People

Integrating Animal-Assisted Therapy into TF-CBT for Children Exposed to Maltreatment (AAT+TF-CBT)

The AAT+TF-CBT project (Shenk, Co-I) is an NIH-funded (Allen, PI: R21HD091887) randomized feasibility trial examining the tolerability and acceptability of delivering TF-CBT while a service dog is present throughout the active phase of treatment. TF-CBT is one of the few well-established interventions for children experiencing maltreatment and this clinical trial is examining whether introducing a service dog during standard administration of TF-CBT enhances treatment effects above and beyond TF-CBT alone. The laboratory’s contribution to this project is overseeing the collection, editing, and analysis of electrocardiogram data obtained at pre-treatment as well as at strategic sessions during the active treatment phase. Current work on this project involves generating estimates of the respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of parasympathetic control of cardiac activity, in 30-second epochs and modeling within and between session change in RSA as a potential mechanism of action in TF-CBT when treating child maltreatment-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Potential opportunities for CMT32 Fellows include modeling RSA reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test administered at pre-treatment to determine whether such reactivity is related to within-session changes in RSA and PTSD symptom severity at post-treatment. 

Measuring and Treating Problematic Sexual Behavior of Children

This is a multi-faceted line of research that includes a number of distinct, albeit related, projects. The first is a multi-institutional collaboration to develop and psychometrically test a new measure of sexual behavior among children, including problematic sexual behavior (PSB). Second, data analysis is progressing on a number of data sets to examine etiological factors related to the development of PSB among children. Third, we have developed and pilot tested an intervention for children displaying PSB and grant-funding to conduct a randomized controlled trial of the intervention is currently under review. To date, these projects have been funded by the Children's Miracle Network and the Penn State Social Science Research Institute.

Post-Adoption Development of Maltreated Children

This longitudinal project aims to examine factors related to a maltreated child's adjustment and development following adoption. Specific factors assessed include the child's psychophysiological stress response, attachment representations, self-regulation, and temperament. In addition, various factors of the parent-child relationship and the home environment are being examined. The goal of this project is to identify those factors most predictive of adaptive development post-adoption to better inform treatment and services.

Trauma-Sensitive Pedagogy (TSP) Curriculum

A major goal of this project is the development of a testable trauma-sensitive curriculum that can serve as an important classroom-level intervention by providing educators with the necessary knowledge and skills to address the learning needs of young children who have experienced trauma.

iLookOut for Child Abuse

The online learning program, iLookOut for Child Abuse (iLookOut) was designed to increase knowledge and improve attitudes about mandated reporting of child abuse for Early Childhood Caregivers and Educators. A perennial challenge for educational interventions is how to help learners retain and apply what they have learned. The goal of this project is to examine the effectiveness of digital scaffolding procedures to increase learner engagement and motivation.

Controlling Contamination Bias in Child Maltreatment Research

Contamination occurs in many different experimental designs outside the field of child maltreatment. In this project, contamination refers to the presence of child maltreatment in already established, non-child maltreatment comparison conditions. Research has shown that failure to detect and control contamination biases effect size estimates for child maltreatment outcomes and leads to variation in the significance and magnitude of those estimates within and across studies, increasing the chances of discovery and replication failures. The Detecting and Controlling Contamination Bias

Project (Shenk, PI; Shores, Ram, & Fisher Co-I’s) is supported by awards from the National Institutes of Health (R03HD104739) and the National Science Foundation (BCS-2041333) examining contamination in prospective cohort studies of child maltreatment. The current project is using existing data from two large, multi-wave, prospective cohort studies of confirmed child maltreatment, the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN; N=1354) and the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being-II (NSCAW-II; N=5872), to accomplish two specific aims: 1) estimate the prevalence of contamination, defined as any self- or caregiver-reported instance of child maltreatment by members of the established comparison condition, and 2) test different statistical approaches for reducing bias in risk estimates for child behavior problems attributable to contamination. Finally, this project will conduct extensive data simulations based on these results to extend inferences across different research conditions, including variations in sample size, contamination prevalence, statistical power, and effect size magnitude. The end product of this project will be to disseminate to the larger scientific field the optimal methods for detecting and controlling contamination bias across a range of research conditions in order to minimize variation in the significance and magnitude of effect size estimates reported across prospective studies.

T32 Fellows will have the opportunity to generate, execute, and report results from statistical models aiming to establish the optimal detection and control of contamination. Statistical models where Fellows can receive training include, multi-level modeling, propensity score matching, and synthetic controls.

Caregiver-Child Communication (C3) to Promote Resilience following Child-Maltreatment

The C3 Project is supported by an NIH P50 Center Grant (P50HD089922; Noll, PI) that is conducting a multi-wave, prospective cohort study, the Child Health Study (CHS; Shenk, Co-I), examining the impact of child maltreatment on multiple biological systems and subsequent pediatric health. One of Shenk Lab's contributions to the CHS is the use of observational methods to quantify caregiver-child dyadic communication and establish how specific patterns of communication are involved in promoting resilience to adverse health following exposure to child maltreatment.

Caregivers and their children participating in the CHS (N=600 and counting!) complete three separate interaction tasks designed to promote relationship quality and dyadic problem-solving. Caregiver-child communication is then sampled using a multilevel, intensive longitudinal design, where specific processes are quantified in 30-second epochs to estimate dynamic change within and across tasks. Furthermore, families in the CHS complete waves of data collection every two years with the same three interaction tasks administered at each wave, allowing for inferences about how specific caregiver-child communication patterns change from childhood to adulthood and in response to child maltreatment.

Following a deep phenotyping and multiple levels of analysis approach, data obtained from these observational methods will ultimately be included with biological, behavioral, and other environmental mechanisms of adverse health being measured in the CHS, such as structural and functional MRI, genome-wide DNA methylation, immune function, cognitive development, psychiatric function, and more. The data generated from the C3 project will inform models of how the experience of pediatric trauma “gets under the skin” and whether parent-child communication can facilitate reductions in risk for adverse health.

T32 Fellows will have the opportunity to learn and apply two different observational coding paradigms for quantifying caregiver behaviors and child affect (positive and negative). Research and statistical methods where Fellows can receive training include: observational methods, measuring inter-rater reliability, multi-level modeling, and dynamic systems modeling.

Epigenetic and Cognitive Aging Project (ECAP)

eCAP (Shenk, PI; O’Donnell, Sliwinski, Ram, and Noll, Co-I’s) is supported by an NIH award (R01AG059682) examining the impact of child maltreatment on epigenetic age acceleration, a cross-tissue index of the biological aging of cells that is derived from DNA methylation across the genome and has added explanatory power of adulthood health beyond chronological age. This project will first examine epigenetic age acceleration and its relation to mid-life cognitive function in the Female Growth and Development Study (FGDS), a 30-year prospective cohort study of the long-term effects of childhood sexual abuse. The FGDS cohort also provides an unprecedented opportunity to test the mediational properties of glucocorticoid remodeling occurring over the 20 years following exposure to substantiated child sexual abuse on epigenetic age acceleration as well as the risks associated with epigenetic age acceleration and a comprehensive assessment of cognitive function at mid-life. Once statistical models of epigenetic age acceleration and cognitive outcomes are developed using data from the FGDS discovery cohort, they will be exported for replication in independent, international cohorts to extend models to more diverse samples, including older ages and alternative cognitive outcomes (e.g. mild cognitive impairment). Results will inform precision-based efforts at preventing, delaying, or reversing the onset of various cognitive aging outcomes across different points of the lifespan.

CMT32 Fellows have the opportunity to examine a variety of epigenetic age acceleration estimates and their relation to a host of developmental and cognitive function outcomes with the existing data collected in this project

The Life Events and Reactions Study (LEARS)

LEARS is a genetic case-control association study (Shenk, PI: KL2TR000078) examining the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms associated with the onset of psychiatric disorders in the child maltreatment population. Children between the ages of 8 and 15 years of age who have experienced substantiated child maltreatment participated in this study. Biospecimens (oral fluid, buccal swab) collected in this study are being used to generate estimates of variation in DNA and DNA methylation to predict the course and severity of psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses obtained from a structured psychiatric interview. Results from this study will provide insight into the genetic, epigenetic, and psychological contributions for these disorders in the child maltreatment population so that interventions targeting these processes can be developed or applied more effectively.

CMT32 Fellows would have the opportunity to examine a variety of epigenetic age acceleration estimates and their relation to a host of psychiatric disorders and symptom severity with the existing data collected in this project.

Maternal Opioid Misuse and child welfare system involvement (MOM-CWS)

This study will examine the link between prescription opioid misuse on risks of maltreatment and foster placement through creation of a statewide birth cohort of mothers enrolled in Medicaid at the time of delivery. Study aims include creating a statewide birth cohort of mother-child pairs enrolled in Medicaid at the time of delivery, and integrating the cohort with child maltreatment and foster care record systems (PA Medicaid Birth Cohort, PMBC). This cohort will be used to document maternal prenatal and postnatal prescription opioid use and misuse rates, and examine the relation to a range of maternal and child risk characteristics to misuse, as well as the effect of prescription opioid and other substance misuse on risks of child maltreatment and foster care placement.

Pennsylvania Child Welfare Intervention Services (CWIS) Study

The primary aim of the study is to investigate the effects of involvement with the general protective services (GPS) system on subsequent contact with GPS or CPS and subsequent out-of-home placement; and to assess the effects of post-GPS services on child behavioral health and well-being outcomes. Pennsylvania’s GPS system represents an alternative or differential response to incidents of maltreatment that do not rise to the level of child abuse, as defined by State statute – primarily comprised of non-serious injury and neglect incidents. The study will leverage a range of existing data sources to examine outcomes within and across the child welfare system and other child-serving systems.

Trauma-Informed Child Welfare Systems Evaluation Research

This project involves multiple statewide initiatives (Connecticut and Rhode Island) to improve the capacity of child welfare systems to provide trauma-informed care to children and families involved in services. Three separate demonstration grants (funded by ACF and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network) addressed specific populations using comparable methods. Key features of the initiatives included work force development efforts, development and deployment of trauma screening tools and procedures, and dissemination of evidence based treatments (including TF-CBT; Trauma Systems Therapy; and Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC)). Project aims include examining the impact of these efforts at the child/family, workforce, and system levels through a mix of clinical outcome, survey, and administrative data.

Child & Family Well-Being Study

This community-based intervention study examines the effects of wraparound and other community-based services for children and families who have recently been involved in a child protective services (CPS) investigation. Wraparound is a family-centered, team-based planning process to provide individualized community-based services and natural supports for children and families. The study investigates 6- and 12-month effects of the intervention on child, caregiver, and family well-being, as well as processes resulting in outcomes. A parallel study uses administrative data to investigate child safety outcomes in a multi-year statewide cohort. The research study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

The Parenting Young Children Project

The Parenting Young Children Project is an NICHD-funded K01 award of 150 families designed to understand how parents and preschoolers regulate their behaviors, emotions, and physiology with one another while tackling challenges, like solving a difficult problem or puzzle together. We examine how moment-to-moment patterns and coregulation of heart rate, expression of positive and negative emotions, and behaviors such as discipline and compliance act as risk and protective factors for child maltreatment and associated problems. This research is designed to identify malleable relationship targets for prevention and intervention for families at risk for child maltreatment.

PaRenting in Stressful Moments (PRISM)

PRISM is a pilot project involves studying how parents control their emotions, behaviors, and heart rate when disciplining their preschoolers. This project is designed to test methods for the capture of biological data using wearable technology in the home and using a phone app to collect information on discipline and stress. Our interest is in understanding how parents regulate themselves while disciplining their children so that we may learn how to better intervene with parents to reduce stress and prevent harsh discipline and physical abuse of children.

Child Maltreatment and Cardiovascular Disease Risk

This grant (R01HL158577; PI: Schreier) takes advantage of a large, well-characterized, prospective cohort of youth who were recently investigated for child maltreatment and comparison youth without a maltreatment history to better understand the physiological mechanisms between early adversity and cardiovascular diseases risk. By taking advantage of detailed assessments of immune function coupled with administrative health care records and thorough behavioral and psychosocial assessments, we will prospectively examine links between child maltreatment and cardiovascular disease risk, with the hopes of informing future prevention and intervention efforts.

Early Psychosocial Intervention and Parent and Child Cardiovascular Disease Risk

This project focuses on the assessment of cardiovascular disease risk among 7-8 year old children and their parents part of an ongoing intervention trial evaluating the impact of a perinatal coparenting intervention (Family Foundations; PI: Mark Feinberg). We are following up with the original sample of 399 first-time parents and their children who were recruited across several states. This will allow us to investigate psychosocial pathways within the family that influence cardiovascular disease risk as well as potential intervention effects of Family Foundations on parent and child cardiovascular disease risk.

Biological embedding of early-life experiences: How early-life experiences impact childhood development and can accelerate aging

A project funded by the Sara van Dam Foundation (Roseriet Beijers, Radboud University, Netherlands PI, Shalev Co-I). Its aim is to test early-life factors associated with children’s socio-emotional development, cognition, and pubertal development. This includes biological-embedding mechanisms underlying this link. These research questions are being investigated in the Dutch BIBO-study (Basal Influences on the Baby Development): a prospective study in which 193 mothers and their children are followed from pregnancy until the last assessment at age 10. My lab is conducting all telomere length testing in children at both age 6 and 10.

Complex interactions of behavior, genes, and environment in the multi-system characterization of the effects of sleep loss on health, cardio-metabolic disease risk, cognition, and the epigenome

The aim of this project is to comprehensively characterize cardio-metabolic, cognitive, genomic, and epigenetic effects of sleep insufficiency in a controlled laboratory setting. My lab assist with the collection and sorting of blood samples for DNA methylation and whole-genome expression analysis. For this study, we are further investigating specific type of cells including monocytes and lymphocytes.

Intergenerational transmission of trauma? Testing cellular aging in mothers exposed to sexual abuse and their children

The overarching goal is to test the hypothesis of intergenerational transmission of trauma by measuring cellular aging in both mothers and children, members of the Female Growth and Development Study. Specifically, we are testing telomere length in mothers exposed to sexual abuse, control mothers, and their children.

Temporal genomics mechanisms underlying disease and aging

The goal of this project is to identify genomic mechanisms involved in young adults’ response to stress, as moderated by early adversity. Specifically, we are testing whether individuals exposed to early-life adversity show dysregulated changes in gene expression in response to a well-established laboratory stressor, compared with a no-stress condition, and compared with individuals without exposure to early adversity.

Child Maltreatment and Cardiovascular Disease Risk

This grant (R01HL158577; PI: Schreier) takes advantage of a large, well-characterized, prospective cohort of youth who were recently investigated for child maltreatment and comparison youth without a maltreatment history to better understand the physiological mechanisms between early adversity and cardiovascular diseases risk. By taking advantage of detailed assessments of immune function coupled with administrative health care records and thorough behavioral and psychosocial assessments, we will prospectively examine links between child maltreatment and cardiovascular disease risk, with the hopes of informing future prevention and intervention efforts.

TechnoTeens

TechnoTeens is a NICHD R01-funded study where we are objectively tracking the internet and social media behaviors of 460 sexually abused and comparison teens longitudinally from age 12 to 15. This study aims to articulate the role of internet pornography and high-risk social media behaviors on sexual development and on internet-initiated victimization (including sexual exploitation, cyber bullying, “slut-shaming”, and sex-trafficking). This is the first study to objectively monitor internet activity and social media behaviors and to record and quantify adolescents’ “internet and social media footprints” in real-time. Results will inform internet safety campaigns for normative and at-risk teens.

Female Growth and Development Study (FGDS)

This is a 30-year longitudinal study of the consequences of child sexual abuse on female development. Now in its 8th wave of data collection via a R01 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), we are currently assessing this cohort (and their offspring) in terms of physical health outcomes, intergenerational transmission, and the identification of mechanisms of resilience. This research is also funded through a R01 from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to assess the cohort’s daily stress-coping and premature cognitive aging.

Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Trial

The Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative is a comprehensive approach to sexual abuse prevention in 5 counties across Pennsylvania in a highly unique State/University partnership.  This initiative includes the coordination of evidence-based child sexual abuse prevention programs for adults in the community, school children, and at-risk parents. Programs will be delivered to 5% of the adult population (~71,000), 100% of second-graders (~17,000), and 100% of at-risk child welfare-involved parents. The aims are to empirically demonstrate that this coordinated effort (1) changes knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of participants, (2) impacts rates of child sexual abuse, and (3) raises public awareness at the population level. The ultimate goal is to create a sustainable model of sexual abuse prevention that can be used at a systems level in PA and across the US.

Child Maltreatment and Cardiovascular Disease Risk

This grant (R01HL158577; PI: Schreier) takes advantage of a large, well-characterized, prospective cohort of youth who were recently investigated for child maltreatment and comparison youth without a maltreatment history to better understand the physiological mechanisms between early adversity and cardiovascular diseases risk. By taking advantage of detailed assessments of immune function coupled with administrative health care records and thorough behavioral and psychosocial assessments, we will prospectively examine links between child maltreatment and cardiovascular disease risk, with the hopes of informing future prevention and intervention efforts.

System and Social Determinants of the Health of Foster Children project (R01 HD095946)

The System and Social Determinants of the Health of Foster Children project (1 R01 HD095946-01) will investigate the impact of specific foster care experiences on a range of health outcomes over time. In doing so, this proposal will inform efforts to improve longstanding problems of poor health among of one of the country’s most vulnerable populations. We will provide sound empirical evidence on the importance of current state and federal foster care priorities for foster children’s health. The investigative team for this project is Drs. Font (primary investigator), Noll, and Crowley (co-investigators).

Emerging Adulthood for Maltreated and Foster Youth (R21 HD091459)

The Emerging Adulthood for Maltreated and Foster Youth project (1 R21 HD091459-01) uses a statewide, longitudinal, administrative dataset that includes the entire population of CPS-involved youth and youth whose families participated in social welfare benefit programs in Wisconsin to examine how a range of maltreatment and OHC experiences are associated with social, educational, and economic outcomes in emerging adulthood, including employment and earnings, benefit receipt, educational attainment, fertility timing, incarceration, paying close attention to the type(s) of maltreatment experienced as well as OHC placement characteristics (type, length, number of placements) and type of exit from OHC (aging out, reunification or adoption). This research extends prior work in this area by using multiple identification strategies and comparison (counterfactual) groups to reduce bias in estimated associations of both maltreatment and OHC with subsequent outcomes. It has implications for informing policy and practice to better prepare CPS-involved youth to successfully transition to adulthood and, thereby, for reducing subsequent public expenditures on this population. Dr. Font is a co-investigator on this project, which is led by Dr. Lawrence Berger at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

System and Social Determinants of the Health of Foster Children project (R01 HD095946)

The System and Social Determinants of the Health of Foster Children project (1 R01 HD095946-01) will investigate the impact of specific foster care experiences on a range of health outcomes over time. In doing so, this proposal will inform efforts to improve longstanding problems of poor health among of one of the country’s most vulnerable populations. We will provide sound empirical evidence on the importance of current state and federal foster care priorities for foster children’s health. The investigative team for this project is Drs. Font (primary investigator), Noll, and Crowley (co-investigators).

Incidence Rates and Risk Factors for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in Rural and Urban Counties in Pennsylvania

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) project seeks to estimate the prevalence and typologies of CSEC in Pennsylvania. Funded by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, the CSEC study involves reviewing and coding over 2,000 Pennsylvania's Children and Youth Services investigation records over a 2-year span. The goals of this study are to estimate the incidence of CSEC in the participating counties, to assess rural and urban differences in the incidence and typologies of CSEC, and to identify risk and protective factors for CSEC.  This research aims to inform current statewide efforts to develop and implement screening tools to detect children vulnerable to or affected by CSEC. Drs. Miyamoto, Pinto, and Font lead this project, and are assisted by undergraduate research assistants involved with the Child Maltreatment and Advocacy Studies (CMAS) minor at Penn State.

Penn State Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Telehealth (SAFE-T) Center (Department of Justice/Office for Victims of Crime)

The SAFE-T Center was created in 2016, with support from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime. The mission of the Center is to partner with underserved communities in Pennsylvania to enhance compassionate, high-quality care for sexual assault victims. The Center provides access to expert mentoring, quality assurance, education and live examination consultation for victims of sexual assault in underserved and rural areas. The goals of the project are to enhance access to high-quality care for victims of assault and to demonstrate the effectiveness of a statewide model to support forensic nurses to deliver care in underserved communities.  

Incidence Rates and Risk Factors for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) in Rural and Urban Counties in Pennsylvania

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) project seeks to estimate the prevalence and typologies of CSEC in Pennsylvania. Funded by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, the CSEC study involves reviewing and coding over 2,000 Pennsylvania's Children and Youth Services investigation records over a 2-year span. The goals of this study are to estimate the incidence of CSEC in the participating counties, to assess rural and urban differences in the incidence and typologies of CSEC, and to identify risk and protective factors for CSEC.  This research aims to inform current statewide efforts to develop and implement screening tools to detect children vulnerable to or affected by CSEC. Drs. Miyamoto, Pinto, and Font lead this project, and are assisted by undergraduate research assistants involved with the Child Maltreatment and Advocacy Studies (CMAS) minor at Penn State.

Studying Pathways to Adjustment and Resilience in Kids (SPARK)

The SPARK project is a longitudinal study of the mechanisms of resilience for youth in foster care and the nature of child maltreatment and trauma exposure on healthy development. Data was collected on over 400 youth over four years on the individual and social potential protective factors and modeled to determine the nature and pattern of adjustment over time.

Preschoolers’ Adjustment and Intergenerational Risk (PAIR)

The PAIR project is a longitudinal study of the impact of trauma on the emotional and cognitive functioning of preschool-age youth and their families. The prospective design of the project includes ongoing assessment of trauma exposure in both youth and the parents as well as assessment of developmental health over time.