Projects
Ongoing Projects:
EC PRISM The Early Childhood Precision, Innovation, and Shared Measurement (EC PRISM) framework offers a unique approach to early childhood program design, implementation, and evaluation. The EC PRISM team at the Center for Translational Neuroscience provides individualized technical assistance and consulting services to early childhood programs in order to help them build capacity and ultimately increase the impact of their programs. The framework includes structured learning modules that can be customized and delivered through in-person workshops or webinars. EC PRISM Program Consultants (composed of a team of Ph.D., Masters, and Bachelor level staff) work closely with organizations to support the planning, implementation, and evaluation of their programs.
Point Person: Tyson Barker
IMPACT Measures Repository The IMPACT (Integrated Measurement, Program Assessment, and Collaborative Tools) Measures Repository will be a centralized, regularly updated web-based repository and search engine, dedicated to informing and educating various stakeholders in the field (e.g., program developers, practitioners, community members, childcare providers, social entrepreneurs, and academic researchers,). The IMPACT Measures Repository is currently being created and will include an exhaustive list of measures that can be used to evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of programs supporting caregivers and their young children. These include measures of infant and early child development (0-5 years of age), childcare quality, parent-child interaction, and caregiver health and well-being.
Point Person: Tyson Barker
SEAL The SEAL study is a federally funded randomized control trial led by Drs. Philip Fisher (PI), Elliot Berkman (Co-I) and Nicole Giuliani (Co-I) at the University of Oregon. Families participating in this study are those who are eligible for Early Head Start services and aims to (1) quantify main effects of FIND on intervention targets (changes in responsive caregiving) and related caregiver and child outcomes, (2) Use fMRI to identify process-level neural mechanisms underlying FIND intervention effects (i.e., why FIND works) and variations in these effects (i.e., for whom FIND works), and (3) determine moderations of intervention impact including child and caregiver variables and intervention fidelity and dosage. Participants are randomly assigned to receive either FIND or the Healthy Toddler Program (HTP; a program adapted from the Partners for a Healthy Baby curriculum). Support provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Project Period: February 2019 – Present
Point Person: Alex Wagnon
Website: uosealstudy.org
OTTER The OTTER study is a federally funded randomized control trial led by Drs. Philip Fisher (PI), Elliot Berkman (Co-I) and Nicole Giuliani (Co-I) at the University of Oregon. The study focuses on parenting in the context of opioid misuse and addiction, and will offer FIND and the Healthy Toddler Program (HTP; a program adapted from the Partners for a Healthy Baby curriculum) to eligible families. This study is one of the larger research projects within a NIDA P50 Center for Excellence between the UO’s Center for Translational Neuroscience, UO’s Prevention Science Institute, and OHSU called “Center on Parenting and Opioids (CPO).”
Project Period: August 2019 – Present
Point Person: Alex Wagnon
ORCA The ORCA project’s overall objective is to use electroencephalogram (EEG) to explore the neural regions of the parent brain that are effected by external stress factors. That is, how stress effects the parenting brain, and use these findings to develop more targeted interventions for caregivers facing adversity. Support provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Project Period: October 2017 – Present
Point Person: Tyson Barker, PhD
FIND PCC The FIND PCC Project involves further development and implementation of a three-tiered approach to promote responsive caregiving in the pediatric primary care setting. The project team includes People’s Community Clinic in Austin, Texas, and the UO FIND Team. The project will take place over the course of two years, incuding a six-month planning and development phase, and 18 months of implementation. The three-tiered approach includes, (1) universal messaging around Serve & Return and the 5 FIND Elements, (2) strategies to be used by providers and clinica staff in the context of routine well child checks, (3) individualized FIND video coaching in the context of a home-visit. Funding is provided by the Episcopal Health Foundation.
Project Period: February 2019 – Present
Point Person: Shannon Peake, PhD
FIND Shelter The FIND Shelter project involves implementing group FIND in NYC homeless shelters for caregivers of children 1-3 years of age. The project involves a collaboration between two shelter organizations (Women in Need and CAMBA), NYC Department of Homeless Services, as well as the Strong in Shelter team at NYU Langone. Strong in Shelter targets postpartum depression and is being offered to caregivers with infants. Both programs are utilizing existing shelter staff (i.e. Thrive Client Care Coordinators) to deliver the programs. The project involves four phases: planning and development, feasibility testing, implementation with additional shelter sites, and an outcomes study. Support provided by The Robin Hood Foundation.
Project Period: April 2018 – Present
Point Person: Shannon Peake, PhD
FIND Anglicare The FIND Anglicare project involves a partnership with Anglicare Victoria in Victoria, Australia, and consists of 3 phases: Planning and Readiness (3 months), Implementation (9 months) with the FIND team at University of Oregon providing training and editing, and implementation (3 months) with the UO FIND team providing training and Anglicare Victoria providing editing. FIND will be offered in the context of home-visits to at-risk families in west Melbourne and Bendigo. Bengianni Pizzirani and colleagues at Monach University will be evaluating the feasibility and impact of this project. Decisions regarding funding for further implementation will be determined in early 2020. Support provided by the Flora and Frank Leith Charitable Trust.
Project Period: March 2019 – Present
Point Person: Kyndal Yada, M.Ed.
FIND-Department of Early Learning (FIND-DEL) This project aims to utilize an adaptation of FIND to support family-home and center-based childcare providers in every Infant-Toddler Consultation region of Washington state. The project includes both English and Spanish speaking providers. The implementation is targeted toward providers with lower quality ratings, those about to be rated, and those serving high risk children. Implementation is ongoing with 20 Infant-Toddler Consultants providing FIND coaching. Editing and consultation is provided by the FIND Hub at Children’s Home Society of Washington. Gail Joseph and colleagues from Cultivate Learning at the University of Washington are evaluating the impact of this project. One goal of the evaluation is to determine which caregivers benefit most from the program. FIND-DEL is supported by the Washington State Department of Early Learning.
Project Period: August 2014 – Present
Point Person: Shannon Peake
FIND Roots of Resilience (FIND-RR) Roots of Resilience: Teachers Awakening Children’s Healing combines online modules with online video coaching to support young children who have experienced trauma. The video coaching is based on FIND. It is designed for teachers and childcare providers working with preschool-aged children. Roots of Resilience is now being implemented and tested for the first time. The research and implementation team is based at Oregon State University. Support provided by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
Project Period: September 2015 – Present
Point Person: Shannon Peake
Past Projects:
Frontiers of Innovation (FOI) Measurement Project Frontiers of Innovation (FOI) aims to improve child outcomes through building caregiver capacities. FOI brings together researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to co-develop new, creative, prevention and intervention programs for families. Each project team, or “site”, collects pre- and post- data on the interventions being tested. This project supports the SNAP Lab’s work with FOI to create a centralized database and manualized data management protocol to be used across FOI sites. The SNAP Lab also provides support to project teams to create intervention materials, a theory of change, and to select appropriate measures that can be successfully utilized by sites to measure outcomes. The Harvard Center on the Developing Child’s Frontiers of Innovation is a collaborator. Funding is provided by Harvard University, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Buffet Early Childhood Fund, and the Hemera Foundation.
Project Period: September 2014 – Present
Point Person: Tyson Barker
FIND Fathers The FIND-Fathers team has adapted the FIND program for Fathers and completed a pilot study with 15 high-risk fathers referred through two home visiting programs in the state of Washington. Data from this pilot showed a strong increase in fathers’ observed parenting skills as measured by the PICCOLO-D and a large decrease in parenting stress on the PSI following the intervention. Additionally, fathers experiencing higher rates of childhood adversity showed an increase in psychological and behavioral involvement with their children as measured by the Who Does What and PIE questionnaires. This same group of high-adversity fathers also reported post-intervention decreases in child behavior problems as measured by parent daily report (PDR.) Children’s Home Society Washington staff have been centrally involved in this project, providing editing and coaching. Support for the initial pilot provided by the Harvard Center on the Developing Child. The FIND-Fathers team received funding from the Foundation for Child Development to conduct a small Randomized Controlled Trial of FIND with 50 Latino fathers between 2016 and 2018. This RCT is ongoing.
Project Period: August 2014 – Present
Point Person: Kyndal Howell
FIND FUEL The FIND-FUEL project consists of two phases. In the first phase, the FIND Development team will identify and recruit potential partner sites from the Robin Hood network of fundees and other NYC community agencies. Once partner sites and project team members have been identified, project teams will solicit community input on acceptability of the FIND model and consider any necessary adaptions. In the second phase, a team of trained coaches from the partner sites will provide FIND coaching with up to 40 families. Evaluation, consultation, and video editing will be conducted by the FIND team at the University of Oregon. Funding provided by The Robin Hood Foundation’s Early Childhood Development Fund.
Project Period: October 2017 – April 2019
Point Person: Kyndal Howell
Translational Drug Abuse Prevention/ Research Component 1: Teen Decision Study The Translational Drug Abuse and Prevention (TDAP) Center grant at Oregon Social Learning Center and the UO Prevention Science Institute aims to increase understanding in three key areas that have direct effects on Child Welfare Systems (CWS) policy and practice: (1) Understanding of underlying mechanisms and processes associated with exposure to high levels of early life adversity, and specific to risky decision-making in certain social contexts that are common for CWS youth during early adolescence; (2) reducing the high rates of drug use and engagement in HIV-risk behaviors in adolescent girls in the CWS via novel preventive intervention strategies; and (3) identifying methods for implementing extant evidence-based interventions into CWS real-world settings with high fidelity and empirically measuring implementation success/failure in the context of a public child welfare system-initiated reform. The Teen Decisions Study (TDS) is Research Component 1 (RC1) of the TDAP Center grant. It investigates the effects of peer influence on risky decision-making in adolescents, measured by a simulated driving game. Participants in this study include children ages 11-17 currently involved in the CWS as well as typically developing children outside of the CWS. The study uses a convergence of functional neuroimaging, behavioral, and self-report measures (collected longitudinally) to (a) assess peer influence on risk decisions in adolescents with varying degrees of early adversity; (b) identify neural patterns associated with risk following social feedback in adolescents; and (c) investigate whether these patterns of brain activity and early adversity can predict actual risk behavior and social functioning. Collaborators include Pfeifer Lab (Pfeifer, Berkman), Oregon Social Learning Center, and Lane County Department of Human Services. Funding is provided by the National Insitute on Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
Project Period: July 2013 – April 2019
Point Person: Phil Fisher (Center), Jennifer Pfeifer/Shannon Peake (RC1)
FIND Revere The FIND-Revere Development and Road-test project will aim to adapt the FIND video coaching model to a three-tiered approach for use in pediatric care settings. This project will focus on development and feasibility testing. The FIND-Revere project team will include the Massachusetts General Hospital Revere Healthcare Center and the FIND Development Team at the University of Oregon. This project will take place over the course of ten months including a four-month development period, a four-month feasibility study and a two month up wrap up period. Evaluation, consultation, and video editing will be conducted by the FIND team at the University of Oregon. Funding for this project is provided by the Frontiers of Innovation initiative at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University.
Project Period: September 2017 – June 2018
Point Person: Shannon Peake
Vroom+FIND This pilot project will create a joint delivery of Vroom and FIND to parents currently being served by Oregon Early Learning Division (ELD) Vroom hub sites. Vroom is a set of activities, tools and app based content designed to turn every day moments into brain building opportunities. Six FIND coaches from Oregon ELD sites will serve up to 48 caregivers over the course of nine months. Evaluation, consultation, and video editing will be conducted by the FIND team at the University of Oregon. Funding for this project is provided by The Bezos Family Foundation.
Project Period: August 2017 – December 2018
Point Person: Shannon Peake
Keeping Parents Supported – Preschool (KEEP-P) The KEEP-P program is a 12-week group-based intervention for parents with preschool-aged children who have been referred by Early Childhood CARES. EC CARES provides early intervention and early childhood special education in Lane County, Oregon. The model includes core parenting skills such as routines, positive reinforcement and limit setting. In this large scale randomized trial, half of the groups will also include a video coaching component based on FIND. The research evaluation for KEEP-P includes a comprehensive parent and child assessment and follows families for 18 months. Recruitment is complete and implementation is ongoing. Funding provided by NICHD.
Project Period: July 2013 – April 2019
Point Person: Alex Wagnon
BEST: Buffering Environmental Stress Together (FIND-ACF) The BEST project is a large scale randomized controlled trial of FIND with high-risk families enrolled in Head Start programs in Denver, Colorado. The research and implementation team is based at the University of Denver. Consultation is provided by the FIND development team. The BEST team plans to engage a total of 100 families. Outcome measures for this trial include the quality of the parent-child interactions, parent well-being, child behavior, and parent and child Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis functioning via cortisol measurement. Data from this study be used to investigate factors that moderate the impact of FIND (e.g. parental stress, fidelity of implementation). Funding provided by the Administration for Children and Families.
Project Period: September 2011 – September 2016
Point Person: Kyndal Howell
FIND Community Pilot The FIND-Community pilot served self-referred mothers from low-income backgrounds with young children in Lane County, Oregon. Pre- and post- measures for this pilot include analysis of parent-child interaction, parent emotional well-being, sense of competence, and trauma experience, as well as EEG and analysis of language in the home using LENA software.
Project Period: September 2015 – August 2017
Point Person: Alex Wagnon
FIND Scan Pilot The FIND-Scan pilot employed fMRI to explore FIND from a neurobiological perspective. Evaluation measures collected include pre- and post- questionnaires on parent-child interaction, parent stress, sense of competence as well as fMRI and behavioral data on parental executive functions.
Project Period: April 2016 – June 2017
Point Person: Nicole Giuliani
FIND Web-Based FIND Web-Based was a feasibility trial of an online version of FIND for families in Oregon. Caregivers were asked to film themselves interacting with their child and send the video to the FIND team at the University of Oregon. After sending their film, caregivers received an informational video, a personalized edited film with voice-over, and a summary sheet for each of the five elements. Caregivers were able to review these materials on their own time. Evaluation of this project included participant feedback on the program, participate opt-out and drop-out questionnaires, and pre- and post- measures of caregiver behavior, stress and sense of competence.
Project Period: June 2017 – August 2018
Point Person: Sylvia Shaykis
FIND Postpartum The FIND-Postpartum feasibility trial examined a 7-session group-based implementation of FIND with mothers with postpartum mood symptoms in Lane County. Evaluation of this project included participant feedback on the program, and pre- and post- measures of caregiver behavior, stress, sense of competence and mental health.
Project Period: February 2017 – October 2017
Point Person: Kyndal Howell
Training for Early Nurturing and Development (TEND) The TEND program is a 12-week group based program for foster carers who look after babies and infants in the United Kingdom. The model includes core caregiving skills such as routines, positive reinforcements and pre-teaching as well as skills that are particularly relevant for caregivers with infants such as feeding, eating and soothing. Groups include a video coaching component based on the FIND model. The TEND program has held thirteen groups across five different Local Authorities. Data from this pilot showed increases in observed caregiving skills as measured by the PICCOLO, and improvements in infant fine motor development and personal social development as measured by the ASQ. Foster carers also reported decreases in child negative behavior, decreases in stressful behavior, and increases in prosocial behavior as measured the Caregiver Weekly Report. Consultation on implementation and fidelity was provided by the National Implementation Service.
Project Period: November 2014 – June 2016
Point Person: Melanie Berry
Pathways The Pathways project is a mixed-methods research project that identifies the importance of protective behaviors in pregnant women with substance use disorders before they access substance abuse treatment services. Through qualitative research this project identifies the specific protective behaviors (i.e. seeking information, reducing substance use, engaging in healthy behaviors) that women engage in due to concerns about the welfare of their baby. A larger quantitative data collection then determines the role of these behaviors in women’s pathway to entering substance abuse treatment. Willamette Family Treatment is a collaborator. Participant compensation funding is provided by the Center for the Study of Women in Society.
Project Period: Completed June 2016
Point Person: Amanda Van Scoyoc
Inhibitory Control, Stress, and Regulation (iSTAR) The purpose of iSTAR is to better understand how children’s behavioral and biological response to a frustrating task may alter their inhibitory control. The iSTAR team is interested in how children’s biology, such as stress hormone function, heart rate, and brain activity, relate to their performance on measures of inhibitory control and behavioral responses to a frustrating task. Currently, inhibitory control deficits are known to underlie a range of risk-taking behaviors, such as substance abuse, associated with a range of early life stress (ELS). Evidence among adults shows that when faced with an acute stressor, inhibitory control performance declines. Extending this research to children may allow us to better understand contextual vulnerability to risk-taking behaviors and allow for the design of more targeted interventions to improve child outcomes. Funding is provided by Translational Drug Abuse Prevention (TDAP) pilot funds from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Project Period: July 2015 – March 2016
Point Person: Leslie Roos
FIND SPRF The Oregon Department of Human Service’s (DHS) shift to Differential Response adds an alternative response track for families who enter the child welfare system. This new response track takes a preventative approach, and refers lower risk families to voluntary services in an effort to keep children safely at home and prevent families from entering the children welfare system. The Strengthening Preserving and Reunifying Families (SPRF) program provides services to support families who are working towards reunification. Both of these programs support the SNAP Lab’s work in providing FIND for families involved in the Lane County child welfare system. The program is implemented within the home, and/or in the context of supervised visitation. Collaborators include Oregon Community Programs and Lane County Department of Health and Human Services. Funding is provided by Lane County Department of Human Services.
Project Period: February 2014 – February 2016
Point Person: Melanie Berry
Training Adolescent Self-Control (TASC) The overarching goal of the TASC pilot project is to evaluate the effectiveness of an inhibitory control training intervention to 1) increase inhibitory control in peer contexts and 2) change inhibitory control neural networks amongst 15 to 17 year old adolescents from a low socioeconomic school district. Risk-taking behaviors (RBs) such as substance use and unsafe sex emerge and increase during adolescence, often occur when adolescents are with peers, and are associated with negative outcomes across the lifespan. Targeting specific neurocognitive processes thought to underlie risk-taking (i.e., inhibitory control) within salient contexts (i.e., peers) is a promising means to affect this behavior. Early adversity effects on behavioral and neural outcomes will also be investigated. Participants complete fMRI scans before and after 12 training sessions of a computerized inhibitory control task. Collaborators include the Social and Affective Neuroscience (SAN) Lab at the University of Oregon and Bethel School District. Funding is provided by Translational Drug Abuse Prevention (TDAP) pilot funds from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and by Frontiers of Innovation (FOI).
Project Period: Summer 2014 – Fall 2015
Point Person: Kate Beauchamp
FIND PBC In collaboration with the Pearl Buck Center Preschool, this project serves caregivers with intellectual disabilities by employing an adapted version of the FIND program. To date, the Pearl Buck Team has engaged 25 families, and is currently in the process of building FIND consultation and coaching capacity to continue serving families in the Pearl Buck community. Funding is provided by the Children’s Trust Fund of Oregon, Trillium, and Lane County Department of Human Services.
Project Period: September 2014 – June 2015
Point Person: Melanie Berry
FIND Alberta This project aims to take FIND to scale through serving high-risk families in the province of Alberta, Canada. For the FIND Alberta Road Test, the Oregon FIND Team will provide initial and pre-certification training to Alberta-based FIND Consultants and Coaches. The Oregon FIND Team will provide consulting support and editing for the Alberta-based team to complete the FIND intervention with up to 40 families. Collaborators include Alberta Human Services, Norlien Foundation, Early Childhood Development Support Services, Norwood Child and Family Resource Centre, Terra Centre, and the Children’s Cottage Society.
Project Period: October 2014 – May 2015
Point Person: Melanie Berry