Ohio State HDFS produces best research on Men in Families

For the second year in a row, research by our faculty and students is being recognized as the best work on men in families.

Every year, the Men in Families focus group of the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) reviews the top journals in the field and identifies all of the articles published on men in families during the last calendar year by NCFR members. The articles are divided into those lead-authored by students/new professionals and those written by more seasoned scholars. Next, the articles are reviewed and ranked by experts in the field, and three finalists are chosen from each group.

For the student/new professionals category, two out of the three finalists are articles authored by OSU-HDFS students or graduates and faculty members:

Kotila, L. E., & Kamp Dush, C. M. (2013). Involvement with children and low-income fathers’ psychological well-being. Fathering, 11, 306-326. doi: 10.3149/fth.1103.306

Zvara, B. J., Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., & Kamp Dush, C. M. (2013). Fathers’ involvement in child health care: Associations with prenatal involvement, parents’ beliefs, and maternal gatekeeping. Family Relations, 62, 649-661. doi: 10.1111/fare.12023

For the seasoned scholars category, one of the three finalist articles was lead-authored by Dr. James Bates, an Assistant Professor of OSU Extension in Family & Consumer Sciences affiliated with HDFS:

Bates, J. S., & Taylor, A. C. (2013). Grandfather involvement: Contact frequency, participation in activities, and commitment. Journal of Men’s Studies, 21, 305-322. doi: 10.3149/jms.2103.305

The winners in each category will be announced at the Men in Families focus group meeting at the NCFR annual conference in Baltimore in November.

Both of last year’s winning articles were also produced by OSU HDFS graduate students, faculty, and affiliates:

Bates, J. S., & Taylor, A. C. (2012). Grandfather involvement and aging men’s mental health. American Journal of Men’s Health, 6, 229-239. doi: 10.1177/1557988311430249

Jia, R., Kotila, L. E., & Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J. (2012). Transactional relations between father involvement and preschoolers’ socioemotional adjustment.Journal of Family Psychology, 26, 848-857.

Rongfang Jia completed her Ph.D. in HDFS in Spring 2014 under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan and she is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Miami working with Dr. Daniel Messinger.

Letitia E. Kotila is a Ph.D. candidate in HDFS. She is co-advised by Dr. Claire Kamp Dush and Dr. Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan. Letitia’s latest work on men in families, “The De(Institutionalized) Father,” is being recognized this year with the 2014 Outstanding Ohio Graduate Student Presentation Award by the Ohio Council on Family Relations and the 2014 Research and Theory Section of NCFR Best Conference Proposal by a Student/New Professional Award.

Bharathi J. Zvara received her M.S. in HDFS under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan and then went on to recently receive her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

The men in the Schoppe/Sullivan family