Center Research Faculty
Damon Jones
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, 2002
Research Assistant Professor of Health and Human Development
Senior Research Associate, Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development
Affiliate Graduate Faculty, Department of Human Development & Family Studies
Contact Information
402 Marion Place
Research Interests
Understanding ways to use appropriate methodology to address issues common with quasi-experimental data (such as due to measurement artifacts, selection bias or complex data designs); investigating the public costs related to behavior disorders and the cost-effectiveness potential of family and youth interventions
Examples of Current Prevention Projects
Head Start (Head Start REDI––Research-based, Developmentally Informed)
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Start Date: 2003
This project will evaluate the impact of infusing current Head Start programs with social-emotional support curricula (e.g., Preschool PATHS) and language and emergent literacy skill support curricula. A randomized trial will examine the impact on child school readiness at the end of Head Start and on adjustment and achievement in kindergarten and first grade.
Family Foundations: Coparenting and the Transition to Parenthood
National Institutes of Health
Partnership Model for Diffusion of Proven Prevention
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH)
Start Date: 2001
Project Web Site
This project assesses the effectiveness of a model for the diffusion of empirically validated prevention programs focused on adolescent substance abuse and mental health. The project is being conducted in 14 communities in Iowa and Pennsylvania.
HealthWise II/HealthWise Dissemination: Translation to Multiple Schools
National Institute on Drug Abuse
Start Date: 2010
In the second phase of the HealthWise project funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Penn State and its partners in South Africa will continue their work to: (1) advance Type 2 translational science and theory building by (2) targeting risk and protective factors for substance abuse and sexual risk (e.g., HIV/AIDS) among 8th- and 9th-grade South African youth.
What Affects Outcomes in Group Homes for Youth?
NIMH
Start Date: 2007
The study is designed to provide focused, applicable, and generalizable data on factors associated with outcomes in group homes. Specific aims will examine: (1) outcomes for youth in group homes; (2) effects of theoretically- and empirically-based organizational factors and core processes on outcomes: (3) rates and predictors of iatrogenic effects; and (4) whether adherence to a promising model of group home treatment (the Teaching Family Model) produces more positive outcomes for youth.
Recent Publications
Jones, D. E., Bumbarger, B. K., Greenberg, M. T., Greenwood, P., & Kyler, S. (2008). The economic return on PCCD’s investment in research-based programs: A cost-benefit analysis of delinquency prevention in Pennsylvania. Report to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University. [Publication]
Jones, D. E., Foster, E. M. & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2009). Service use patterns for adolescents with ADHD and comorbid conduct disorder. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 36(4), 436.
Feinberg, M. E., Jones, D., Greenberg, M. T., Osgood, D. W., & Bontempo, D. (2010). Effects of the Communities that Care model in Pennsylvania on change in adolescent risk and problem behaviors. Prevention Science, 11(2), 163–171 (doi: DOI 10.1007/s11121-009-0161).
Jones, D. E., Godwin, J., Dodge, K. A., Bierman, K. L., Coie, J. D., Greenberg, M. T., Lochman, J. E., McMahon, R. J., & Pinderhughes, E. E. (2010). The impact of the Fast Track Prevention Program on health services utilization by conduct-problem youth. Pediatrics, 125(1), e130–e136 (doi:10.1542/peds.2009-0322).
Penn State Article on This Research ("Participation in Conduct Problem Prevention Program Associated with Reduced Use of Health Services")
Feinberg, M. E., Jones, D. E., Kan, M. L. & Goslin, M. C. (in press). Effects of a Transition to Parenthood program on parents, parenting, and children: 3.5 years after baseline. Journal of Family Psychology.