Susan C. McDonough

Research Associate Professor Emerita of Social Work

Susan C. McDonough is an Research Associate Professor Emerita in the School of Social Work and in the Center for Human Growth and Development and was involved in research, teaching, and clinical work with families of young children. Her research program was funded through NIMH and follows 260 infants and their families throughout the first four years of the children's lives. These studies explored how environmental risk factors and parent-infant relationship problems mediate the connection between early behavior problems and later emotional, social, and cognitive functioning. Her publications address overburdened families, parent-infant relationship problems, adolescent parents, and families caring for special-needs babies. McDonough was the coordinator of the school's Post-Master Certificate Program in Work with Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families (Infant Mental Health Certificate Program). She also was a research scientist at the U-M Center for Human Growth and Development. Other areas of research/scholarly interest: children and families; interpersonal practice.

Research Interests

Children's mental health, preventive interventions.

Curriculum Vitae

Contact Information

  • [email protected]

  • 4640 SSWB
    University of Michigan
    School of Social Work
    1080 S. University
    Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Education

  • 1981 PhD Special Education: Infancy
    University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  • 1992 MSW Social Work
    Smith College, Northampton, MA
  • 1974 MA Special Education
    Northeastern University, Boston, MA
  • 1972 BS Child Development
    Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

Activities

Publications

McDonough, S. C. (2012). Engaging overburdened families through short-term treatment. In C. H. Zeanah (Ed.), Handbook of Infant Mental Health (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
McDonough, S. C. (2009). Do fussy babies grow up to be problem preschoolers? In S. Olson & A. Sameroff (Eds.), Regulatory Processes in the Development of Child Behavior Problems: Biological, Behavioral and Social Perspectives. New York: Guilford Press.
Rosenblum, K. L., McDonough, S. C., Muzik, M., & Sameroff, A. J. (2008). Reflection in thought and action: Maternal parenting reflectivity predicts mind-minded comments and interactive behavior. Infant Mental Health Journal, 29(4), 362-376.
MacKenzie, M., McDonough, S. C., Rosenblum, K. L., & Sameroff, A. J. (2006). Maternal and Child Interaction Codebook: 3, 7, 15 Month. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan.
McDonough, S. C., & MacKenzie, M. J. (2006). Crying behavior and its impact on psychosocial child development: Comments on Barr, Stifter, and Zeskind. In R. Tremblay, R. Barr, & R. Peters, (Eds), Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development. The Canadian Centre of Excellence.
Rosenblum, K. L., Dayton, C., & McDonough, S. C. (2006). Communicating Feelings: Links between mothers' representations of their infants, parenting, and infant emotional development. In O. Mayseless (Ed.), Parenting Representations: Theory, Research and Clinical Implications 109-148. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rosenblum, K. L., Zeanah, C., McDonough, S. C., & Muzik, M. (2005). Video-taped coding of working model of the child interviews: A reliable and useful alternative to verbatim transcripts? Infant Behavior and Development, 27(4), 544-549.
Sameroff, A. J., Seifer, R., & McDonough, S. C. (2004). Contextual contributors to the assessment of infant mental health. In R. Del Carmen-Wiggins & A. Carter, (Eds.), Handbook of Infant, Toddler, and Preschool Mental Health Assessment 61-78. Oxford: Oxford University press.
McDonough, S. C. (2004). Interaction Guidance: Promoting and nurturing the caregiving relationship. In A. J. Sameroff, S. C. McDonough, & K. Rosenblum (Eds.), Treating Parent-Infant Relationship Problems: Strategies For Intervention 79-96. New York: Guilford Press.
Sameroff, A. J., McDonough, S. C., & Rosenblum, K., (Eds.). (2004). Treating Parent-Infant Relationship Problems: Strategies For Intervention. New York: Guilford Press.

Honors and Awards

Year Description
2006 Visiting Scholar, Adler Center for the Study of Child Developmental Psychopathology, Tel Aviv University, Israel
2006 Irving B. Harris Distinguished Scholar
2005 Invited Research Professor and Senior Consulting Clinician, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
2004 Summer Visiting Professor, Irving J. Harris Program, Erikson Institute, Chicago
2003 Professor of Excellence in Psychology/Psychiatry: University of Padua, Italy
2002 Irving J. Harris Visiting Professor of Child Psychiatry, Tulane University
1999 Steven Bennett, MD Memorial Lecturer, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
1992 Visiting Scholar, University of Geneva, Switzerland (1992-1996)

Presentations

Year Description
1990 McDonough, S. C. (1990, September). Interaction guidance: An approach for treating early relationship disturbances. Presented at the World Association of Infant Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, Lugano, Switzerland.
1990 McDonough, S. C. (1990, June). Treating early relationship disturbances with video replay techniques. Presented at the University of Geneva, Service de la Guidance Infantile, Institut Universitaire Genevoise de Psychiatric, Geneva, Switzerland.
1990 McDonough, S. C., McMurrer, E., & Darrow, D. (1990, April). Behavioral components of Down Syndrome. Presented at the International Conference for Infant Studies, Toronto, Canada.
1990 McDonough, S. C. (1990, October). Treating relationship disturbances with insensitive caregivers. Presented at the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, Chicago, IL.
1990 McDonough, S. C. (1990, September). Interaction guidance: A technique for treating early relationship disturbances in parents and children. Presented at the Bebe XXI International Symposium, Lisbon, Portugal.

Courses

Past Courses

Title Instructor Term Course Section Meeting Start Meeting End
Advanced Topics in Social Work McDonough, Susan C. Winter 2015 003 09:00 am 05:00 pm View Course
Advanced Topics in Social Work McDonough, Susan C. Winter 2014 005 12:00 pm 05:00 pm View Course
Advanced Topics in Social Work McDonough, Susan C. Winter 2013 003 06:00 pm 09:00 pm View Course
Advanced Topics in Social Work McDonough, Susan C. Winter 2012 003 06:00 pm 09:00 pm View Course
Independent Studies: Social Work Fall 2011 112 12:00 am 12:00 am View Course
Independent Studies: Social Work Fall 2011 112 12:00 am 12:00 am View Course
Independent Studies: Mental Health Spring / Summer 2011 112 12:00 am 12:00 am View Course
Independent Studies: Mental Health Fall 2010 112 12:00 am 12:00 am View Course
Independent Studies: Research Spring / Summer 2010 112 12:00 am 12:00 am View Course
Independent Studies: Mental Health Spring / Summer 2010 112 12:00 am 12:00 am View Course