Overview
Dr. Puffer is a global mental health researcher and a licensed clinical psychologist. Her research focuses on developing and evaluating integrated community-based interventions to promote child mental health, improve family functioning, and prevent HIV risk behavior. Her work includes studies with families with young children through those with adolescents, as well as with couples. She has conducted much of this work in rural Kenya and is an investigator on multiple studies of child mental health, family well-being, and parenting interventions in Thailand, Ethiopia, Liberia, South Sudan, and Iraq.
Among Dr. Puffer's primary collaborators are the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization, the Women's Institute for Secondary Education and Research in Kenya, and AMPATH, a consortium between North American medical schools and Moi University in Kenya.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Pamela and Jack Egan Associate Professor
·
2023 - Present
Psychology & Neuroscience,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
·
2023 - Present
Psychology & Neuroscience,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Associate Research Professor of Global Health
·
2023 - Present
Duke Global Health Institute,
University Institutes and Centers
Affiliate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society
·
2014 - Present
Duke Science & Society,
University Initiatives & Academic Support Units
Affiliate of the Center for Child and Family Policy
·
2015 - Present
Center for Child and Family Policy,
Sanford School of Public Policy
Recent Publications
Effectiveness of a universal film intervention in reducing violence against children and increasing positive parenting among migrant and displaced caregivers from Myanmar: a community-based cluster randomised trial.
Journal Article The Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · February 2025 BackgroundParenting interventions have been shown to reduce violence against children and promote positive parenting, but evidence on interventions to achieve population-level reach and impact is limited in low-resource settings. We assessed the i ... Full text CiteExploring Nonspecialist Preparedness to Deliver an Evidence-Based, Family Strengthening Intervention in Rwanda: A Qualitative Study.
Journal Article The journal of behavioral health services & research · January 2025 Families in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face significant mental health and psychosocial care gaps. In recent years, researchers and practitioners have addressed these gaps by task-sharing evidence-based mental health and psychosocial support ( ... Full text CiteFactors Associated with Nonspecialist Quality of Delivery within a Family Strengthening Intervention in Rwanda: a Parallel Latent Growth Model.
Journal Article Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · January 2025 In task-shared, mental health, and psychosocial support interventions, monitoring the quality of delivery (fidelity and competence) of nonspecialist providers is critical. Quality of delivery is frequently reported in brief, summary statistics, and while b ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Adapting the ESTEEM intervention to improve mental health and PrEP engagement among gay and bisexual men in Guatemala
ResearchCo-Mentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029Global Parenting Initiative
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Oxford University Clinical Research Unit · 2023 - 2025Parents Make The Difference
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by International Rescue Committee · 2014 - 2018View All Grants
Education, Training & Certifications
University of South Carolina, Columbia ·
2008
Ph.D.
University of South Carolina, Columbia ·
2005
M.A.
Furman University ·
2002
B.S.