P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale

Professor of Human Development and Social Policy, School of Education and Social Policy
Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research
Northwestern University
PhD, Developmental Psychology, University of Michigan, 1981
lcl@northwestern.edu
Curriculum Vitae
Additional biographical information

P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale is an expert on the interface between research and social policy for children and families, a former Congressional Science Fellow, and the first developmental psychologist to be tenured in a public policy school in the United States. She is professor of human development and social policy at the School of Education and Social Policy and was founding director of Cells to Society (C2S): The Center on Social Disparities and Health at the Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University.

She specializes in multidisciplinary research on social issues and how they affect families and the development of children, youth, and families. Much of her work addresses family strengths that lead to children's positive social and educational outcomes in the context of economic hardship. Specific topics include two-generation educational interventions for young parents and children, early childhood education, postsecondary education and training for low-income young adults, immigration, welfare reform, maternal employment, marriage and cohabitation, parent-child relationships, and social disparities in health.

Chase-Lansdale is a fellow in the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. She is the recipient of the Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA) Social Policy Award as well as the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Award for Distinguished Contributions to Public Policy for Children. Chase-Lansdale has recently received a grant from the Foundation for Child Development to mentor scholars of color at all levels (undergraduate, predoctoral, and postdoctoral students). She chairs the Visiting Committee of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Study Section on Social Sciences and Population Studies at the National Institutes of Health. Chase-Lansdale received her PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Michigan in 1981.

Current Research

Dual-Generation Education Interventions. In 2008, Chase Lansdale launched an action-research project on education and workforce programs for young, low-income parents, combined with high-quality, early childhood education programs for children. Currently, she is collaborating with Jeanne Brooks-Gunn of Columbia University, Christopher King, UT-Austin, Hiro Yoshikawa, Harvard University, and a remarkable antipoverty agency, Community Action Program (CAP) of Tulsa, Oklahoma to expand and study a model program called CareerAdvance®.This is a newly created healthcare workforce development program designed for low-income parents of young children enrolled in CAP’s early childhood education programs. CareerAdvance® also provides a number of key supportive components— career coaches, financial incentives, and peer group meetings—to prepare parents for high-demand jobs in the healthcare sector. To date, the dual-generation approach of CareerAdvance® is the only sectoral workforce development program with the goal of improving outcomes simultaneously for both parents and children. Chase-Lansdale’s research program addresses the influence of dual-generation interventions on the psychological health and economic well-being of families and children. Funding for her research has come from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Selected Publications

Books

Chase-Lansdale, P.L., K.E. Kiernan, and R.J. Friedman (eds.) 2004. Human Development Across Lives and Generations: The Potential for Change. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Duncan, G.J., and P.L. Chase-Lansdale (eds.) 2001. For Better and for Worse: Welfare Reform and the Well-being of Children and Families. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Articles, Chapters, and Policy Briefs

Sommer, T.E., P.L. Chase-Lansdale, J. Brooks-Gunn, M. Gardner, D.M. Rauner, and K. Freel. In Press. Early childhood education centers and mothers’ postsecondary attainment: A new conceptual framework for a dual-generation education intervention. Teachers College Record.

Pittman, L.D., L.S. Wakschlag, P.L. Chase-Lansdale, J. Brooks-Gunn. In Press. “Mama, I’m a person, too!”: Individuation and young African-American mothers’ parenting competence. In P.K. Kerig, M.S. Schulz, and S. Hauser (eds.), Adolescence and beyond: Family processes and development. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hoyt, L.T., P.L. Chase-Lansdale, T.W. McDade, and E.K. Adam. In Press. Happy youth,
healthy adults: Does positive well-being in adolescence predict better health in young adulthood? Journal of Adolescent Health.

Adam, E.K., L. Chyu, T. Till, L.D. Doane, G.J. Duncan, P.L. Chase-Lansdale, J. Boisjoly, and T.W. McDade. In press. Adverse relationship histories and young adult health: Cumulative effects of low parent support, intimate partner violence, relationship instability, loneliness and loss. Journal of Adolescent Health.

Chase-Lansdale, P.L., A.J. Cherlin, K. Guttmannova, P. Fomby, D.C. Ribar, and R.L. Coley.
2010. Long-term implications of welfare reform for the development of adolescents and young adults. Children and Youth Services Review, 33, 678-688.

Votruba-Drzal, E., R.L. Coley, C. Li-Grining, and P.L. Chase-Lansdale. 2010. Child care and
the socioemotional development of economically disadvantaged children in middle childhood. Child Development, 81, 1460-74.

Palacios, N., K. Gutmannova, and P.L. Chase-Lansdale. 2008. Immigrant differences in early reading achievement: Evidence from the ECLS-K. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1381-1395.

Chase-Lansdale, P.L., A. Valdovinos D’Angelo, and P. Palacios. 2007. A multidisciplinary perspective on the development of young children in Mexican American immigrant families.  In J. E. Lansford, K. Deater-Deckard, and M. H. Bornstein (eds.), Immigrant families in contemporary society (pp. 137-156).  New York: Guilford Press.

Li-Grining, C.P., E. Votruba-Drzal, H.J. Bachman, and P.L. Chase-Lansdale. 2006. Are certain preschoolers at risk in the era of welfare reform? The moderating role of children's temperament. Children and Youth Services Review, 28, 1102-1123.

Smuts, A.B., with R.W. Smuts, R.M. Smuts, B.B.Smuts, and P.L. Chase-Lansdale. 2006. Science in the service of children: 1893-1935. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Seltzer, J.A., C.A. Bachrach, S.M. Bianchi, C.H. Bledsoe, L.M. Casper, P.L. Chase-Lansdale, et al. 2005. Explaining family change and variation: Challenges for family demographers. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 908-925.

Gordon, R.A., P.L. Chase-Lansdale, J. Brooks-Gunn. 2004. Extended households and the life course of young mothers: Understanding the associations using a sample of mothers with premature, low birth weight babies. Child Development 75, 4: 1013-38.

Chase-Lansdale, P.L., and E. Votruba-Drza. 2004. Human development and the potential for change from the perspective of multiple disciplines: What have we learned?  In P.L. Chase-Lansdale, K. Kiernan, and R.J. Friedman, (eds.). Human development across lives and generations: The potential for change (pp. 343-366). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Chase-Lansdale, P.L., R.A. Moffitt, B.J. Lohman, A.J. Cherlin, R.L. Coley, L.D. Pittman, J. Roff, and E. Votruba-Drzal. 2003. Mothers’ transitions from welfare to work and the well-being of preschoolers and adolescents. Science, 299(5612), 1548-1552.