Institute of Juvenile Research

Chairs: Patrick Tolan, Deborah Gorman-Smith, Institute of Juvenile Research

Abstract
One hundred years ago the first child mental health care institute was founded in Chicago, the Institute of Juvenile Research (IJR). The Institute was the site of some of the first work on adolescence, including early studies of delinquency, intervention, and normal development. In commemoration of the approaching IJR centennial, this panel will provide brief presentations of illustrative findings from four research-based programs that have demonstrated effects for preventing adolescent behavior and social problems. Each is based in a developmental-ecological perspective that emphasizes multiple influences on behavior and risk, the developmental patterns of risk over time, and the relation of risk to normative aspects of development. Each arises from a scientific perspective that exemplifies the ongoing focus and seminal contribution of the IJR to child and adolescent mental health and well-being. The presentations will be the basis for discussion of the use of multivariate, multilevel ecological approaches and suggest key direction for future work.

Biography
Patrick H. Tolan Ph.D. is Director of the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He has served in this position for the past 8 years and been affiliated with the Institute since 1990. Dr. Tolan also is Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and College of Public Health at the University. For the past 20+ years he has conducted research with multiple collaborators on the important contributors to risk for disruptive behavior disorders, delinquency, and violence in youth, developed and tested a set of prevention efforts to address these problems, and contributed innovative methods of training and service provision to make such promising approaches viable in typical service systems. He has published over 120 research articles and chapters and edited 5 volumes on research and practices related to children’s mental health. He is current President-elect of the Society for Child and Family Practice and Policy and a board member of the Society for Prevention Research and chaired the APA Working Group on Psychology’s Agenda for Children’s Mental Health. He is the 2007 recipient of the “Star of Science” award form the Children’s Brain Research Foundation.

Biography
Deborah Gorman-Smith Ph.D. is Professor of Psychiatry at the Institute for Juvenile Research where she heads the Academic Center for Excellence for Youth Violence Prevention. Dr. Gorman-Smith is a Distinguished Fellow in Policy from the W.T. Grant Foundation and a former Faculty Scholar of that foundation. She collaborates with colleagues at the Institute on longitudinal risk studies and prevention trials utilizing a developmental-ecological approach and colleagues at numerous other institutions on cross-site research and advocacy for research-based approaches to policy. This includes her work with the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy in Washington DC. She has co-authored numerous articles and book chapters on neighborhood effects on development, prevention of youth problems, relationship problems in adolescence, and gender issues in violence. She serves on the Board of the Society for Prevention Research.

Panelist Biographies
José Szapocznik, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Psychology, Architecture, and Educational Research and Counseling Psychology, Director of the Center for Family Studies, and Associate Dean at the University of Miami School of Medicine. The Center for Family Studies is the premiere systematic program of research on family-based interventions with Hispanics in the nation. He has more than 200 scholarly publications, and has been a member of the National Advisory Boards for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and the NIH-wide AIDS program. His work has received numerous awards.

Velma McBride Murry is a Professor of Child and Family Development and Co-Director of the Center for Family Research at the University of Georgia. With funding from NIMH, NIDA, and the CDC, Dr. Murry rigorously addresses issues that affect rural African American families, including adolescent sexuality, normative family processes, and the impact of racism on family functioning and daily life. She has developed family- and community-based preventive intervention programs for rural African American parents and adolescents. She is a co-founder of the Study Group on Culture, Ethnicity, and Parenting and serves as deputy editor for several child and family related research journals.

Tom Dishion, Ph.D., is Director of Research at the Child and Family Center and Professor, Departments of Psychology and School Psychology, University of Oregon. Prior to that, he was Research Scientist, Oregon Social Learning Center. His interests include the contribution of peer and family dynamics to escalations in adolescent substance use, delinquency, and violence. His intervention research focuses on the effectiveness of family-centered approaches and the negative effects of aggregating high-risk youth into intervention groups. He has published over 90 scientific reports, a book for parents on family management, and two books for professionals working with troubled children and their families.