Research Projects:

Evaluation of Promising Models and Delivery Approaches to Child Care Provider Training

Early Reading First Evaluation

The Efficacy of Building Language for Literacy and Core Knowledge to Promote School Readiness

Preventing Child Neglect in High-Risk Mothers

Reading First (in Louisiana)

Baby/Child Library

Community Child Health Research in Washington, DC

Early Childhood Education: Effects on Adult Adaptation
Intergenerational Pathways to Competence in Minority Families
Louisiana Early Childhood Development Programs (LA4) Pre-Kindergarten: Program Evaluation and Research
Predicting and Preventing Neglect in Teen Mothers

Title: Child Neglect in Adolescent Mothers

PI: Robin Lanzi
Primary Funding Agency: NICHD/NIH
Abstract: In this K01 career development award, Dr. Lanzi seeks to (1) develop a systematic program of longitudinal research on child neglect particularly exploring the possible role of maternal responsibility, depression, and social support as significant etiologic factors in child neglect among adolescent mothers; and (2) enhance her analytical skills for testing and refining complex, longitudinal, and interactive models of development. Her long-term objectives include: (1) designing and conducting multi-disciplinary, multi-site longitudinal studies to prevent child neglect; and (2) integrating theories and research findings from the fields of developmental psychology, social demography, and maternal and child health. This study builds directly upon a NICHD 4-site longitudinal study of child neglect (John Borkowski, P.I.; Dr. Sharon Ramey, Co-P.I.), and specifically expands the scientific inquiry and planned data analyses among adolescent mothers to include an adolescent development construct. The overall hypothesis guiding the work is that child neglect among adolescent mothers may be compounded by their stage of development and lack of experience, greater levels and/or fluctuations in depression, and inadequate or wavering social support. The behavior of 100 adolescent mothers (primaparous) will be compared to that of a matched sample of 50 adolescents who are not mothers and a matched sample of 50 adult mothers. Innovative aspects of the proposed research include the recruitment of an additional comparison sample of age-matched females to provide normative, longitudinal data; the use of cell phone methodology to obtain new measures regarding adolescent mood fluctuations and changes in the composition and adequacy of their social support networks; the creation of a general “adolescent responsibility index” and the development and application of a structured dialogue to probe both adolescent and adult mothers’ perceptions of “child neglect.” This research is of paramount significance because there are alarming rates of child neglect among adolescent and high-risk mothers and limited understanding of the maternal developmental factors related to the onset, severity, and duration of child neglect.