Scholars@Duke
Eve S. Puffer

Eve S. Puffer

Pamela and Jack Egan Associate Professor
Psychology & Neuroscience
eve.puffer@duke.edu
90086, 235 Soc/Psych Building, Durham, NC 27708
417 Chapel Drive, 250, Reuben-Cooke Building, Durham, NC 27708

Scholarly Works - Journal articles

The Intersection of Mental Health and Intimate Partner Violence Among Adolescents in Kenya: A Qualitative Study.

Journal article Violence against women · June 2026 This study examines intersections between adolescent mental health and intimate partner violence (IPV) in rural southwestern Kenya through focus groups with adolescents (9-17) and caregivers of adolescents. Blended community participatory and thematic anal ... Full text Cite

'Sawa Aqwa' (Stronger Together): A multi-site randomized controlled trial of a brief family systemic intervention for adolescent mental health in Lebanon.

Journal article Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · June 2026 BackgroundThere are no evaluated family-based mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions for adolescents in Southwest Asia (known as the Middle East), and few whole-family interventions in low- and middle-income countries, despit ... Full text Cite

The PREvention Program for Adolescent Relationship and Emotional Development (PREPARED): a proof-of-concept study.

Journal article BMC public health · March 2026 BACKGROUND: The bi-directional link between mental health problems and intimate partner violence (IPV) is well established, yet there is a lack of prevention approaches directly targeting both during adolescence. This study conducted a mixed-methods pilot ... Full text Cite

"I just want to be normal": Psychosocial experiences of adolescents and young adults with sickle cell disease in Kenya.

Journal article Glob Ment Health (Camb) · 2026 Background: Adolescents and young adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) in Kenya experience psychosocial challenges shaped by developmental transitions and social and health system contexts. Limited research has examined differences across adolescence and ... Full text Link to item Cite

Dissemination as Design: Participatory Co-Creation of Psychosocial Interventions for Sickle Cell Care in Kenya

Journal article Journal of Participatory Research Methods · January 1, 2026 This manuscript will describe a participatory dissemination approach used to translate research findings into actionable strategies for supporting adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and their families in Kenya. Rather than positioning dissemination ... Full text Cite

Parenting on the border: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of a trauma-informed, edutainment-enhanced intervention to improve parenting and mental health among migrant and displaced caregivers in Thailand

Journal article Ssm Mental Health · December 1, 2025 There is currently a lack of evidence-based interventions with a dual focus on improving parenting and caregiver mental health in conflict and humanitarian settings. To address this gap, we co-designed a trauma-informed, edutainment-enhanced intervention t ... Full text Cite

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 Cite

Exploring 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 Cite

Factors 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 Cite

Social Vulnerability, COVID-19, Racial Violence, and Depressive Symptoms: a Cross-sectional Study in the Southern United States.

Journal article Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · December 2024 BackgroundIn March 2020, the novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic. In May 2020, George Floyd was murdered, catalyzing a national racial reckoning. In the Southern United States, these events occurred in the context of ... Full text Cite

Caregiver preferences for physically harsh discipline of children in rural Uganda.

Journal article Journal of family violence · July 2024 PurposePhysically harsh discipline is associated with poor developmental outcomes among children. These practices are more prevalent in areas experiencing poverty and resource scarcity, including in low- and middle-income countries. Designed to li ... Full text Cite

A Pilot Study of the Coping Together Virtual Family Intervention: Exploring Changes in Family Functioning and Individual Well-Being.

Journal article Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · July 2024 In this pilot study, we tested a virtual family strengthening and mental health promotion intervention, Coping Together (CT), during the COVID-19 pandemic. We explored changes at the family and individual levels, as well as mechanisms of change. Participan ... Full text Cite

Correlates of Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and Perpetration in Adolescents and Young Adults in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.

Journal article Trauma Violence Abuse · April 2024 Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global public health crisis with long-term adverse consequences for both victims and perpetrators. Patterns of violence often begin during adolescence, yet most interventions target adult relationships. A systematic rev ... Full text Link to item Cite

Global Is Local: Leveraging Global Mental-Health Methods to Promote Equity and Address Disparities in the United States.

Journal article Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · March 2024 Structural barriers perpetuate mental health disparities for minoritized US populations; global mental health (GMH) takes an interdisciplinary approach to increasing mental health care access and relevance. Mutual capacity building partnerships between low ... Full text Cite

Family Strengthening in the Context of COVID-19: Adapting a Community-Based Intervention from Kenya to the United States.

Journal article Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · February 2024 COVID-19 led to widespread disruption of services that promote family well-being. Families impacted most were those already experiencing disparities due to structural and systemic barriers. Existing support systems faded into the background as families bec ... Full text Cite

Congregation leader and member discussions in a church-based family strengthening, mental health promotion and HIV prevention trial: Intervention.

Journal article Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · January 2024 Collaboration with African religious congregations can promote psychosocial well-being with greater accessibility. Effective collaboration requires studying congregations as unique intervention contexts. This study explored how an intervention in western K ... Full text Cite

Nurturing families: A feasibility randomised controlled trial of a whole-family intervention with vulnerable families in Jordan.

Journal article Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · January 2024 Armed conflict and forced displacement can significantly strain nurturing family environments, which are essential for child well-being. Yet, limited evidence exists on the effectiveness of family-systemic interventions in these contexts. We conducted a tw ... Full text Cite

Erratum: Nurturing families: A feasibility randomised controlled trial of a whole-family intervention with vulnerable families in Jordan - ERRATUM.

Journal article Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · January 2024 [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1017/gmh.2024.43.]. ... Full text Cite

A comparison of assessment tools for childcare centers in high vs. low resource settings.

Journal article Frontiers in public health · January 2024 Studies suggest issues may arise when using childcare setting assessment tools designed for high-resource settings in low-resource settings to assess and improve the quality of care, including placing disproportionate weight on features of the childcare en ... Full text Cite

Early Childhood Parenting Programs and Community Peacebuilding Behaviors: A Case Study From Postconflict Liberia

Journal article Peace and Conflict · December 14, 2023 Despite the connection between early childhood development (ECD) and later behavioral outcomes, peacebuilding frameworks have only recently begun to explore pathways through which ECD programs promote peace in community contexts. Recent literature theorize ... Full text Cite

Adapting a substance use screening and brief intervention for peer-delivery and for youth in Kenya.

Journal article SSM. Mental health · December 2023 BackgroundSubstance use is a major problem among youth in sub-Saharan Africa, yet interventions that address this problem are scarce within the region. Screening and brief intervention is a cost-effective, efficacious, and easy to scale public hea ... Full text Cite

Clinician and academic perspectives on expressive arts therapy for refugee children and families: a qualitative study

Journal article International Journal of Migration Health and Social Care · November 27, 2023 Purpose: The refugee journey is fraught with challenges before, during and after resettlement. There is a critical need for mental health support upon arrival, and refugees face language, cultural and logistical barriers. Arts-based therapies are a promisi ... Full text Cite

Comparing fears about paediatric HIV disclosure to the lived experiences of parents and guardians: a prospective cohort study.

Journal article Psychology & health · November 2023 ObjectiveWe aimed to: (1) follow parents and guardians through the process of paediatric HIV disclosure to understand how often pre-disclosure worries are realised; and (2) estimate the effects of disclosure on child, caregiver, and family well-be ... Full text Cite

Feasibility and acceptability of a peer provider delivered substance use screening and brief intervention program for youth in Kenya.

Journal article BMC public health · November 2023 BackgroundYouth in sub-Saharan Africa are at high risk of substance use yet lack access to substance use interventions. The goal of this project was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a peer-delivered, single-session substance use sc ... Full text Cite

Adaptation and Evaluation of a Picture-Based Measure of Parent Discipline

Journal article Journal of Child and Family Studies · October 1, 2023 Harsh parenting behaviors are some of the most commonly used discipline practices in the United States but are often difficult to measure. Self-report instruments are the most used method of assessing parenting behaviors, but likely result in response bias ... Full text Cite

Maternal adverse childhood experiences, child mental health, and the mediating effect of maternal depression: A cross-sectional, population-based study in rural, southwestern Uganda.

Journal article American journal of biological anthropology · September 2023 ObjectivesThis study aimed to examine the intergenerational effects of maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and child mental health outcomes in rural Uganda, as well as the potentially mediating role of maternal depression in this pathway ... Full text Cite

Peer-delivered Problem-solving Therapy for Adolescent Mental Health in Kenya: Adaptation for Context and Training of Peer-counselors.

Journal article Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · September 2023 Peer-delivered interventions for adolescent mental health can help address poor access to mental health interventions. Questions remain about how interventions can be adapted for peer delivery and whether peers can be trained. In this study, we adapted pro ... Full text Cite

Assessing ad-hoc adaptations' alignment with therapeutic goals: a qualitative study of lay counselor-delivered family therapy in Eldoret, Kenya.

Journal article Implementation science communications · August 2023 BackgroundA key question in implementation science is how to balance adaptation and fidelity in translating interventions to new settings. There is growing consensus regarding the importance of planned adaptations to deliver interventions in conte ... Full text Cite

Predictors of harsh parenting practices and inter-partner conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada: a cross-sectional analysis from the Ontario Parent Survey.

Journal article BMJ open · August 2023 ObjectivesGuided by the bioecological model, the purpose of this study was to examine the associations of (1) individual level factors (sociodemographic, health behaviour and mental health), (2) family (micro) level COVID-19 experiences (difficult ... Full text Cite

Parenting in a conflict-affected setting: Discipline practices, parent-child interactions, and parenting stress in Liberia.

Journal article Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43) · April 2023 Children in conflict-affected settings are at increased risk for exposure to violence, placing particular importance on caregiving environments. This study first describes parenting in urban Liberia by evaluating parent-child interactions, the use and acce ... Full text Cite

Resettlement, mental health, and coping: a mixed methods survey with recently resettled refugee parents in Canada.

Journal article BMC public health · February 2023 BackgroundResettlement experiences of refugee parents are under-researched despite evidence indicating higher risk of poor mental health. The current study integrates family systems and social determinants of refugee mental health frameworks to ex ... Full text Cite

Effective training practices for non-specialist providers to promote high-quality mental health intervention delivery: A narrative review with four case studies from Kenya, Ethiopia, and the United States.

Journal article Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · January 2023 Mental health needs and disparities are widespread and have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the greatest burden being on marginalized individuals worldwide. The World Health Organization developed the Mental Health Gap Action Programme to a ... Full text Cite

A film-based intervention to reduce child maltreatment among migrant and displaced families from Myanmar: Protocol of a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial.

Journal article PloS one · January 2023 BackgroundChild maltreatment is a global public health crisis with negative consequences for physical and mental health. Children in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC)-particularly those affected by poverty, armed conflict, and forced migrati ... Full text Cite

Is social-ecological risk associated with individual HIV risk beliefs and behaviours?: An analysis of Kenyan adolescents' local communities and activity spaces.

Journal article Global public health · December 2022 The places where adolescents live, learn, and play are thought to influence behaviours and health, but we have limited tools for measuring environmental risk on a hyperlocal (e.g. neighbourhood) level. Working with 218 adolescents and their parents/guardia ... Full text Cite

The association between urban greenspace and psychological health among young adults in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Journal article Environmental research · December 2022 IntroductionPsychological disorders are emerging as health priorities in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically Ethiopia. Urban greenspace - parks, trees, and other vegetation integrated into urban form - may facilitate population psychological health, ... Full text Cite

Mechanisms of change for a family intervention in Kenya: An Integrated Clinical and Implementation Mapping approach.

Journal article Behaviour research and therapy · December 2022 To increase cultural relevance and maximize access for historically underserved populations, there is a need to explore mechanisms underlying treatment outcomes during piloting. We developed a mixed-method approach, Integrated Clinical and Implementation M ... Full text Cite

Pathways from parent mental health to child outcomes in Liberia: Testing cross-sectional and longitudinal serial mediation models

Journal article Ssm Mental Health · December 1, 2022 Children in humanitarian settings face complex adversities that impact development. The interplay of caregiver mental health, couples' relationship quality, and parenting practices can both protect against adversity and contribute to it. The purpose of the ... Full text Cite

Designing Culturally and Contextually Sensitive Protocols for Suicide Risk in Global Mental Health: Lessons From Research With Adolescents in Kenya.

Journal article Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · September 2022 In cross-cultural psychological treatment research, investigators must ensure that protocols for addressing risk are culturally tailored and feasible, while also protecting against harm. Guidelines including the Belmont Report1 and the Declarati ... Full text Cite

A Community-Embedded Implementation Model for Mental-Health Interventions: Reaching the Hardest to Reach.

Journal article Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · September 2022 The mental-health-care treatment gap remains very large in low-resource communities, both within high-income countries and globally in low- and middle-income countries. Existing approaches for disseminating psychological interventions within health systems ... Full text Cite

Dietary Diversity and Dietary Patterns in School-Aged Children in Western Kenya: A Latent Class Analysis.

Journal article International journal of environmental research and public health · July 2022 Inadequate diet among children has both immediate and long-term negative health impacts, but little is known about dietary diversity and dietary patterns of school-aged children in rural Kenya. We assessed dietary diversity and identified dietary patterns ... Full text Cite

Long-term health outcomes of adolescent character strength interventions: 3- to 4-year outcomes of three randomized controlled trials of the Shamiri program.

Journal article Trials · May 2022 BackgroundAdolescents in low- and middle-income countries in need of mental health care often do not receive it due to stigma, cost, and lack of mental health professionals. Culturally appropriate, brief, and low-cost interventions delivered by la ... Full text Cite

Bringing Parent-Child Interaction Therapy to South Africa: Barriers and Facilitators and Overall Feasibility-First Steps to Implementation.

Journal article Int J Environ Res Public Health · April 7, 2022 There is a large assessment and treatment gap in child and adolescent mental health services, prominently so in low- and middle-income countries, where 90% of the world's children live. There is an urgent need to find evidence-based interventions that can ... Full text Link to item Cite

Family systemic psychosocial support for at-risk adolescents in Lebanon: study protocol for a multi-site randomised controlled trial.

Journal article Trials · April 2022 BackgroundAdolescents growing up in communities characterised by adversity face multiple risk factors for poor mental health and wellbeing. There is currently a scarcity of research on effective approaches for preventing and treating psychological ... Full text Cite

Learn, Engage, Act, Dedicate (LEAD): development and feasibility testing of a task-shifted intervention to improve alcohol use, depression and family engagement for fathers.

Journal article International journal of mental health systems · March 2022 BackgroundMen's depression, alcohol use, and family problems commonly co-occur to create of cluster of mental health problems. Yet, few treatments exist to address these problems, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). This paper d ... Full text Cite

Flexible protocols and paused audio recorders: The limitations and possibilities for technologies of care in two global mental health interventions.

Journal article SSM. Mental health · December 2021 Lay-counselors have become a key human resource in the field of global mental health, aiming to address the estimated one-million-person shortage of mental healthcare providers. However, the role of lay-counselors is ambiguous and in tension: their role is ... Full text Cite

"When my children see their father is sober, they are happy": A qualitative exploration of family system impacts following men's engagement in an alcohol misuse intervention in peri-urban Kenya.

Journal article SSM. Mental health · December 2021 BackgroundMen's alcohol misuse does not occur in a vacuum but has a cascade of consequences for families and children, with ties to violence, poor parenting, and poor partner and child mental health. Despite the intersection of individual and inte ... Full text Cite

Assessing trauma and related distress in refugee youth and their caregivers: should we be concerned about iatrogenic effects?

Journal article European child & adolescent psychiatry · September 2021 Assessment of potentially traumatic events and related psychological symptoms in refugee youth is common in epidemiological and intervention research. The objective of this study is to characterize reactions to assessments of trauma exposure and psychologi ... Full text Cite

Building community-based helping practices by training peer-father counselors: A novel intervention to reduce drinking and depressive symptoms among fathers through an expanded masculinity lens.

Journal article The International journal on drug policy · September 2021 BackgroundProblem drinking and co-occurring depression symptoms affect men at high rates and are associated with increased risk of family violence. In low- and middle-income countries, there is a large treatment gap for services due to a lack of h ... Full text Cite

Children's Beliefs about Pain: An Exploratory Analysis.

Journal article Children (Basel) · May 27, 2021 Functional abdominal pain (FAP) is one of the most common childhood medical complaints, associated with significant distress and impairment. Little is known about how children understand their pain. Do they attribute it to personal weakness? Do they percei ... Full text Link to item Cite

Development and Implementation of a Family Therapy Intervention in Kenya: a Community-Embedded Lay Provider Model

Journal article Global Social Welfare · March 1, 2021 The large burden of mental health disorders among young people worldwide calls for scalable prevention and treatment models that reach children and families in low-resource settings. This paper describes the development of an evidence-informed family thera ... Full text Cite

Development of the Family Togetherness Scale: A Mixed-Methods Validation Study in Kenya.

Journal article Frontiers in psychology · January 2021 Family functioning is an important target of clinical intervention and research given its close ties with mental health outcomes of both children and adults. However, we lack family functioning measures validated for use in many low- and middle-income coun ... Full text Cite

Mapping Complex Systems: Responses to Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Three Refugee Camps

Journal article Frontiers in Human Dynamics · January 1, 2021 Armed conflict and forced migration are associated with an increase in intimate partner violence (IPV) against women. Yet as risks of IPV intensify, familiar options for seeking help dissipate as families and communities disperse and seek refuge in a forei ... Full text Cite

Caregiver self-efficacy to talk about sex predicts conversations about HIV transmission risk with perinatally infected young people in Zimbabwe.

Journal article AIDS care · December 2020 Given advances in care and treatment for HIV, perinatally infected young people are surviving into adolescence. These young people are making decisions about engaging in sexual relationships and it is critical to ensure they have the information they need ... Full text Cite

Family Functioning and Mental Health Changes Following a Family Therapy Intervention in Kenya: a Pilot Trial.

Journal article Journal of child and family studies · December 2020 Family-based interventions offer a promising avenue for addressing chronic negative family interactions that contribute to lasting consequences, including family violence and the onset and maintenance of mental health disorders. The purpose of this study w ... Full text Cite

Expanding Access to Perinatal Depression Treatment in Kenya Through Automated Psychological Support: Development and Usability Study.

Journal article JMIR formative research · October 2020 BackgroundDepression during pregnancy and in the postpartum period is associated with poor outcomes for women and their children. Although effective interventions exist for common mental disorders that occur during pregnancy and the postpartum per ... Full text Cite

A multiple baseline study of a brief alcohol reduction and family engagement intervention for fathers in Kenya.

Journal article Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · August 2020 ObjectiveTo evaluate a lay provider-delivered, brief intervention to reduce problem drinking and related family consequences among men in Kenya. The 5-session intervention combines behavioral activation (BA) and motivational interviewing (MI). It ... Full text Cite

Suicide clusters among young Kenyan men.

Journal article Journal of health psychology · June 2020 Suicide is a leading cause of global mortality. Suicide clusters have recently been identified among peer networks in high-income countries. This study investigates dynamics of suicide clustering within social networks of young Kenya men (n = 532; 1 ... Full text Cite

Validating mental health assessment in Kenya using an innovative gold standard.

Journal article International journal of psychology : Journal international de psychologie · June 2020 With the growing burden of mental health disorders worldwide, alongside efforts to expand availability of evidence-based interventions, strategies are needed to ensure accurate identification of individuals suffering from mental disorders. Efforts to local ... Full text Cite

Psychosocial Burden of Childhood Sickle Cell Disease on Caregivers in Kenya.

Journal article J Pediatr Psychol · June 1, 2020 OBJECTIVES: To characterize the types and magnitude of psychosocial burden present in caregivers who have a child with sickle cell disease (SCD) in Kenya and to identify predictors of caregiver psychosocial burden, including disease severity and financial ... Full text Link to item Cite

Problematic alcohol use among fathers in Kenya: Poverty, people, and practices as barriers and facilitators to help acceptance.

Journal article The International journal on drug policy · January 2020 BackgroundIn Kenya, the prevalence of alcohol use disorder (AUD) is close to 6%, but a notable treatment gap persists. AUD is especially pronounced among men, leading to negative consequences at both individual and family levels. This study examin ... Full text Cite

What about lay counselors' experiences of task-shifting mental health interventions? Example from a family-based intervention in Kenya.

Journal article International journal of mental health systems · January 2020 BackgroundA key focus of health systems strengthening in low- and middle-income countries is increasing reach and access through task-shifting. As such models become more common, it is critical to understand the experiences of lay providers becaus ... Full text Cite

A Direct Observational Measure of Family Functioning for a Low-Resource Setting: Adaptation and Feasibility in a Kenyan Sample.

Journal article Behavior therapy · March 2019 Family interactions are recognized as highly influential for youth development of psychopathology. Key challenges for assessing family functioning include cross-cultural variability in functioning and self-report measurement challenges. Observational measu ... Full text Cite

The impact of school support on depression among adolescent orphans: a cluster-randomized trial in Kenya.

Journal article Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · January 2019 BackgroundThe objective of this study was to determine if a school support intervention for adolescent orphans in Kenya had effects on mental health, a secondary outcome.MethodsIn this paper, we analyzed data from a 4-year cluster-randomi ... Full text Cite

The prevalence and process of pediatric HIV disclosure: A population-based prospective cohort study in Zimbabwe.

Journal article PloS one · January 2019 IntroductionThe objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of pediatric HIV disclosure in rural Zimbabwe and track the process of disclosure over time.MethodsWe recruited a population-based sample of 372 caregivers of HIV-posi ... Full text Cite

Family-based youth mental health interventions delivered by nonspecialist providers in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review.

Journal article Families, systems & health : the journal of collaborative family healthcare · June 2018 IntroductionYouth in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are at increased risk for poor mental health due to economic and social disadvantage. Interventions that strengthen families may equip children and adolescents with the supports and res ... Full text Cite

Drivers of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Three Refugee Camps.

Journal article Violence against women · March 2018 This qualitative study examined the "drivers" of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in displacement to identify protective factors and patterns of risk. Qualitative data were collected in three refugee camps in South Sudan, Kenya, and Iraq ( N = ... Full text Cite

The impact of the 2014 Ebola virus disease outbreak in Liberia on parent preferences for harsh discipline practices: a quasi-experimental, pre-post design.

Journal article Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · January 2018 BackgroundThis paper uses data from a cohort of parents and guardians of young children living in Monrovia, Liberia collected before and after the 2014 outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) to estimate the impact of EVD exposure on implicit prefer ... Full text Cite

An evaluation of a common elements treatment approach for youth in Somali refugee camps.

Journal article Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · January 2018 BackgroundThis paper reports on: (1) an evaluation of a common elements treatment approach (CETA) developed for comorbid presentations of depression, anxiety, traumatic stress, and/or externalizing symptoms among children in three Somali refugee c ... Full text Cite

A Qualitative Study of Mechanisms Underlying Effects of a Parenting Intervention in Rural Liberia

Journal article European Journal of Development Research · November 1, 2017 Parenting interventions can reduce child maltreatment and improve child outcomes in high-risk settings, but little is known about mechanisms underlying effects. This study presents qualitative findings on mechanisms of change from a randomized trial of a p ... Full text Cite

Improving Mental Health Outcomes of Burmese Migrant and Displaced Children in Thailand: a Community-Based Randomized Controlled Trial of a Parenting and Family Skills Intervention.

Journal article Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · October 2017 The negative effects of displacement and poverty on child mental health are well-known, yet research on prevention interventions in low- and middle-income countries, especially fragile states, remains limited. We examined the effectiveness of a parenting s ... Full text Cite

Associations Between Fathers' and Sons' Sexual Risk in Rural Kenya: The Potential for Intergenerational Transmission.

Journal article The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · August 2017 PurposeDespite high rates of HIV in areas of Sub-Saharan Africa and men's role in driving the epidemic, little is known about whether or how sexual risk-both behaviors and beliefs-may be passed down through generations of males. This study examine ... Full text Cite

The impact of a family skills training intervention among Burmese migrant families in Thailand: A randomized controlled trial.

Journal article PloS one · January 2017 ObjectiveTo conduct a randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of a family-based intervention delivered to Burmese migrant families displaced in Thailand on parenting and family functioning.Participants and proceduresParticipants ... Full text Cite

Association between somatic growth trajectory and cognitive functioning in young children with sickle cell disease.

Journal article Journal of health psychology · August 2016 Children with sickle cell disease are at risk of cognitive deficits and somatic growth delays beginning in early childhood. We examined growth velocity from age 2 years (height and body mass index progression over time) and cognitive functioning in 46 chil ... Full text Cite

A church-based intervention for families to promote mental health and prevent HIV among adolescents in rural Kenya: Results of a randomized trial.

Journal article Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · June 2016 ObjectiveTo evaluate a family- and church-based intervention for adolescents and caregivers in rural Kenya to improve family relationships, reduce HIV risk, and promote mental health.MethodThe intervention was developed using community-ba ... Full text Cite

Participatory mapping in low-resource settings: Three novel methods used to engage Kenyan youth and other community members in community-based HIV prevention research.

Journal article Global public health · May 2016 Understanding the link between health and place can strengthen the design of health interventions, particularly in the context of HIV prevention. Individuals who might one day participate in such interventions - including youth - may further improve the de ... Full text Cite

'I don't need an eye for an eye': Women's responses to intimate partner violence in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Journal article Global public health · January 2016 This paper explores the possibilities for agency in intimate partner violence (IPV) situations from the perspective of women in Sierra Leone and Liberia using focus group discussions (N groups = 14, N participants = 110) and individual interviews (N = 20). ... Full text Cite

Changes in coping, pain, and activity after cognitive-behavioral training: a randomized clinical trial for pediatric sickle cell disease using smartphones.

Journal article The Clinical journal of pain · June 2015 ObjectivesWe examined the outcomes of a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention for pain in pediatric sickle cell disease (SCD) using smartphones as a novel delivery method.Materials and methodsForty-six children with SCD received ... Full text Cite

Parents make the difference: a randomized-controlled trial of a parenting intervention in Liberia.

Journal article Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · January 2015 BackgroundThe objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a brief parenting intervention, 'Parents Make the Difference'(PMD), on parenting behaviors, quality of parent-child interactions, children's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral w ... Full text Open Access Cite

IMPLEMENTATION OF A SCHOOL-BASED HIV PREVENTION CURRICULUM FOLLOWING NATIONAL DISSEMINATION IN NYANZA PROVINCE, KENYA.

Journal article East African medical journal · May 2014 BackgroundPrimary School Action for Better Health (PSABH) became the national HIV prevention curriculum of Kenya in 2005.ObjectiveTo examined implementation of PSABH and student risk behaviour s.SettingMuhuru, a rural division of ... Cite

IMPLEMENTATION OF A SCHOOL-BASED HIV PREVENTION CURRICULUM FOLLOWING NATIONAL DISSEMINATION IN NYANZA PROVINCE, KENYA.

Journal article East African medical journal · May 2014 Primary School Action for Better Health (PSABH) became the national HIV prevention curriculum of Kenya in 2005.To examined implementation of PSABH and student risk behaviour s.Muhuru, a rural division of Nyanza Province.One thousand one hundred and forty s ... Cite

The Importance of Establishing Reliability and Validity of Assessment Instruments for Mental Health Problems: An Example from Somali Children and Adolescents Living in Three Refugee Camps in Ethiopia

Journal article Psychological Injury and Law · January 1, 2014 Assessing mental health problems cross-culturally for children exposed to war and violence presents a number of unique challenges. One of the most important issues is the lack of validated symptom measures to assess these problems. The present study sought ... Full text Cite

Women's perceptions of effects of war on intimate partner violence and gender roles in two post-conflict West African Countries: consequences and unexpected opportunities.

Journal article Conflict and health · January 2014 BackgroundThe aim of this paper is to explore women's perceptions of the causes of intimate partner violence (IPV) in West Africa, and the ways in which they understand these causes to interact with the experiences of war.MethodsThe study ... Full text Cite

Developing a family-based HIV prevention intervention in rural Kenya: challenges in conducting community-based participatory research.

Journal article Journal of empirical research on human research ethics : JERHRE · April 2013 Community-Based Participatory research (CBPR) introduces new ethical challenges for HIV prevention studies in low-resource international settings. We describe a CBPR study in rural Kenya to develop and pilot a family-based HIV prevention and mental health ... Full text Cite

The nature and impact of chronic stressors on refugee children in Ban Mai Nai Soi camp, Thailand.

Journal article Global public health · January 2013 Refugee camps are replete with risk factors for mental health problems among children, including poverty, disruption of family structure, family violence and food insecurity. This study, focused on refugee children from Burma, in Ban Mai Nai Soi camp in Th ... Full text Cite

Changes in religious coping and relapse to drug use among opioid-dependent patients following inpatient detoxification.

Journal article Journal of religion and health · December 2012 Relapse rates remain high among people with opioid dependence. Identifying psychosocial factors associated with outcomes is important for informing behavioral treatments. This study examined religious coping, opioid use, and 12-step participation among 45 ... Full text Cite

Orphan status, HIV risk behavior, and mental health among adolescents in rural Kenya.

Journal article Journal of pediatric psychology · September 2012 ObjectiveTo examine orphan status, mental health, social support, and HIV risk among adolescents in rural Kenya.MethodsRandomly selected adolescents aged 10-18 years completed surveys assessing sexual activity, sex-related beliefs and sel ... Full text Cite

Refugee children in Ban Mai Nai Soi camp, Thailand: a qualitative study

Journal article Conflict and Health · August 2012 Cite

Sensitization to Acute Procedural Pain in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease: Modulation by Painful Vaso-occlusive Episodes, Age, and Endothelin-1

Journal article Journal of Pain · July 2012 The impact of pain early in life is a salient issue for sickle cell disease (SCD), a genetic condition characterized by painful vaso-occlusive episodes (VOEs) that can begin in the first year of life and persist into adulthood. This study examined the effe ... Cite

The protective role of religious coping in adolescents' responses to poverty and sexual decision-making in rural Kenya.

Journal article Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence · March 2012 In this study, we explored how adolescents in rural Kenya apply religious coping in sexual decision-making in the context of high rates of poverty and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 adolescents. One-th ... Full text Open Access Cite

Explaining rural/non-rural disparities in physical health-related quality of life: a study of United Methodist clergy in North Carolina.

Journal article Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · August 2011 PurposeResearchers have documented lower health-related quality of life (HRQL) in rural areas. This study seeks to identify factors that can explain this disparity.MethodsUnited Methodist clergy in North Carolina (N = 1,513) completed the ... Full text Open Access Cite

Individual- and family-level psychosocial correlates of HIV risk behavior among youth in rural Kenya.

Journal article AIDS and behavior · August 2011 Associations between individual- and family-level psychosocial factors and sexual behavior were examined among 325 adolescents ages 10-18 in rural Kenya. History of sexual activity was reported by 51% of males and 30% of females. Among those reporting sex ... Full text Cite

An evidence-based group coping intervention for women living with HIV and history of childhood sexual abuse.

Journal article International journal of group psychotherapy · January 2011 Women living with HIV/AIDS and a history of childhood sexual abuse often exhibit sexual trauma symptoms and elevated rates of HIV-risk behaviors. In this paper, we describe a coping skills group intervention that reduced traumatic stress and sexual-risk be ... Full text Cite

. Implementation of a of a school-based HIV prevention program in rural Kenya after national dissemination

Journal article East African Medical Journal · 2011 Objective: Primary School Action for Better Health (PSABH) became the national HIV prevention curriculum of Kenya in 2007. This study examined implementation of PSABH and student risk behaviors. Setting: The study was conducted in Muhuru, a rural division ... Cite

An evidence-based group coping intervention for women living with HIV and history of childhood sexual abuse

Journal article International Journal of Group Psychotherapy · January 1, 2011 Women living with HIV/AIDS and a history of childhood sexual abuse often exhibit sexual trauma symptoms and elevated rates of HIV-risk behaviors. In this paper, we describe a coping skills group intervention that reduced traumatic stress and sexual-risk be ... Cite

Criterion and convergent validity for 4 measures of pain in a pediatric sickle cell disease population.

Journal article The Clinical journal of pain · February 2009 ObjectiveTo evaluate the psychometric properties of 4 measures of acute pain in youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) during a medical procedure.MethodsHeart rate, child self-report, parent proxy-report, and observable pain behaviors were ... Full text Cite

Language processing deficits in sickle cell disease in young school-age children.

Journal article Developmental neuropsychology · January 2009 Verbal IQ deficits are frequently reported for school-age children with sickle cell disease (SCD), yet the profile of language abilities in SCD is unclear. We examined semantic, syntactic, and phonological processing in five-to-seven-year-olds at high neur ... Full text Cite