Return to Research Areas at ORI

Every community would like its young people to be healthy and successful, and shares in the responsibility for raising the next generation.   

ORI scientists have studied how communities can help to promote healthy and successful children. Building on our expertise in tobacco cessation, we have worked with communities across Oregon to reduce young people’s problem behaviors such as smoking and drug use. Our programs combine the strengths of community leaders, schools and parents to promote successful youth.  Our community-wide approach has reduced tobacco and alcohol use by young people.

Promoting optimal development draws on ORI-wide knowledge of behavior change.  By combining our expertise at many levels, from the individual child to the entire community, we have a powerful formula.

Current Grants

Expanding the Reach of Evidence-Based Interventions for Improving Social-Emotional Outcomes for Infants in Child Care (Infant Teacher Net)

Scientists are adapting an empirically-based program for parents of infants for use with teachers of infants with and at-risk for disabilities. The program will focus on improving responsive teacher interaction with infants to promote social-emotional outcomes for infants with a diverse set of learning needs. The project will compare effectiveness for infants at-risk for/with disabilities to that of typically developing infants.

Principal Investigator: Ed Feil

Co-Investigators: Betsy Davis & Julie Rusby

Project Period: 3/1/10 - 2/28/13

Subcontract with University of Kansas, Center for Research, Inc. from the U.S. Department of Education

Salivary Biomarkers (DNA, RNA and Cortisol), Life Stress and Nicotine Dependence (Genetic Biomarkers GO ARRA)

This project has the potential to advance drug abuse prevention and intervention research through identifying Genetic x Environment (GxE) interactions, which may help to explain the success or failure of interventions designed to prevent the initiation of tobacco use and the progression to nicotine dependence, or to maintain cessation.

Principal Investigators: Judy Andrews &  Andrew Bergen (SRI International)

Co-Investigators: Anne Simons & Liz Tildesley

Project Period: 9/30/09 - 9/29/11

National Institute on Drug Abuse: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Creating the Scientific Infrastructure for the Promise Neighborhood Initiative (Promise GO ARRA)

Investigators are creating the Promise Neighborhood Consortium to develop an infrastructure through which the scientific community can develop research to evaluate interventions to help America's highest poverty neighborhoods.

Principal Investigators: Tony Biglan & Brian Flay (OSU)

Co-Investigator: Laura Backen Jones

Project Period: 9/30/09 - 8/31/11

National Institute on Drug Abuse: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Randomized Trial of a State Tobacco Prevention Program (OSAS ARRA Sup)

Scientists are testing whether an intervention that associates NOT using tobacco with social acceptance and related needs of adolescents is effective.

Principal Investigator: Tony Biglan

Co-Investigator: John Light

Project Period: 9/30/09 - 9/29/10

National Cancer Institute: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Translating Effective Maltreatment Intervention into the Community (Healthy Infants)

Investigators are adapting an evidence-based parenting intervention approach into a feasible, community-based program approach aimed at reducing child maltreatment by harnessing the power of the internet to effectively provide community agencies with both training opportunities as well as immediate and ongoing supervision and guidance by professional program consultants.

Principal Investigator: Ed Feil

Co-Investigator: Betsy Davis

Project Period: 9/1/09 - 8/31/12

Subcontract with the University of Kansas Center for Research, Inc., from the Centers for Disease Control

Enhancing Core Reading Instruction in First Grade (ECRI): Implementing a System of Multi-Tiered Instruction and Data-Based Decision Making through Advanced Professional Development (ECRI)

Investgators are implementing and evaluating a Response to Intervention (RTI) system of reading instruction and assessment in first grade.

Principal Investigator: Keith Smolkowski

Co-Investigator: Barbara Gunn

Project Period: 9/1/09 - 8/31/13

Subcontract with the University of Oregon from the U. S. Department of Education

Improving Access to Early Parent Education and Support (Parent IVES II)

Metzler and her team are developing and evaluating an interactive video email service for parents of infants and toddlers that integrates automated email, video streaming, and interactive website technologies to deliver frequent, ongoing parent education and support services to parents of young children.

Principal Investigator: Carol Metzler

Co-Investigators: John Seeley & Laura Backen Jones

Project Period: 7/1/09 - 12/31/11

Subcontract with IRIS Media from the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development

Enhanced First Step to Success: Improving School Readiness for School Children with Disruptive Behavior (Enhanced FS)

Scientists are working to establish effect sizes of the home only, school only, and home and school combined components of the Enhanced First Step to Success intervention related to improvements in child behavior and social skills outcomes.

Principal Investigators: Ed Feil & Hill Walker

Co-Investigators: John Seeley, Herb Severson, & Annemieke Golly

Project Period: 7/1/09 - 6/30/12

Subcontract with the University of Louisville Research Foundation from U. S. Department of Education

Reducing Teacher Stress and Building a More Effective School Culture (Teacher Wellbeing)

Investigators are examining the effects of an acceptance-based intervention for reducing teacher distress and increasing schools' collegiality.

Principal Investigator: Tony Biglan

Co-Investigators: John Seeley, Julie Rusby, & Laura Backen Jones

Project Period: 6/10/09 - 5/31/14

National Institute of Drug Abuse

Online School Staff Training: Establishing Positive Behavior Support in Elementary School Instructional Settings (Online PBS)

Smolkowski and colleagues are developing and field testing three modules of an online professional development program for elementary school staff on how to apply positive behavior supports (PBS) in order to manage behavior in elementary school instructional settings.

Principal Investigator: Keith Smolkowski

Co-Investigators: Hill Walker & Barbara Gunn

Project Period: 6/1/09 - 5/31/12

Subcontract with IRIS Media from IES/U.S. Department of Education

Ecological Momentary Assessment of Peer Affiliation, Perceptions and Behavior (Peer Affiliations)

Rusby and her team are developing and evaluating an assessment tool, Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), for measuring the experiences middle school youth have during non-school times. This tool will provide researchers with a comprehensive understanding of how adolescents' mood states, perceptions of peer acceptance, and associations with deviant and prosocial peers impact their behavior. The outcomes will inform prevention efforts by better defining when and how to intervene with at-risk youth to prevent initiation and escalation of substance use.

Principal Investigator: Julie Rusby 

Co-Investigators:  John Light & Tony Biglan

Project Period: 6/1/09 - 5/31/11

National Institute on Drug Abuse

Interactive Multimedia Training Program for First Steps to Success Intervention

(FS Training)

The research team is developing a computer-based interactive program to train behavioral coaches in the implementation of the First Step to Success early intervention program.

Principal Investigator: John Seeley

Co-Investigators:  Ed Feil, Hill Walker & Annemieke Golly

Project Period: 6/1/09 - 11/30/10

Subcontract with Deschutes Research, Inc. from the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development

Online Parent Training for Children with Behavior Disorders (Parenting Wisely)

The Parenting Wisely parenting skills CD ROM will be revised to increase its appeal and effectiveness by increasing the relevance and diversity of parenting examples.

Principal Investigator: Ed Feil

Co-Investigators: Holly Waldron, Laura Backen Jones, John Seeley

Project Period: 4/1/09 - 12/31/09

Subcontract (SBIR) with Family Works from the National Institute on Drug Abuse

Efficacy Trial of Carescapes: Promoting Social Development in Home-based Child Care (Carescapes Efficacy)

The research team is testing the efficacy of the Carescapes program "Promoting Children's Social Competence." This video-based training program was developed to improve home-based child care providers' practices and the quality of the child care environment.

Principal Investigator: Julie Rusby

Co-Investigators: Laura Backen Jones & Keith Smolkowski

Project Period: 3/1/09 - 2/28/13

U.S. Department of Education

Ecological Approach to Family Intervention and Treatment (EcoFIT) Integrated with PBS: An Effectiveness Trial in Middle School (EcoFIT)

Investigators are testing the effectiveness of the EcoFIT school-home intervention under scaled-up conditions using a randomized controlled trial.

Principal Investigators: John Seeley & Keith Smolkowski

Project Period: 3/1/09 - 2/28/14

U.S. Department of Education

Communities and Schools Together for Childhood Obesity Prevention (CAST)

This project uses community-based participatory research (CBPR) with a community-school partnership, including families, to develop researched solutions in preventing childhood obesity and related health risks. CAST is creating a research model for using geospatial community health information database systems (CHIDS) on local environmental, social, and family influences on child activity and diet, neighborhood designs related to active child transport to and from school and other neighborhood child activity, and presence of food outlets providing affordable, healthy food access for families. CHIDS will be used to guide collaboratively determined interventions and policy change to pursue locally driven solutions in childhood obesity prevention within elementary school settings.

Principal Investigator: Deborah Johnson-Shelton

Co-Investigator: Shawn Boles

Project Period: 5/1/08 – 4/30/13

National Institute of Child and Human Development

Finding Strength: A Video Series for American Indian Parents (Strength in Culture)

Investigators are working with American Indians to develop a series of videos, adapted to be culturally relevant to American Indian parents, to be used in conjunction with the Incredible Years parenting program.

Principal Investigator: Betsy Davis

Co-Investigators: Renda Dionne & Lisa Sheeber

Project Period: 4/1/08 - 12/31/10

Subcontract (STTR) with Intervision from the National Institute on Drug Abuse

Efficacy Trials of Early Learning In Mathematics (K-Math)

To test the efficacy of “Early Learning in Mathematics”, a mathematics curriculum designed for use in the early grades. Two studies are being conducted in 100 kindergarten classrooms in Oregon and Dallas, Texas.
Principal Investigator: Keith Smolkowski

Project Period: 4/1/08 - 3/31/12

Subcontract with PIRE to U.S. Department of Education

Adolescent Peer Social Network Dynamics and Problem Behavior (DyNet)

Scientists are examining the effect of a group-randomized trial of an already funded school-level positive behavior intervention on the over-time interdependence between early adolescent problem behavior and peer group dynamics.Principal Investigator: John Light

Co-Investigators: Julie Rusby & Tony Biglan

Project Period: 4/1/08 - 3/31/13

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Enhancing Literacy Outcomes for English Learners Through Systematic and Explicit Teaching Routines (SETR)

To enhance first grade literacy instruction in Spanish, transition to English, and enhance English reading instruction in the second grade.

Principal Investigator: Keith Smolkowski

Project Period: 8/1/07 - 7/31/11

Subcontract with PIRE to U.S. Department of Education

Evaluation of a Video-Based Media Series to Promote Effective Parenting (Parenting Media)

Researchers are developing and experimentally evaluating two variants of a 10-episode, brief, video-based, infotainment-style broadcast-quality media series targeted at parent practices, derived from the Triple P - Positive Parenting Program.

Principal Investigator: Carol W. Metzler

Co-Investigators: Julie Rusby & Matt Sanders

Project Period: 4/15/07 - 3/31/12

National Institute on Drug Abuse

Developing and Testing an Empirically Based Preschool Language and Literacy Curriculum for Children at Risk for Reading Disabilities Using a Component Anlaysis (Pre Kid Lit)

Scientists are developing and testing a preschool language and literacy program for 4-year old children with language or learning disabilities or at high risk for reading disability.

Principal Investigator: Barbara K. Gunn

Co-Investigators: Keith Smolkowski & Pat Vadasy

Project Period: 3/1/07 - 2/28/11

U. S. Department of Education

Implementing School Wide Positive Behavior Support in Middle Schools (PBS)

Researchers are evaluating the benefits of school-wide Positive Behavior Support (PBS) for reducing the level of in-school problem behavior, improving academic achievement, preventing the development of deviant peer groups, and reducing the prevalence of substance use and anti-social behavior in non-school settings.

Principal Investigator: Tony Biglan

Co-Investigator: Julie C. Rusby

Project Period: 7/1/06 - 6/30/11

Subcontract with the University of Oregon from the National Institute on Drug Abuse

Early, Evidence-based Intervention for Externalizing Behavior Problems in School: From Efficacy to Effectiveness of the First Step to Success Program (FS Effectiveness)

In this subcontract, ORI investigators are helping to evaluate the effectiveness of the First Step to Success program in a large randomized control trial using the RE-AIM framework.
Principal Investigator: John Seeley

Co-Investigators: Hill Walker, Herb Severson, Ed Feil, Annemieke Golly

Project Period: 3/1/06 - 2/28/11

Subcontract to SRI International from U. S. Department of Education

Center for the Prevention of Problems in Early Adolescence (EA Center)

This core support center integrates and supports research projects which span the range of research problems needed to improve prevention for early adolescence, including family, school, peer, neighborhood and community influences on substance use, antisocial behavior, depression and high risk sexual behavior.

Principal Investigator: Tony Biglan

Co-Investigators: Terry Duncan, Carol Metzler, Shawn Boles, Sue Duncan, Julie Rusby, John Seeley, Dennis Embry, John Light & Brian Flay

Project Period: 6/15/05 - 5/31/10

National Institute on Drug Abuse

Intranet-based Tobacco Prevention Program for Children (Intranet/CAPS)
The purpose of this project is to develop and evaluate a multi-media computer-based tobacco prevention program for children and to prevent or delay onset of children’s tobacco use and to modify intentions and willingness to try tobacco in the future. Principal Investigator: Judy Andrews

Co-Investigators: Judith Gordon, Sarah Hampson, Herb Severson, Paul Slovic
Project Period: 3/1/04 - 1/31/12
National Cancer Institute

Tobacco Control Activities and Adolescent Tobacco Use (OHT)
This grant attempts to discover the effects of tobacco control practices and individual risk factors on the prevalence of tobacco use among high school and middle school students.
Principal Investigator: Anthony Biglan
Co-Investigators: Shawn Boles, Clyde Dent, Herbert Severson
Project Period: 4/1/00 – 11/30/10
National Cancer Institute

Childhood and Adolescent Predictors of Substance Abuse in Emerging Adulthood (ABACUS)

This is a continuation of a longitudinal study to expand our knowledge of the processes related to the development of substance use from adolescence through emerging adulthood; addiction and dependence in emerging adulthood; and risky sexual behavior in late adolescence and emerging adulthood.
Principal Investigator: Judy Andrews
Co-Investigators: Sarah Hampson, Anne Simons, Elizabeth Tildesley
Project Period: 1/1/98 – 2/28/14
National Institute on Drug Abuse