Faculty News

Associate Professor Shawna Lee’s study, “Transactional family processes supporting father involvement and child socio-emotional wellbeing” received a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to examine transactional processes related to father involvement and child wellbeing in low-income families.

Research shows that low father involvement and/ or absence (LFIA) is associated with negative outcomes for children, such as greater antisocial and behavior problems, lower educational attainment, and poorer mental and physical health. Yet, relatively little is known about the family processes that are associated with and predict LFIA especially in racially diverse low-income families. In these studies, Lee and her team will examine transactional processes related to father involvement and child wellbeing in low-income families. Findings from these studies will help to identify mechanisms relevant to preventative interventions to decrease LFIA and improve child socio-emotional wellbeing in vulnerable families.

Professor Edie Kieffer received a grant from the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR) to work in partnership with the Community Health and Social Services Center (CHASS) in Southwest Detroit to explore how social media and/or text messaging interventions may be used - either alone or in combination with an in-person program - to prevent obesity among Hispanic infants and toddlers.

Professors Linda Chatters, Robert Taylor, and Joe Himle's article, "Discrimination and Symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Among African Americans" was published in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.

Assistant Professor Mathieu Despard's article, "Effects of a Tax-Time Savings Experiment on Material and Health Care Hardship among Low-Income Filers" was published in the Journal of Poverty. 

Assistant Professor Mat Despard was cited in the Chicago Tribune article, "The fastest-growing category of student debtors may surprise you: Senior citizens".

Assistant Professor Xiaoling Xiang received a grant from the National Institute on Aging to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of home care aides-administered behavioral intervention for depression from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, including older African Americans, home care aides, home care nurses and social workers, as well as home care agency leadership.

Assistant Professor Addie Weaver received a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01). This four-year grant will support her career development in key areas related to mental health intervention and implementation research, as well as her research to adapt and test technology-assisted group CBT for depression for delivery in rural churches. She is one of only 12 social work-affiliated researchers who hold a current K-award from any NIH institute, and one of only two social work affiliated faculty who hold an NIMH K-award.

Assistant Professor David Cordova's article, "Longitudinal Trajectories of Family Functioning Among Recent Immigrant Adolescents and Parents: Links With Adolescent and Parent Cultural Stress, Emotional Well-Being, and Behavioral Health" was published in Child Development. 

His article, "Substance use disorders among immigrants in the United States: A research update" was also published in Addictive Behaviors.