The American Psychological Association recently recognized CYFS doctoral affiliates Amanda Moen and Shannon Holmes with Outstanding Student Presentation awards during the 121st APA Annual Convention.
Moen and Holmes, doctoral candidates in educational psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, were among just four students to receive the award from the school psychology division of the APA. The $500 award identified the top student-authored research proposals accepted for presentation at the convention, held July 31 through Aug. 4 in Honolulu.
Moen’s presentation centered on her study of Getting Ready, a CYFS-developed intervention approach designed to encourage parental engagement and improve the prospects of young children at risk for developmental delays.
Citing established links between early language and social skills, Moen’s research hypothesized that children’s language abilities would magnify Getting Ready’s impact on social-emotional development. Her study found support for this hypothesis, showing that children with stronger pre-intervention language skills showed greater gains in social attachment and larger reductions in anxiety and troublesome behavior.
Holmes presented research on Conjoint Behavioral Consultation, a family-school partnership intervention in which trained consultants collaborate with teachers and parents to address children’s behavioral issues in both the classroom and the home.
Holmes outlined the development of an approach that measures multiple dimensions of CBC fidelity, which has traditionally focused solely on how closely consultants adhere to the intervention’s objectives. In addition to adherence, the newly developed approach accounts for the quality and frequency of the intervention’s delivery, along with participants’ responsiveness to it. Holmes’ presentation also summarized conclusions drawn from the approach, which found that CBC met or exceeded each of the fidelity standards being measured.
CYFS director Susan Sheridan, co-developer of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation and Getting Ready, serves as a faculty advisor to Moen and Holmes.