April Program Agenda

Dr. Susan M Love received from UC Berkeley a BA in Child Development; from JF Kennedy University a MA in Marriage, Family and Child; and, from the University of Washington, a MSW and PhD in Social Welfare.  Dr. Love practiced as a child, youth and family therapist in Seattle for over 25 years.  In 1999 she moved back to her home state, California, to develop a niche social network site, ShrinksOnline.com to connect researchers and practitioners in the field of behavioral sciences. Currently, Dr. Love is an assistant professor at California State University Northridge, Department of Social Work.  She is a member of an international team of researchers and is embarking on a study of high-risk families at DCFS to test the effectiveness of Triple P—Positive Parenting Program to prevent child maltreatment and to promote positive social/ emotional/ behavioral child development.

Overview
The wellbeing of a society rests on the emotional, social, and physical health of its youth; young childhood is when children’s competencies and development are nurtured by the parent-child relationship. The research connecting parenting practices, child maltreatment and the impact of maltreatment on child development is substantial. Dr. Love will describe how we currently understand the causes of child maltreatment and the importance of the parent-child context to reduce its risk.
Evidence-based parenting interventions, such as the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, have demonstrated significant improvements in parental skills, child behavior problems, and parental wellbeing.
Dr Love will also talk about the current research study that she is embarking on with families at DCFS.  The study uses a high-risk child maltreatment sample to confront the next challenge to improving parenting practices population-wide: delivering Triple P in a format that maximizes reach and efficacy, and overcomes barriers such as the limited availability of trained professionals, social stigma, geography, and logistics.

For more information on the "TripleP" program click here.

References

1. Sroufe, Egeland, Carlson and Collins (2005).  The Development of the Person: Minnesota Study of Risk and Adaptation
2. Shonkoof and Meisels (2000). Handbook of Early Childhood Intervention, 2nd Ed (there maybe a more current edition).
3. Shonkoff and Phillips (2000). From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development, National Academie of Sciences.
4. Sanders, M., Turner, K., & Markie-Dadds, C. (2002). The development and dissemination of the Triple P- Positive Parenting Program: A multi-level, evidence-based system of parenting and family support.  Prevention Science, 3(3), 173-198.
5. Prinz, R., Sanders, M., Shapiro, C., Whitaker, D. & Lutzker, J. (2009). Population-based prevention of child  maltreatment: The U.S. Triple P system population trial. Prevention Science, 10(1), 1-12.
6. Theodore, A., Chang, J., Runyan, D., Hunter, W., Bangdiwala, S. & Agans, R. (2005). The epidemiology of the  physical and  sexual maltreatment of children in the Carolinas. Pediatrics, 115, 331-337.