Jeanne Brooks-Gunn’s research while affiliated with University of Wisconsin–Madison and other places

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Publications (742)


Child Routines Across Preschool and Associations With Socioemotional Adjustment
  • Article
  • Publisher preview available

January 2025

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12 Reads

Journal of Family Psychology

Saliha B. Selman

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Janean E. Dilworth-Bart

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Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

Although a large body of research has documented the importance of routines for children’s development, the role of developmental timing of routines has received less attention. The present study examined how use of routines across the preschool period is linked to children’s socioemotional adjustment. We used Year 3 and Year 5 data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,353; 48% female). Child routines were measured through maternal reports of routines, including household chores, play, mealtime, and bedtime. Latent profile analysis revealed four groups based on timing and number of routines: stable-high, increasing, decreasing, and stable-low. In Year 5, parents reported on children’s attentional, externalizing, and internalizing problems and social skills. Latent transition analysis indicated that most children (n = 1,782; 75%) maintained the same profiles over time. Regression analyses showed that profiles were differentially related to outcomes. After controlling for a set of confounding variables, children in the stable-high group had significantly lower attentional, externalizing, and internalizing problems than the decrease routines group (βs range from .23 to .40, p < .05). These findings contribute to the understanding of how routines are associated with child functioning and highlight the potential importance of the continued use of routines across early childhood. Children who had consistently high routines demonstrated better adjustment compared to those whose routines decreased across the preschool period.

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Descriptive statistics for the study groups.
The gateway to the teacher profession: The association of temperament traits with selection for teacher education and early study achievement in Finland

December 2024

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17 Reads

Teaching and Teacher Education

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Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

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[...]

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In this longitudinal study, we compared the temperament traits of 1023 teacher applicants and 120 admitted student teachers, and examined whether temperament traits were associated with the student teachers' achievement during the first year of teacher education. Student teachers scored higher in reward dependence and lower in emotionality than the applicants who were not admitted. Similarly, higher reward dependence and lower emotionality were associated with higher academic achievement. The same temperamental traits, which help the applicant to enter teacher education, also promote the student teachers' early academic success. The implications for future research and teacher education are discussed.


Mother–child closeness and adolescent structural neural networks: a prospective longitudinal study of low-income families

November 2024

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8 Reads

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

Mother–child closeness, a mutually trusting and affectionate bond, is an important factor in shaping positive youth development. However, little is known about the neural pathways through which mother–child closeness is related to brain organization. Utilizing a longitudinal sample primarily from low-income families (N = 181; 76% African American youth and 54% female), this study investigated the associations between mother–child closeness at ages 9 and 15 years and structural connectivity organization (network integration, robustness, and segregation) at age 15 years. The assessment of mother–child closeness included perspectives from both mother and child. The results revealed that greater mother–child closeness is linked with increased global efficiency and transitivity, but not with modularity. Specifically, both the mother’s and child’s reports of closeness at age 15 years predicted network metrics, but report at age 9 years did not. Our findings suggest that mother–child closeness is associated with neural white matter organization, as adolescents who experienced greater mother–child closeness displayed topological properties indicative of more integrated and robust structural networks.


Developmental Timing of Associations Among Parenting, Brain Architecture, and Mental Health

October 2024

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100 Reads

JAMA Pediatrics

Importance Parenting is associated with brain development and long-term health outcomes, although whether these associations depend on the developmental timing of exposure remains understudied. Identifying these sensitive periods can inform when and how parenting is associated with neurodevelopment and risk for mental illness. Objective To characterize how harsh and warm parenting during early, middle, and late childhood are associated with brain architecture during adolescence and, in turn, psychiatric symptoms in early adulthood during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design, Setting, and Participants This population-based, 21-year observational, longitudinal birth cohort study of low-income youths and families from Detroit, Michigan; Toledo, Ohio; and Chicago, Illinois, used data from the Future of Families and Child Well-being Study. Data were collected from February 1998 to June 2021. Analyses were conducted from May to October 2023. Exposures Parent-reported harsh parenting (psychological aggression or physical aggression) and observer-rated warm parenting (responsiveness) at ages 3, 5, and 9 years. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcomes were brainwide (segregation, integration, and small-worldness), circuit (prefrontal cortex [PFC]–amygdala connectivity), and regional (betweenness centrality of amygdala and PFC) architecture at age 15 years, determined using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and youth-reported anxiety and depression symptoms at age 21 years. The structured life-course modeling approach was used to disentangle timing-dependent from cumulative associations between parenting and brain architecture. Results A total of 173 youths (mean [SD] age, 15.88 [0.53] years; 95 female [55%]) were included. Parental psychological aggression during early childhood was positively associated with brainwide segregation (β = 0.30; 95% CI, 0.14 to 0.45) and small-worldness (β = 0.17; 95% CI, 0.03 to 0.28), whereas parental psychological aggression during late childhood was negatively associated with PFC-amygdala connectivity (β = −0.37; 95% CI, −0.55 to −0.12). Warm parenting during middle childhood was positively associated with amygdala centrality (β = 0.23; 95% CI, 0.06 to 0.38) and negatively associated with PFC centrality (β = −0.18; 95% CI, −0.31 to −0.03). Warmer parenting during middle childhood was associated with reduced anxiety (β = −0.05; 95% CI −0.10 to −0.01) and depression (β = −0.05; 95% CI −0.10 to −0.003) during early adulthood via greater adolescent amygdala centrality. Conclusions and Relevance Neural associations with harsh parenting were widespread across the brain in early childhood but localized in late childhood. Neural associations with warm parenting were localized in middle childhood and, in turn, were associated with mental health during future stress. These developmentally contingent associations can inform the type and timing of interventions.



Mean and standard deviation of adversity at each time point
Zero-order correlations of adversity variables (average across 1, 3, 5, 9 years old)
Models testing cumulative versus specificity by adversity type to predict youth internalizing and externalizing
Childhood adversity and adolescent mental health: Examining cumulative and specificity effects across contexts and developmental timing

October 2024

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58 Reads

Development and Psychopathology

Associations between adversity and youth psychopathology likely vary based on the types and timing of experiences. Major theories suggest that the impact of childhood adversity may either be cumulative in type (the more types of adversity, the worse outcomes) or in timing (the longer exposure, the worse outcomes) or, alternatively, specific concerning the type (e.g., parenting, home, neighborhood) or the timing of adversity (e.g., specific developmental periods). In a longitudinal sample from the Future of Families and Wellbeing Study ( N = 4,210), we evaluated these competing hypotheses using a data-driven structured life-course modeling approach using risk factors examined at child age 1 (infancy), 3 (toddlerhood), 5 (early childhood), and 9 (middle childhood). Results showed that exposures to more types of adversity for longer durations (i.e., cumulative in both type and timing) best predicted youth psychopathology. Adversities that occurred at age 9 were better predictors of youth psychopathology as compared to those experienced earlier, except for neglect, which was predictive of internalizing symptoms when experienced at age 3. Throughout childhood (across ages 1–9), aside from the accumulation of all adversities, parental stress and low collective efficacy were the strongest predictors of internalizing symptoms, whereas psychological aggression was predictive of externalizing symptoms.


A Family-Centered Approach to Learning English as a Second Language: A Mixed-Methods Experimental Evaluation

August 2024

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15 Reads

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis

We present the 2-year experimental mixed-methods findings of a two-generation English as a second language (ESL) program. This program combines a high-dosage, child-oriented curriculum for parents with Head Start for children in addition to family-based supportive services. At baseline and after 2 years, 189 Latinx and Zomi immigrant parents completed surveys while children completed skill assessments. A subset of 67 parents participated in focus groups regarding their experiences. Treatment parents reported significantly higher English writing skills and self-esteem and significantly lower language brokering and material hardship. There were no significant differences in children’s outcomes. Possible explanatory mechanisms across multiple contexts were identified in the qualitative data. Evidence is promising that a Two-Generation ESL Program improves some outcomes for parents.


Latent Profiles of Childhood Adversity, Adolescent Mental Health, and Neural Network Connectivity

August 2024

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38 Reads

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4 Citations

JAMA Network Open

Importance Adverse childhood experiences are pervasive and heterogeneous, with potential lifelong consequences for psychiatric morbidity and brain health. Existing research does not capture the complex interplay of multiple adversities, resulting in a lack of precision in understanding their associations with neural function and mental health. Objectives To identify distinct childhood adversity profiles and examine their associations with adolescent mental health and brain connectivity. Design, Setting, and Participants This population-based birth cohort used data for children who were born in 20 large US cities between 1998 and 2000 and participated in the Future Families and Child Well-Being Study. Families were interviewed when children were born and at ages 1, 3, 5, 9, and 15 years. At age 15 years, neuroimaging data were collected from a subset of these youths. Data were collected from February 1998 to April 2017. Analyses were conducted from March to December 2023. Exposures Latent profiles of childhood adversity, defined by family and neighborhood risks across ages 0 to 9 years. Main Outcomes and Measures Internalizing and externalizing symptoms at age 15 years using parent- and youth-reported measures. Profile-specific functional magnetic resonance imaging connectivity across the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and frontoparietal network (FPN). Results Data from 4210 individuals (2211 [52.5%] male; 1959 [46.5%] Black, 1169 [27.7%] Hispanic, and 786 [18.7%] White) revealed 4 childhood adversity profiles: low-adversity (1230 individuals [29.2%]), medium-adversity (1973 [46.9%]), high-adversity (457 [10.9%]), and high maternal depression (MD; 550 [13.1%]). High-adversity, followed by MD, profiles had the highest symptoms. Notably, internalizing symptoms did not differ between these 2 profiles (mean difference, 0.11; 95% CI, −0.03 to 0.26), despite the MD profile showing adversity levels most similar to the medium-adversity profile. In the neuroimaging subsample of 167 individuals (91 [54.5%] female; 128 [76.6%] Black, 11 [6.6%] Hispanic, and 20 [12.0%] White; mean [SD] age, 15.9 [0.5] years), high-adversity and MD profiles had the highest DMN density relative to other profiles ( F (3,163) = 11.14; P < .001). The high-adversity profile had lower SN density relative to the low-adversity profile (mean difference, −0.02; 95% CI, −0.04 to −0.003) and the highest FPN density among all profiles ( F (3,163) = 18.96; P < .001). These differences were specific to brain connectivity during an emotion task, but not at rest. Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study, children who experienced multiple adversities, or only elevated MD, had worse mental health and different neural connectivity in adolescence. Interventions targeting multiple risk factors, with a focus on maternal mental health, could produce the greatest benefits.


Does adding parent education and workforce training to Head Start promote or interfere with children's development?

July 2024

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23 Reads

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2 Citations

Child Development

This study explores the effects of the two‐generation program Career Advance —which combines education and training for parents in healthcare with Head Start for children—on children's academic, language, mathematics, and inhibitory control followed for 3 years. The sample (collected in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 2011 to 2018) includes 147 children in the Career Advance group and 139 children in a matched comparison group ( n = 286; 40% Black, 17%, White, 10% Hispanic, 33% Mixed Race, or Other Race; M = 3.6 years old; 47% female). Overall, the effect of Career Advance on child outcomes is neither greater nor less than Head Start alone. These findings suggest that children's developmental outcomes do not worsen or improve in the short term when their parents return to school.



Citations (83)


... Some researchers take the approach of documenting the additive accumulation of multiple environmental risks as it relates to adolescent psychopathology 33,34 . Increasingly, though, researchers are identifying the cooccurring interplay among different environmental experiences to identify relative contributions of these environments on adolescent psychopathology 35,36 . A recent study using the ABCD Study provided evidence of four distinct profiles of perceived threat across family, school, and neighborhood systems 35 . ...

Reference:

Integrating multi-system environmental factors to predict brain and behavior in adolescents
Latent Profiles of Childhood Adversity, Adolescent Mental Health, and Neural Network Connectivity
  • Citing Article
  • August 2024

JAMA Network Open

... Importantly, we do know what happened to parents after 3 years. Past work found that CareerAdvance was associated with increases in parent education, employment in the healthcare field, self-efficacy, and optimism, but no effects on income 3 years after the start of the program; there was also no effect on parents' stress (Chase-Lansdale et al., 2019;Chor et al., 2023). Below, we integrate these past findings on CareerAdvance parents with theories from development science to form hypotheses about what may have happened to children over the same time period (1-3 years after baseline). ...

Three-Year Outcomes for Low-Income Parents of Young Children in a Two-Generation Education Program
  • Citing Article
  • November 2023

Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness

... The Future Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS; N = 4898) collected demographic, health, and behavioral data from families at birth of a child between 1998 and 2000, and followed up at ages 1, 3, 5, 9, 15, and 22 (most recent wave of data collection occurring in 2024), with a 3:1 oversampling for non-marital births, from children born in 20 large U.S. cities (Hardi, Goetschius, Tillem, et al., 2023;Reichman et al., 2001). Due to this sampling strategy and the demographics of large American cities, 42 % of mothers reported a household income of $25, 000 or less, and 61 % reported an income of $50,000 or less at baseline (Reichman et al., 2001). ...

Early childhood household instability, adolescent structural neural network architecture, and young adulthood depression: A 21-year longitudinal study

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

... Prior research-mainly self-report data and some direct measures-shows that parents in family literacy improve their reading, writing, and numeracy (Brooks et al. 1997(Brooks et al. , 2008Hulme et al. 2022; Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills 2009); change their literacy practices, such as reading enjoyment or reading more kinds of texts (Brooks et al. 2008;Furness 2012;Phillips et al. 2006;Rodríguez-Brown 2009); and achieve national qualification levels or obtain accreditations (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills 2009; Swain et al. 2013). A few studies report English language gains for immigrant/refugee parents using direct measures (Rodríguez-Brown 2009;Sommer et al. 2020Sommer et al. , 2023 or self-report (Gilman 2021;Halpern et al. 2019; Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills 2009). ...

The effects of a two-generation English as a second language (ESL) intervention on immigrant parents and children in Head Start
  • Citing Article
  • March 2023

... As John Dewey (1963) noted the importance of organizing educational experiences in continuity, SEL experience in PE should be supported and revisited in other subject settings within a school to make it more meaningful for students (Jones & Bouffard, 2012). Especially, considering the unique characteristic of elementary school contexts where students spend most of their school day in classroom for academic learning (Roth et al., 2003), the importance of examining pedagogical connections in SEL between PE and classroom cannot be overemphasized for successful SEL implementation. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the perspectives and experiences of teachers in PE and classroom for a school-wide SEL implementation at a rural elementary school. ...

What Happens during the School Day? Time Diaries from a National Sample of Elementary School Teachers
  • Citing Article
  • February 2022

Teachers College Record

... However, efforts to examine interactions across systems in research on antisocial behavior have largely taken a variable-centered approach (Estrada et al., 2020;Gard et al., 2022). Specifically, researchers typically use regression with interaction terms to examine how the combination of variables relates to antisocial behavior. ...

Deadly Gun Violence, Neighborhood Collective Efficacy, and Adolescent Neurobehavioral Outcomes

PNAS Nexus

... Mothers' perspectives on the program's value changed over the course of the intervention itself, suggesting that parents' experiences of interventions may shape their perceptions of them. In a second study, mothers with young infants living in poverty in New York City were interviewed about their experience accessing public services (targeting structural factors) as new mothers 64 . The authors found that mothers had a variety of needs related to structural factors such as housing, cash, food, and child care, that existing government programs did not go far enough in addressing. ...

Poverty after Birth: How Mothers Experience and Navigate U.S. Safety Net Programs to Address Family Needs

... The results showed a positive correlation between the intervention and the rates of arrest for boys. The arrest rate was reduced by 4% for each month the boys received both interventions (Petitclerc et al., 2022). The results of this study align with the results of other studies, as reported by Petitclerc, that indicated early childhood education and home visits together could have a positive impact by lessening children's involvement with the justice system years later. ...

Home Visiting and Early Childhood Education for Reducing Justice System Involvement
  • Citing Article
  • March 2022

Prevention Science

... contributing to hormonally mediated sexual changes with menopause and menopause-related HRT. However, studies suggest that trauma experiences do influence the menopausal transition, with sexual trauma survivors experiencing earlier age of menopause [141,142], greater vasomotor and genitourinary symptoms [143,144], and higher rates of sexual dysfunction during menopause [145]. Thus, clinicians working with women undergoing hormonal changes may glean valuable insight by assessing the presence/absence of sexual trauma history and by integrating information on the extent, chronicity, and timing of patients' experiences. ...

Association between intergenerational violence exposure and maternal age of menopause
  • Citing Article
  • February 2022

Menopause (New York, N.Y.)

... However, when sex differences became more apparent, true awareness of what singing meant in the context of gender seemed to become more pronounced later -generally, when the singers transitioned from further education to HE. Brooks-Gunn & Paikoff (1992) suggest later awareness may be accredited to the fact that significant cognitive and identity development presents at the onset of puberty but when individuals become more li aware of context involving societally-dictated gender appropriate behaviours for example comes greater development of cognitive capacity for deduction and inference. ...

Changes in Self-Feelings During the Transition Towards Adolescence
  • Citing Chapter
  • January 2022