Department of Pediatrics

Epidemiology and Preventative Research Division

Lesley Cottrell, Ph.D.

Background: Today, the social, emotional, and physical development of West Virginians are being affected by problems such as adult and childhood obesity, adolescent pregnancy, and substance abuse. An individual’s decision to abstain from behaviors that lead to negative health outcomes has become a “hot topic” in research and is an important point of prevention and intervention. Only recently, have researchers considered the way in which the family influences one’s decisions to engage in healthy or risk behaviors. Further, very little information is available on how the family influences the health behaviors of individuals as they develop from infancy to adulthood facing quite different social, emotional, and physical challenges along the way.

Research Projects:The COPAA Project: The Communication of Parents and Adolescents in Appalachia Project examines the behavioral efforts parents use to monitor their children who are between 10 and 17 years of age. Current literature on parental monitoring focuses on the type of knowledge parents obtain about their children’s activities and where this information comes from but there is no understanding of what behaviors parents use to provide effective monitoring. Funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, the goals of this 3-year project are to: 1) develop a parental monitoring questionnaire; 2) modify a parent-adolescent program using behavioral focus; and 3) test the efficacy of the modified program.

Program Staff:
Program Coordinator: Cathy Gibson, MPH|
Co-Investigators: Drs. Carole Harris, Scott Cottrell
Grant Manager: Tina Shinkovich, BA
Consultants: Dr. Bonita Stanton

Student Involvement:

Shawn Golden
Doctoral Student, Department of Counseling
In addition to her clinical studies, Ms. Golden is interested in examining the effects of socioeconomic characteristics on parental monitoring strategies and adolescent risk-taking behaviors.  Specifically, she has explored five different types of parental monitoring strategies to determine if there are significant differences in adolescent risk involvement and monitoring based on parental marital status, family income and family education level.  

Traci Jarrett
Doctoral Student, Public Health
Ms. Jarrett examines the association between social capital and adolescent sexual risk behaviors.  She has compared parent and adolescent (12-17 years) reports based on perceptions of social control, community disadvantages, affluence, held values and norms, and effective parenting processes. 

Danielle Davidov
Doctoral Student, Public Health
Ms. Davidov has examined adolescent (12-17 years) baseline reports of sexual risk involvement based on adolescent beliefs of their parents’ monitoring styles.  The extent to which parents monitor to track their adolescents’ whereabouts and activities has an established correlate of adolescent risk involvement.  However, adolescents’ beliefs about how their parents should monitor their behaviors are relatively unexplored in existing literature.

The CARDIAC-Kinder Project: The CARDIAC-Kinder Project was designed for two reasons. First, the project provides the opportunity for professionals to screen children enrolled in Kindergarten classes for factors associated with cardiovascular disease. Secondly, the project provides basic information for parents on the proper diet and exercise needs of their young children as well as ways to limit their caloric intake if they are overweight or at risk for becoming overweight. Parents and their enrolled children are given pedometers and are encouraged to increase their physical activity while being sensitive to the extent to which their diets are healthy. Families are followed for six weeks and are asked a series of questions pertaining to their knowledge about overweight issues, their attitudes about exercise and diet, and their current behaviors. The project is currently funded through the CARDIAC program and is being piloted in Braxton, Marshall, Mason, and Pendleton County. For more information about CARDIAC-Kinder or any of the other CARDIAC programs, please go to www.cardiacwv.org.

Program Staff:
Administrative Assistant: Paula Nicholson
Co-Investigators: Dr. William Neal, Emily Spangler-Murphy, M.S., and Valerie Minor, RN, MSN

Research Collaborations: Arguably, the most effective approach for investigating factors associated with risky health choices is through a multidisciplinary approach. Several collaborative relationships have been established across departments within the School of Medicine; relationships that currently serve at risk infants, preschool children, middle school children, adolescents, and adults. Dr. Cottrell collaborates with the following departments:

Obstetrics and Gynecology (WVU): The HAPI Project is the first and only Healthy Start project for women and their families living in West Virginia. Through a strong collaborative relationship with the Office of Maternal, Child, and Family Health, Right From the Start, Birth Score Office, and Title X Family Planning Clinics, this project provides extended preconception, prenatal, and postpartum services for two years following childbirth to women and infants who are at risk either due to birth outcomes (e.g., prematurity, low birth weight) or maternal mental health (e.g., depression, family stress). Dr. Cottrell is the local evaluator for the HAPI project providing annual evaluations to HRSA about the services and effectiveness of the program. For more information about the HAPI program please go to http://www.hsc.wvu.edu.edu/som/obgyn/hapi/hapindex.asp.

Program Staff:
Principle Investigator: Angela Obringer, Ph.D.
Program Director: Penny Womeldorff, MA
Program Data Manager: Susan Crayne
Co-Investigators: Elizabeth Cohen, MSW, Lois Morgan, BSN, Carole Harris, Ph.D., Martha Mullett, MD, and Heather Mertz, MD

Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry (WVU): Two service projects are currently being conducted by faculty and staff within the Health Behavior Research Center (HBRC) under the direction of Drs. Andrew Bradlyn and Carole Harris. The (Headstart) Project is a five-session program designed to investigate adults’ knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, and behaviors with regard to physical exercise and proper diet. Participants of this longitudinal study are parents of children enrolled in the Head Start Program.

The (NHBLI) Project is a 4-year, NHLBI-funded service-based study examining factors associated with the decision to engage in prevention efforts such as health screenings. Specifically, investigators will attempt to identify factors associated with screening participation through a comprehensive process using focus groups and the development of a Health Belief Questionnaire to assess individuals’ interests in participating in the CARDIAC screening program. Dr. Cottrell is currently a co-investigator on both projects.

Children’s Hospital (Wayne State University): Drs. Bonita Stanton and Xiaoming Li have remained at the forefront of research pertaining to HIV/AIDS-related risk behaviors. Combined, their work examines the risk behaviors of adolescents living in the U.S. and in China. Dr. Li’s work further focuses on special at risk populations such as college students and the migrant populations in China. Under the direction of Dr. Stanton, a group of professionals from a variety of disciplines modified the established adolescent risk reduction program known as Focus on Kids for adolescents living in West Virginia. This project is currently in its final year and has been funded by NIMH.

Martha Mullett, MD

The Barker Hypothesis states that some adult diseases may be initiated by in utero events.  The first discussion of this occurred more than 20 years ago and linked low birth weight to adult coronary disease.  Dr. Mullett has recently combined two population datasets to evaluate the legitimacy of this hypothesis within samples of children living in WV.  The CARDIAC data from 5th grade children captures risk factors for adult coronary disease such as BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol and family history.  Birth Score data captures information from the birth admission of a newborn including detailed birthweight and gestational age information.  Utilizing this combined information, Dr. Mullett and other investigators will evaluate the birthweight / gestational age information with risk factors correlating with adult coronary disease more fully. 

Student Involvement:

Kishore
MPH Student

Contact Dr. Cottrell: lcottrell@hsc.wvu.edu