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Shawna J. Lee
Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Social Work, School of Social Work
Dr. Shawna J. Lee is professor and associate dean for faculty affairs at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. She is also currently the director of the Parenting in Context Research Lab and director of the Program Evaluation Group. She serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief for the academic journal Children and Youth Services Review. Lee has published extensively on child maltreatment, fathers' parenting, father-child relationships, parenting stress and family functioning, and parental discipline.
Lee co-led the Michigan Child Welfare Inter-University Consortium to bring together over 18 schools of social work to provide access to child welfare education and training for students across the state. She worked with the Michigan Children's Services Agency to update the state child welfare certificate educational requirements. Lee is principal investigator and the inaugural director of the University of Michigan's statewide Title IV-E educational program.
As director of the Program Evaluation Group (PEG), Lee has been awarded over $3 million in evaluation contracts and grants. PEG's evaluation work is focused on: (1) community-engaged evaluation capacity building; (2) evaluation of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; (3) assessment and monitoring for Michigan Title IV-E educational programs; and (4) evaluation of food insecurity prevention programs in Michigan.
Research Interests/Focus
Father's parenting risk behaviors, child maltreatment, community-based interventions
Contact Information
| Phone | Room | Address | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (734) 763-6565 | [email protected] | 2848 SSWB | University of Michigan School of Social Work 1080 S. University Ann Arbor, MI 48109 |
Education
| Year | Degree | School | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | PhD | Social Work and Psychology | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
| 2003 | MS | Psychology | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
| 2002 | MPP | Public Policy | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
| 2001 | MSW | Social Work | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
| 1997 | BA | Psychology | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
News
Shawna Lee’s Research Cited in Tech Explorist
October 4, 2024
- Ward, K. P., Chang, O. D., & Lee, S. J. (2025). “Tell Me What I’m Doing Wrong”: Criticism of Parenting Choices and Mental Health During COVID-19. Early Childhood Research, 70, 243-253.
- Lee, J. Y., Lee, S. J., Lin, M., Chang, O. D., Albuja, A. & Volling, B. L. (2024). Low-income fathers are emotionally resilient: A qualitative exploration of paternal emotions across early parenting. Infant Mental Health Journal, 45, 645-669.
- Gershoff, E. T., Lee, S. J., Lee, J. Y., Chang, O. D., & Taylor, C. A. (2024). Spare the dog, hit the child: Preliminary findings regarding parents’ beliefs about spanking and hitting children. Psychology of Violence, 15(1), 76-84.
- Lee, J. Y. Lee, S. J., Xu, A., Steinke, H., & Weiland, C. (2024). Development, acceptability, and initial implementation of an interactive text-messaging program for fathers. Maternal Child Health Journal, 28(11), 1920-1932.
- Ward, K. P., Grogan-Kaylor, A., Ma, J., Pace, G. P., Lee, S. J., & Davis-Kean, P. E. (2024). Interactions of gender inequality and parental discipline predicting child aggression in low- and middle-income countries. Child Development, 96, 1, 7-20.
- Chang, O. D., Ward, K. P., & Lee, S. J. (2024). Examining coping strategies and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence for the protective role of problem-focused coping. Health and Social Work.
- Lee, J. Y., Lee, S. J., Ward, K. P., Pace, G. T., & Chang, O. D. (2024). Shared parental responsiveness amongst fathers and mothers with low income and early child outcomes. Family Relations.
- Lee, J. Y., & Lee, S. J. (2023). Implementing a text messaging intervention to engage fathers in home visiting. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 27, 1697-1704.
- Lee, J. Y., Lee, S. J., Volling, B. L., & Grogan-Kaylor, A. C. (2023). Examining mechanisms linking economic insecurity to interparental conflict among unmarried couples. Family Relations, 72(3), 1158-1185.
- Granner, J. R., Lee, S. J., Burns, J., Herrenkohl, T. I., Miller, A. L., & Seng, J. S. (2023). Childhood maltreatment history and trauma-specific predictors of parenting stress in new fathers. Infant Mental Health Journal.
- Ward, K. P., Grogan-Kaylor, A., Ma. J., Pace, G. T., & Lee, S. J. (2023). Associations between 11 parental discipline behaviors and child outcomes across 60 countries. British Medical Journal Open, 13(10).
- Lee, J. Y., Lee, S. J., Oh, S., Xu, A., Radney, A., & Rodriguez, C. M. (2023). Family stress processes underlying COVID-19 related economic insecurity and children's internalizing behavior problems. Journal of Family Psychology.
- Lee, J. Y., Lee, S. J., Yoon, S., Kirsch, J., Pace, G. T., & Schoppe-Sullivan, S. (2023). Family stress processes underlying material hardship and parental detachment and warmth amongst racially diverse fathers and mothers with low income. Journal of Family Violence.
- Lee, S. J. (2023). Social workers should stand against physical punishment of children. Social Work, 68(3), 241-249.
- Rodriguez, C. M., Lee, S. J., & Ward, K. P. (2023). Applying socio-emotional information processing theory to explain child abuse risk: Emerging patterns from COVID-19 pandemic. Child Abuse and Neglect, 135.
- Ward, K. P., & Lee, S. J. (2022). Associations of food insecurity and material social support with parent and child mental health during covid-19. Children and Youth Services Review, 14, 106562.
- Lee, S. J., Ward, K. P., Lee, J. Y., & Rodriguez, C. M. (2022). Parental social isolation and child maltreatment risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Family Violence, 37, 813-824.
- Lee, S. J., Pace, G. T., Lee, J. Y., & Altschul, A. (2022). Parental relationship status as a moderator of the associations between mothers’ and fathers’ conflict behaviors and early child behavior problems. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(7-8), NP3801-3831.
- Lee, S. J., Ward, K. P., Grogan-Kaylor, A. C., & Singh, V. (2022). Anxiety and depression during COVID-19: Are adults in households with children faring worse? Journal of General Internal Medicine, 37, 1328-1330.
- Ma, J., Grogan-Kaylor, A. C., Pace, G. T., Ward, K. P., & Lee, S. J. (2022). The association between spanking and physical abuse of young children in 56 low- and middle-income countries. Child Abuse and Neglect, 129, 105662.
- Ward, K. P., Lee, S. J., Grogan-Kaylor, A. C., Ma, J., & Pace, G. T. (2022). Patterns of caregiver aggressive and nonaggressive discipline toward young children in low- and middle-income countries: a latent class approach. Child Abuse and Neglect, 128, 105606.
- Lee, S. J., Ward, K. P., & Rodriguez, C. M. (2022). Longitudinal analysis of short-term changes in relationship conflict during covid-19: A risk and resilience perspective. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(15-16), NP14239-NP14261.
- Todorovic, K., O’Leary, B., Ward, K. P., Devarasetty, P. P., Lee, S. J., Knox, M., & Andari, E. (2022). Prevalance, increase and predictors of family violence during the covid-19 pandemic, using modern machine learning approaches. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 883294.
- Rodriguez, C. M., & Lee, S. J. (2022). Role of emotion in child maltreatment risk during covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Family Violence.
- Seewald, L., Walsh, T. B., Tolman, R. M., Lee, S. J., Reed, L. A., Ngo, Q., & Singh, V. (2022). Technology-facilitated abuse prevalence and associations among a nationally representative sample of young men. Annals of Family Medicine, 20(1), 12-17.
- Lee, S. J., Ward, K. P., Grogan-Kaylor, A., & Singh, V. (2022). Anxiety and depression during covid-19: are adults in households with children faring worse? Journal of General Internal Medicine, 37, (1328-1330).
- Ma, J., Grogan-Kaylor, A., Lee, S., Ward, K., & Pace, G. (2022). Gender inequality in low- and middle-income countries: Associations with parental physical abuse and moderation by child gender. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(19), 11928.
- Lee, S. J., Ward, K. P., Chang, O. D., & Downing, K. M. (2021). Parenting activities and the transition to Home-based education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Children and Youth Services Review, 122, 105585.
- Lee, S. J., Ward, K. P., Chang, O. D., & Downing, K. M. (2021). Parenting activities and the transition to home-based education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Children and Youth Services Review, 122, 105585.
- Lee, S. J. (2021). Engaging fathers in maternal child health settings: The Healthy Start home visitation father engagement program. In A. Eickhorst & C. Liel (Eds.), Fathers in Early Childhood Intervention Programs: Reader for Science and Practice. Cologne, Germany: National Centre for Early Prevention.
- Grogan-Kaylor, A. C., Castillo, B., Pace, G. T., Ward, K. P., Ma, J., Lee, S. J., & Knauer, H. (2021). Global perspectives on positive and negative parenting: A Bayesian multilevel analysis. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 45(3), 216-225.
- Rodriguez, C. M., Silvia, P. J., Lee, S. J., & Grogan-Kaylor, A. (2021). Assessing mothers’ automatic affective and discipline reactions to child behavior in relation to child abuse risk: A dual-processing investigation. Assessment.
- Ma, J., Lee, S. J., & Grogan-Kaylor, A. C. (2021). Adverse childhood experiences and spanking have similar associations with early behavior problems. The Journal of Pediatrics.
- Ward, K. P., Grogan-Kaylor, A. C., Pace, G. T., Cuartas, J., & Lee, S. J. (2021). Multilevel ecological analysis of the predictors of spanking across 65 countries. BMJ Open, 11(8).
- Seewald, L., Walsh, T., Tolman, R., Lee, S., Reed, L. A., Ngo, Q., & Singh, V. (2021). Technology-facilitated abuse prevalence and associations among a nationally representative sample of young men. Annals of Family Medicine.
- Rodriguez, C. M., Lee, S. J., & Ward, K. P. (2021). Underlying mechanisms for racial disparities in parent-child physical and psychological aggression and child abuse risk. Child Abuse and Neglect, 117, 105089.
- Lee, S. J., Walsh, T. B., Lee, J. Y., Tolman, R. M., Garfield, C., Seabrook, R. C., & Singh, V. (2021). Men’s knowledge of anticipatory guidance topics: Results from a nationally representative study. Academic Pediatrics, 21(5), 830-837.
- Lee, S. J., Ward, K. P., & Rodriguez, C. M. (2021). Longitudinal analysis of short-term changes in relationship conflict during COVID-19: A risk and resilience perspective. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
- Lee, J. Y., Chang, O. D., & Ammari, T. (2021). Using social media Reddit data to examine foster families' concerns and needs during COVID-19. Child Abuse and Neglect, 121, 105262.
- Ortega, R. M., Johnson-Motoyama, M., Merkel-Holguin, L., Rodriguez, C. M., Lee, S. J., Maguire-Jack, K. M., & Herrenkohl, T. I. (2021). Fauri 2020 Lecture: Child welfare and the COVID-19 pandemic. Advisor. NY: The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children, 33(2), 8-19.
- Gershoff, E. T., & Lee, S. J. (2020). Ending the Physical Punishment of Children: A Guide for Clinicians and Practitioners. Washington, DC: American Psychology Association.
- Lee, S. J., Lee, J. Y. & Chang, O. D. (2020). Characteristics and lived experiences of modern stay-at-home fathers. In H. E. Fitzgerald, K. von Klitzing, N. Cabrera, J. Scarano do Mendonca, & T. Skjothaug (Eds.), Handbook of fathers and child development: Prenatal to preschool. 537-549. Springer.
- Li, Y., Dalton, V. K., Lee, S. J., Rosemberg, M-A. S., & Seng, J. S. (2020). Exploring the validity of allostatic load in pregnant women. Journal of Midwifery, 82, 1-9.
- Seabrook, R., Walsh, T. B., Tolman, R. M., Lee, S. J., & Singh, V. (2020). Prescription opioid misuse and intimate partner violence perpetration among a nationally representative sample of young men. Substance Use and Misuse, 55(14), 2251-2257.
- Combs, K. M., Knauer, H., Altschul, I., & Lee, S. J. (2020). Associations between fathers’ pre-birth pregnancy intentions and involvement with their child 15 months later: A propensity score analysis. Journal of Family Issues.
- Rodriguez, C. M., Lee, S. J., Ward, K. P., & Pu, D. F. (2020). The perfect storm: Hidden risk of child maltreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Child Maltreatment, 26(2), 139-151.
- Lee, J. Y., Volling, B. L., & Lee, S. J. (2020). Testing the father-child activation theory: A replication study with low-income unmarried parents. Psychology of Men and Masculinities (Special Issue on Fathering: New Perspectives, Paradigms, and Possibilities).
- Ward, K. P., & Lee, S. J. (2020). Mothers’ and fathers’ parenting stress, responsiveness, and child wellbeing among low-income families. Children and Youth Services Review.
- Lee, S. J., Pace, G. T., Ward, K. P., Grogan-Kaylor, A., & Ma, J. (2020). Household economic hardship as a moderator of the associations between maternal spanking and child externalizing behavior problems. Child Abuse and Neglect, 107, 104573.
- Walsh, T. B., Seabrook, R. C., Tolman, R. M., Lee, S. J. & Singh, V. (2020). Prevalence of intimate partner violence and beliefs about partner violence screening among young men. Annals of Family Medicine, 18(4), 202-308.
- Ma, J., Grogan-Kaylor, A., & Lee, S. (2020). Does community violence exposure moderate the associations between maternal spanking and early childhood behavior problems? Aggressive Behavior, 46(3), 210-219.
- Grogan-Kaylor, A. C., Castillo, B., Ma, J., Ward, K. P., Lee, S. J., Pace, G. T., & Park, J. (2020). A Bayesian analysis of associations between neighborhoods, spanking and child externalizing behavior. Children and Youth Services Review, 112, 104930.
- Lee, S. J., Lee, J. Y., & Chang, O. D. (2020). Characteristics and lived experiences of modern stay-at-home fathers. In H.E. Fitzgerald, K. von Klitzing, N. Cabrera, J. Scarano do Mendonca, & T. Skjothaug (Eds.), Handbook of Fathers and Child Development: Prenatal to Preschool. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.
- Lee, J. Y., Grogan-Kaylor, A. C., Lee, S. J., Ammari, T., Lu, A., & Davis-Kean, P. (2020). "To spank or not to spank? #discipline": A qualitative analysis of stay-at-home parents' spanking tweets. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29(3), 817-830.
- Grogan-Kaylor, A., Ma, J., Lee, S., & Klein, S. (2020). A longitudinal analysis of the spatial spread of police-investigated physical child abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 99, 104264.
- Ward, K. P., Lee, S. J., Pace, G. T., Grogan-Kaylor, A., & Ma, J. (2020). Attachment style and the association of spanking and child externalizing behavior. Academic Pediatrics, 20(4), 501-507.
- Li, Y., Rosemberg, M-A. S., Dalton, V. K., Lee, S. J., & Seng, J. S. (2019). Exploring the optimal allostatic load scoring method in women of reproductive age. Journal of Advanced Nursing.
- Lee, S. J., Walsh, T. B. & Lee, J. Y. (2019). Mobile technology in social work practice. In L. Goldkind, L. Wolf, & Freddolino P. P. (Eds.), Digital Social Work: Cases Across Fields of Practice (pp. 54-71). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
- Ward, K. P., Lee, S. J., Limb, G. E., & Grogan-Kaylor, A. (2019). Physical punishment and child externalizing behavior: Comparing American Indian, White, and African American children. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
- Pace, G. T., Lee, S. J., & Grogan-Kaylor, A. (2019). Spanking and young children’s socioemotional development in low- and middle- income countries. Child Abuse and Neglect, 88, 84-95.
- Lee, S. J., Walsh, T. B., & Lee, J. Y. (2019). mDad: Helping dads be better parents with mobile phones. In L. Goldkind, L. Wolf, & P.P. Freddolino (Eds.), Digital Social Work: Tools for Practice with Individuals, Organizations, and Communities (pp. 54 -71). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
- Albuja, A., Sanchez, D., Lee, S. J., & Lee, J. Y. (2019). Early paternal support behaviors moderate consonant smoking among unmarried parents. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 80(1), 129-133.
- Lee, J. Y., Volling, B. L., Lee, S. J., & Altschul, I. (2019). Longitudinal relations between coparenting and father engagement in low-income residential and nonresidential father families. Journal of Family Psychology.
- Albuja, A., Sanchez, D. T., Lee, S. J., Lee, J. Y., & Yadava, S. (2019). The effect of paternal cues in prenatal care settings on men’s involvement intentions. PLOS ONE, 14(5).
- Lee, J. Y., Pace, G. T., Lee, S. J., & Altschul, I. (2019). The associations of constructive and destructive interparental conflict to child well-being among low-income families. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
- Lee, J. Y., Gilbert, T., Lee, S. J., & Staller, K. M. (2019). Reforming a system that cannot reform itself: Child welfare reform by class action lawsuits. Social Work, 64(4), 283-291.
- Grogan-Kaylor, A., Burlaka, V., Ma, J., Lee, S., Castillo, B., & Churakova, I. (2018). Predictors of parental use of corporal punishment in Ukraine. Children and Youth Services Review, 88, 66-73.
- Klika, B., Lee, S. J., & Lee, J. Y. (2018). Prevention of Child Maltreatment. In Klika, B. & Conte, J. (Eds.), American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children Handbook on Child Maltreatment (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
- Ma, J., Grogan-Kaylor, A., & Lee, S. (2018). Associations of neighborhood disorganization and maternal spanking with children's aggression: A fixed-effects regression analysis. Child Abuse and Neglect, 76, 106-116.
- Lee, S. J., Pace, G. T., Lee, J. Y., & Knauer, H. (2018). The association of fathers’ parental warmth and parenting stress to child behavior problems. Children and Youth Services Review.
- Lee, J. Y., Knauer, H., Lee, S. J., MacEachern, M., & Garfield, C. F. (2018). Father-inclusive perinatal parent education programs: A systematic review. Pediatrics.
- Lee, S. J., Sanchez, D. T., Grogan-Kaylor, A., Lee, J. Y., & Albuja, A. (2018). Father early engagement behaviors and infant low birth weight. Maternal and Child Health Journal.
- Krings, A., Thomas, H., Lee, S. J., Ali, A., & Miller, L. (2018). Mothers’ perceptions of educational quality in the context of urban austerity. Children and Youth Services Review, 88, 298-307.
- Lee, J. Y., & Lee, S. J. (2018). Caring is masculine: Stay-at-home fathers and masculine identity. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 19(1), 47-58.
- Grogan-Kaylor, A., Ma, J., Lee, S. J., Castillo, B., Ward, K. P., & Klein, S. (2018). Using Bayesian analysis to examine associations between spanking and child externalizing behavior across race and ethnic groups. Child Abuse and Neglect, 86, 257-266.
- Taylor, C. A., Fleckman, J. A. & Lee, S. J. (2017). Attitudes, beliefs, and perceived norms about corporal punishment and related training needs among members of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. Child Abuse and Neglect.
- Afifi, T. O., Ford, D., Gershoff, E. T., Merrick, M., Ports, K., Grogan-Kaylor, A., MacMillan, H., Holden, G., Taylor, C. A., Lee, S. J., & Bennett, R. P. (2017). Spanking and adult mental health impairment: The case for the designation of spanking as an adverse childhood experience. Child Abuse and Neglect, 71, 24-31.
- Gershoff, E. T., Lee, S. J., & Durrant, J. (2017). Promising intervention strategies to reduce parents’ use of spanking and physical punishment. Child Abuse and Neglect.
- Lee, S. J., Hoffman, G., & Harris, D. (2016). Community-based participatory research (CBPR) needs assessment of parenting support programs for fathers. Children and Youth Services Review, 66, 76-84.
- Taylor, C. A., Al-Hiyari, R., Lee, S. J., Priebe, A., Guerrero, L. W., & Bales, A. E. (2016). Beliefs and ideologies linked with approval of corporal punishment: A content analysis of online comments. Health Education Research.
- Alford, B., & Lee, S. J. (2016). Toward complete inclusion: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender military service members after Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell repeal. Social Work, 61, 257-265.
- Lee, S. J. (2016). Time to end emergency manager law. The Detroit News.
- Lee, J. Y., & Lee, S. J. (2016). Caring is masculine: Stay-at-home fathers and masculine identity. Psychology of Men & Masculinity.
- Lee, S. J., Krings, A., Rose, S., Dover, K., Ayoub, J., & Salman, F. (2016). Racial inequality and the implementation of emergency management laws in economically distressed urban areas. Children and Youth Services Review, 70, 1-7.
- Altschul, I., Lee, S. J., & Gershoff, E. T. (2016). Hugs, not hits: Warmth and spanking as predictors of child social competence. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78, 695-714.
Research and community-based intervention focusing on the role of fathers in promoting child and family wellbeing.