Kathleen Roche

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Bio

Trained in fields of public health and social work, Professor Roche's research program examines parenting influences on the health and well-being of adolescents facing challenges tied to immigration status, neighborhood disadvantage, acculturation to the US, and discrimination. She applies a "development-in-context" approach to understanding how families in vulnerable contexts can most successfully raise their adolescent youth. Dr. Roche's research is informed by multiple disciplines: developmental psychology, urban sociology, family social sciences, and social epidemiology. Her expertise is in adolescence, adolescent health and well-being, parenting, acculturation-related factors, immigrant Latino/a families, and neighborhood-by-parenting interaction effects. She is particularly interested in integrating developmental and ecological theories with the social epidemiology of adolescent health in order to better understand social influences on youth's behaviors, success in school, and mental health.

Expertise

Education:

Bachelor of Arts, Art History, Emory University, 1988

Masters of Social Work, The University of Georgia, 1993

Doctorate of Philosophy, Maternal and Child Health, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 1999

Teaching:

PubH 6557: Child Development and Public Health

PubH 6599: Social Ecology of Child & Adolescent Health

PubH 6504: Social and Behavioral Science Research Methods

PubH 6502_2U: Data Management and Analysis

PubH 6099_2U: Culminating Experience

Community Service:

Dr. Roche is a Consulting Editor or Editorial Board member for seven journals including Journal of Marriage and Family, Journal of Research on Adolescence, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Journal of Family Psychology, Journal of Family Theory and Review, and Adolescent Research Review.

Research

Research:

Dr. Roche is the Principal Investigator of "Pathways to Health / Caminos al Bienestar" - a five-year study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Among a socioeconomically diverse sample of Latino families living in a new immigrant destination, this study examines the cascading effects of cultural demands and opportunities in neighborhood, school and immigrant contexts on parenting and parent-adolescent relationships and, in turn, adolescent adjustment. Mother-youth dyads will be followed over eight time points during transitions spanning youth's 6th through 11th grades. This research uses multi-level and structural equation modeling techniques to examine direct and indirect pathways linking extrafamilial contexts with Latina/o adolescent outcomes. Findings will inform the development of preventive interventions that can promote school success and healthy development for US Latino adolescents.

Related to this research, Dr. Roche's study examining impacts of recent immigration actions and news on the lives of US Latino parents has been featured in national media including the NBC Nightly News, US News & World Report, Vox.com, and WAMU 88.5. She and her colleagues are currently conducting a follow up study focused on adolescent children of Latino/a immigrant parents. You may follow her on twitter @KRoche_GWU.

Dr. Roche serves on the editorial board of seven family and social science journals and is a Regular Member of the Psychosocial Development, Risk, and Prevention (PDRP) Study Section at the National Institutes of Health.

Publications

Publications:

Latino adolescents and their families:

Roche, K. M., Vaquera, E., White, R. B. W., Rivera, M. I. (2018). Impacts of immigration actions and news and the psychological distress of US Latino parents raising adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62, 525 - 531.
Roche, K. M., Little, T. D., Ghazarian, S. R., Lambert, S. F., Calzada, E. & Schulenberg, J. (in press). Parenting processes and adolescent adjustment in immigrant Latino families: The use of residual centering to address the multicollinearity problem. Journal of Latina/o Psychology.
Nair, R. N., Roche, K. M. & White, R. B. W. (2018). Acculturation gap distress among Latino youth: Prospective links to family processes and youth depressive symptoms, alcohol use, and academic performance. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 47, 105 - 120.
Roche, K. M., Calzada, E. J., Ghazarian, S. R. Little, T.D., Lambert, S. F., & Schulenberg, J. (2017). Longitudinal pathways to educational attainment for youth in Mexican and Central American immigrant families. Journal of Latina/o Psychology, 5, 12 - 26.
Roche, K. M., Lambert, S. F., Ghazarian, S. R. & Little, T. D. (2015). Latino youth’s language brokering across contexts: Associations with parenting and parent-child relationships in a new immigrant destination area. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44, 77 – 89.
Roche, K. M., Caughy, M. O., Schuster, M. A., Bogart, L. M., Dittus, P. J. & Franzini, L. (2014). Cultural orientations, parental beliefs and practices, and Latino youth’s autonomy and independence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 1389 – 1403.
Roche, K. M., Ghazarian, S. R., Fernandez-Esquer, M. E. (2012). Unpacking acculturation: Cultural orientations and educational attainment among Mexican-origin youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 920 – 931.

Low-income urban youth and parenting:

Lambert, S. F., Roche, K. M., Saleem, F. T. & Henry, J. S. (2015). Mother-adolescent relationship quality as a moderator of associations between racial socialization and adolescent psychological adjustment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 85, 409 - 420.
Murray, K. W., Bair-Merritt, M., Roche, K. M. & Cheng, T. (2012). The impact of intimate partner violence on mothers’ parenting practices for low-income adolescents. Journal of Family Violence, 27, 573 – 583.
Roche, K. M. & Ghazarian, S. R. (2012). The value of family routines for the academic success of vulnerable adolescents. Journal of Family Issues, 33, 874 – 897.
Roche, K. M., Ghazarian, S. R., Little, T, & Leventhal, T. (2010). Understanding links between punitive discipline and adolescent adjustment: The relevance of context and reciprocal associations. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21, 448 – 460.
Ghazarian, S. R. & Roche, K. M. (2010). Social support and low-income, urban mothers: Longitudinal associations with adolescent delinquency. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 39, 1097 – 1109.
Roche, K. M. & Leventhal, T. (2009). Beyond neighborhood poverty: Family management, neighborhood disorder, and adolescents' early sexual onset. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 819 – 827.
Roche, K. M., Ensminger, M. E., & Cherlin, A. J. (2007). Variations in parenting and adolescent outcomes among African American and Latino families living in low-income, urban areas. Journal of Family Issues, 28, 882 - 909.
Roche, K. M., Astone, N. M., & Bishai, D. (2007). Caring for young adolescents during out-of-school hours: Impact on problem behaviors among youth in low-income, urban areas. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 28, 471 - 488.
Roche, K. M., Ensminger, M. E., Ialongo, N., Poduska, J., & Kellam, S. (2006). Early entries into adult roles: Associations with aggressive behavior from adolescence into young adulthood. Youth & Society, 38, 236 - 261.
Roche, K. M., Mekos, D., Alexander, C. S., Astone, N. M., Bandeen-Roche, K., & Ensminger, M. E. (2005). Parenting influences on early sex initiation among adolescents: How neighborhood matters. Journal of Family Issues, 26, 32 - 54.
Roche, K. M., Ellen, J., & Astone, N. M. (2005). Effects of out-of-school care on early sex initiation in low-income, central city neighborhoods. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 159, 68 - 73.
Roche, K. M., Ensminger, M. E., Chilcoat, H. & Storr, C. (2003). Establishing independence in low-income urban areas: The relationship to adolescent aggressive behavior. Journal of Marriage and Family 65 (3), 668 - 680.
Roche K. M., Webster, D., Alexander, C. S., & Ensminger, M. E. (2003). Neighborhood variations in the salience of family support to boys’ fighting. Adolescent and Family Health 3 (2), 55 - 64.
Gittelsohn, J., Roche, K. M., Alexander, C. S., & Tassler, P. (2001). The social context of smoking among African American and White adolescents in Baltimore City. Ethnicity and Health 6, 211-225.

Adolescence & Adolescent risk behaviors

Little, T. D., Roche, K. M., Chow, S., Schenck, A. P. & Byam, L. (2016). National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop: Advancing research to prevent youth suicide. Annals of Internal Medicine, 165, 795-799.
Ries A. V., Voorhees C. C., Roche K. M., Gittelsohn J., Yan A. F., & Astone N. M. (2009). A quantitative examination of park characteristics related to park use and physical activity among urban youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45, S64-S70.
Mmari, K., Roche, K. M., *Sudhinaraset, M., & Blum, R. W. (2009). When a parent goes off to war: Understanding impacts on adolescents and their families. Youth & Society, 40, 455 - 475.
Roche, K. M., Ahmed, S., & Blum, R. W. (2008). The enduring consequences of parenting for risk behaviors from adolescence into early adulthood. Social Science and Medicine, 66, 2023 - 2034.
Ries, A.V., Gittelsohn, J., Voorhees, C.C., Roche, K. M., Clifton, K.J., & Astone, N. M. (2008). The environment and urban adolescents’ use of recreational facilities for physical activity: A qualitative study. American Journal of Health Promotion 23, 43-50.
Ries, A.V., Voorhees, C. C., Gittelsohn, J., Roche, K. M. & Astone, N. M. (2008). Adolescents' perceptions of environmental influences on physical activity. American Journal of Health Behavior, 32, 26 - 39.
Trent, M., Clum, G., & Roche, K. M. (2007). Sexual victimization and reproductive health outcomes in urban youth. Ambulatory Pediatrics, 7, 313 - 316.

Adolescents in developing country contexts:

Meyer, K. & Roche, K. M. (2017). Sport-for-development gender equality impacts from a basketball program: Shifts in attitudes and stereotypes in Senegalese youth and coaches. Journal of Sport for Development, 5, 49 - 57.
Bingenheimer, J. B., Roche, K. M., & Blake, S. (2017). Family adult awareness of adolescents’ premarital romantic and sexual relationships in Ghana. Youth & Society, 49, 341-368.
Roche, K. M., Bingenheimer, J. B. & Ghazarian, S. R. (2016). The dynamic interdependence between family support and depressive symptoms among adolescents in Ghana. International Journal of Public Health. 61, 487 - 494.

Kathleen M.

Roche, MSW, PhD

Associate Professor

Kathleen Roche

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