Skip to main content

News Home

Findings highlight program’s success in reducing, preventing sexual violence among Native American girls

Students listen intently during an IMpower training session on a Native American reservation in South Dakota. (Photo courtesy of Brooke Duthie Photography)

Katie Edwards, a leading researcher on interpersonal violence at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, co-authored two recently published papers on the impacts of a sexual violence prevention program aimed at empowering Native American adolescent girls. Full Article

Mindfulness training available to Brazilian educators through CHIME

Holly Hatton-Bowers, assistant professor of child, youth and family studies, gives a goodbye hug upon leaving a nursery school in Recife, Brazil. Learn more about CHIME in the CYFS Research Network.

While great efforts are made to improve children’s well-being in childcare environments, far less attention is paid to caregivers’ well-being. Evidence shows compassion- and mindfulness-based programs and strategies enhance both caregiver and child well-being, which may reduce burnout, stress and depression — and lead to children receiving more sensitive and responsive care. Full Article

Brazil research empowers vulnerable families, communities amid COVID-19 crisis

Cody Hollist, associate professor of child, youth and family studies, is part of a team of researchers working to improve educational outcomes for children and youth living in Brazil.

Efforts to help vulnerable communities is most effective when it actively engages community members, agencies and other stakeholders in solving complex social problems.

In many parts of Brazil, communities must find their own ways to address the needs of children and families with limited resources. Those needs have intensified since early 2020, as COVID-19 quickly spread throughout the country. Full Article

TAPP Online brings enhanced support to rural students, families and schools

CYFS researchers are working to identify an effective professional development approach to prepare school-based specialists to implement the Teachers and Parents as Partners (TAPP) intervention to address behavioral challenges presented by rural students. Learn more about this project in the CYFS Research Network.

Research shows rural students are experiencing social-behavioral and mental health challenges at unprecedented rates, placing them at risk for long-term negative outcomes.

With the effectiveness of family-school interventions in addressing social-behavioral and mental health needs at both school and home — especially in rural settings — professional development of rural practitioners is a priority. Full Article

Help Me Grow Nebraska streamlines access to children’s health care services, resources

Researchers are collaborating with health care providers, state and county agencies, and various local organizations to build a more streamlined, equitable health system for Nebraska families and their children. Learn more in the CYFS Research Network.

Searching for the right health care resources — and the most efficient way to access them — can be overwhelming.

For families seeking health care for young children, the task can be even more daunting.

Early childhood health systems are often complex, siloed and disconnected, which leads to inadequate supports and services for families. Full Article

Project examines how external, internal controls in schools affect students’ opportunities to learn

An ongoing study is examining how internal school controls, such as guidelines implemented by a school’s principal, administrators and teachers, can mediate the impact of external controls from the federal, state and city level. Learn more in the CYFS Research Network.

When it comes to measuring student outcomes, grading individual schools can be complicated.

Although federal, state and local mandates are continually added to school-based policies and practices used to measure student performance — and hold schools accountable — research indicates that such measures have mixed effects on student achievement, graduation rates and equity in learning. Full Article

Statewide survey finds Nebraska educators can adjust to ‘virtually’ anything, but at what cost?

During spring 2020, all of Nebraska’s 983 public schools sat vacant — and all the state’s 330,000 children from pre-kindergarten to grade 12 were learning in out-of-classroom environments. Learn more about this project in the CYFS Research Network.

As the COVID-19 epidemic escalated to a pandemic in early 2020, millions of Americans began working from home — and millions of students left their classrooms to continue their studies remotely.

In March 2020, all 983 Nebraska public schools sat vacant, and all the state’s 330,000 children from pre-kindergarten to grade 12 were learning in out-of-classroom environments. Full Article

Prevention program aims to reduce dating violence, problem drinking among LGBTQ+ youth

Nebraska and Colorado researchers are leading development of an online dating violence and problem drinking prevention initiative for LGBTQ+ youth ages 15 to 18. Lean more in the CYFS Research Network.

For sexual minority youth, dating violence and problem drinking are frequently intertwined, often leading to depression and even suicide.

Katie Edwards, associate professor, CYFS and educational psychology, and Heather Littleton, associate professor and director of research operations at the Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience at the University of Colorado–Colorado Springs, are developing an online initiative for LGBTQ+ youth ages 15 to 18 to prevent dating violence and alcohol use. The program is the first culturally adapted and affirming program designed specifically for sexual minority youth. Full Article