The focus of the program was on research addressing school-wide behavior support practices and integration of family support systems within schools, as well as methodological issues of studying intervention effects. Fellows worked with specific tasks related to (a) analysis of existing research databases, (b) designing and conducting intervention research, (c) development of conceptual/synthesis papers, (d) development of grant proposals, (e) development of advanced research and data analysis skills, and (f) professional presentations in multiple forums. 

Postdoctoral Fellows

Fosco, Greg
Frank, Jennifer (ORCID)
Lunkenheimer, Erika (ORCID)
Spaulding, Scott

As of 2020, Dr. Fosco was an associate professor of human development and family studies and the associate director of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at the College of Health and Human Development at Penn State University, Dr. Frank was an associate professor of education in the Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education at Penn State University, and Dr. Lunkenheimer was an associate professor of psychology and associate director of the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network at Penn State University, and Dr. Spaulding was an associate teaching professor in the College of Education at the University of Washington.

Products and Publications

Book chapter

Fosco, G.M., Dishion, T.J., and Stormshak, E.A. (2012). A Public Health Approach to Family-Centered Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Addiction: A Middle School Strategy. In H.J. Shaffer, D.A. LaPlante, and S.E. Nelson (Eds.), The American Psychological Association Addiction Syndrome Handbook (pp. 225–245). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/13750-010

Fosco, G.M., Frank, J.L., and Dishion, T.J. (2012). Understanding the Influences of Deviant Peers on Problem Behavior: Coercion and Contagion in Peer, Family, and School Environments. In S.R. Jimerson, A.B. Nickerson, M.J. Mayer, and M.J. Furlong (Eds.), The Handbook of School Violence and School Safety: International Research and Practice (2nd ed., pp. 69–80). New York: Routledge.

Horner, R., and Spaulding, S. (2010). Single-Case Research Designs. In N.J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Research Design (pp. 1386–1394). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Horner, R.H., and Spaulding, S.A. (2009). Rewards. In E. Anderman (Ed.), Psychology of Classroom Learning: An Encyclopedia (pp. 1–4). Detroit, MI: MacMillan.

Lunkenheimer, E.S., and Dishion, T.J. (2009). Developmental Psychopathology: Maladaptive and Adaptive Attractors in Children's Close Relationships. In S. Guastello, M. Koopmans, and D. Pincus (Eds.), Chaos and Complexity: The Theory of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems (pp. 282–306). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Olson, S.L., and Lunkenheimer, E.S. (2009). Expanding Concepts of Self-Regulation to Social Relationships: Transactional Processes in the Development of Early Behavioral Adjustment. In A.J. Sameroff (Ed.), The Transactional Model of Development (pp. 55–76). Washington, DC: APA Press.

Olson, S.L., Sameroff, A.J., Lunkenheimer, E.S., and Kerr, D.C.R. (2009). Self-Regulatory Processes in the Development of Disruptive Behavior Problems: The Preschool to School Transition. In S.L. Olson, and A.J. Sameroff (Eds.), Biopsychosocial Regulatory Processes in the Development of Behavior Problems (pp. 144–185). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Journal article, monograph, or newsletter

Anderson, C.M., and Spaulding, S.A. (2007). Using Positive Behavior Support to Design Effective Classrooms. Beyond Behavior, 16(2): 27–31.

Combs-Ronto, L.A., Olson, S.L., Lunkenheimer, E.S., and Sameroff, A.J. (2009). Interactions Between Maternal Parenting and Children's Early Disruptive Behavior: Bidirectional Associations Across the Transition From Preschool to School Entry. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37(8): 1151–1163. doi:10.1007/s10802-009-9332-2

Cornette, M.M., deRoon-Cassini, T.A., Fosco, G.M., Holloway, R.L., Clark, D.C., and Joiner, T.E. (2009). Application of an Interpersonal-Psychological Model of Suicidal Behavior to Physicians and Medical Trainees. Archives of Suicide Research, 13(1): 1–14. doi:10.1080/13811110802571801

DeBoard-Lucas, R.L., Fosco, G.M., Raynor, S.M., and Grych, J.H. (2010). Interparental Conflict in Context: Exploring Relations Between Parenting Processes and Children's Conflict Appraisals. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 39(2): 163–175. doi:10.1080/15374410903532593

Fidler, D.J., Lunkenheimer, E.S., and Hahn, L.J. (2011). Emerging Behavioral Phenotypes and Dynamic Systems Theory. International Review of Research in Developmental Disabilities, 40: 17–42. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-374478-4.00002-2

Fosco, G.M., and Grych, J.H. (2008). Emotional, Cognitive, and Family Systems Mediators of Children's Adjustment to Interparental Conflict. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(6): 843–854. doi:10.1037/a0013809

Fosco, G.M., and Grych, J.H. (2010). Adolescent Triangulation into Parental Conflicts: Longitudinal Implications for Appraisals and Adolescent-Parent Relations. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(2): 254–266. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00697.x

Fosco, G.M., Stormshak, E.A., Dishion, T.J., and Winter, C. (2012). Family Relationships and Parental Monitoring During Middle School as Predictors of Early Adolescent Problem Behavior. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 41(2): 202–213. doi:10.1080/15374416.2012.651989

Kerr, D.C.R., Lunkenheimer, E.S., and Olson, S.L. (2007). Assessment of Child Problem Behaviors by Multiple Informants: A Longitudinal Study From Preschool to School Entry. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48(10): 967–975. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01776.x

Lunkenheimer, E.S. (2008). Dynamic Systems Theory and the Promotion of Children's Mental Health. Journal of Developmental Processes, 3(1): 34–37.

Lunkenheimer, E.S., Dishion, T.J., Shaw, D.S., Connell, A.M., Gardner, F., Wilson, M., and Skuban, E. (2008). Collateral Benefits of the Family Check-Up on Early Childhood School Readiness: Indirect Effects of Parents' Positive Behavior Support. Developmental Psychology, 44(6): 1737–1752.

Lunkenheimer, E.S., Kittler, J.E., Olson, S.L., and Kleinberg, F. (2006). The Intergenerational Transmission of Physical Punishment: Differing Mechanisms in Mothers' and Fathers' Endorsement?. Journal of Family Violence, 21(8): 509–519. doi:10.1007/s10896-006-9050-2

Lunkenheimer, E.S., Olson, S.L., Hollenstein, T., Sameroff, A.J., and Winter, C. (2011). Dyadic Flexibility and Positive Affect in Parent-Child Coregulation and the Development of Child Behavior Problems. Development and Psychopathology, 23(2): 577–591. doi:10.1017/S095457941100006X

Lunkenheimer, E.S., Shields, A.M., and Cortina, K.S. (2007). Parental Emotion Coaching and Dismissing in Family Interaction. Social Development, 16(2): 232–248. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00382.x

McIntosh, K., Frank, J.F., and Spaulding, S.A. (2010). Establishing Research-Based Trajectories of Office Discipline Referrals for Individual Students. School Psychology Review, 39(3): 380–394.

Olson, S.L., Lopez-Duran, N., Lunkenheimer, E.S., Chang, H., and Sameroff, A.J. (2011). Individual Differences in the Development of Early Peer Aggression: Integrating Contributions of Self-Regulation, Theory of Mind, and Parenting. Development and Psychopathology, 23(1): 253. doi:10.1017/S0954579410000775

Roach, A.T., Kratochwill, T.R., and Frank, J.L. (2009). School-Based Consultants as Change Facilitators: Adaptation of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) to Support the Implementation of Research-Based Practices. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 19(4): 300–320. doi:10.1080/10474410802463304

Scott, T.M., Anderson, C.M., and Spaulding, S.A. (2008). Strategies for Developing and Carrying out Functional Assessment and Behavior Intervention Planning. Preventing School Failure, 52(3): 39–50. doi:10.3200/PSFL.52.3.39-50

Spaulding, S., Irvin, L., Horner, R., May, S., Emeldi, M., Tobin, T., and Sugai, G. (2010). Schoolwide Social-Behavioral Climate, Student Problem Behavior, and Related Administrative Decisions: Empirical Patterns From 1,510 Schools Nationwide. Journal of Positive Behavioral Interventions, 12(2): 69–85. doi:10.1177/1098300708329011

Stormshak, E.A., Fosco, G.M., and Dishion, T.J. (2010). Implementing Interventions With Families in Schools to Increase Youth School Engagement: The Family Check-Up Model. School Mental Health, 2(2): 82–92. doi:10.1007/s12310-009-9025-6

Todd, A.W., Horner, R.H., Newton, J.S., Algozzine, R.F., Algozzine, K.M., and Frank, J.L. (2011). Effects of Team-Initiated Problem Solving on Decision-Making by Schoolwide Behavior Support Teams. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 27(1): 42–59. doi:1080/15377903.2011.540510