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- Prince Gautama Siddharta

The Child and Family Research Lab - Current Projects and Research Opportunities

Current Projects

The Child and Family Research Lab has many ongoing projects related to its mission to research critical areas related to children and families in the Pacific Basin and across the globe. Click on the links below to read about current projects and to learn about possible collaborations or student learning opportunities associated with each project.

Principle Investigator: Dr. Li

I. Child Maltreatment & Abuse in the United States

II. Epidemiology of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

III. National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System

Principle Investigator: Dr. Godinet

IV. Contributing Factors of Status Offenses & Juvenile Justice Involvement

Principle Investigator: Dr. Guo

V. Family & Child Care Policy in the US from a Comparative Perspective

VI. Public Attitudes on Family Issues by Welfare Regime

VII. Child Care Choices among Immigrant Families

Principle Investigator: Dr. Hong

VIII. Childhood Adversity and Family Resilience

Principle Investigator: Dr. Stotzer

IX. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Pacific Region

Principle Investigators: Dr. Stotzer & Dr. Godinet

X. Youth Sexual Orientation Bias Crimes

Child Maltreatment and Abuse in the United States

Project Description: LONGSCAN is a consortium of five ongoing prospective studies of the causes, courses, and consequences of child abuse and neglect. The goal of LONGSCAN is to follow the 1300+ children and their families until the children themselves become young adults. The findings of LONGSCAN will provide a scientific basis for policy-making, program planning, and targeting service delivery by increasing our understanding of the the child, family, and community factors which increase the risk for maltreatment in its different forms and the differential consequences of maltreatment, depending upon its timing, duration, severity, and nature, and upon the child's age and cultural environment. Factors that either increase the harm caused by different forms of maltreatment or increase the probability of positive child outcomes despite maltreatment and other adverse life circumstances will also be explored. Research will be focused on the factors that increase the probability of positive child outcomes, in particular, children's health and academic outcomes despite maltreatment and other adverse life circumstances.

Epidemiology of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

Project Description: Epidemiology of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) among two targeted populations: the pediatric population and those residing in long-term care facilities. MRSA is often heard in the media as the "Superbug" in hospitals. The reasons why MRSA is such a big concern is first, it is resistant to all commonly used antibiotics. Secondly, MRSA infections were originally confined to hospitals and often occurred in people with frequent exposure to the healthcare system. However, since the beginning of this century, a new type of MRSA, called community-acquired MRSA, are increasingly reported among people without exposure to healthcare settings. Community-acquired MRSA are the causes of skin and soft tissue infections and are increasing reported from a variety of settings, including the homeless, day care centers, the correctional facilities and sports teams. We have data from the State of Hawaii Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Project (SHARP) for the years 2000 to 2007. In addition to the above mentioned two epidemiological studies of MRSA, we want to further explore the best ways for MRSA infection prevention and infection control and are seeking grants from NIH.

National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS)

Project Description: Case-level data of the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) Child File are available from 2000-2007. Records are provided at the level of each child on a report, also known as the report-child pair. Data elements include the demographics of children and their perpetrators, types of maltreatment, investigation or assessment dispositions, risk factors, and services provided as a result of the investigation or assessment. I am going to apply for data since 2000 so that trend analysis of both reentry and placement stability can be investigated. In addition, the impact of differential responses, which is initiated in most of the states around 2003, on reentry will studies among states with and without such a system.

Contributing Factors of Status Offenses and Further Juvenile Justice Involvement

Project Description: The rate of status offenses in Hawai'i is one of the highest in the nation. However, very little is known on the reasons for this phenomenon and the experience of status offenders in the Juvenile Justice System after point of arrest. Thus, this research project will attempt to examine the experience of status offenders in the Juvenile Justice System for the purpose of service improvement and deterrence of further involvement in the system.

Child Care Choices among Immigrant Families

Project Description: This project explores child care choices among immigrant families, particularly vulnerable immigrant families (low income, single parent, etc.). In particular, this project examines factors that affect child care choices, and in turn tries to understand the impact of child care choices on child's school readiness.

Family and Child Care Policy in the US from a Comparative Perspective

Project Description: The Family and Child Care Policy project will utilize secondary data from available comparable data sets to analyze American family and child care policies in comparison to other industrialized countries. The project will focus on child care policy for low-income families, and its impact on child care arrangement and children's well-being. The main objectives of the project are to develop a working data set based on available comparable data sets, such as the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) Family Database, and to compare family and child care policy in the United States and other industrialized countries.

Public Attitudes on Family Issues by Welfare Regime

Project Description: This project will use European Social Survey data to analyze public attitudes toward work, gender, and government responsibility among various different welfare states. Specifically, this project will attempt to examine if public attitudes have changed during the global economic crisis. This project hopes to highlight whether public opinion on those social issues varies by welfare regime, and whether these attitudes stay consistent in times of economic strain.

Childhood adversity and family resilience

Project Description: The literature indicates that physical abuse in early childhood is associated with later adolescent dysfunctions such as mental health and behavioral problems. Researchers have found increasing evidence that the same experience of child abuse can result in different outcomes. While individual factors (e.g., positive self-esteem, ego resilience) have been examined as predictors of resilient functioning in maltreated children, little is known about the protective influence of familial factors. This project will (1) examine a family resilience framework as a potential protective mechanism for the impact of physical child abuse on adverse adolescent and/or adult outcomes; (2) test the theoretical structure of family resilience; and (3) to examine the mediating impact of family resilience on the link between physical child abuse and later adolescent problems (e.g., delinquent and aggressive behaviors).

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Pacific Region

Project Description: The bulk of research on sexual minorites and transgender people haslargely focused on white, middle and upper class American and Europeans as the gay rights movement has expanded across "western" cultures. Little is known about the health, well-being, concerns, or stregths of sexual and gender variant minorities throughout Asia and the Pacific Basin. This project focuses on expanding data collection efforts into the pacific region to bring light to the unique cultural impacts on LGBT people as a world-wide population, and not just a 'western' one.

Youth Sexual Orientation Bias Crimes

Project Description: Although bias crimes are steroetypically seen as an adult issue, and dealth with in adult courts, almost a third of all bias crimes are actually committed by youths under the age of 18. This project explores those youths involved (both as victims and as suspects) in sexual orienation-motivated bias crimes in Los Angeles County. This project will illumiante the ways that youths are struggling with sexual minority status, painting a descriptive picture of how youth involvement may be different than adult involvement.

Latest Projects