Department of

Family Science School of Public Health, University of Maryland

Volume 7, December 2015

 

Greetings. 2015 has been another good year for Family Science. Time during the first half of the year was devoted by the whole School to complete our public health reaccreditation report and host the site review team. We are so pleased to announce that the SPH received a full 7-year reaccreditation review. This news is encouraging because it gives us the opportunity to carefully revise our strategic plans and establish some new goals for the next 5 years. We learned from this review that while family is increasingly considered in the field of public health, we must do more to make family central to the study of public health. Thus our branding has become “Family: The Faces of Public Health.” We are pleased to share FMSC 2015 news from our faculty, staff, students and alumni reflecting the many ways family is present in public health through our research, curricula, and service initiatives. Please share with us how your work on family is a face of public health.

We also greatly appreciate your generosity to our student funds that will enable many to continue successfully with their schooling.

Wishing you Happy Holidays and a Healthy New Year!

Elaine Anderson,

Chair & Professor

Family—The Faces of Public Health

This semester, our department said farewell to our wonderful Director of Administra on, Erin 

McClure, who has taken a new posi on as Dean of Opera ons and Chief of Staff for the School 

of Public Health. We will miss her greatly and wish her the best of luck in her new posi on! 

 

 

Faculty News

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Dr. Leigh Leslie is author and co-author of two chap-ters in the new book, Contemporary Families: Translat-ing Research Into Practice. This text informs researchers,

clinicians, and advanced students about the challenges and complexities facing modern families. Throughout the book, chapters combine research and clinical approaches to working with di-verse populations. Dr. Leslie’s chapters highlight treatment and research relat-ed to interracial families. The goal of these chapters, along with the rest the book, explains Dr. Leslie, is to “enhance the cultural competence of therapists and ensure they are up-to-date with research on diverse families they may work with."

Dr. Norman Epstein, along with his students, will study the impact of a pro-gram that engages military service members in training service dogs. The study will compare family relationships and mental health outcomes for those who have gone through the service dog training program (SDTP) “treatment” (in addition to the current standard of care within military treat-ment facilities) with those who have received the standard of care without SDTP. Working with the Warrior Canine Connection, a non-profit organiza-tion that provides therapeutic service dogs for wounded veterans, military members with PTSD will engage in training the puppies to become certified service dogs. Prof. Epstein will collect and analyze data gathered through meetings with service members and their families over the course of the year after they participate in the service dog training program (SDTP). This four year longitudinal clinical trial, funded with $604,000 by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine and part of a larger multi-million dollar project, will rigorously eval-uate the effectiveness of the service dog training program and could help define how it might be used to help more military mem-bers with PTSD.  

Dr. Amy Lewin’s recent work, “Strengthening Positive Co-parenting in Teen Parents: A Cultural Adaptation of an Evi-dence-Based Intervention,” was published in the June 2015 edition of The Journal of Primary Prevention. The results of her pilot program were highlighted by the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth (NCFY). Noting that few interventions have been designed for teen parents, the researchers tailored evidence-based methods found in Family Foundations, a program developed to teach co-parenting skills to adult cohabitating parents, to the specific ages and life experiences of young, urban minority mothers and fathers. Participants rated the pilot program highly and said they were very likely to put their new skills to use. In par-ticular, teen parents responded positively to interactive activities, such as role-playing, as opposed to watching educational videos or simply being taught parenting concepts. Text messaging was the best way to communicate with young fathers, and recruiting teenage fathers was most effective when the mothers of their children or male case-workers were involved. Both mothers and fathers in the program fared better within relationship-based environments, such as having individual and joint access to social workers, facilitators, and clinic and school staff if relationship conflicts arose.

Dr. Jinhee Kim, associate professor, was awarded a $7.2 million grant to study couple relationships and economic stability. Dr. Kim, along with Dr. Mariana Falconier, a faculty member at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center, will work with 360 low-income couples in Northern Virginia and Montgomery County. The project, titled “Together: A Couples’ Model to Enhance Relationships and Economic Sta-bility,” aims to improve couples’ well-being, parenting, financial management, and employment. This 5 year project is being funded by the Office of Family Assistance, Administration for Children and Fami-lies, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  

 

 

Faculty and Staff Highlights

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Faculty Research Highlights

Dr. Sandra Hofferth published a new report that found family income influences parenting more than marital status. Results suggested that parenting behaviors, such as reading to children and having regular meal time with children, dif-fered more depending on family resources than family structure.

Dr. Marian Moser Jones explored the discourse on homelessness in the Reagan Era and has published a new article analyzing the research efforts that were taken to address the 1980s homelessness crisis. The focus of the study was on the misconceptions of homeless individuals and how these “problems of the person” misconception skews how research is conducted.

Drs. Sally Koblinsky, Leigh Leslie and Katie Hrapczynski (FMSC PhD ’13) investigated Maryland primary care pro-viders' preparation to treat the mental health needs of recent veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. Their study, published in the Journal of General Practice, enabled the researchers to implement a statewide training that educated primary care providers about military culture and best practices for treating war-related mental health conditions.

Dr. Mona Mittal published a paper in the Journal of AIDS & Behavior on dyadic factors that impact condom use among women with recent experiences of intimate partner violence. The results indicated that low relationship power, greater fear of abuse when negotiating condoms, and high partner dependence were associated with a greater proportion of episodes of unprotected sex with a steady partner.

Drs. Mitch Mokhtari and Liz Pollock (FMSC PhD ‘11) published a paper on income, mental health, and marital happi-ness. Overall, the theory and evidence show that the economic status/income is a better predictor of marital happiness than the competing psychological and demographic predictors/theories.

Dr. Kevin Roy published a seminal methods piece in the once-in-a decade special issue on methods and theory in Jour-nal of Marriage and Family. He and his colleagues address long-standing challenges to study designs in qualitative fam-ily research, through examination of sample richness and promotion of a unique framework for qualitative integrity.

Dr. Edmond Shenassa and colleagues published results from a 40-year follow up study that provided evidence that adults who were exposed to maternal smoking in utero are physiologically more vulnerable to become nicotine depend-ent than other adults .

Dr. Mia Smith-Bynum published on communication in African American families; she found that African American moth-ers’ communication with teenagers about coping with specific racial discrimination experiences is not a one-size-fit-all enterprise. Mothers tailor their communication to specific racial situations and to the teenagers' gender.

Dr. Julia Steinberg compared depressive and anxiety symptoms over two years between women who had an abortion and women who were denied an abortion in the U.S. While she found no differences in depressive symptoms at any point within the two years, she found that women who were denied an abortion had more anxiety symptoms 8 days after seeking an abortion compared to women who had an abortion. However, by 1 year this difference had disappeared.

Dr. Norm Epstein, Dr. Carol Werlinich, and others find encouraging results from the Couples Abuse Prevention Pro-gram (CAPP) research that examines effects of couple therapies for psychological and mild to moderate physical partner aggression. Analyses indicated that cognitive-behavioral and other couple therapies reduced physical and psychological aggression, improved couple communication, improved anger management, and improved relationship satisfaction.

This past Spring, the Department of Family Science’s Business Manager, Doris Richard-son, was awarded the Viki Annand Staff Excellence Award for her outstanding work for the Department of Family Science and the School of Public Health. This award is in honor of a former Assistant Dean and is presented to a staff member who has demonstrated superior service and ongoing contributions to a department and/or the School. Special emphasis is given to outstanding achievement and performance, personal interaction, and initiative and creativity. Ms. Richardson was nominated for her outstanding work and efforts in helping three new faculty members in the department. She worked with them before, during, and after their arrival to SPH to ensure all their needs were met to ensure smooth transitions to their new positions, including the administration of transferring their ongoing grants from their previous institutions and new grant management. In addition to excelling in her multifacet-ed work role, Ms. Richardson was praised in the award nomination for "warmth, optimism, dedication, and good humor" in her work interactions.

 

 

Departmental News

Page 4 Winter 2015 ● Volume 7 ● Department of Family Science ● School of Public Health, University of Maryland

Confronting Violence Exhibition

This fall the department had the exciting opportunity to host an exhibition from the National Library of Medicine during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The exhibi-tion, Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives highlights the stories of activists and reformers in the Unit-ed States who have long recognized the harm of domestic violence and sought to improve the lives of women who were battered. Curator Catherine Jacquet, PhD, created the exhibition to showcase nurses’ efforts from the 1970s to today in recognizing and preventing domestic violence. The six-banner traveling exhibition explores images, man-uscripts and records that tell the stories of the nurses and other allies who witnessed the effects of domestic violence and campaigned for change.

Students, faculty, and staff gathered on October 6th, 2015

in a moment of engagement and reflection on the topic of Confronting Violence. On this day, and throughout the month, students posted their reflections on a bulletin board displayed in the School of Public Health.

Undergraduate Food Pantry Internship The UMD Campus Pantry, an on-campus food bank located in the Uni-versity Health Center, provides free food to members of the university community who are experiencing food insecurity. After being made aware of a gap in services during the Summer months, FMSC Undergraduate Direc-tor Zainab Okolo partnered with the Campus Pantry to develop a new in-ternship program related to food inse-curity that will also assist the pantry in having the staffing necessary to re-main open year round. This semester

internship program gives students an opportunity to be involved with a mis-sion they are passionate about while simultaneously serving the needs of the campus community. FMSC stu-dent interns will work 8-10 hours a week engaging in various internal tasks of the Pantry including organiz-ing food donations, interacting with and distributing food to Pantry clients, as well as creating marketing materi-als to promote pantry resources on campus. To further support and inform their work, students will attend target-ed seminars with topics including nu-trition and food access, health and wellness, and food insecurity. The goals of this collaborative internship

are to provide students with a robust working experience on campus as well as allow them to expand their knowledge on the issues of food inse-curity. Ms. Okolo believes that upon completing this internship, students will be able to apply their knowledge of food insecurity and how it impacts families as they go on to start careers in research, access, outreach, and policy.

Two FMSC Students Win President’s Commission on Ethnic Minority Issues (PCEMI) Awards

Christopher Gaines, BS FMSC (’15), was recognized for his extensive work on behalf of those with disabilities within the UMD community.

Damian Waters, MS in Couples and Family Therapy (’09)and PhD (’15) , was recognized for his research and service record regarding young, low income fathers of color and their partners.

Christopher Gaines with President Loh   Dr. Waters with President Loh  

 

 

Student Spotlights

Page 5 Winter 2015 ● Volume 7 ● Department of Family Science ● School of Public Health, University of Maryland

Undergraduate Student

Brady Stevens is a senior FMSC major graduating in May 2016. Brady has taken many FMSC classes he reports relate to his interest in going to med school, specifi-cally Global, Child, and Family Health; Poverty, Affluence, and Families; and Le-gal Aspects of Family Problems. “I think there is another side to medicine that peo-ple don’t know about, a more social side. The FMSC courses provide a compli-ment with the sci-ence pre-med clas-ses I have been tak-ing.” For his FMSC required internship, Brady will work at the UMD Child Develop-ment Lab running studies and analyzing data that examine early childhood stress and its impacts on cognitive, physical, and psychological health. “I wanted to intern in a research lab so I could apply family and health theories to better understand the impact of family environment on physical outcomes for the child.” Brady believes his background in family science will help him in his application to med school. “Family Science is extremely applicable to the philosophy of international medicine and primary care and my own philosophy of viewing the patient as a whole person.”

- Brady Stevens, FMSC ‘16

Graduate Student

"The mission of the AAMFT Now Is the Time Minority Fellowship Pro-gram (NITT-MFP), is to foster and support culturally competent thera-pists equipped with the skills to work with minority and underserved populations. Since my interests lie in the experiences of African Amer-icans of all ages (but particularly those within the "emerging adult-hood" life phase), it only made sense for me to pursue this excel-lent opportunity for personal and professional growth. With encour-agement and recommendations from my professors, Drs. Norm Epstein, Leigh Leslie, and Carol Werlinich, I was thrilled to learn I had been accepted as a Fellowship recipient. The program year started in September, but the community that the Fellows have built is fan-tastic. I look forward to exploring the opportunities now available to me through the NITT-MFP. I am so thankful for the faculty members and colleagues who have support-ed me throughout this process."

- Shy Porter, CFT ’16

Undergraduate Alumni

Joyce Afueh (FMSC ‘15) credits an FMSC Internship Seminar assignment with help-ing her to realize a

strength that assisted her transition into the job market. Joyce discovered her strengths of personal charisma and professional sociabil-ity, named in her course book, “winning others over (woo)”. Her new employer, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, where she will start in January, saw this “woo” strength as instru-mental in hiring Joyce. Joyce will utilize her skills of networking and event coordinating to work on issues related to childhood obesity and empowering kids to develop lifelong healthy habits. Reflecting on her time in the program, Joyce says “family science helped me discover my passion for public health, specifically relating to health access, policy, and education.” - Joyce Afueh, FMSC ‘15

On May 22, 2015, the Department of Family Science saw a record number of undergraduate and graduate students receive degrees of Bachelor of Science in Family Science (97), Master of Science in Couple and Family Therapy (11),

Ph.D. in Family Science (4), and Ph.D. in Maternal and Child Health (3).

Congratulations to all of our graduates!

FMSC undergraduate students before the School of Public Health Commencement

Ceremony

Graduates of the Couple and Family Therapy Master’s Program before

Commencement

Graduates of the Family Science Doctoral Program and Maternal and Child Health

Doctoral Program

Graduate Program Alumni

Kranti Vora (MCH PhD ‘12) is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar--part of Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). She uses com-munity-based research to improve access to maternal and child health in India. Dr. Vora’s published book (2015)focuses on this important work.

 

 

Support Our Students: Giving to the Department

Please read about the many ways you can contribute to the Department of Family Science. In these challenging eco-nomic times, additional support is needed by many of our students to remain in school. Choose a fund that matches your interests with the giving level that is right for you. Your gift will make a difference for our students- we thank you!

Ned Gaylin Endowed Scholarship Fund

Dr. Ned Gaylin taught, mentored, and in-spired a generation of college students. This fund recognizes his outstanding ca-reer which included creating the Couple and Family Therapy Master’s program and tenure as the first chair of the FMSC De-partment. Dr. Gaylin’s commitment to im-proving the welfare of students continues through this scholarship fund, which is used to provide financial assistance to Couple and Family Therapy students.

Andrew Billingsley Endowed Scholarship Fund

This scholarship honors Dr. Andrew Billingsley, former Chair and Professor of the Department of Family Science. One of the nation’s leading scholars on African American families, Dr. Billingsley is the author of seven seminal books, including Climbing Jacob’s Ladder: The Enduring Legacy of African-American Families. His scholarship is awarded to a Family Sci-ence student interested in pursuing re-search on ethnic minority families.

Noel Myricks Endowed Scholarship Fund

Upon Dr. Noel Myrick’s retirement from the Family Science faculty and appointment to Emeritus status in summer 2004, the De-partment established and endowed a scholarship honoring this distinguished educator. An outstanding teacher and na-tionally recognized family scholar special-izing on the intersection of families and the law, Dr. Myricks also volunteered his time to develop, direct, and coach the Universi-ty’s Mock Trial team. This scholarship is awarded to a first-generation college stu-dent in Family Science.

Jeanette Spier Beavers Memorial Scholarship Fund

A dedicated therapist, political activist, and mother, Jeanette Spier Beavers cared deeply about the rights of the underprivi-leged and issues affecting families throughout the world. In 1987, her sister established a memorial scholarship as a lasting tribute to her work in family therapy. This fund provides annual scholarship support for one or more graduate students in the Couple and Family Therapy program who share her commitment to providing therapy for economically disadvantaged families.

Jennifer Becker Carswell Award Fund

Jennifer Becker Carswell was an outstand-ing student in the Couple and Family Ther-apy program, recognized by students and faculty for her superior work, engaging spirit, and dedication to serving the elderly and children. When she died in 1995, her family and friends established this Fund to annually recognize a second-year Couple and Family Therapy student for excellence in clinical work, a unique contribution to a clinical specialization, or a demonstrated financial need.

Edlavitch Family Science Fund Selma Tyse Edlavitch was a distinguished community volunteer whose generosity had a tremendous impact on Washington area families. She was an elementary school teacher, business person, and fundraiser for numerous organizations serving children and families. Her sponsor-ship of the Edlavitch-Tyser Family Rela-tions Forum of the Washington Hebrew Congregation benefited family members of every age. The Edlavitch fund provides an annual scholarship to an outstanding un-dergraduate student in Family Science.

Roger H. Rubin Endowed Fund

The Department of Family Science estab-lished an endowed fund in honor of Dr. Roger Rubin’s outstanding service at the University of Maryland, College Park. The Roger H. Rubin Endowed Fund aids the professional growth and development of Family Science graduate students by providing travel funds to students present-ing at professional conferences.

Family Science Gift Fund

Contributions to this fund are used to strengthen the Department’s academic programs. Donors may earmark their gifts to support undergraduate and graduate student research, sponsor a seminar se-ries, fund student travel to professional conferences, or support special university-community partnerships that address fami-ly problems. Your gift will play a key role in enhancing excellence in family science studies at the University.

Center for Healthy Families Fund

Gifts to this fund are used to support the Couple and Family Therapy program, in-cluding establishment of clinical confer-ence series, inviting top mental health pro-fessionals as guest speakers, and funding innovative family therapy research pro-jects. Students benefit directly from this fund, receiving financial assistance to pre-sent their research at professional meet-ings, to attend clinical training workshops, and to support thesis work on couple and family issues.

To make a secure gift online, please go to

http://sph.umd.edu/department/fmsc/give

-family-science and follow the directions of

the webpage

Page 6 Winter 2015 ● Volume 7 ● Department of Family Science ● School of Public Health, University of Maryland

Department of Family Science

School of Public Health

1142 School of Public Health College Park, MD 20742

Phone: (301) 405-3672 Fax: (301) 314-9161

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