Research and Outreach Current CFD Research & Outreach Projects

 

Family Development Focused Research & Outreach

Building Strong Relationships. With support from a Scholarship of Engagement Grant from the Office of the Vice President for Public Services and Outreach, Dr Ted Futris is facilitating the coordination of community-based healthy marriage initiatives that are creating partnerships between the university, social service agencies and faith-based organizations. In partnership  with Dr. Lee Johnson and graduate students in the Marriage and Family Therapy Program, we are providing marriage preparation classes to engaged couples and evaluating the efficacy of these classes on various indicators of couple well-being. For more information, contact Ted Futris.

Community Risk and Protective Factors for Youth Violence. This is a longitudinal project funded by the Centers for Disease Control ($2 million over 4 years).  This study explores the ways in which community and neighborhood characteristics influence violent behavior. For more information, contact Leslie Gordon Simons (co-investigator).

Developing Culturally Responsive Psychoeducational Support Groups for Latino Parents. This study aims to assess the growing needs of Latino parents in Georgia. Couple interviews are being conducted in Spanish and English, and it is our hopes that the results of this study will help service providers strengthen immigrant Latino families as they make cultural adaptations and fulfill their roles as parents. This study was funded the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, UGA, Faculty Development Research Grant. For more information, contact Maria Bermudez.

Financial Couples Counseling. Drs. Jerry Gale, Maria Bermudez and Stephanie Burwell in Marriage and Family Therapy, in collaboration with Dr. Joe Goetz in Family Financial Counseling, are developing an interdisciplinary model and providing clinical outreach for couples dealing with financial stress. This study is funded by The UGA, Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, Poverty and the Economy Faculty Research Grants Program. For more information, contact Jerry Gale.

Healthy Families, Healthy Finances. Dr. Ted Futris, in collaboration with Dr. Robert Nielsen in Consumer Economics, is studying how married and remarried couples in Georgia, with and without children, differ with respect to relationship behaviors and financial management practices, and how these behaviors affect couples’ relationship and financial well-being. Findings from this study will inform the development of educational resources to help couples manage their financial and marital needs.  For more information, contact Ted Futris.

Terapia Familiar en Español: Extending Clinical Service and Research for Monolingual Latinos. The primary goal of this study is to translate the clinic materials and measures used in the McPhaul Marriage and Family Therapy Clinic into Spanish and to ensure an accurate and meaningful translation by having 25 other readers from many countries and educational backgrounds to provide systematic feedback and validate an accurate translation that is culturally responsive. This study was funded by The University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. For more information, contact Maria Bermudez.

The Family and Community Health Study. This is a longitudinal project funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health ($3.5 million over 5 years).  It focuses on a sample of over 800 African American families and is concerned with the ways in which the influences of family and community context combine to explain both externalizing and internalizing problems across the life course. For more information, contact Leslie Gordon Simons (co-investigator).