News

Thursday, 28 April 2016

Recognizing Austin's Early Childhood Leaders

Community members from the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences and the Priscilla Pond Flawn Child and Family Lab School have been recognized for their important work in the community by the Austin Association for the Education of Young Children.

Monday, 25 April 2016

Risks of Harm from Spanking Confirmed by Analysis of Five Decades of Research

The more children are spanked, the more likely they are to defy their parents and to experience increased anti-social behavior, aggression, mental health problems and cognitive difficulties, according to a new meta-analysis of 50 years of research on spanking by experts at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan. T​he study, published in this month's Journal of...

Monday, 28 March 2016

Data About LGBT Students Could Help Address Harassment and Bullying

​Collecting data about school discipline encounters involving LGBT students could help policymakers and educators create a safe learning environment for LGBT teens, suggests a new research brief co-authored by Stephen Russell, Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences at UT Austin, in collaboration with the Equity Project at Indiana University. ​ The paper discusses the necessity of data about issues on campus like disciplinary measures against and bullying of...

Monday, 22 February 2016

Dr. Fatima Varner Joins HDFS Faculty

Dr. Fatima Varner joined the faculty of the Human Development and Family Sciences department in January 2016 as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Varner is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Ph.D. program in Human Development and Social Policy, and she received her bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University. She also was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for the Study...

Thursday, 11 February 2016

Policies on Sexual Orientation Pay Off for Schools

It is now well-known that LGBTQ students often have a hard time in school, including feeling unsafe and being bullied, and those experiences are strongly linked to academic, mental health, and other problems for LGBTQ youth. For over a decade now, schools have been trying strategies to create safer schools for LGBTQ and all students. It’s been more than 15 years...