Faculty

Karen L. Bierman
Ph.D., University of Denver, 1981

Associate Director, Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development; and Distinguished Professor of Psychology

Contact Information

251 Moore

kb2@psu.edu

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

http://psych.la.psu.edu/faculty/bierman.html

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

FOCUS (Forming Outreach Community University Systems for Engagement)

W. K. Kellogg Foundation

Start Date: 2005

This project is designed to demonstrate an effective model for sustainable university-community collaboration, utilizing a partnership between university researchers, the broad outreach system of the university, and school-community teams. Working with teams in three diverse Pennsylvania communities (Harrisburg, Lancaster, and rural Mifflin county), the partnerships seek to promote school readiness by designing, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining parent outreach and support programs, and fostering strong school-community-parent connections.

Multisite Prevention of Conduct Disorders: The Fast Track Project
National Institute of Mental Health (NIH)
Start Date: 1990
Project Web Site: www.fasttrackproject.org
The major goals of this project are to develop, implement, and evaluate a preventive intervention for children, youth and families focused on the prevention of conduct disorder and other adolescent problem behaviors.

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.

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.