Research

Study highlights successful Iowa program for youth exiting foster care

AMES, Iowa – Iowa offers a successful model for serving youth exiting foster care, according to a new study.

Lead author Carl Weems is a professor and chair of human development and family studies at Iowa State University. He researches the risks and effects of trauma, along with prevention and interventions to bolster resilience.

College ADMYRE Brief Report (2024-2025 academic year)

CWRTP Graduate Assistant, Yeonji Ryou recently completed data analysis for the College ADMYRE program. ADMYRE is a dating violence awareness program and stands for Advocating for My Relationships. Ryou analyzed data from the fall 2024 and spring 2025 College ADMYRE sessions. The results show over 97% of participants reported a high positive experience with the ADMYRE program.

About 95% of participants reported plans to apply what they learned from the College ADMYRE program. One college student responded, "I honestly wish I could have seen this program in high school when I was going through an abusive relationship." Another student said, "I will help others if i notice signs of an unhealthy relationship."

ADMYRE FY25 Brief Report

CWRTP Graduate Assistant, Yeonji Ryou recently completed data analysis for the teen ADMYRE program. ADMYRE is a dating violence awareness program and stands for Advocating for My Relationships. Ryou analyzed data from the fall 2024 and spring 2025 ADMYRE sessions. The results show students overwhelmingly rated the ADMYRE program as excellent or good (93%). When asked in the post-survey, How will you use what you’ve learned from the ADMYRE program in your relationships?, one student responded, "if I see a friend who may be in danger I will offer help" and another student responded, "Catching red flags that either I do or my partner does."

Teen Dating Violence: Youths’ Knowledge and Experience of Unhealthy Relationships

Bethany McCurdy recently had her research published in the Journal of Family Violence. The title of the article is Teen Dating Violence: Youths’ Knowledge and Experience of Unhealthy Relationships. Congratulations Bethany!

Excerpt: Findings highlight differential experiences of unhealthy relationships by gender, age, and race and help emphasize the need to address gender disparities and inclusivity in prevention efforts. Attending “In Their Shoes” was associated with increases in knowledge on recognizing patterns of unhealthy relationships, steps to take to remove oneself from an unhealthy relationship, and helping friends remove themselves from an unhealthy relationship.

PIAL module reports

Bethany McCurdy, Postdoc Research Associate and Mikaela Scozzafava, Graduate Research Assistant completed data analysis for three PIAL modules. The data was collected during the 2023-2024 academic year. The modules analyzed include Healthy Relationships, Resiliency, and Cost of Raising a Child. For all three modules, nearly all students rated their experience as excellent or good.

You may review the brief reports with the following links:

ADMYRE FY24 Brief Report

CWRTP Graduate Assistant, Mikaela Scozzafava recently completed data analysis for the ADMYRE program. ADMYRE is a dating violence awareness program and stands for Advocating for My Relationships. Scozzafava analyzed data from the fall 2023 and spring 2024 ADMYRE sessions. The results show students overwhelmingly rated the ADMYRE program as excellent or good. When asked in the post-survey, How will you use what you’ve learned from the ADMYRE program in your relationships?, one student responded, "I will now know how to identify unhealthy signs and know how to tell someone about it."

You may review the brief report with the following link:

Research report for PIAL's Expansion grant focusing on future teachers and professionals

CWRTP Postdoc Research Associate, Dr. Bethany McCurdy recently completed a research brief focused on engaging future teachers and human service professionals with the PIAL program to prepare them to implement PIAL components in their classrooms and organizations. Dr. McCurdy highlighted results from the fall 2021 and fall 2022 long report.

You may review the brief report with the following link: 

ADMYRE FY23 Brief Report

CWRTP Graduate Assistant, Mikaela Scozzafava recently completed research for PIAL's ADMYRE (Advocating for My Relationships) program. ADMYRE is a dating violence awareness program. Scozzafava analyzed data from the fall 2022 and spring 2023 ADMYRE sessions.

You may review the brief report with the following link:

Research reports for PIAL's College Sim

CWRTP Graduate Assistant, Mikaela Scozzafava recently completed research reports for objective 2 of the PIAL expansion grant. Scozzafava analyzed data from the fall 2022 College Sim sessions.

You may review each report with the following links:

PIAL Objective 1 reports for 2021-2022 academic year complete

CWRTP Graduate Assistant, Bethany McCurdy (pictured above) recently completed research reports for the PIAL expansion grant. McCurdy analyzed data from academic year 2021-2022 for PIAL modules facilitated in schools across the state. This summer, McCurdy will have the opportunity to analyze similar data from the academic year 2022-2023.

You may review each report with the following links:

ADMYRE Report

CWRTP Graduate Assistant, Mikaela Scozzafava recently completed research reports for the ADMYRE program. Scozzafava analyzed data from spring 2021 from in-person PIAL facilitated ADMYRE offerings to schools across the state. These are the first research reports for ADMYRE. There will be additional follow-up analysis and reports as more data is collected.

Where and how youth learn about establishing paternity, child support, and co-parenting

Theory and research suggest the importance of establishing paternity, co-parenting, and child support for positive child and youth development. However, youth’s relative knowledge of these topics is not well understood. Thus we examine these in the context of other parenting issues and how this information varied by parents, school/teachers, friends, and social media.

Teen Dating Violence Awareness Report

A recent study conducted by Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) Bethany McCurdy and others from CWRTP evaluated the effectiveness of PIAL’s TDVA. PIAL uses a TDV simulation obtained and adapted from the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence in 2017 to create awareness around TDV. PIAL delivers modules to youth in middle schools and high schools across Iowa and covers topics such as decisions and goals, peer pressure, and healthy relationships. Currently, the TDVS is a supplement to the module on healthy relationships and is an important addition to PIAL’s TDVA program.

Evaluating Knowledge Acquisition in Foundational Child Welfare Field Staff Trainings

CWRTP Graduate Assistant Yeon Ji Ryou was the lead researcher for a Poster presented at Iowa State University’s Human Development and Family Studies Research Symposium on October 25, 2023. The research team examined how learners improved scores for two foundational child welfare trainings from before to after the training. The results showed that learners in both courses demonstrated notable test score improvements. Co-authors were Janet Melby and Rachel Vos Carrillo.

Acknowledgment: This project was supported by the DFO-22-001 and DFP-23-001 Service Training Contracts between Iowa State University and the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. The conclusions expressed in this report are solely those of Iowa State Evaluators. Carl Weems, PI. Contributors: Ryou, Y. J., Melby, J., Vos Carrillo, R., Araujo Grando, B., & Park, S. Presented: 10.25.2023.

VPA Poster November 2024

During the Iowa State University HDFS Grad Program Research Symposium on November 6, Alison White, Graduate Research Assistant, presented a poster titled, The Impact of the Paternity Prep Packet on Voluntary Paternity Affidavit Errors: A Multiple Baseline Study. The poster focused on the rollout design, preliminary findings, and future directions.

You may review the poster with the following link:

VPA Hospital Survey Report

CWRTP Graduate Assistant Alison White recently completed a research report related to the Voluntary Paternity Affidavit (VPA) hospital survey results, VPA rejection data and hospital score cards. The research Alison completed provided a clear path forward for targeted outreach to hospitals.