Research Interests:

My program of research is focused on advancing our knowledge about development, risk, and prevention with children, youth and families, and the settings of their development. Along with my colleagues, Drs. Patrick Tolan and David Henry, our intent is to articulate and refine a developmental-ecological model of psychosocial functioning through longitudinal studies that can help direct prevention and related policies. We are interested in understanding how the family tasks of raising and protecting children are affected by the social context in which they live (e.g., exposure to violence, neighborhood conditions, the schools the children attend, the peer groups they affiliate with). In particular, we are interested in how differences among characteristics of low-socioeconomic urban communities can affect families and their influence on children's development and the implications these relations may have for prevention design and competence-promoting policies. Our primary outcomes of interest are delinquency and violence, including dating and partner violence among adolescents and young adults.

Brief Description of Current Projects:

Chicago Youth Development Study: This longitudinal study (Chicago Youth Development Study- CYDS) began in 1991 and tracks the development of risk for school failure, antisocial behavior, and violence among inner-city male adolescents. Four waves of data were collected from boys and their caregiver(s) beginning when the boys were in 6^th grade. Based in a developmental-ecological model, data were collected regarding individual, family, peer, school, neighborhood and community factors. Additional funding was obtained to expand the focus to include women by adding the romantic partners of the males and a cohort of similar age females to the sample. This has permitted us to evaluate issues related to relationship development and partner violence among this population through two additional waves of data collection. We have recently received funding to follow the children of the original sample, with a specific focus on the impact of fathering and father involvement. Data collection for this phase of the study will begin in Winter, 2004.

Schools and Families Educating Children (SAFE Children): applies knowledge developed from CYDS to an intervention. The primary aim was to test, for families living in inner-city Chicago with children entering first grade, the effects of a family-based comprehensive preventative- intervention targeting key risk markers for later drug and other substance use. Continuation of the original study was designed to evaluate the impact of a booster intervention delivered during fourth grade, as well as the long-term impact of the original intervention delivered during first grade.

GREAT Schools and Families: This is a multi-site school violence prevention initiative. Four sites (UIC, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Georgia at Athens, an Duke University) are implementing a multi-component intervention designed to address a major scientific question regarding reducing school violence: Are greater reductions in school violence found when a general violence prevention program is implemented with all children in a given grade or when an intervention is targeted at those youth who are at greatest risk for involvement in violence (i.e. those already participating in a high rate of aggressive behavior)or are both types of intervention needed? The intervention components are broken down into two approaches: universal and targeted intervention. The universal intervention is being implemented with all students in 6th grade. The universal intervention has two components: a social cognitive and problem solving intervention delivered to students; and a teacher training component around the issues of classroom management strategies and building awareness of aggression and victimization in the classrooms. The targeted intervention is focused on those students who are at high risk for violence and includes a family intervention delivered in multiple family groups and a school-monitoring component. 12 Chicago Public Schools have been randomized into 4 groups: 1) 3 schools receiving the universal intervention; 2) 3 schools receiving the targeted treatment; 3) 3 schools receiving both treatments; and 4) 3 comparison schools.

Community Ecology of Family Influence on Child Development: Funded through a Faculty Scholar Award by the William T. Grant Foundation, this work uses data collected through the CYDS to evaluate the impact of community structural and neighborhood social organization characteristics on family functioning and child development.

Neighborhood Variation in Prevention Impact: Funded by the William T. Grant Foundation (with my colleague Sean F. Reardon, Penn State University), the purpose of this study is to evaluate if and how the effects of preventive interventions vary as a function of neighborhood context. Specifically, we intend to analyze data from experimental evaluations of four state-of-the-art preventive interventions, each of which was designed to promote positive youth outcomes (particularly academic achievement and social competence) and decrease problem behavior. These interventions are: 1) Coping Power (Lochman & Wells, in press); 2) Fast Track (Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, 1992; 2002); 3) SAFE Children (Gorman-Smith, Tolan, Henry et al., in press); and 4) SEPI/Familias Unidas (Coatsworth, Pantin & Szapocznik, 2002).

Recent and Representative Publications:

Journal Articles

Gorman-Smith, D., Henry, D.B. & Tolan, P.H. (in press). Exposure to community violence and violence perpetration: The protective effects of family functioning. Journal of Child Clinical and Adolescent Psychology.

Gorman-Smith, D., & Loeber, R. (in press). Are developmental pathways in disruptive behaviors the same for girls and boys? Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Tolan, P.H., Gorman-Smith, D. & Henry, D.B. (in press). Supporting families in high-risk settings: Proximal effects of the SAFE children prevention program. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Henry, D. B., Tolan, P. H., & Gorman-Smith, D. (in press). Were there lasting effects associated with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks among inner-city parents and children? Journal of Professional Psychology Research & Practice.

Henry, D.B., Tolan, P.H., & Gorman-Smith, D. (in press). Clustering methods in family psychology research. Journal of Family Psychology.

Henry, D.B., Farrell, A.D., & The Multisite Violence Prevention Project (2004). The study designed by a committee: Design of the Multisite Violence Prevention Project. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 26, 12-19.

Meyer, A.L., Allison, K.W., Reese, L.E., Gay, F.N., & The Multisite Violence Prevention Project (2004). Choosing to be violence free in middle school: The student component of the GREAT schools and families universal program. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 26, 20-28.

Miller-Johnson, S., Sullivan, T.N., Simon, T.R., & The Mutisite Violence Prevention Project (2004). Evaluating the Impact of Interventions in the Multisite Violence Prevention study: Samples, Procedures, and Measures. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 26, 48-61.

Multisite Violence Prevention Project (2004). The Multisite Violence Prevention Project: Background and overview. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 26, 3-11.

Multisite Violence Prevention Project (2004). Lessons learned in the Multisite Violence Prevention Project collaboration: Big questions require large efforts. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 26, 62-71.

Orpinas, P., Horne, A.M., & The Multisite Violence Prevention Project (2004). A teacher-focused approach to prevent and reduce students’ aggressive behavior: The GREAT teacher program. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 26, 29-38.

Smith, E.P., Gorman-Smith, D., Quinn, W., Rabiner, D., Tolan, P.H., & Winn, D-M., & The Multisite Violence Prevention Project (2004). Community-based multiple family groups to prevent and reduce violent and aggressive behavior: The GREAT families program. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 26, 39-47.

Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P.H., Henry, D., Leventhal, A., Schoeny, M., Lutovsky, Kelly and Quintana, E. (2002). Predictors of participation in a family focused preventive-intervention for substance use. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 16, S55-S64.

Tolan, P.H. & Gorman-Smith, D. (2002). What violence prevention can tell us about developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 14, 713-729.

Tolan, P.H., Gorman-Smith, D, & Henry D.B., (2002). Linking family violence to delinquency across generations. Children's Service: Social Policy, Research & Practice. s, 5, 273-284.

Tolan, P.H., Gorman-Smith, D., Henry, D., Hunt, M., & Chung, K. (2002). The structure of coping of inner-city adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11, 273-295.

Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P. H. & Sheidow, A. (2002). Partner and street violence among urban adolescents: Do the same family factors relate? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11, 273-295.

Henry, D.B., Tolan, P.H., Gorman-Smith, D. (2001). Longitudinal family and peer group effects on violence and nonviolent delinquency. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30, 172-186.

Sheidow, A.J., Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P.H. & Henry, D. B. (2001). Family and community characteristics: Risk factors for violence exposure in inner-city youth. Journal of Community Psychology, 29, 345-360.

Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P.H., & Henry, D.B. (2000). A developmental-ecological model of the relation of family functioning to patterns of delinquency. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 16,169-198.

Chapters

Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P.H., Henry, D., Quintana, E., & Lutovsky, K. (in press). The SAFE Children Prevention Program. In P. Tolan, J. Szapocznik, & S. Sombrano (Eds.), Developmental approaches to prevention of substance abuse and related problems. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P.H. & Henry, D. B. (in press). Promoting resilience in the inner-city: Families as a venue for protection, support and opportunity. In R. Peters, B. Leadbeater, & R. McMahon (Eds).Resilience in children, families, and communities: Linking theory with practice and policy. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Kamon, J., Tolan, P.H., & Gorman-Smith, D. (in press). Interventions for adolescent psychopathology: Linking treatment and prevention. In D. Wolfe & E. Mash (Eds.), Behavioral and emotional disorders in adolescents. New York: Guilford Press

Gorman-Smith, D. (2003). Prevention of antisocial behavior in females. In D. P. Farrington and J. Coid (Eds). Primary prevention of antisocial behavior. (pp. 292-317) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gorman-Smith, D. (2003). The ecology of community and neighborhood and risk for antisocial behavior. In C. Essau (Ed). Conduct disorders: risk and intervention. (pp.117-136) New York: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.

Gorman-Smith, D., & Tolan, P.H. (2003). Positive adaptation among youth exposed to community violence. In S. Luthar (Ed). Risk and resilience: Adaptation in the face of adversity. (pp.392-413) New York: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.

Capaldi, D. & Gorman-Smith, D. (2003). Physical and psychological aggression in young adult couples. In Florsheim, P. (Ed.). Adolescent romance and sexual behavior: Theory, research and practical implications. (pp.243-278) New York: LEA Associates.