Every day...
... the Child and Family Center is promoting the healthy development of children and families in a variety of cultural communities.
How Does CFC Promote
Child and Family Health?
- Provides low-cost intervention services for children, adolescents, and families in Eugene and Portland, Oregon, and surrounding areas, as well as in other study areas in the United States
- Engages in research on social and emotional processes among children, adolescents, and families
- Designs and evaluates mental health services
- Shares and exchanges findings through a collaborative forum of affiliate researchers around the world
- Provides professional and research training for graduate and undergraduate students, in part by interfacing with community agencies
- Offers continuing education services for mental health professionals and school staff members
- Partners with organizations and individuals to promote the dissemination of child and family research
Who Are We?
- The Child and Family Center is a research institute that was established in 2000 and formally approved as part of the Oregon University System in July 2002.
- The center’s research scientists, interventionists, and staff are located in Eugene, Oregon, and Portland, Oregon.
- Each team works on multiple grant-funded projects in these settings.
- CFC operates as a community within a community.
- The research at CFC benefits from thousands of colleagues in the international community who are engaging in research on the etiology and prevention of mental health problems in childhood and adolescence.
- Shaped by the changing nature of the science, our work integrates new scientific findings into our research and our prevention services.
- We consider the children and families we work with to be major colleagues in the collaborative process of improving and innovating mental health services for future generations.
Eugene Team
- The Eugene office houses the core of our projects’ management teams, including the business manager, science/technical editor, technology consultant, and coding and data management teams.
- The Eugene site also accommodates approximately 40 research staff, scientists, predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees, and education project assistants.
- Several grant-funded projects operate primarily out of this location, including Early Steps (Dr. Tom Dishion, principal investigator) and the Community Shadow Project (Dr. Alison Boyd-Ball, principal investigator).
- We use videoconferencing to communicate with off-site research settings such as those in Portland; Pittsburg; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Oxford, UK.
The Eugene site also houses the Child and Family Center Clinic.
- Students in the UO counseling, clinical, and school psychology programs participate in this year-long practicum experience, which is designed to train students in empirically based interventions for children and families.
- Using our family-centered intervention approach, the Family Check-Up, students learn to conduct ecological assessments and give feedback to caretakers using motivational interviewing techniques.
- The clinic serves families with children ranging in age from 0 through 17, and students have opportunities to work individually with children as well as with parents/families.
- The clinic serves about 50 to 75 families per year, and students carry about 3 to 5 families in their caseloads at any given time.
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Portland Team
- The Portland office, which houses approximately 10 full-time staff and part-time research assistants, is located in NE Portland near schools and community centers that have been involved in our research.
- In this office, we continue to conduct two major federal grant-funded projects. One is a follow-up to an intervention that occurred more than 10 years ago (Project Alliance 1; Dr. Tom Dishion, principal investigator), and another is an intervention that focuses on the high school transition (Project Alliance 2; Dr. Beth Stormshak, principal investigator).
- In addition, a project recently funded by the Centers for Disease Control (Dr. Beth Stormshak, principal investigator) will work with Portland-based mental health providers to improve the effectiveness of their services for families at risk for child maltreatment, by using an adapted version of the Family Check-Up.
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CFC Codirectors
The codirectors oversee the daily operations of the center, which includes working with the science team to facilitate the collaboration and advancement of ongoing research programs at CFC and to promote centerwide collaboration and resource development. They also train students in empirically based interventions for children and families.
Thomas Dishion, Ph.D., founder and codirector of the Child and Family Center, conducts research in developmental psychopathology and intervention science. He is a professor in the Departments of Psychology and School Psychology at the University of Oregon. He is interested in understanding how children’s relationships with parents and peers influence the development of problem behavior in children and adolescents. His recent research interests include social neuroscience, with a particular focus on identifying neurocognitive mechanisms underlying self-regulation in interpersonal contexts. He is also interested in applying knowledge of developmental processes to the design of preventive and clinical interventions that reduce conflict and distress in families and improve child and adolescent social and emotional adjustment. He and colleagues are working on developing and testing an ecological approach to child and family mental health interventions in service delivery systems such as public schools. Dr. Dishion is currently an investigator on four ongoing prevention trials involving young children and adolescents. He is also the director of the National Institute of Mental Health training grant in Development and Psychopathology.
Beth Stormshak, Ph.D., is codirector of the Child and Family Center and since 1996 has been a faculty member in the University of Oregon College of Education’s Counseling Psychology program. Her early research focused on understanding developmental factors associated with conduct and problem behavior, including parenting and peer relations. For the past 10 years, she has been conducting intervention and prevention research. Her work has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Department of Education, and Centers for Disease Control to enable her to conduct research in schools and Head Start centers. Her focus is on developing and implementing family-centered, school-based interventions to reduce future risk of substance use and antisocial behavior. She currently is the principal investigator on Project Alliance 2, a NIDA-funded program to test the efficacy of the EcoFIT model of intervention during the transition to high school to reduce substance use and problem behavior, and on a CDC-funded grant to collaborate with mental health providers to improve the effectiveness of their services to families. She also serves as the director of the clinic, where she coteaches with Dr. Dishion the child and family practicum for doctoral students in counseling, school, and clinical psychology.
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Directors' Statement
How can science affect the life of the adolescent down the street who’s been skipping school and hanging out downtown with her new friends? How can research change parenting practices such as communication and monitoring? What does fMRI and EEG readings have to do with how easily an adolescent navigates the temptations of peer pressure?
At CFC, we apply research to questions such as these, we involve ourselves with the families we serve, we rely on direct observation, we work with youth and their parents, siblings, teachers, and friends. We study their environments; we assess their thoughts and feelings; we convey skills, encouragement, and support; and we offer services that give families results more efficiently. All CFC activities are research based. A portion of our research translates to better services for children and families. Studying the effectiveness of our CFC interventions often leads to new research questions. This cyclical pattern of research benefits from the valuable contributions of our research scientists, graduate and undergraduate students, and postdoctoral fellows.
Family-centered interventions are the key to behavior change for both youth and families. The overarching goal at CFC is to conduct innovative, scientific research on efficacious interventions to prevent problem behavior for youth and families, including the prevention of substance use, delinquency, and high-risk behaviors that occur during developmental transitions. Guided by a developmental–ecological model that focuses on understanding youth in the context of families, schools, and communities, we have developed and refined a set of tools for intervening with children and families across the lifespan, from birth to early adulthood. Our intervention, called the Family Check-Up, has been empirically validated by a number of federally funded, randomized trials. We are committed to working with diverse populations and communities, including American Indian communities and urban, ethnically and culturally diverse neighborhoods. Our multicultural focus, family-centered approach to intervention, and science-based practice allow us to advance the field of prevention through both our clinical model and intervention research. Future research will focus on dissemination and implementation in real-world settings and training of community professionals in our model.
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Science Team
The behavior scientists at CFC regularly review the center’s progress toward achieving its mission through research and clinical practice. Activities include sharing resources among research projects, short- and long-range CFC planning, helping guide ongoing research activities and future research agendas, and facilitating project problem solving, with input from directors and coordinators from the Portland and Eugene studies and from the advisory board.
CFC scientists include Drs. Yalchin Abdullaev, Alison Boyd-Ball, Bernadette Bullock, Allison Caruthers, Krista Chronister, Thomas Dishion, Kate Kavanagh, Jennifer Mauro, Kristina Hiatt Racer, and Beth Stormshak.
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Student Trainees Play
a Vital Role at CFC
Training and education are at the hub of CFC activities. Figure 1 (right) provides an overview of the synergism between our training and education mission and the research process. This integrated effort is benefited by two postdoctoral training grants, one from the Institute of Educational Science and the other from the National Institute of Mental Health. In addition, the Child and Family practicum currently includes 20 doctoral students who are providing services to children and families. Faculty are researchers who teach graduate and undergraduate courses at the University of Oregon.
We are also strongly committed to undergraduate training. When we teach courses such as social development and development and psychopathology, we disseminate research from CFC to the undergraduate curriculum. In 2008–2009, more than 25 undergraduate education project assistants are working in various segments of our research program, including direct observation, Brain and Behavior Lab, intervention services, and ongoing research projects.
Training and education at CFC are motivating future generations of researchers and clinicians to contribute to the research process and develop greater understanding that will benefit children and families. The iterative nature of our research shows that we engage in various types of research that are mutually informative.
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Our Model for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Training
- combines developmental and child/adolescent psychopathology research
- emphasizes connections between traditionally separate areas of psychology (e.g., cognitive neuroscience, social–personality, developmental, clinical)
- bridges programs of research that address questions across multiple levels of analysis (e.g., individual behavior and dyadic interactions, cognition, emotion, perception, psychophysiology, brain activity)
- integrates advanced training in developmental research and clinical training that includes outcome evaluation and delivery of empirically validated intervention services for children and families
The current training program, Development, Emotion, Ecology, and Psychopathology (DEEP), is a synergistic collaboration between CFC and the University of Oregon Department of Psychology, Oregon Social Learning Center, and Oregon Research Institute that supports trainees as they develop interdisciplinary and integrative programs of research. DEEP has three major components:
- Hands-on, individualized training through mentorship and collaboration
- Working group meetings and workshops
- Undergraduate training
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Postdoctoral Trainees
Two postdoctoral trainees are selected every other year to participate in the training program. Generally, one postdoctoral trainee focuses on advancing a program of research on abnormal or normal development that links intervention science with etiological research. The second trainee is generally selected from a nonclinical area such as attention processes in the development of antisocial behavior in young children. Our current postdoctoral trainees are Dr. Amber McEachern and Dr. Marie-Hélène Véronneau. Dr. Véronneau was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. SSHRC postdoctoral fellowships are awarded to Canadian researchers who recently graduated from a doctoral program to enable them to further develop research skills that will be useful throughout their academic career.
CFC collaborates with the University of Oregon community to improve intervention research and services. Dr. Rob Horner, Special Education in the College of Education, and Dr. Tom Dishion, Psychology and School Psychology and CFC codirector, collaborated on a postdoctoral training program through the Institute of Education Science. This grant-funded program provides two years of support for recent Ph.D. scientists to work in the College of Education and at CFC. The project helps build bridges between research and development in psychology and prevention science, and educational interventions and positive behavior support. Through this collaborative program, Dr. Gregory Fosco joined the CFC research community in September 2008 as a postdoctoral trainee. His special interests are in family-centered interventions and particularly the role of fathers in both development and intervention programs.
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Predoctoral Trainees
Three trainees selected every two years undertake advanced research projects in areas relevant to developmental and child clinical psychology. Current predoctoral trainees are Corrina Falkenstein, counseling psychology; Ida Moadab, clinical psychology; and Maya O’Neil, counseling psychology. In addition, Jeneka Joyce, counseling psychology, is a CFC predoctoral trainee whose work is funded by a minority supplement from the National Institutes of Health.
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A Brief History of CFC
1983–1999 When CFC Codirector Dr. Tom Dishion was a researcher at the Oregon Social Learning Center, he was heavily influenced by the work of Drs. Jerry Patterson and Marion Forgatch (shown right), which involved coercion theory and its application to family-centered interventions to reduce problem behavior in children and adolescents. Coercion theory derives from relationship interaction patterns involving unintended escalations of negative behavior among family members. These interaction dynamics had been found to relate to the development of problem behavior in children and adolescents, depression among family members, marital distress, escalations in alcohol and drug use, and mental health problems. Several OSLC researchers applied this theory to understanding and preventing abuse in families, providing help for traumatized children and adolescents in treatment foster care, and preventing problem outcomes in children before they occur.
1995 Dr. Dishion assumed a faculty position in Counseling Psychology in the University of Oregon College of Education. This step into the university environment was taken to engage in training and collaboration with doctoral students interested in a career in child and family mental health.
1996 Dr. Beth Stormshak moved to the Counseling Psychology program at the University of Oregon after having completed her Ph.D. in child clinical psychology at Penn State University and postdoctoral training with Dr. Carolyn Webster-Stratton.
1997 Dr. Dishion moved to the Clinical Psychology program and accepted a faculty position in the Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Stormshak assumed a faculty position in Counseling Psychology in the College of Education. Drs. Dishion and Stormshak soon collaborated to create a cross-college training program in child and family interventions that was motivated by the intervention model at OSLC and other empirically supported interventions. The child and family practicum provided a context for implementing, in a clinical setting, the intervention referred to as the Family Check-Up.
1998 Drs. Dishion and Stormshak began to collaborate to provide training for doctoral students in counseling, school, and clinical psychology in their research-based model referred to as EcoFIT. This program was the first cross-college doctoral training child and family intervention opportunity provided by the University of Oregon.
1999 Dr. Thomas Dyke, acting vice president of research; Dr. Robert Mauro, department head, psychology; and Drs. Dishion and Stormshak created the Child and Family Center at the University of Oregon. Dishion moved his research to the University of Oregon, and research colleagues Dr. Jennifer Ablow, Dr. Alison Boyd-Ball, Dr. Bernadette Bullock, Dr. Kate Kavanagh, Dr. Jeff Measelle, and Charlotte Winter established two CFC offices, one in Eugene and one in Portland. Under the guidance of Dr. Dyke, a clinic was established in the Eugene office to serve primarily low income children and families in need of mental health services. The services would be provided by doctoral students in the child and family practicum under the supervision of Drs. Stormshak and Dishion. EcoFIT was applied and is continuing to be adapted in the context of the child and family practicum program at CFC.
2001 The CFC was formally established as an institute within the Oregon University System, under the leadership of Dr. Richard Linton, vice president of Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Oregon.
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Organization Overview of CFC
The mission, organizational procedures, and details of ongoing projects and staff are described in the CFC Organizational Manual. Yearly advisory meetings are held to provide a forum for University of Oregon faculty and the UO vice president of research to review CFC’s annual activity and to discuss strategies to promote the role of CFC within the university and state community.
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CFC Support Staff
Pamela Beeler, Receptionist
Pamela joined the CFC staff as an office specialist in July 2008 and has 15 years experience as an administrative assistant. She has a background in elementary education and has taught in Washington, Taiwan, and Oregon. Currently she is working on a master’s degree in education, with an emphasis on integrating the arts. Pamela enjoys working with children and cares about their future.
Robert Lawson, Business Manager
Bob has been with the university since Oct 1999 and with CFC since August 2000. Previously, Bob had retired from the Navy and worked in the computer industry. In his free time he hunts, golfs, works out, and does wood carvings. His wife also works at the university. Their daughter is in law school at Seattle University and is engaged to wed in March 2009.
Cheryl Mikkola, Science & Technical Editor
Cher has been with CFC since November 2005 and has been an author and editor for more than 25 years. She has worked with pharmaceutical and separation scientists, global positioning engineers, and research psychologists. In her freelance editing business, she has worked with material as disparate as crime thrillers, contemporary Taoism, pregnancy and birth, eldercare and hospice, Tarot, and health and education research. She has a grown son and daughter, and currently lives with a cat and a dog on her “farmette” in Eugene.
Richard Nelson, IT Consultant
Richard is in command of all things electronic and computer at CFC. After spending time doing IT in academia, Richard joined the private sector at a Eugene print shop doing everything from telecom to computers to programming, all while completing his degree at the University of Oregon. Richard joined CFC in July 2005, bringing with him his rather eccentric and “homebrewed” approach to IT. Richard spends his time outside of work tooling on his race car, working on his house, and making custom circuit boards … when his wife lets him.
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News Releases
Contact Us
How to Find Us
Child and Family Center
195 W. 12th Ave.
Eugene, OR 97401-3408
Phone: 541-346-4805
Fax: 541-346-4858
Office Hours: 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, or by appointment
Driving Directions
From the North:
I-5 South to Exit 194B (Eugene)
Jefferson St. exit on the left, toward Fairgrounds
Left on W. 12th Ave.
5 blocks to 12th Ave. & Charnelton St.
CFC is situated on the northeast corner of the intersection.
From the South:
I-5 North to Exit 192 (Eugene)
Half-left on W. 11th Ave.
11 blocks to 11th Ave. & Charnelton St.
Left on Charnelton St.
1 block to 12th Ave. & Charnelton St.
CFC is situated on the northeast corner of the intersection.
From the East:
OR-126 (McKenzie Hwy)
Jefferson St. exit, toward Fairgrounds
Left on W. 12th Ave.
5 blocks to 12th Ave. & Charnelton St.
CFC is situated on the northeast corner of the intersection.
From the West:
OR-126 (Florence–Eugene Hwy)
Right onto Garfield St.
2 blocks, turn left onto W. 13th Ave.
1.3 mi. to Lincoln St.; turn left on Lincoln
1 block to 12th Ave., turn right on 12th
1 block to 12th Ave. & Charnelton St.
CFC is situated on the northeast corner of the intersection.
2738 NE Broadway
Portland, OR 97232
Phone: 503-282-3662
Fax: 503-282-3808
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