MSU HDFS faculty, student and alumni awards and contributions to research and outreach over the summer

Awards and recognitions

Dr. Ahnalee Brincks was promoted to associate professor with tenure.

Dr. Linda Halgunseth will be leading the Society for Research in Child Development 2027 Biennial Meeting, a professional conference of 5,000+ members.

Dr. Chi-Fang Tseng received the Foundation for the Advancement of Human Systems' Outstanding Research Publication Award.

Dr. Andrea Wittenborn received the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy’s Supervision and Training Award

HDFS PhD student Rachel Chen and Professor Claire Vallotton shared preliminary findings from two studies at the National Research Conference on Early Childhood (NRCEC) in Arlington, Virginia.

Dr. Linda Halgunseth was named permanent director of MSU Department of Chicano Latino Studies.

Casey Hulbert and Mallory MacDonald received the $1,000 VanNahmen Student Excellence Award from the Innovative Digital Education Alliance (IDEA) for use towards her master’s degree in family & community services from MSU/IDEA.

Alumna Dr. Emily Jensen recognized as the MSU College of Social Science Access Spotlight on Disability Independence Day.

Dr. Amy Nuttall received American Psychological Association's Jacob Cohen Award for Distinguished Contributions to Teaching and Mentoring.

Dr. Erica Tobe received the #iTeachMSU Educator Award.

Publications

Drs. Lekie Dwanyen, Caitlin Edwards and Andrea Wittenborn published “'I'm Not Here to Teach You How to Be Gay:' LGBTQ+ Client Experiences of Othering in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy" in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy.

Dr. Sarah Douglas and grad student Samiah K. Mjengwa published, "Enhancing Early Literacy Development Through Dialogic Reading" in Childhood Education.

Dr. Francisco Villarruel published “Organizational Arrangements in Evidence2Success Communities: Enabling Sustainable Community Transformation for Youth Well-Being” in Societies.

Dr. Yijie Wang published "Ethnic–racial discrimination, peer support, and internalizing problems: A two-wave daily diary study of Asian university students in Canada from late adolescence to young adulthood" in Journal of Research on Adolescence.

Dr. Amy Nuttall published "Adverse Childhood Experiences Increase Vulnerability for Maternal-Infant Bonding Impairment: Examining Psychological and Neuroendocrine Mediational Processes" in Psychodynamic Psychiatry.

Dr. Ahnalee Brincks published "Problematic phone use and depression among early adolescents across time: The role of family factors." in the Journal of Family Psychology.

Dr. Amy Nuttall published "Racial marginalization moderates associations between mothers' emotion regulation difficulties and feeding to soothe practices with young children" in Appetite.

Dr. Erica Mitchell published "Including support people in gestational diabetes mellitus education: Understanding providers’ perspectives" in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Dr. Holly Brophy-Herb published "Exploring the link between maternal mind-mindedness at 14 months and toddlers’ emotion regulation at 24 months: the moderating effects of toddler sex and temperament" in the European Journal of Developmental Psychology.

Dr. Erica Mitchell published "Including support people in gestational diabetes mellitus education: Understanding providers’ perspectives" in Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Awards and Recognitions

Doctoral student Daeun Kim received the CSS Dean’s Institutional Access Small Grant and the Richard Kichu & Joan Sojeon Moon Scholarship from the Council on Korean Studies at MSU’s Asian Studies Center.

Dr. Linda Halgunseth recognized as the College of Social Science Access Champion for September Hispanic Heritage Month.

Publications

Dr. Holly Brophy-Herb published "Social–Emotional Development of Young Children Who Stutter: An Overview of Empirical Studies" in the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

Dr. Amy Nuttall published “Associations of childhood sexual maltreatment and negative birth experiences: Mediating role of posttraumatic stress in late pregnancy” in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research.

Dr. Sarah Douglas published "Parent-Coached Sibling-Mediated Intervention for Social Communication in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Single-Case Study" in Behavioral Sciences. 

Dr. Yijie Wang published "Making sense of development: What within-person and between-person patterns reveal" in Child Development Perspectives.

Dr. Sarah Douglas and graduate student Chandani Bhandari published “Culturally Responsive Approach to Collaborate With Indian American Families of Children With Extensive Support Needs” in Inclusive Practices.

Dr. Kendal Holtrop published “GenerationPMTO: An overview of the intervention and summary of recent research and implementation efforts” in the APA’s Handbook of behavioral parent training.

Dr. Holly Brophy-Herb published “Positive psychology interventions to promote resilience and wellbeing among educators: A scoping review” in Frontiers in Education.

Dr. Sarah Douglas published “Development of FamTAM Intervention for Speech and Language Pathologists and Family Members” in Journal of Special Education Technology.

Dr. Sarah Douglas published “Sensor Technology to Measure Social Engagement for Children with Behavioral Challenges” in IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies.

Dr. Yijie Wang published “Discrimination and Early Substance Use among Racial-Ethnically Minoritized Youth: Self-Reports and Hair Samples” in Development and Psychopathology.

Dr. Burcu H. Tatar, Dr. Lori E. Skibbe, Dr. Ryan P. Bowles, and Dr. Hope K. Gerde published “The role of digital media in the home learning environment and its associations with children’s early language and literacy skills” in British Journal of Educational Technology.

Dr. Amy Nuttall and Jenna Tolman published “Brief Report: The Influences of Prosocial Behavior and Family Factors on Future Caregiving Intentions Among Adolescent Neurotypical Siblings' of Autistic Individuals” in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.