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
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)
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.