Center Research Faculty

Robert Nix


Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, 1999

Research Associate, Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development

Program Areas: PEACE

Contact Information

S106C Henderson Building

Email

Phone: 814-863-1199
Fax: 814-865-2530

Research Interests

Implementation and process within interventions designed to prevent children's behavior problems and promote optimal adjustment; social-cognitive aspects of parenting in high-risk neighborhoods

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.

PATHS to Success

Pennsylvania Department of Health (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)

Start Date: 2008

Project Web Site

The major goals of this project are to develop, implement, and evaluate a preventive intervention for children at the entrance to school and to investigate the neurological underpinning of risk for violence.

Efficacy Trial of a Mindfulness Enhanced Strengthening Families Program

National Institutes of Health

Start Date: 2009

This intervention aims to encourage more positive family relationships. It infuses the empirically-validated Strengthening Families Program with mindfulness-based practices designed to help parents monitor better their thoughts, feelings, and goals while interacting with their 10- to 14-year-old children.  

FOCUS on Learning

National Institutes of Health

State Date: 2009

Project Web Sites: Prevention Research Center

Child Study Center

FOCUS on Learning aims to test interventions designed to improve the academic and social adjustment of young children who enter school low in reading readiness. Children are identified in kindergarten and assigned to one of two intervention conditions. In the first group,  parents receive packets of learning games and materials that are mailed home to them periodically. These include instructions for how to use them at home.

Recent Publications

Bierman, K. L., Nix, R. L., Maples, J. J., Murphy, S. A., & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2006). Examining the use of clinical judgment in the context of an adaptive intervention: The Fast Track Program. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 468–481.

Bierman, K. L., Nix, R. L., Greenberg, M. T., Domitrovich, C. E. & Blair, C. (2008). Executive functions and school readiness intervention: Impact, moderation, and mediation in the Head Start-REDI Program. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 821–843.

Bierman, K. L., Domitrovich, C. E., Nix, R. L., Gest, S. D., Welsh, J. A., Greenberg, M. T., Blair, C., Nelson, K. E., & Gill, S. (2008). Promoting academic and social-emotional school     readiness: The Head Start REDI program. Child Development, 79, 1802–1817.

Schofield, H. T., Bierman, K. L., Heinrichs, B., Nix, R. L., & the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2008). Predicting early sexual activity with behavior problems exhibited at school entry and in preadolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 1175–1188. 

Nix, R. L., Bierman, K. L., McMahon, R. J., & the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2009). How attendance and quality of participation affect treatment response to parent behavior management training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77, 429–438.

Coatsworth, J. D., Duncan, L. G., Greenberg, M. T., & Nix, R. L. (2010). Changing parents’ mindfulness, child management skills, and relationship quality with their youth: Results from a randomized pilot intervention trial.  Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19, 203–217.

Welsh, J. A., Nix, R. L., Blair, C., Bierman, K. B., & Nelson, K. E. (in press). The development of executive function and gains in academic school readiness for children from low-income families. Journal of Educational Psychology.

Lanza, S. T., Rhoades, B., Nix, R. L., Greenberg, M. T., & the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (in press). A person-centered approach to identifying multi-domain profiles of risk for adverse child outcomes. Development and Psychopathology. 

McGowen, H., Nix, R. L., Murphy, S. A., Bierman, K. L., & the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (in press). Investigating the effects of selection bias in dose-response analyses of preventive interventions. Prevention Science.