Research

Drug Use and Parenting Adolescents

The Young Women's Health Study is a longitudinal study of two groups of young women who became premaritally pregnant at age 17 or younger, and their children.  The young women were recruited primarily from public health clinics, social service agencies, and school programs in the greater Seattle area. 

We have completed five rounds of funding for the project. The first grant (DUPA1, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse—NIDA) began in 1987, and recruited Cohort 1. The second grant recruited Cohort 2 and continued to follow Cohort 1 (DUPA2, funded by NIDA). The third grant continued to follow Cohort 2, and focused on the children (DUPA Kids, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health—NIMH). Simultaneously with the DUPA Kids grant, the fourth grant continued to follow Cohort 1 (DUPA Moms, funded by NIDA). The fifth, and final grant is entitled "Tandem Risk: Outcomes for Children of Teen Mothers", and was funded by NIDA. The funding dates were 4/1/03 – 9/30/08, and funded the continuation of data collection with both Cohort 1 and Cohort 2.

Research Overview

Teenaged childbearing has been widely discussed as a powerful risk factor predicting poor developmental and social outcomes for both young mothers and their children. Yet, recent work suggests important distinctions among specific subgroups of adolescent mothers and their children, some of whom experience negative outcomes while others do not.  Further, the nature of the tandem risk to mother and child has not been examined using perspectives and methods now available from the rapidly growing and relevant field of developmental psychopathology. 

This research study capitalizes on longitudinal data from a diverse sample of young women who gave birth as unmarried teenagers, and examined intragroup heterogeneity in the life trajectories of young women who became premaritally pregnant when they were 17 or younger, and their children, using a developmental psychopathology perspective.  We examined the relationship between various maternal profiles and the early adoption or avoidance of problem behavior among their children during late childhood and adolescence. The resulting research will contribute to new models of intergenerational transmission of both problematic outcomes and resilience in a sample presumed to be at high risk for negative social and developmental outcomes.

Study Cohorts

Cohort 1 includes 240 young women who were 12-17 years old when pregnant and entering the study in 1988-1990. They have been interviewed 17 times: during pregnancy, and at 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 1½ years, 3½ years, 4 years, 4½ years, 5 years, 5½ years, 6 years, 9½ years, 10½ years, and 11½, 15, 16, and 17 years postpartum. Due to minimal attrition, the Cohort 1 sample size at the final interview was 212.

Cohort 2 includes 255 young women who were 12-17 years old, pregnant and were recruited in the second NIDA grant in 1992-93. They have been interviewed 14 times: during pregnancy, and at 6 months, 1 year, 1½ years, 2 years, 2½ years, 3 years, 4½ years, at kindergarten, 1^st grade, and 10½, 11½, 12½, and 13½ years postpartum. Due minimal attrition, and the decision made in the DUPA Kids grant to not follow a subset of the sample who did not have certain child measures, the final Cohort 2 interview sample was 180.

Principal Investigator, Dr. Lew Gilchrist, and Co-investigators Dr. Susan Spieker and Dr. Monica Oxford. Current Principal Investigator Dr. Olivia Lee, lee363@usc.edu

Longitudinal Study on Child Abuse and Neglect

LONGSCAN is a consortium of research studies operating under common by-laws and procedures. It was initiated in 1991 with grants from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect to a coordinating center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and five data collection sites. Each site is conducting a separate and unique research project on the etiology and impact of child maltreatment. While each project can stand on its own merits, through the use of common assessment measures, similar data collection methods and schedules, and pooled analyses, LONGSCAN is a collaborative effort that is truly greater than the sum of its parts. The goal of LONGSCAN is to follow the 1300+ children and their families until the children themselves become young adults. Maltreatment data are collected from multiple sources, including review of Child Protective Service records every two years. Yearly telephone interviews allow the sites to track families and assess yearly service utilization and important life events. In addition to the specific focus of the individual studies, the coordinated LONGSCAN design permits a comprehensive exploration of many critical issues in child abuse and neglect on a combined sample of sufficient size for unprecedented statistical power and flexibility. Built into the LONGSCAN design is also the ability to replicate and extend findings across a variety of ethnic, social and economic subgroups. The findings of LONGSCAN will provide a scientific basis for policy-making, program planning, and targeting service delivery by increasing our understanding of the following:

• the child, family, and community factors which increase the risk for maltreatment in its different forms;
• the differential consequences of maltreatment, depending upon its timing, duration, severity, and nature, and upon the child's age and cultural environment;
• the child, family, and community factors (e.g., chronic exposure to violence, parental substance abuse) that increase the harm caused by different forms of maltreatment;
• the factors that increase the probability of positive child outcomes despite maltreatment and other adverse life circumstances;
• the strengths and weaknesses of various societal interventions such as child welfare programs, foster care, mental health services, parenting classes, etc. Some of the sites are involved in intervention research and evaluation of services, expediting the integration of research findings into policy and practice.

Comprehensive assessments of children, their parents, and their teachers have been completed at child ages 4, 6, and 8, and 12. Annual caregiver telephone contact interviews have been completed through child age 11. Data collection continues at child ages 14, 16, and 18.

https://www.ndacan.acf.hhs.gov/datasets/dataset-details.cfm?ID=158 

Current Seattle Principal Investigator, Dr. Monica Oxford (prior Seattle PI Dr. Diana English)

Early Head Start and Attachment

Three studies embedded in Early Head start include: 2004-2007, a grant titled Incorporating and attachment Q-set into parent-child relationship assessment and support in early Head Start funded by the Administration on Children and Families (ACF). From 1996-2005, a grant titled Attachment in Early Head Start process and outcome, funded by the Administration on Children, Youth and Families.

Principle Investigator, Dr. Susan Spieker

Intersecting Ecologies of Risk and Early School Adaption

This study examines and tests a model of school adaptation under an ecological perspective which captures variation in economic context, family stress, and caregiver simultaneously. 

Principal Investigator, Dr. Monica Oxford. NICHD: RO3 HD054428-01

New Methods for Coding Parent-Child Relationships within a Sample of Maltreated Infants and Toddlers

The purpose of this proposal is to assess a highly- innovated method for coding parental-child interaction that can account for child outcomes over and above traditional methods of coding caregiver sensitivity. Fragmented and Unpredictable parental behavior (FRAG). FRAG coding, discovered in labs assessing rodent caregiving models, was recently applied to a sample of human parent-child dyads. We will evaluate the utility of this coding method within a sample of maltreated infants and toddlers.

Principal Investigator, Dr. Monica Oxford, Research Intramural Funding Program, School of Nursing

Educare schools participate in a national study tracking child and family outcomes and program implementation over time. National evaluators at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) coordinate the cross-site study and shared research agenda. The national and local evaluators collaborate in decision-making and dissemination of findings.

At each school, local evaluators use a shared timeline and collect a common set of measures, including direct child assessments, classroom observations, staff surveys, and parent interviews and surveys.

The Educare Implementation Study documents at school and aggregate levels:

• progress over time of Educare’s children and families
• experience of Educare’s early learning professionals
• school and Network development towards fully implementing core features

The majority of Educare children leave for kindergarten with social-emotional and academic skills to succeed. Children enrolled earlier, and for longer periods of time, demonstrate better outcomes (Yazejian et al, 2015). More information about results can be found at the FPG National Evaluation website and Educare Schools’ results.

Ongoing, large-sample research across early learning sites is a valuable, unique resource that

• informs national practice and policy. During COVID-19, Educare network and data advanced quick learning and sharing of information within and beyond Educare schools. Together, they mobilized new supports for children and families, and informed quickly evolving practice and policy in the field.
• it prepares parents as their child’s best advocate in life and systems. Parents see, use, and talk about data in child conferences, “data events,” and hallway dialogues. Together with teachers and family advocates, they interpret and inquire. Data become familiar and their tool set for current and future advocacy.

A research-program partnership (RPP) between a local evaluator and Educare staff supports a culture of inquiry and regular use and sharing of data to advance learning, planning, and program impact. A research-program partnership helps sustain use of data to inform practice and goals over time.

Local evaluators from the UW’s Barnard Center participate in Educare Seattle school routines, family events, and trainings. They also guide embedded routines and services to support data utilization, including:

• Monthly RPP meetings for data dialogue and review
• Easy-access data dashboards with current and longitudinal information about children’s progress
• Participation and hosting of school events, like open houses, “hallway happenings,” and “Family data night”
• Data displays to stimulate questions and dialogue
• Support for teacher understanding and use of standardized classroom observation tools and technology
• Informative child progress reports for family conferences and children leaving for kindergarten
• Review of questions, measures, methods, and communications using an equity lens
• Engagements of staff and families in field studies and innovation grants, to test new ideas, practices, and measures

Information about Educare research and evaluation partnership is shared with families when they enroll in Educare and consent to participate in studies directed by University of Washington researchers from the Barnard Center. Following are examples of local materials used to stimulate questions and data dialogues among Educare Seattle families, staff, visitors, and stakeholders:

The Educare Network is a hub for innovation in early childhood research and practice. Schools and research partners brainstorm and collaborate to propose and test new ideas, accelerate progress, individualize efforts for local needs, and advance the field at large. This process promotes connection and synergy across and beyond the Network.

Seattle Educare parents, teachers, family advocates, administrators, and researchers have participated in the following 3 innovation grants: