NCID-1036
Cleopatra Caldwell
Chair, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, Faculty Associate, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research and Adjunct Professor of Psychology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
University of Michigan
Education/Degree:
1 Social Psychology (University of Michigan)
About
Cleopatra Howard Caldwell, PhD, is professor and chair of the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education (HBHE) at the School of Public Health (SPH) at the University of Michigan. She is also director of the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH) at SPH, a faculty associate with the Program for Research on Black Americans (PRBA) at the Institute for Social Research (ISR), and an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology, all at the University of Michigan. Dr. Caldwell is known for her research on the influence of social relationships and social identities on the health and well being of African American adolescents, including the role of parental support, racial discrimination, and racial identity as risk or protective factors for depression, violence and substance use. Her current research focuses on evaluating the long-term effects of the culturally specific Fathers and Sons Program for enhancing parenting among nonresident African American fathers to prevent youth risky behaviors, while reducing depression and substance abuse, and enhancing mental health service use among fathers.
Current Work
Dr. Caldwell's research program focuses on social determinants of mental health and health behaviors among ethnically diverse Black youth and families. For example, using data from the National Survey of American Life-Adolescent Supplement (NSAL-A), her team has examined gender differences in neighborhood influences on the mental health of African American and Caribbean Black youth. They have also used a community-based participatory research approach (CBPR) to work with community partners in Flint, MI to develop a unique culturally-based, gender specific intervention to reduce or prevent risky health behaviors (e.g., aggression, substance use) and promote mental health (i.e., less depression) among nonresident African American fathers and their preadolescent sons by improving fathers' parenting behaviors. They are now ,ing the original Fathers and Sons parenting program with 200 families against a Fathers and Sons physical activity and nutrition program with 200 families in a randomized controlled trial in Chicago, IL to determine the long-term benefits of fathers and sons participating in the parenting program for men's health across generations.
Research Area Keyword(s)
African American families, fathers and sons, intervention research, mental health, risky health behviors