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Children in Poverty
The goals of this program are
to understand the processes by which poverty affects children's development,
including individual and contextual factors that exacerbate or ameliorate
negative effects, and to apply this knowledge to improve the lives of
poor children.
The distinguishing features
of this research program are:
- A multidimensional focus
that emphasizes physical health, socioemotional functioning, and
school achievement and the interplay among these domains;
- The study of poverty in
highly diverse contexts, including developing countries and urban and
rural areas within the U.S.;
- Emphasis on both developmental
vulnerability and resilience in poor children; and
- Collaboration with local
schools, health systems, and other child-focused institutions in the
practical utilization of knowledge.
Sheila
Gahagan, is the interim director for this research program. Faculty
members at the Center are currently conducting 23 biomedical and behavioral
research projects related to children in poverty. Most of the research projects
at the Center cluster in three areas: nutritional problems that disproportionately
affect poor children in the U.S. and in developing countries; family and
contextual factors that affect socioemotional functioning of poor and minority
children and their families in the U.S.; and the ecology and well-being
of children in families transitioning from welfare to work.
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