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 Spring 2024:

• PUBPOL 909.01, DISSERTATION PROPOSAL SEM II Synopsis
  Sanford 225, M 02:00 PM-04:30 PM

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. Buchanan, CM; Glatz, T; Selçuk, Ş; Skinner, AT; Lansford, JE; Al-Hassan, SM; Bacchini, D; Bornstein, MH; Chang, L; Deater-Deckard, K; Di Giunta, L; Dodge, KA; Gurdal, S; Liu, Q; Long, Q; Oburu, P; Pastorelli, C; Sorbring, E; Tapanya, S; Steinberg, L; Tirado, LMU; Yotanyamaneewong, S; Alampay, LP (2024). Developmental Trajectories of Parental Self-Efficacy as Children Transition to Adolescence in Nine Countries: Latent Growth Curve Analyses.. Journal of youth and adolescence, 53(5), 1047-1065. [doi]  [abs]


2. Goulter, N; Hur, YS; Jones, DE; Godwin, J; McMahon, RJ; Dodge, KA; Lansford, JE; Lochman, JE; Bates, JE; Pettit, GS; Crowley, DM (2024). Kindergarten conduct problems are associated with monetized outcomes in adolescence and adulthood.. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 65(3), 328-339. [doi]  [abs]


3. Copeland, WE; Tong, G; Shanahan, L; Rothenberg, WA; Lansford, JE; Godwin, JW; Rybińska, A; Odgers, CL; Dodge, KA (2024). Intergenerational Effects of a Family Cash Transfer on the Home Environment.. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 63(3), 336-344. [doi]  [abs]


4. Folker, AE; Deater-Deckard, K; Lansford, JE; Di Giunta, L; Dodge, KA; Gurdal, S; Liu, Q; Long, Q; Oburu, P; Pastorelli, C; Rothenberg, WA; Skinner, AT; Sorbring, E; Steinberg, L; Tapanya, S; Tirado, LMU; Yotanyamaneewong, S; Alampay, LP; Al-Hassan, SM; Bacchini, D; Bornstein, MH; Chang, L (2024). Intraindividual variability in parental acceptance-rejection predicts externalizing and internalizing symptoms across childhood/adolescence in nine countries.. Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43), 38(2), 333-344. [doi]  [abs]


5. Rothenberg, WA; Lansford, JE; Godwin, JW; Dodge, KA; Copeland, WE; Odgers, CL; McMahon, RJ; Rybinska, A; Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, (2024). Intergenerational Effects of the Fast Track Intervention on Next-Generation Child Outcomes: A Preregistered Randomized Clinical Trial.. Am J Psychiatry, 181(3), 213-222. [doi]  [abs]

Curriculum Vitae