Sarah Kate Bearman

Promoting Positive Parenting for High-Risk Families in Primary Care Settings
Funded by the Center for Health and Social Policy/Seton Healthcare Family, this study will develop a brief, e-health intervention to increase positive parenting practices during routine well-child visits for families with children aged two to eight, and assess the feasibility and effectiveness of this intervention in a randomized trial.

Testing FIRST in Youth Outpatient Psychotherapy
Funding Source: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Principal Investigators: Sarah Kate Bearman & John R. Weisz Children and adolescents treated in outpatient mental health care span a broad range of problems and disorders, with substantial comorbidity, and their most pressing problems and treatment needs may shift during treatment. These challenges may be addressed by treatment that is flexible and transdiagnostic. FIRST, a transdiagnostic, principle-based approach for the treatment of behavioral and emotional problems in children and adolescents was created in collaboration with community practitioners and intervention scientists to support efficient learning and implementation by clinicians. This 5-year randomized controlled effectiveness trial will provide a more definitive test of FIRST, an initial investigation of a candidate mechanism of change, and tests of therapist characteristics that may predict and moderate implementation of evidence-based practices. This multi-site study involves a research partnership with Dr. John R. Weisz at Harvard University as well as clinic partnerships in Austin (Integral Care) and Boston.

Thriving Together: Corpus Christi
Funding Source: Morris L. Lichtenstein, Jr Medical Research Foundation Principle Investigators: Sarah Kate Bearman and Esther J. Calzada Children do best when parents and teachers work together to support their development and learning. Yet many school systems struggle to effectively engage with parents as valued partners. ParentCorps, a scalable early childhood program for pre-k students and their families, was developed to effectively embed evidence-based interventions for both children and parents into high-poverty schools serving primarily families of color to achieve long-term positive outcomes for children. The main goals of ParentCorps are to engage and support communities of parents and early childhood teachers, promote nurturing and predictable home and classroom experiences for young children, and strengthen children’s learning, behavior, and health. The study will use a quasi-experimental design to assess the program’s impact on school, teacher, parent, and child outcomes.

Response to COVID-19 Among Parents (ReCAP)
Funding Source: Episcopal Health Foundation/Cost share with UT Austin Office for the Vice President of Research Principal Investigator: Sarah Kate Bearman The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical health and economic prosperity have been widely acknowledged, but both the virus and the consequent safety measures will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable members of society—among them, families of young children living in poverty. These families are more likely to be low-wage workers whose jobs were lost, or whose work is considered essential but who lack access to adequate personal protective equipment. They are less likely to acquire accurate information, less likely to have alternative care for their children if required to work, and have inequitable access to the internet required for distance learning. These circumstances may increase overall stress and parenting stress, associated with increased use of maladaptive parenting practices and other long-term negative child outcomes. Yet low-income, culturally and linguistically diverse families may also have unique strengths (cultural values, social support) that can offset these challenges. Using a prior sample of low-income families from community pediatric clinics, we are comparing families experiences prior to COVID-19, during the COVID-19 quarantine, and 6 months after the quarantine ends to better understand the unique experiences of low-income families during this unprecedented time.

Implementing an Evidence-Based, Peer-lead Eating Disorder Prevention Program in Colleges
Funding Source: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Principal Investigator: Eric Stice, Co-Investigators: Sarah Kate Bearman, Paul Rohde, Heather Shaw, Carolyn Black Becker Eating disorders are difficult and costly to treat, and eating disorder symptoms are common in college-age women. Given these realities, preventive eating disorder interventions provide promise in reducing the number of college-age women who might need treatment for eating and weight concerns. The Body Project encourages body satisfaction by teaching participants to critique the thin ideal, and an extensive evidence base has shown that the Body Project can improve mood, decrease unhealthy dieting, and reduce the risk of onset of both eating disorders and obesity. However, the conditions under which the Body Project can be adopted, implemented, and sustained by peer educators on university campuses is not known. This trial randomizes 57 colleges and universities around the nation to three implementation support conditions to explore what levels of implementation and which setting factors, peer educator attributes, and process factors are ideal to maximize participation, treatment effectiveness, sustainability, and cost effectiveness.

An Observational Study of Treatment Integrity: ESPs in Effectiveness Studies
Principal Investigator: Sarah Kate Bearman Child and adolescent therapy process research has a long history, but much of the research is descriptive, with no linkage between process and outcome. An important step toward addressing this limitation has been the development and use of observational coding systems that rely upon direct observation by trained observers to produce data that are objective, and detail-specific in regards to what procedures therapists actually use in-session. This study will examine recorded sessions (both video and audio) of therapists delivering therapy to children and adolescents treated in community mental health clinics as part of treatment outcome research, and use observational coding methodology to 1) characterize the therapeutic strategies used by therapists, 2) examine the adherence and competency of therapists using ESPs in real-world settings, and 3) examine the use of non-specific therapeutic strategies in “ESP” sessions delivered in real-world settings.