FAMILIES IN CONTEXT ANNUAL REPORT 2016 OUR VISION The Center for Research on Families has more than forty years of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Founded in the 1970s as the Center for the Family, a generous endowment by Dorothy Dunklee Gavin (‘43) and Joseph Gavin in 1996 ensured a strong and sustainable future for the Center. In 2003, the original Center for the Family expanded into today’s Center for Research on Families (CRF). CRF is a joint center of the College of Natural Sciences (CNS) and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS). Its programs are supported by CNS, SBS, the Edna Skinner and Tay Gavin Erickson endowments, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement, grants, and alumni and corporate gifts. CRF’s unique model of collaboration speaks to its primary mission of supporting interdisciplinary and translational research activities on campus. The vision for the Center for CULTURE Research on Families at the University GOVERNMENT of Massachusetts Amherst is to be a WORKPLACES nationally-renowned research center addressing the challenges and resilience COMMUNITY of families. CRF supports interdisciplinary FAMILIES scientific collaborations aimed at INDIVIDUAL understanding the diversity, health, and well-being of families while discovering BIOLOGY solutions to the challenges families face. Innovative solutions to the central challenges facing families will come from advances in both the social and natural sciences. CRF is among only a handful of family research centers in the country aimed at bridging the social, behavioral, and natural sciences; thus, we are uniquely poised to initiate and support interdisciplinary collaborations aimed at addressing societal and familial challenges. CRF serves as an intellectual hub for research that addresses family issues from multiple perspectives and epitomizes the land grant mission of UMass that is to provide and translate research to benefit the families of the Commonwealth and nation. CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 FAMILIES IN CONTEXT: CRF MISSION 5 HIGHLIGHTS 2015-2016 7 FOSTERING RESEARCH ON FAMILIES 9 Family Research Scholars Program Family Research Scholars Research Highlights Featured Scholars Grants Submitted Selected Directors’ Consulting and Related Professional Activities Supporting Family Researchers PROVIDING METHODOLOGY TRAINING AND CONSULTATION 21 Methodology Program Methodology Consultation Student Consultants TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF FAMILY RESEARCHERS 25 Student Research Student Research Highlights Featured Students CRF Student Making a Difference DISSEMINATING RESEARCH FINDINGS 33 Salon Book Discussion Tay Gavin Erickson Lecture Series FRS Alumni Engaging Public EXPANDING AN INTERDISCIPLINARY NETWORK 39 Interdisciplinary Collaborations Rudd-REFCA Conference Stress Research Group Early Childhood Research Group FACULTY & STAFF 43 The People Involved *This report describes CRF activities undertaken from June 2015 through May 2016. DESIGN: Angela Russo, Center for Research on Families; Idea Collective CONTENT COORDINATOR: Michael Havlin, Center for Research on Families PHOTOGRAPHY: Rose Boyko, Boyko Photography; Pablo Robles, Media Compass Photography; Arthur Pollock, Boston Herald CRF 2015-2016 Co-Interim Directors Lisa Harvey and Lynnette Leidy Sievert EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Dear Colleagues and Friends, I am writing this letter from sunny California! This while I was of on sabbatical. She kept CRF not past year I had the great honor to be able to only functioning but as vibrant and active as ever. spend my sabbatical year as a Fellow at the Center Special thanks also to Lisa Harvey who ran the for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences Scholars program this year, which by all accounts (CASBS) at Stanford University. CASBS is an was exciting, engaging and productive. I also extraordinary place with a mission of “advancing need to thank Aline Sayer, Wendy Varner, Dot human welfare by generating knowledge for the Morua Fernandes and Stephanie Covelli for their maximum benefit of individuals and society.” In willingness to keep CRF on track, for being flexible this interdisciplinary center situated in the hills and for being willing to take on leadership roles at overlooking Stanford, scholars from disciplines CRF over the past year. This year we welcomed in the social sciences and the natural sciences a new Assistant Director for Communications spend time working on collaborative and and Events at CRF, Angela Russo. Angela brings individual projects aimed at enhancing the human a wealth of experience in marketing and event condition. The formula is simple: through shared planning that will be crucial to CRF in getting our lunches, research presentations, and serendipitous message out to broader communities. conversations great ideas and new collaborations arise. This year has strengthened my commitment As you will see in this report, CRF continues its to interdisciplinary endeavors aimed at addressing impressive record of scholarship with new research some of the most pressing problems facing projects being funded by our faculty scholars families. At the same time, my collaborations this as well as continued support for undergraduate year have challenged me to consider how we at and graduate students who represent our future CRF can better translate our research to shape family research scholars. Next year will be one policy, advocacy and community-level supports full of change and excitement. I look forward for families. This year has given me time to reflect, to developing our commitment to translational broaden my thinking and recharge so I will be research by expanding our efforts to collaborations ready to take on our mission and goals at CRF with in the Greater Springfield area. Our commitment renewed energy and creativity. to supporting interdisciplinary research that serves the health and well-being of families will remain ANNUAL REPORT 2016 REPORT ANNUAL My sabbatical experience would not have been our core mission and we look forward to working possible without the support and commitment with past, present and future family scholars to from many members of the CRF team. I will be achieve our goals! forever thankful to Lynette Leidy Seivert for her willingness to serve as interim director of CRF Sincerely, 4 FAMILIES IN CONTEXT METHODOLOGY CONSULTING ADDHEALTH WORKING GROUP WORKSHOPS & SEMINARS TEACHING & RESEARCH MENTORING & METHODS FACULTY SCHOLARS PROGRAM RESEARCH INTEREST GROUPS ANNUAL REPORT 2016 REPORT ANNUAL 5 FAMILIES IN CONTEXT STUDENTS TRAVEL AWARDS RESEARCH AWARDS INTERNSHIPS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROJECT TEACHING & MENTORING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT POLICY LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL CRF’S MISSION is to: Promote, conduct, and translate high quality, substantive research on key issues affecting family life; Teach, mentor, and support family researchers throughout their careers -- students to professors; and Engage with the community to improve family functioning and inform social policy. HIGHLIGHTS 2015-2016 Scenes from the 2015 CRF Family Research Forum & Awards Dinner Top row: Manuel Matos; Dorothy Gavin & Sally Powers Second row: Samantha Schenck; Lindiwe Sibeko ANNUAL REPORT 2016 REPORT ANNUAL Third row: Alice Fiddian-Green, Louis Graham, Aline Gubrium; John Hird 7 Bottom row: Angela Essa, Lynnette Leidy Sievert; overview of dinner How does CRF accomplish its mission? CRF increases funding for research on campus by holding statistical and methodological consultation, and successful and highly popular faculty mentoring programs. training workshops continued in full force this year This year fourteen faculty across disciplines received intensive with participation from UMass faculty and students and mentoring and technical support to submit major grant researchers from 49 other institutions, 21 states and five proposals as current and past participants in the Family countries. Research Scholars Program. Ten unique scholars submitted fifteen research grants to NSF, NIH, and Foundations totaling CRF is a repository for the National Longitudinal Study $18,225,115. of Adolescent and Adult Health (ADD Health) data set, allowing CRF scholars access to one the largest studies CRF has eight active grants from NSF, NIH, U.S. Army and of adolescence ever undertaken. Foundations from six scholars totaling $12,516,649. CRF fosters collaboration among multidisciplinary researchers who are CRF offers talented students teaching and mentoring studying issues of relevance to families: opportunities, awards and assistantships; CRF partnered with the Rudd Adoption Research Now in its seventh year, CRF’s Student Research Grants Program, the Treehouse Foundation, and the Boston and Awards Program awarded $34,400 to nine College School of Social Work to hold the 2016 “New undergraduate and graduate students. Worlds of Adoption and Foster Care Conference: Thriving on the Frontline.” Over 350 people attended CRF offered comprehensive mentoring experiences and this year’s conference. credit internship opportunities in family research to six undergraduate and graduate students. CRF sponsored a book salon to celebrate the publication of Professor Julie Hemment’s new book, Throughout the year, student-led research roundtables Russia: Producing Patriots and Entrepreneurs. for graduate and undergraduate student researchers from across campus met to discuss their ongoing CRF and the Institute for Social Science Research research projects. (ISSR) offered a pre-Scholars workshop to advise new faculty in