Winnie Adebayo, an assistant professor of nursing at Penn State College of Nursing, was recently interviewed by the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s Engage Podcast. Dr. Adebayo researches how to encourage young people to take the initiative to be tested for sexually transmitted infections, or STIs. Click here to see the full article and for a link to the podcast.

Dawn Witherspoon was the discussant for Carolina Seminars - The Double Whammy: The Disproportionate Impact of Systemic Racism and COVID on Children of Color held April 30. The Carolina Seminar Series aims to increase awareness about the impact of disparities that contribute to children’s ability to keep pace, which have broad dire effects on the neurodevelopmental trajectories of children growing up in disadvantaged households and communities. Click here to read more about this event.  

Koraly Pérez-Edgar, McCourtney Professor of Child Studies and professor of psychology in the College of the Liberal Arts, has received Penn State's 2021 Graduate Faculty Teaching Award. The award, established in 1992 by The Graduate School, is presented to faculty members in recognition of outstanding teaching performance and advising of graduate students. Click here to read the full article.

Kristin Buss, Tracy Winfree and Ted H. McCourtney Professor in Children, Work, and Families, Professor of Psychology; professor of human development and family studies; head of the psychology department in Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts; and former PACT director; has been awarded Penn State's 2021 President’s Award for Excellence in Academic Integration. Click here to read the full article.

This study assessed whether sensitive parenting in the first 4 years of life predicted child internalizing emotional symptoms (i.e., anxiety and depression) from kindergarten to fifth grade and whether early child executive functioning mediated this relationship. The findings provide several implications for further understanding the risk and protective roles of early parenting and cognitive functioning in development of emotional symptoms, particularly anxiety and depression. Please click here to view the article.

The Publication Committee is tasked to review the health of existing publications, including their attention to diversity and inclusion of marginalized groups; evaluate proposals for major modifications in publications and for establishing new publications; and make appropriate recommendations to Governing Council including those concerning new editors as terms of editors expire and new strategies for maintaining the health and status of SRCD's publication enterprise while advancing equity in the field. To read more, click here.

This award recognizes the graduate student who has best combined high academic achievement with leadership in University or other public activities. This award is open to any current graduate student who has completed a minimum of one full year of graduate studies at Penn State.

Anna, a Developmental Psychology graduate student (advisor: Dr. Kristin Buss) and former PACT Graduate Administrative Assistant, received this award for her work with the BRIDGE Diversity Alliance, Graduate Alliance for Diversity and Inclusion in the College of the Liberal Arts, and Parents And Children Together.

Congratulations, Anna!

On December 10, 2020, PACT held a drive thru lunch to thank PACT Community Advisory Board members. The event was held safely and socially distanced outside for all to enjoy. To view photos from the event, please click here.

The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) recently released a brief by Anna Gassman-Pines, Ph.D. and Lisa A. Gennetian, Ph.D. on the need for renewal and reinstatement of economic supports in the face of COVID-19. Click here to read the full story.

Parental depression and anxiety can have profound effects on children. For the first time, Penn State researchers demonstrated that stress biology relates to depressive and anxiety symptoms differently for mothers versus fathers, and that parents’ profiles of stress biology and symptoms can predict their preschoolers’ emotional and behavioral problems. To read the full article, click here.

Research by Winnie Adebayo, a PACT Penn State University Park Researcher, and colleagues was recently featured by Penn State News. View the full article here.

The You Rock! Award was created as a way to recognize and honor unusual dedication and outstanding contributions by College of the Liberal Arts staff members. Congratulations, Carmen! You can view the announcement here.

Congratulations to Dr. Sunhye Bai, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, on being awarded the Karl R. Fink and Diane Wendle Fink Early Career Professorship for the Study of Families. This professorship is a three-year, rotating, endowed professorship that is awarded to early-career faculty conducting innovative family science research in Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development.

Dr. Bai’s research broadly focuses on adolescent development in the context of daily family and school life. Her work integrates human development, family studies, and clinical and health research. It relies heavily on naturalistic measures of youth and family functioning, including daily diaries, passive audio/videorecordings, and actigraphy. She hopes to better identify innovative strategies to enhance parent-child interactions and increase family strengths to promote health in adolescents.

Congratulations, Dr. Bai!

The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) recently released a new series of briefs entitled Addressing inequities in education during the COVID-19 pandemic: How education policy and schools can support historically and currently marginalized children and youth. The series contains five briefs, each two pages in length. For more information and to access the briefs, please click here and scroll down.

In this post, I will discuss the complex issue of substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic with a specific emphasis on the likely negative impacts on the family unit. I also offer recommendations to help support individuals and families. View the complete article here.