Center for Child & Family Policy | Duke University

Kenneth A. Dodge

William McDougall Distinguished Professor of Public Policy; Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience; Faculty Affiliate, Center for Child and Family Policy

Kenneth A. Dodge is the William McDougall Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. He is also a faculty fellow at the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, which he founded in 1999.

Dodge is a leading scholar in the development and prevention of aggressive and violent behaviors. His work provides a model for understanding how some young children grow up to engage in aggression and violence and provides a framework for intervening early to prevent the costly consequences of violence for children and their communities.

He joined the faculty of the Sanford School of Public Policy in September 1998. He is trained as a clinical and developmental psychologist, having earned his B.A. in psychology at Northwestern University in 1975 and his Ph.D. in psychology at Duke University in 1978. Prior to joining Duke, Dodge served on the faculty at Indiana University, the University of Colorado, and Vanderbilt University.

Dodge led the research and development of the Family Connects model, an evidence-based and successfully demonstrated program that connects parents of newborns to the community resources they need through postpartum nurse home visits. The model has been shown to improve maternal and child health outcomes, including lowering rates of Child Protective Services investigations for suspected child abuse or neglect. Piloted in Durham, North Carolina, in 2008, the model is currently being disseminated nationwide through Family Connects International.

Dodge has published more than 500 scientific articles which have been cited more than 128,000 times.

Dodge was elected into the National Academy of Medicine in 2015. Other honors include the following:

• President (Elected), Society for Research in Child Development
• Fellow, Society for Prevention Research
• Distinguished Scientist, Child Mind Institute
• Research Scientist Award from the National Institutes of Health
• Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution from the American Psychological Association
• J.P. Scott Award for Lifetime Contribution to Aggression Research from the International Society for Research on Aggression
• Science to Practice Award from the Society for Prevention Research
• Inaugural recipient of the “Public Service Matters” Award from the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration
• Inaugural recipient of the Presidential Citation Award for Excellence in Research from the Society for Research on Adolescence

Click here to view Dodge's National Academy of Medicine lecture which provides an overview of his research.

Research Interests

• child abuse
• violence prevention
• substance use
• education

Research Projects:

• Center for the Study of Adolescent Risk and Resilience
• Child Development Project - Developmental Pathways to Adjustment and Well-being in Early Adulthood
• Community Prevention of Child Maltreatment
• Development and Prevention of Substance Abuse Problems
• Durham Connects
• Prospective Study of Infant Development
• Strengthening Benefit-Cost Analyses of Substance Abuse Project
• Truancy Prevention Project

Research Interests:
Youth Violence Prevention, Child Maltreatment, Public Policy, Adolescent Substance Abuse, Children's Mental Health, Education, Early Childhood

Education:

• Ph.D. Duke University - 1978
• B.A. Northwestern University - 1975

Teaching Fall 2024:

• PUBPOL 908S.01, DISSERTATION PROPOSAL SEM I Synopsis
  Sanford 224, M 02:00 PM-04:30 PM

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Carr, RC; Jenkins, JM; Watts, TW; Peisner-Feinberg, ES; Dodge, KA (2024). Investigating if high-quality kindergarten teachers sustain the pre-K boost to children's emergent literacy skill development in North Carolina.. Child development, 95(4), 1200-1217. [doi]  [abs]


2. Gorla, L; Rothenberg, WA; Lansford, JE; Bacchini, D; Bornstein, MH; Chang, L; Deater-Deckard, K; Di Giunta, L; Dodge, KA; Gurdal, S; Junla, D; Liu, Q; Long, Q; Oburu, P; Pastorelli, C; Skinner, AT; Sorbring, E; Steinberg, L; Tirado, LMU; Yotanyamaneewong, S; Alampay, LP; Al-Hassan, SM (2024). Adolescents' relationships with parents and romantic partners in eight countries.. Journal of adolescence, 96(5), 940-952. [doi]  [abs]


3. Breiner, K; Lansford, JE; Skinner, AT; Steinberg, L; Bornstein, MH; Deater-Deckard, K; Dodge, KA; Rothenberg, WA (2024). Cultural values, parenting, and child adjustment in the United States.. International journal of psychology : Journal international de psychologie. [doi]  [abs]


4. Dodge, KA; Prinstein, MJ; Evans, AC; Ahuvia, IL; Alvarez, K; Beidas, RS; Brown, AJ; Cuijpers, P; Denton, E-G; Hoagwood, KE; Johnson, C; Kazdin, AE; McDanal, R; Metzger, IW; Rowley, SN; Schleider, J; Shaw, DS (2024). Population mental health science: Guiding principles and initial agenda.. The American psychologist. [doi]  [abs]


5. Remondi, C; Gerbino, M; Cirimele, F; Thartori, E; Bacchini, D; Di Giunta, L; Lansford, JE; Dodge, KA; Pastorelli, C (2024). Bidirectional longitudinal associations between parental self-efficacy and child rule-breaking behaviours: A random-intercept cross-lagged panel study.. International journal of psychology : Journal international de psychologie. [doi]  [abs]

Curriculum Vitae