2005-2006 Dissertation Fellows

Nicki Bush

Nicki Bush is currently completing her clinical doctoral internship at the University of Illinois, Chicago, Institute of Juvenile Research, where she is working on clinical-research interventions with low-income, high-risk, ethnic minority families in urban Chicago neighborhoods. She will receive her Ph.D. in Child Clinical Psychology from the University of Washington, Department of Psychology in June 2007. Nicki’s research focuses on how individual differences in children’s temperaments, parenting styles, and neighborhood structural and social processes affect children’s mental health. Specifically, her work examines the interaction among multiple levels of biopsychosocial influence to best understand the development of resilience and mental health problems. Her dissertation examines the interaction among adolescents’ temperament and their neighborhood experiences in the prediction of levels of and growth in delinquency and substance use problems. In addition to her passion for research, Nicki is also a clinical therapist and specializes in therapeutic intervention with high-risk families and children with mental illness. In recent years, she has broadened her work to include national-level policy efforts to improve the treatment of youth in mental health intervention settings.

WCPC Funded Project:

Identifying Factors that Protect Poor Children from Neighborhood Risks Nicki Bush, Department of Psychology, “Tests of Temperament and Ethnic Group Status as Moderators of Neighborhood Structural and Social Effects on Adolescent Externalizing Problems and Substance Use,” Faculty Supervisor: Liliana J. Lengua, Department of Psychology

Children who live in poor, high-crime and socially disconnected neighborhoods have substantially worse outcomes, in comparison to children who live in more advantaged neighborhoods, on key indicators of adolescent adjustment such as maladaptive behaviors and substance abuse. These outcomes also vary substantially among children exposed to similar neighborhood characteristics. This study examines the role of ethnicity and temperament in moderating the effect of neighborhood risk factors on adolescent adjustment and identifies “protective” factors that contribute to more successful outcomes for low-income children.

Contact Info:

Email: nbush@u.washington.edu or nbush@u.washington.edu