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2008 NCFR Conference Recordings

Streaming audio and video of selected 2008 NCFR Annual Conference sessions

for Members ONLY

Intervention Studies Fostering Parental Couple Relationships - Video Recording

Philip Cowan, Ph.D. and Carolyn Cowan, Ph.D.

Philip and Carolyn Cowan are Professors Emeriti of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley

The Cowans will be reporting on more than a decade of intervention studies on parental relationships with young children, particularly in times of transition. Their recent studies contrast the impact of couples' groups and fathers' groups and how interventions encourage low income fathers to become and stay involved with their young children.

Session Presider: Anisa Zvonkovic

for Members ONLY

Is Child Well-being in the U.S. Improving or Declining? - Video Recording

Paul Amato is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Demography, the Pennsylvania State University. He is also a past Program Chair and Section Chair of NCFR and winner of the 2008 Burgess Award and Reuben Hill Award.

Observers disagree over whether children's well-being is improving or declining in the United States. Broad statements about children's well-being are problematic, however, because well-being is a multidimensional construct, and not all indicators have changed in the same direction. This presentation reviews evidence on various aspects of children's well-being (such as health, academic achievement, and poverty) and describes structural and policy factors that are linked with shifts in these outcomes.

Introduction of Speaker: David Demo

Session Presider: Anisa Zvonkovic, 2008 Program Chair

for Members ONLY

Valuing Children: Rethinking the Economics of the Family - Video Recording

Nancy Folbre, Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

How can we measure and value the time and money that parents devote to children? Why is public support for childrearing so limited and uneven? Answers to these questions can inform the development of a progressive, pro-family agenda that extends beyond early childhood education and paid family leave to consider overall patterns of government spending and tax reform.

Introduction of Speaker: Maureen Perry-Jenkins

Session Presider: Anisa Zvonkovic

for Members ONLY

Burgess Award Address - Divorce and Children's Wellbeing: An Update - Audio Recording

Paul R. Amato, Ph.D., 2008 Award Winner

Presentation of Award and Session Presider: Shelley MacDermid, Award Committee Chair

for Members ONLY

Child Well-being- Audio Recording

Do Child Outcomes of All Disciplinary Enforcements Vary by Ethnicity? Robert Larzelere, Ron Cox, Ketevan Danelia, Jelani Mandara

I Don't Want That For My Kids: Ending Intergenerational Patternsof Risk, Katherine MacTavish Contextual Resilience and Internal Resiliency: Assessing the Impact of Context on Child Well-being, Alisa Van Langeveld, Randal Day

Discussant/Moderator: Kerry Kazura

for Members ONLY

Educational Strategies for Family Life Educators- Audio Recording

An Evaluation of an Online Educational Tool for Romantic Relationships, Adam West, Catherine Surra

The Effects of Marriage Education on Parenting Qualities, Alexandra Calligas, Francesca Adler-Baeder, Angela Bradford, Scott Ketring, Thomas Smith

Implementing Relationship Education With Young Adults: Insights from the Field, Spencer Olmstead, Kay Pasley, and the Project RELATE Team

Lessons Learned Teaching Human Development: A Case for Blended Learning, Nate Cottle, Rebecca Glover

Discussant: Maureen Mulroy

Presider: Marilyn Flick

for Members ONLY

Evidence-based Practice: Linking Research and Practice - Audio Recording

Gary L. Bowen, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; Elaine Anderson, University of Maryland; Jane Gilgun, University of Minnesota; Shirley M. H. Hanson, Emeritus, Oregon Health Sciences University; Leigh Leslie, University of Maryland; Terrance Olson, Brigham Young University; Stephen Small, University of Wisconsin-Madison

This session will define Evidence-based Practice (EBP), its history and development, and its current  application in family science and social work, including pros and cons. Panel members will discuss the application of EBP to areas of central concern to NCFR members: youth development, school success, family life education (marital and family enrichment), and training of family life and social work professionals.

Chair: Gary L. Bowen

for Members ONLY

Focus on Poverty Research: The National Poverty Centers - Audio Recording

Presenters: Tom Kaplan, Ph.D., representing the Institute for Poverty Research at University of Wisconsin; Deborah Tootle, Ph.D., representing the Southern Rural Development Center at Mississippi State University; Jocelyn B. Richgels, Ph.D., representing the Rural Policy Research Institute, administered jointly by Iowa State University, University of Missouri and University of Nebraska; Rich Huddleston, Ph.D., Executive Director, ARK Advocates for Children and Families.

The purpose of this session is to further the knowledge of federally supported Poverty Centers and the resources available to scholars through the Centers, by listening to and interacting with a panel of leader-representatives from each of the Centers.

Chair: Pamela A. Monroe

for Members ONLY

Grandparenting - Audio Recording

Generative Grandfathering: How Grandfathers Nurture Grandchildren, James Bates, Alan Taylor

Lessons From Grandpa: What Grandchildren Learn About Fatherhood From Grandfathers, Todd Goodsell, Owen Williamson, James Bates

Long-term Stepgrandmother Relationships, Mary-Catherine Kane, Karen Blaisure, Alan Hovestadt

Discussant/Moderator: Tim Killian

for Members ONLY

Is Child Well-being in the U.S. Improving or Declining? - Audio Recording

for Members ONLY

Publishing in NCFR-sponsored Journals: A Discussion With the Editors - Audio Recording

Joyce Arditti, David Demo, Robert Milardo

Presider: Jeremy Yorgason

for Members ONLY

Research Methods Update: The Interdependence of Family Members: Approaches in Multilevel Modeling - Audio Recording

JuliAnna Smith, Ph.D.; Aline Sayer, Ph.D. and Jade Logan, Ph.D.

JuliAnna Smith, Aline Sayer and Jade Logan are all researchers and faculty members at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

One of the most fascinating aspects of studying families is attempting to understand the impact of the strong interdependence between family members on well-being, relationship quality and other outcomes of interest. Unfortunately, many commonly used statistical methods such as analysis of variance (ANOVA) and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression assume that the outcomes being examined are statistically independent of each other. As a result, hypothesis tests based on these approaches will be inaccurate when examining outcomes for individuals who are nested within families. This workshop will provide several statistical models useful for the analysis of dyadic data including the longitudinal multivariate outcomes model for distinguishable dyads. The presenters will walk the participants through the steps required to properly structure data and then to fit these models to data using the HLM6 software package.

Introduction of Speaker: Sylvia Niehuis

for Members ONLY

Special Update for Researchers and Practitioners- Audio Recording

Implementing a Large-Scale Evaluation of Marriage and Relationships Skills Education: Progress of the Building Strong Families Project

 

M. Robin Dion is a Senior Research Psychologist at Mathematica Policy Research in Washington, D.C. Currently she is principal investigator for the Building Strong Families project, a large-scale demonstration and rigorous nine-year evaluation of multiple programs to support healthy couple relationships among unwed parents with young children.

Alan Hershey is a Senior Fellow at Mathematica Policy Research, and serves as its coordinator of studies relating to family formation and welfare. He is currently the director of Mathematica's Building Strong Families project for the Administration for Children and Families.

The Building Strong Families (BSF) project is the nation's largest and most rigorous evaluation of interventions to improve relationships among low-income unmarried couples with children. The project was motivated by earlier research findings that at the time of their child's birth, most unmarried couples report having loving relationships and aspirations to marry, but that many soon break up. The BSF intervention includes guided group sessions addressing common couple issues, as well as one-on-one support and referrals to other needed services. More than 5,000 unmarried couples have voluntarily enrolled in the BSF study at sites in seven states and been randomly assigned to a program or control group. The conference presentation will describe the intervention, including the relationship skills curricula on which it is based, as well as the progress of the evaluation, addressing such questions as who participates, the extent of their involvement in program services, and couples' responses to the intervention. It will also explain how BSF was implemented, including how host sites were found and the processes used to identify and recruit couples. The evaluation will assess the impact of the intervention on relationship quality and status, family well-being, and children's social, emotional and cognitive development; a preview will be given of analysis plans as the evaluation proceeds with its follow-up of families 15 months and 36 months after they enter the evaluation sample.

for Members ONLY

The Effects of Relationship/Marriage Education on Youth and Nonmarried Adults- Audio Recording

Building a Model of Relationships Education for Youth, Jennifer Kerpelman, Joe Pittman, Francesca Adler-Baeder

Premarital Education in Late Adolescence and Young Adulthood, Steven M. Graham, Nathaniel M. Lambert, Kay Pasley, Frank Fincham

Remarriage and Stepfamily Education With Non-married Adults, Brian Higginbotham, Linda Skogrand

Examining Marital Status as a Moderator of Relationship Education With Non-married Adults, Francesca Adler-Baeder, Angela Bradford, Christiana Russell, Scott Ketring, Tom Smith

The Impact of PREPARE on Engaged Couples' Behaviors, Attitudes and Relationship Quality, Ted G. Futris, Tiffiany M. Aholou, Desiree M. Seponski

Discussant: Jeffry Larson

Co-chairs: Francesca Adler-Bader, Ted Futris

for Members ONLY

The Lenses of Religion in Sexuality and Marriage- Audio Recording

Religiosity and Sexual Perceptions of African-American Young Men, Julie A. Zaloudek

Clergy Use of Premarital Assessment Questionnaires, Joe Wilmoth, Samantha Smyser

Religion and Strong, Happy, Enduring Black Marriages, Loren Marks, Katrina Hopkins, Cassandra Chaney, Diane Sasser

Multi-level Theorizing of Family Values in a Neo-Functionalist Framework, Don Swenson

for Members ONLY

The Practice of Family Life Education - Audio Recording

Professionalization of Family Life Education: Defining the Field, Carol Darling, William Michael Fleming, Dawn Cassidy

An Innovative, Universal, and Practical Teaching Model for Effective Family Life Education, V. William Harris, Katherine J. Chartier, Elizabeth Davis

Using Video Clips as Lenses to Family Distress: Teaching Family Distress Model, Raquel Delevi, Andrea Meyer, Nadia Flanigan, Mercedes Nalls, Thomas Cornille, Ann Mullis, Ron Mullis

What Can Family Life Education Learn From Myspace About Reaching the Next Generation of Parents? Susan Walker, Christine Greenhow

Discussant: Sedahlia Jasper Crase

Presider: David Schramm

for Members ONLY

What Works for Diverse Families?- Audio Recording

Stepfamily Education for Latino Couples and Families: Implications for Practice, Linda Skogrand, Abril Barrios-Bell, Brian Higginbotham

Differences in Relational Outcomes for Marriage Education by Gender and Ethnicity, Angela Bradford, Francesca Adler- Baeder, Cassandra Kirkland, Mallory Erickson, Bailey Lathem, Cassidy Stover, Katherine Efstration, Jonathan Decker, Alexandra Calligas, Thomas Smith, Scott Ketring Brian Higginbotham

Establishing Family Foundations Through Community-based Prevention, Mark Feinberg

Evaluating Prevention Programs: Methods, Results, and Lessons Learned, Melody M. Griffin, Jennifer Kerpelman, Francesca Adler-Baeder, David Schramm

Discussant: Charlotte Shoup Olsen

Presider: Shelba Branscum

for Members ONLY

Valuing Children: Rethinking the Economics of the Family - Audio Recording