Faculty

Karen L. Bierman


Ph.D., University of Denver, 1981

Director,Child Study Center; and Distinguished Professor of Psychology

Program Areas: School-based Prevention Research

Contact Information

251 Moore

Email

Phone: 814-863-7002
Fax Number: 814-863-7002

Web Sites

Department Web Page

Child Study Center

Recent Videos

Playing Well With Others (June 2010)

Penn State Outreach Multimedia Extra

Web   Video (YouTube)

Research Interests

Intervening in the developmental processes in risk and non-risk populations with a specific emphasis on aggression, violence, and externalizing disorders; promoting school readiness and reducing the socio-economic gap in student school attainment; promoting healthy social and emotional development through school-based prevention; the study of community partnerships and the diffusion of evidence-based programs; the interface of neuroscience and prevention

Examples of Current Prevention Projects

Head Start (Head Start REDI––Research-based, Developmentally Informed)
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Start Date: 2003
This project will evaluate the impact of infusing current Head Start programs with social-emotional support curricula (Preschool PATHS) and language and emergent literacy skill support curricula. A randomized trial will examine the impact on child school readiness at the end of Head Start and on adjustment and achievement in kindergarten and first grade.

PATHS to Success

Pennsylvania Department of Health (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)

Start Date: 2008

Project Web Site

The major goals of this project are to develop, implement, and evaluate a preventive intervention for children at the entrance to school and to investigate the neurological underpinning of risk for violence.

Training Interdisciplinary Educational Scientists (TIES) Program

U.S. Department of Education (T. Farmer and K. Bierman, Co-PIs)

Start Date: 2009

The goal of the TIES program is to prepare educational scientists with expertise in the development and evaluation of interventions aimed at promoting literacy and social/emotional competence in children and youth. 

Recent Publications

Bierman, K. L. (2004). Peer rejection: Developmental processes and intervention strategies. New York: Guilford.

Putallaz, M., & Bierman, K. L. (Eds.) (2004). Aggression, antisocial behavior, and violence among girls: A developmental perspective. New York: Guildford.

Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2004). The effects of the Fast Track program on serious problem outcomes at the end of elementary school. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 650-661.

Bierman, K. L., & Erath, S. A. (2006). Promoting social competence in early childhood: Classroom curricula and social skills coaching programs. In K. McCartney & D. Phillips (Eds.), Blackwell handbook on early childhood development (pp. 595-615). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Bierman, K. L., Nix, R. L., Maples, J. J., Murphy, S. A., and the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2006). Examining the use of clinical judgment in the context of an adaptive prevention design: The Fast Track Program. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 468-481.

Bierman, K. L., & Erath, S. A. (2006). Promoting social competence in early childhood: Classroom curricula and social skills coaching programs. In K. McCartney & D. Phillips (Eds.), Blackwell handbook on early childhood development (pp. 595–615). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Bierman, K. L. (2006). Commentary on the pitfalls and pratfalls of evaluation research with intervention and prevention programs. In C. Hudley & R. N. Parker (Eds.), New directions for evaluation, 110, 87–96.

CPPRG. (2007). The Fast Track randomized controlled trial to prevent externalizing psychiatric disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 46, 1250–1262.

Bierman, K. L., Domitrovich, C. E., Nix, R. L., Gest, S. D., Welsh, J. A., Greenberg, M. T., Blair, C., Nelson, K., & Gill, S. (2008). Promoting academic and social-emotional school readiness: The Head Start REDI program. Child Development, 79, 1802–1817. PMID: 19037951

Bierman, K. L., Nix, R. L., Greenberg, M. T., Blair, C., & Domitrovich, C. E. (2008). Executive functions and school readiness intervention: Impact, moderation, and mediation in the Head Start REDI Program. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 821–843. PMID: 18606033

Nix, R. L., Bierman, K. L., McMahon, R., & CPPRG (2009). How attendance and quality of participation affect treatment response in parent behavior management training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77, 429–438. PMID: 19485585

Thomas, D. E., Bierman, K. L., Powers, C. J., & the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (in press). The impact of peer aggression and classroom climate on the development of aggressive behavior problems. Child Development.