Under the co-leadership of Sanford faculty member Lisa Gennetian, the National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families (Center) has received a $7.75 million grant from the Office of Planning Research and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which extends the Center’s research through 2028. The Center is a collaboration between Drs. Guzman and Ramos-Olazagasti at Child Trends, Dr. Gennetian at Duke University, Drs. Crosby and Mendez-Smith at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Dr. Cabrera at the University of Maryland, College Park. The Center's aims include generating data-driven insights into service delivery, and program administration, supporting a pipeline of early career scholars, and amplifying the diverse strengths and needs of Latino families.
A newly-published paper in PNAS titled "Exposure to the Indian Ocean Tsunami shapes the HPA-axis resulting in HPA “burnout” 14 years later" by a team led by DUPRI's Duncan Thomas examines the long-term effects of the Indian Ocean Tsunami on health. The authors provide causal evidence on the long-term effects of traumatic exposures on HPA-axis function, using longitudinal data from survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Indonesia. Fourteen years after the disaster, women who were exposed to the tsunami’s direct impacts present with levels of hair cortisol 30% lower than counterparts not similarly exposed. The authors distinguish short-term from longer-term levels of elevated post-traumatic stress symptoms and show that effects are larger among individuals for whom post-traumatic symptoms remain elevated for 2 y after the tsunami which likely reflects “burnout” since low cortisol is also associated with contemporaneous indicators of poor general and psychosocial health. The impacts of large-scale traumatic events on women’s physiology through the HPA-axis endure for many years.
After a 3-year hiatus, Demography Daze returned on September 15, 2023 at DUPRI, for its 9th edition. An event originally developed by emeritus director Angie O’Rand and Carolina Population Center (CPC) emeritus director Phil Morgan, Demography Daze brings together population scientists from CPC and DUPRI to share their research, foster collaborations and discuss ongoing work in a collegial atmosphere. The event is hosted by DUPRI or CPC alternating years.
A new publication by an international group of scholars (including DUPRI's Susan Alberts and Jenny Tung) and partially funded by a DPRC pilot grant examines how early adversity affects adult body size in wild female baboons.
A new collaborative paper between DUPRI scholars Cheryl Elman and Matthew Dupre, published in Social Science & Medicine, finds the racial gap in all-cause mortality among 1920-1954 birth cohorts associated with U.S. Plantation Census (1916, 1948) birthplaces.
DUPRI's Chris Wildeman, along with an interdisciplinary group of scholars, has published a paper that introduces a cross-national data resource for comparative child welfare research. The Rockwool–Duke Global Child Welfare Database (RDGCWD) is a cross-national aggregate longitudinal data resource created to facilitate comparative research on children’s involvement with child welfare systems (CWS) and child protective services (CPS) across national contexts. The basis for the RDGCWD is harmonized data collected from national and transnational child welfare and statistical agencies on three types of contact: maltreatment investigation, substantiated maltreatment, and out-of-home placement. The database covers 44 countries for the period 2000–2020 with 33 country–year observations of children investigated by CWS/CPS, 104 country–year observations of investigations by CWS/CPS, 194 country–year observations of CWS/CPS confirmations of maltreatment, 66 country-year observations of children maltreated, 233 country–year observations of children entering out-of-home care, 402 country–year observations of children residing in out-of-home care at a specific point in time, and 55 country-year observations of entrances into care. Interested researchers can access the data at the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN).
A recent collaborative paper between DUPRI scholar Whitney Robinson and UNC public health scholars paper published in SSM - Mental Health explores the temporal and geographic correlation of county-level probation rates & mental health in North Carolina.
V. Joseph Hotz, Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor of Economics, Tyson Brown, WLF Associate Professor of Sociology and Naomi N. Duke, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Sociology are part of a team of researchers that have received a five-year, $25.3 million National Institute on Aging (NIA) award. The award will address gaps in the understanding of potential risks for Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Dementias (AD/ADRD). Hotz, Duke and Kathleen Mullan Harris and Krista M. Perreira at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) lead the team.
Sarah Gaither and Alexander Volfovsky were chosen based on the appeal of their research to an interdisciplinary faculty audience, as well as their embodiment of former Divinity School faculty, dean and provost Thomas Langford’s dedication to teaching, research and service. Each will present a lecture describing their ongoing scholarly activities.
DUPRI student Garrett Baker has been awarded First Prize in the Gene Carte Student Paper Competition by the American Society of Criminology for his paper titled "Shattered Dreams: Paternal Incarceration, Youth Expectations, and the Intergenerational Transmission of Disadvantage" which is forthcoming in Sociological Science.