!
- Center
for Population Dynamics is Officially Approved! We
are proud to announce that the Center
for Population Dynamics was officially approved
on January 3, 2007. The center is a transdisciplinary
research center drawing scholars who
are interested in broad aspects of population research. As an important
part of our new school, the center's activities and faculty will
enhance the depth and breadth of our work and visibility.
We aim to become
a force of excellence in population dynamics. You
can learn more about the center by visiting its website.
- The
School of Social and Family Dynamics was successfully
launched on November 16, 2006! View
some of the activities that took place as part of the launch!
- Professor Publishes Important Book: Children's
Peer Relations and Social Competence, by Dr. Gary Ladd
Does history
intrigue you? Do you enjoy learning about child and adolescent
development? Have you wondered how friends may
change how a child develops? This book examines the role of
peer relationships in child and adolescent development by tracking
research findings from the early 1900's to the present. It
also explores how peer relationships contribute to child and
adolescent health, adjustment, and achievement. See Learn
more about this publication!
About the Author - Dr. Gary Ladd is a professor of human development
at ASU. He is also director of the Pathways Project, a long-term
study of children from kindergarten through high school. Read
more about Dr. Ladd.
Faculty in the news
Grant
News
- Tracy Spinrad (Co-PI) received a grant, titled:
The course of regulation and dysregulation in children. The grant
will be funded by NIMH for 3 years (total costs = $1.5 million).
Abstract: The major purposes of the proposed
research are (a) to examine the potential contributions over
time of individual
differences
in various types of effortful control (EC, including the abilities
to inhibit a dominant response and/or to activate a subdominant
response, to plan, and to detect errors) and reactive (less voluntary)
control (RC) to young children's adjustment, emotionality/cortisol
reactivity, social and academic competence, social cognition,
and personality resiliency, and (b) to examine the associations
of both parenting (e.g., expression of emotion, sensitivity,
warmth, reactions to children's negative emotions) and heredity
(using genes linked to EC and/or adjustment) to children's regulation/control
and adjustment, and if social support, stress, or some types
of parenting moderate these relations for heredity. We expect
(a) low attentional and activational EC, low resiliency, involuntary
overcontrol, and proneness to fear/sadness to be predictors of
at least some types of internalizing problems; (b) low RC, low
EC and high anger/frustration to predict externalizing problems;
(c) relations of EC to vary with the type of internalizing symptoms
and with age, (d) resiliency to mediate relations of EC to internalizing
problems and social competence, (e) cortisol/salivary alpha-amylase
(sAA) responding to relate to measures of emotional reactivity,
(mal)adjustment, and low EC, (f) links of EC and/or RC to social
and academic functioning, (f) relations between a range of developmental
outcomes and EC to become stronger with age in the early years
of life, (g) relations of parenting to adjustment to be mediated
by EC, and (h) relations of specific candidate genes with EC
and adjustment (perhaps moderated by environmental factors).
A multi-method (e.g., behavioral measures, questionnaires, genes),
multi-reporter approach will be used in 3 annual assessments
of children from age 18 to 48 months. The aforementioned variables,
as well as family-level variables (stress, SES, marital functioning),
will be assessed; earlier assessments include a rich assortment
of indices of EC, RC, emotionality, language, adjustment, and
parenting. These data would allow tests of the joint and unique
relations of EC, RC, parenting, and genes to adjustment from
toddlerhood to school age. Thus, the proposed work focuses on
both the biological and environmental bases of young children's
mental illness (including internalizing and externalizing problems)
and mental health (socio-emotional functioning).
- Scott Yabiku's collaborative
NSF grant, entitled "Collaborative Research
and Training in Social Context, Population Processes, and Environmental
Change" has received funding. The grant is
part of NSF's Partnership for International Research and Education
(PIRE) -- which will bring together researchers and students
from five U.S. universities and four institutions in Nepal and
China to undertake comparative studies on the dynamics of population-environment
interaction. Principal investigator, William Axinn of the University
of Michigan and colleagues from Michigan State University, San
Diego State University, the University of North Carolina, and
Arizona State University (Scott Yabiku will be the ASU
PI) will collaborate with Nepalese
partners from the Institute for Social and Environmental Research
and Tribhuvan University's Institute of Agriculture and Animal
Science, and with Chinese partners from the Research Center
for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
and the Wolong Nature Reserve. The field sites in Nepal and
China
are two high-profile settings where large, growing populations,
rapidly changing economies, unique biodiversity and complex
institutional structures offer exceptional research and educational
opportunities.
The
5-year plan for collaborative research focuses on improving
understanding of patterns and processes affecting vegetation
and habitats for three endangered species (pandas, rhinos,
and tigers), achieving cross-case comparisons of the dynamics
of population-environment interaction for Nepal and China,
and establishing widely applicable tools needed to make
such comparisons in other settings. The educational objectives
of the collaboration will draw upon the intellectual and physical
resources of each partner to train a next generation of
scientists
skilled in conducting new international cross-case comparisons
of the human-environment interaction. This activity provides
a unique international research and training experience
for 40 US graduate and 12 undergraduate students. Educational
and
research activities are closely integrated with a focus
on
learning and practicing concepts and methods needed to
bridge key disciplines and foster international collaboration
while
pursuing compelling research questions.
- David Schaefer (Co-PI) and colleagues (including
Steve Neuberg, PI) received a multidisciplinary
NSF grant. The grant, entitled “The
Dynamics of Religion and Conflict: A Multidisciplinary, Empirical
Approach” is a 3 year grant ($645,000) involving colleagues
from across campus. The
grant tests hypotheses about where, how, under what circumstances,
and for whom religion-influenced conflict could emerge. It employs
an innovative survey methodology of an international network
of scientists to gather data about 100 locales around the world.
Computer simulation modeling techniques will be used to explore
the implications of the findings. This project aims to generate
a data-based understanding of the role that religion plays in
intergroup relations, while also creating an innovative and relatively
inexpensive method for performing cross-cultural research.
- Stephen Kulis and his colleagues
at SIRC have received a very large and prestigious grant establishing
a new NIH National Center on Minority Health and Health Issues.
This 5 year, over $7 million grant involves a number of SSFD
faculty (Scott Yabiku, Steven Haas, Jennie
Kronenfeld, and Cecilia
Menjivar).
Brief Abstract.This award will fund the establishment
of an Exploratory NCMHD Research Center of Excellence to explore
the complex factors influencing minority health and health disparities,
and to contribute to the Department of Health and Human Services'
initiatives for improving minority health and reducing health
disparities among the racial and ethnic minorities of
the U.S.-Mexico border region. The Center will conduct interdisciplinary,
community-based minority health and health disparities research
by studying the pathways to disparities in health outcomes with
an emphasis on familial factors, acculturation, and gender.
- Ariana
Mikulski has been awarded
a grant (with Laura Hanish, Carol Martin, Rick Fabes, and Francisco
Palermo) funded by the Administration for Children and Families.
The grant is a 3-year $500,000 total costs grant entitled "Bilingualism
and School Readiness: The Relations of Language Development to
Academic Skills and Social Competence in Spanish-Speaking Head
Start Students." This was one of 8 grants awarded nationally.
- Sandra Simpkins received
a 5 year Grant through the William T. Grant Scholars Program,
which recognizes only 5 scholars each year! Dr. Simpkins research
is titled "Determinants of Mexican-Origin children's use
and participation in out of school activities"
- Core faculty in the School of Social and Family Dynamics (Victor
Agadjanian (PI), Cecilia Menjívar
(CO-PI), and Scott Yabiku (CO-PI)) receive NIH grant,
titled Religious
Organizations and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care. Read
more about the grant!
- Kim Updegraff (PI) and Adriana
Umana-Taylor (Co-PI) have been awarded a new grant from
NICHD. Their grant, entitled 'A Longitudinal Study of Mexican
Origin Youth: Family, Culture, and Adjustment' will be a
5-year project funded for $3,500,000 total costs.
- Core faculty
in SSFD (Victor Agadjanian (PI), Cecilia Menjívar
(CO-PI), and Scott Yabiku (CO-PI)) receive NIH grant, titled Religious
Organizations and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care. Read more about
the grant!
- NSF
awards Dr. Carlos Valiente early career grant! This
highly competitive award program is the NSF’s most
prestigious grant to junior faculty.
Student Recognition
- Premchand Dommaraju, an outstanding graduate student,
won a highly competitive and prestigious fellowship: the
Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Fellowship in Population
and Reproductive Health. This fellowship is for
advanced Ph.D. students and recent Ph.D. graduates in demography,
social sciences, and public health to conduct research studies
on population and reproductive health issues in developing countries.
The fellows are expected to work at their home institution to
analyze data collected in the DHS and SPA Surveys in one or more
countries and prepare publishable-quality manuscripts on policy-relevant
topics. Premchand won a $5,000 fellowship to cover his research
expenses. DHS also will cover his travel, lodging, and per diem
expenses for him to attend a 2-3 week workshop in Maryland for
the fellows to revise and polish their manuscripts for publication.
As part of the fellowship, he will be investigating the influence
of marriage age on family-building process in India, focusing
on two interrelated areas of policy: fertility reduction and addressing
the reproductive health needs for the women marrying early.
- Graduate student Tucker Brown
was awarded a Teaching Excellence Award by the GPSA!
- Doctoral students
Leah Rohlfsen and Brenda Ohta are
featured prominently on the Division of Graduate Studies 'Graduate
Student Profile' - see why our students stand out!
- Congratulations to Linda Manning
(sociology doctoral student) who was recently notified
that she was selected to receive the League of Black Women
Organization
Student Scholarship Award.
- Graduate Students Mindy Backen
(family studies), Jeanne Blackburn (sociology), and Linda Manning
(sociology) were
each awarded the du Bois Foundation Scholarship -- given to
outstanding
students attending Arizona universities!
- 5/17/06: Doctoral
Student in Family and Human Development Receives Prestigious
NIMH Dissertation Fellowship Award
Mayra Bamaca, an ASU School of Social and Family Dynamics
doctoral student in Family and Human Development will receive
a prestigious dissertation fellowship award from the National
Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The award provides funding
to pursue her research, under the direction of Dr. Adriana Umaña-Taylor
? an Assistant Professor in SSFD. The title of Ms. Bamaca’s
award is “Examining depressive symptoms among Latina adolescent
girls.” A summary abstract of Ms. Bamaca’s award-winning
work is below:
ABSTRACT: The proposed study will examine a developmental-contextual
model of depressive symptomatology among adolescent girls of Mexican
origin. The aims of this study are twofold. First, the proposed
study will examine the influence of normative developmental factors
(i.e., autonomy development), relational components (i.e., parent-adolescent
conflict and attachment), and cultural related issues (i.e., acculturation
dissonance between mothers and their daughters) to help explain
the depressive symptomatology of Mexican-origin adolescent girls.
Second, by using multiple informants (i.e., mother's and daughter's
perspectives), the proposed model aims to better capture the dynamics
occurring within the mother-daughter dyad. Data will be gathered
from 300 adolescent girls in 7th and 10th grade and their mothers.
Adolescent participants will complete self-administered questionnaires
and mothers will complete questionnaires via phone interviews.
Hypotheses to be tested are based on a developmental-contextual
framework that incorporates resiliency, family systems, attachment,
and acculturation theories. The proposed study will have important
implications for public health as the findings will provide generative
research that can inform the development of culturally sensitive
intervention and prevention programs to prevent Mexican origin
adolescent girls from experiencing more serious psychiatric disorders.
- The Department of Sociology recently recognized two
undergraduate students for their achievements!
Sarah Gore-Hoefke received the Hudson Memorial
Award for being an outstanding graduating senior!
McKenzie Strunk received the 2006 Dean's Circle
Award, which recognizes sophomore or junior students for their
academic accomplishments!
Congratulations Sarah and McKenzie!
- Congratulations to PhD student John Parker!
Parker is the recent recipient of two grants: ASU Division of
Graduate Studies Millennium Interdisciplinary Research Grant (a
living stipend of 17,000) and the National Science Foundation
Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (12,000 for research costs).
- January 2006: School of Social and Family Dynamics
Participates in the Rodel Community Scholars Program:
Beginning this year, undergraduate students in FHD have the
chance to
participate
in the Rodel
Community
Scholars program. Rodel Scholars are involved in supervised community
internships that address educational concerns. Ideal scholars
become involved with this program during their sophomore year
and have at least a 3.4 GPA. Scholars are provided with a
$3,000
stipend and spend the year developing and coordinating multi-systemic
plans that they then present to educational, community, and
business
leaders. Learn
more about the Rodel Community Scholars Program. We would
like to commend our current Rodel Scholar - Jennifer
Huysentruyt
– who is our first FHD representative in the Rodel Scholars
program!
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