Event Description
African American caregivers/parents and adolescents face persistent disparities in depression and related behavioral health outcomes, which have been attributed to experiences with discrimination.
The Integrative Model for the Study of Stress in Black American Families provides a comprehensive perspective on the ways in which historical and current discrimination has direct and indirect effects on caregivers and youth that in turn compromise child behavioral health.
Dr. McBride Murry will summarize research findings from the Strong African American Families (SAAF) and Pathways for African American Success (PAAS) programs, demonstrating interventive-induced changes in strengthening the “rubber suit” to navigate toxic waters emerging from structural and systemic oppression.
About the Presenter
Professor McBride Murry has conducted research on African-American parents and youth for over a decade and identified proximal, malleable protective factors that deter emotional problems and risk engagement in youth. Using this information, she designed and implemented two randomized control trial, family-based preventive intervention programs: the Strong African American Families (SAAF) Program and the Pathways for African American Success (PAAS). Both have demonstrated efficacy in the enhancement of parenting and family processes as well as youths’ intrapersonal protective processes that, in turn, dissuaded youth from engaging in health-compromising behaviors.
A unique aspect of the PAAS program was the testing of technology as an alternative delivery modality for disseminating evidence-based programs in rural communities. Similar to SAAF, PAAS intervention effects were effective in delaying/deterring substance use and other risky behaviors by influencing parenting practices and youth protective factors (i.e. cognitive and emotional self-regulation), with greater programmatic effects demonstrated among families receiving the program via technology delivery format.
Her most recent research work focuses on merging neuroscience and prevention science to examine effects of PAAS on risk-taking/cognitive-control neural circuits and assessing whether changes in these circuits correlate with changes in youth protective factors (i.e. improving self-regulation).
Professor McBride Murry’s overarching goal is to disseminate her evidence-based preventive intervention programs for uptake in community-based organizations, as well as schools and primary health care settings and in faith-based organizations, and examine their efficacy and effectiveness in real-world settings.
About the Bennett Lecture
The Bennett Lecture in Prevention Science is an annual fall event to honor worldwide leaders in prevention research. The lecture includes a week of activities with the most prominent scholars in the field. The featured speaker also provides a second lecture, co-sponsored with the Child Study Center, on a related topic. The Lectureship was created through an endowment, established in 1999 by Edna Bennett Pierce ’53 HEc, which also provides a comprehensive portfolio of enhancements to the Center.
