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Susan C. McDonough

Research Associate Professor Emerita of Social Work

Susan C. McDonough

Susan C. McDonough is an associate research scientist in the School of Social Work and in the Center for Human Growth and Development and is involved in research, teaching, and clinical work with families of young children. Her research program is funded through NIMH and follows 260 infants and their families throughout the first four years of the children's lives. These studies explore 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 is 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 is 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/Focus

Children's mental health, preventive interventions.

Education

Year Degree   School
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
Year Description
2006 MacKenzie, M. J., McDonough, S. C., Rosenblum, K. L., & Sameroff, A. J. (2006, July). Goodness-of-fit effects on caregiving behavior: Moderation of links to infant crying and maternal perceptions. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Society on Infancy Studies (ISIS), Kyoto, Japan.
2006 McDonough, S. C. (2006, February). Treating early parent-infant relationship problems: Strategies for intervention. Panel presented at the Council for Social Work Education, Chicago, IL.
2005 MacKenzie, M. J., & McDonough, S. C. (2005, January). The difficult baby and the eye of the beholder: A role for social work in Infant mental health. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR), Miami, FL.
2004 Muzik, M., MacKenzie, M. J., Rosenblum, K. L., McDonough, S. C., Sameroff, A. J., & Liberzon, I. (2004, October). Links between maternal anxiety, mother-infant interaction, and child stress regulation. Poster presented at the Society of Biological Psychiatry Conference, New York, NY.
2004 McDonough, S. C. & Sameroff, A. J. (2004, July). Do fussy babies grow up to be problem preschoolers? Paper presented at International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Ghent, Belgium.
2004 Sitto, J., Cardinal, T., McDonough, S. C., Sameroff, A., & Lumeng, J. (2004, May). Infant emotion regulation , maternal; perception, and eating behavior at 15 months. Poster presented at the Pediatric Society Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
2004 Rosenblum, K., Muzik, M., & McDonough, S. C. (2004, May). Mothers representations of their infants and mother-child interaction during the still face: Patterns of stability and individual difference at 7- and 15-months. Paper presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies, Chicago, IL.
2004 McDonough, S. C., & MacKenzie, M. J. (2004, April). In the eye of the beholder: Parental perceptions of infant fussiness. Paper presented at the Doris Duke Foundation National Meeting, Fussy Baby Network, Chicago, IL.
2004 Muzik, M., MacKenzie, M., Rosenblum, K. L., McDonough, S., Sameroff, A. J., & Liberzon, I. (2004, April). Links between maternal anxiety, mother-infant interaction and child stress regulation. Poster presented at the Society of Biological Psychiatry Conference, New York, NY.
2004 McDonough, S. C. (2004, January). Interaction Guidance: Promoting and nurturing the caregiving relationship. Paper presented as part of the symposium, Ports of Entry in Infant Mental Health Treatment Symposium, at the World Association of Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) Congress, Melbourne, Australia.
2003 MacKenzie, M. J., McDonough, S. C., & Sameroff, A. J. (2003, April). Maternal perceptions of infant crying and sleeping problems and toddler behavioral outcomes. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development (SRCD), Tampa, FL.
2003 Rosenblum, K. L., McDonough, S. C., & Muzik, M. (2003, April). From maternal narrative to child adjustment: The role of narrative coherence, behavioral sensitivity and emotion attributions. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa, FL.
2003 Conway, A., McDonough, S., Follett, C., & Sameroff, A. (2003, April). Mental health symptoms in toddlers and their mothers following the September 11th tragedy. Poster presented at the Society for Research in Child Development. Tampa, FL.
2003 McDonough, S. C. (2003, March). Developmental ecology of early mental health. Presented at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, University of Padua, Italy.
2003 MacKenzie, M. J., McDonough, S. C., & Sameroff, A. J. (2003, January). Maternal perceptions of infant crying as a target for intervention. Poster presented at the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
2003 MacKenzie, M. J., McDonough, S. C., & Sameroff, A. J. (2003, January). The physiological link between ecological risk, mother-child relationships, and behavior regulation. Paper presented at the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Annual Conference, Washington, DC.
2003 Conway, A., Follett, C., McDonough, S., & Sameroff, A. (2003, January). Mental health symptoms in toddlers and their mothers following the September 11th tragedy: Social work implications. Poster presented at the Society for Social Work and Research, Washington, DC.
2003 Conway, A., McDonough, S., & Sameroff, A. (2003, January). Excessive crying: Risk and reduction during infancy. Paper presented at the Society for Social Work and Research, Washington, DC.
2003 McDonough, S. C. (2003, January). Development of regulation from infancy to early childhood: Social Work contributions to the study of context, relationships and physiology. Symposium presented at the Society for Social Work Research, Washington, DC.
2002 McDonough, S. C. (2002, September). Determinants of mental health in early development: Continuity from physiological self-regulation. Presented at the Irving Harris Lecture in Child Psychiatry, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA.
2002 McDonough, S. C. (2002, September). Strengthening families through strengthening relationships. Keynote presented at the Arizona Infant Mental Health Conference, Phoenix, AZ.
2002 McDonough, S. C., Miller, A., & MacKenzie, M. (2002, July). Do sad moms make sad babies?: Effects of anxious and depressed mothers on their young children. Paper presentation at World Association of Infant Mental Health, Amsterdam.
2002 Miller, A., McDonough, S. C., & Clark, J. (2002, April). Infants' emotional reactions to caregiver still-face predict socio-emotional functioning in toddlerhood. Paper presented at International Society of Infant Studies, Toronto, Canada.
2002 Conway, A. M., & McDonough, S. C. (2002, April). Cultivating positive emotions in infancy predicts long-term cry reduction. Poster presented at International Society of Infant Studies, Toronto, Canada.
2001 McDonough, S. C. (2001, December). Nurturing the heart: Strength-based approaches for working with overburdened families. Keynote presented at the Zero to Three Conference, San Diego, CA.
2001 McDonough, S. C. (2001, August). Determinants of mental health in early development: Continuity from physiological self-regulation. Presented at the Ounce of Prevention Conference, Chicago, IL.
2001 Rosenblum, K. L., Muzik, M., & McDonough, S. C. (2001, April). Communicating feelings: The processes linking mothers' relationship representations to early emotional development. Paper presented at Biennial Meeting Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.
2001 McDonough, S. C., & Caldwell, C. (2001, April). Adolescent mothers' parenting: The role of support, conflict and quality of the mother-grandmother relationship. Presented at the Biennial Meeting Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.
2001 Conway, A. M., McDonough, S. C., Clark, J., & Smith, A. (2001, April). Cultivating positive emotions in infancy predicts long-term cry reduction. Presented at the Biennial Meeting Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.
2000 McDonough, S. C. (2000, October). Promoting and nurturing the family caregiving relationship. Keynote address presented at the Infant Mental Health Forum, Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start Bureau, Washington, DC.
2000 McDonough, S. C. & Caldwell, C. (2000, July). The importance of the adolescent mother-grandmother relationship: Impact on the quality of adolescent mother-infant interaction. Presented at the 7th International Congress World Association for Infant Mental Health, Montreal.
2000 Conway, A. M., & McDonough, S. C. (2000, July). Maternal anxiety and behavioral noncompliance. Presented at the 7th International Congress World Association for Infant Mental Health, Montreal.
2000 McDonough, S. C., Conway, A. M., Dayton, C., & Simonds-Hitchingham, J. (2000, July). Do sleeping, feeding and crying problems lead to later mental health problems? Paper presented as part of symposium, Infant Self-Regulation: Physiological, Behavioral and Representational Perspectives at the 7th International Congress World Association for Infant Mental Health, Montreal.
2000 McDonough, S. C. (2000, June). Overburdened families: Identification and intervention. Keynote address presented at the Bank Street College Infancy Institute, New York City.
2000 McDonough, S. C. (2000, January). Strengthening families through strengthening relationships . Keynote address presented at the National Early Head Start Conference, Washington, DC.
1999 McDonough, S. C. (1999, September). Determinants of mental health in early development: Continuity from physiological to psychological self-regulation. Presented at the Life History Research Society Biennial Meeting, Kauai, HI.
1999 McDonough, S. C. (1999, June). Biobehavioral reflections on early caregiving relationships. Presented at the Columbia School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Harlem Hospital, Steven Bennett, MD Memorial Lecture, New York, NY.
1999 Miller, A., Muzik, M., Rosenblum, K., & McDonough, S. C. (1999, April). Mediating and moderating effects of maternal mental health on the relationship between income level and the quality of the early home environment. Paper presented at the Society for Research on Child Development, Washington, DC.
1999 Conway, A., & McDonough, S. C. (1999, April). Stress and soothing: Caregiving correlates of infant crying. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Washington, DC.
1998 McDonough, S. C., Rosenblum, K., DeVoe, E., Gahagan, S., & Sameroff, A. (1998, April). Physiologic regulatory problems during infancy. Presented at the International Conference of Infant Studies, Atlanta, GA.
1998 McDonough, S. C., Rosenblum, K., DeVoe, E., Gahagan, S., & Sameroff, A. (1998, April). Parental concerns about infant regulatory problems: Excessive crying, sleep problems and feeding difficulties. Presented at the International Conference of Infant Studies, Atlanta, GA.
1996 McDonough, S. C. (1996, August). Using video replay to change adolescent mothers' interactions with their infants. Presented at the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Quebec, Canada.
1996 McDonough, S. C. (1996, July). Techniques in mother-infant psychotherapy. Presented at the 6th World Congress, World Association for Infant Mental Health, Tampere, Finland.
1996 McDonough, S. C. (1996, July). Promoting and nurturing the parent-infant relationship through interaction guidance. Presented at the 8th Biennial NCAST Institute, Bellevue, WA.
1995 McDonough, S. C. (1995, December). Adjusting the lens to fit the family: Using video to identify family strengths. Presented at the Zero to Three National Training Institute, Atlanta, GA.
1994 McDonough, S. C. (1994, October). Mental health intervention in context: Culture, family, caregiver, and child. Presented at the Canadian Infant Mental Health Conference, Toronto, Canada.
1994 McDonough, S. C. (1994, June). Relationships at risk: Teens parenting toddlers. Presented at the International Society for Infant Studies Biennial Conference, Paris, France.
1993 McDonough, S. C. (August 1993). Mother-child interaction and early relationship disturbances. Presented at the International Workshop for Human Developmental Research, Tokyo, Japan.
1993 McDonough, S. C., & Lieberman, A. (March 1993). When the bough breaks: Psychotherapeutic approaches to infant-caregiver relationship problems. Presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, New Orleans, LA.
1992 McDonough, S. C., Serpe-Rusconi, S., & Berney, C. (September 1992). Treating early relationship disturbances with the interaction guidance technique: Interventions in the United States and Switzerland. Presented at the World Association of Infant Mental Health, Chicago, IL.
1992 McDonough, S. C. (May 1992). Interaction guidance: Treating early relationship disturbances with insensitive caregivers. Presented at the Universita Degli Studi di Pardova, (University of Padua, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology), Padua, Italy.
1992 McDonough, S. C. (1992, May). Interaction guidance: A technique for treating early relationship disturbances. Presented at the University of Geneva, Department of Psychology, Geneva, Switzerland.
1991 McDonough, S. C. (October 1991). Working with overburdened families: A transactional approach. Presented at the At Risk and Under Five Conference, Australian Association for Infant Mental Health and University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
1991 McDonough, S. C. (October 1991). Diagnosis and treatment of early relationship disorders. Presented at the Australian Early Intervention Association and Royal Children's Hospital, Departments of Child and Family Psychiatry and Child Development and Rehabilitation, Melbourne University, Melbourne, Australia.
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.
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, 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.

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