Daphne C. Hernandez
Ph.D., Boston College, 2005
Assistant Professor of Human Development
Contact Information
119 South Henderson
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802
(814) 867-2245
Research
My interdisciplinary research agenda centers on individual, family, contextual, and policy influences on economically disadvantaged children’s development and family’s health and well-being. Specifically, my work focuses on the influence of (1) antipoverty policies on children’s development and family well-being and (2) fathers and their role in family health and well-being.
Antipoverty Policies on Children’s Development
Through my Ford Foundation postdoctoral fellowship, I received training in poverty and public policy at the National Poverty Center, allowing me the opportunity to study the effects of antipoverty policies on children's development. Specifically, I have been focusing on the effects of food insecurity and food assistance program participation (e.g. Food Stamp Program, WIC, National School Lunch Program) on children's health and well-being. Several of the projects have been funded by United States Department of Agriculture Research Innovation and Development Grant in Economics (RIDGE). I am currently collaborating with Dr. Lori Francis to investigate how the National School Lunch Program contributes to weight status trajectories using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K). I have also used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) and the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW) to investigate food insecurity and food assistance program participation.
Recently, I received a New Connections grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the impact of state expanded Medicaid policies on adult immigrant’s health insurance coverage. The project uses the New Immigrant Survey (NIS) and the 2004 Current Population Survey (CPS). Mentorship on this project is being provided by Dr. Pamela Farley Short, Professor of Health Policy and Administration and Director of the Center for Health Care Policy and Research (CHCPR).
Fathers and Family Health & Well-being
The study of men’s family roles and fathering behaviors has gained increased attention in social policy arenas directed at encouraging marriage and paternal investment in children. I have focused on addressing methodological concerns surrounding measurement and reporter biases in survey measures of father involvement. In addition, I have investigated how family characteristics and mother-father relationship contributes to nonresident and resident father involvement. During my postdoctoral fellowship at the National Poverty Center, I spent two years collecting data on incarcerated fathers and their corresponding partner (i.e. mother of the children). I am currently comparing incarcerated father interviews with the mother interviews on financial hardship, fatherhood, and marriage. I am also currently using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW) to investigate (1) how father incarceration influences coparenting support and parents’ role strain and (2) the relationship between couple characteristics, fatherhood, and men’s health.
Currently Funded Research Projects
- State Medicaid Expansions and Health Care Coverage of Immigrant Adults. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Connections Grant, 2009-2011, (Principal Investigator)
- Trends in Food Assistance Program Participation on Childhood Weight Trajectories. United States Department of Agriculture Research Innovation and Development Grant in Economics (RIDGE) Grant, 2008-2009, (Principal Investigator)
Previously Funded Research Projects
- The Effect of Food Insecurity on the Physical, Cognitive, and Socio-emotional Development of Infants and Toddlers, United States Department of Agriculture Research, Innovation, and Development Grant in Economics (RIDGE) Grant, 2007-2008, (Co-Investigator) with A. Jacknowitz.
- Reciprocal Relationship between Nonresident Father Involvement and Resident Child Household Food Insecurity: Rural versus non-rural comparisons. University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Young Investigator Development Grant, 2007-2008 (Principal Investigator).
- Food Stamp Program and Women, Infants and Children: Effect on Children's Health and Well-being. United States Department of Agriculture Research Development Grant, 2006-2007 (Co-Investigator) with K. M. Ziol-Guest.
Education
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, A.B., 1998, Psychology
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, MSEd, 2000, Psychological Services
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, Ph.D., 2005, Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology
Professional Experience
2007 – Present: Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University
2007 – Present: Research Associate, Population Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University
2008 – Present: Research Affiliate, Family Research in Diverse Contexts Center, Pennsylvania State University
2009 - Present: Research Affiliate, Center for Health Care Policy Research, Pennsylvania State University
2007 Visiting Scholar, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison
2005 – 2007 Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, Research and Training Program on Poverty and Public Policy, University of Michigan
2006 – 2007 Washtenaw County Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative (MPRI)
2006 – 2007 Association of Public Policy and Management (APPAM) Web Site Committee
2004 – 2005 Boston College Education Policy Committee
2001 – 2005 Educational Consultant, Developmental Medicine Center, Children’s Hospital of Boston
2000 – 2001 Guardian ad Litem, Juvenile Rights Advocacy Project, Boston College Law
1999 – 2000 Clinical Intern, Youth Study Center (Juvenile Detention Center) and Kirkbride Child/Adolescent Outpatient, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
1999 – 2000 Head Diving Coach, University of Pennsylvania
Publications
Hernandez, D. C., & Ziol-Guest, K. M. (in press, December 2009). Income volatility and family structure patterns: Association with stability and change in food stamp program participation. Journal of Family and Economic Issues.
Hernandez, D. C., & Jacknowitz, A. (in press, August 2009). Transient, but not Persistent Adult Food Insecurity Influences Toddler Development. Journal of Nutrition.
Hernandez, D. C. & Coley, R. L. (2007). A multidimensional measure of father involvement among low-income families. Who is a reliable and valid reporter? Parenting: Science and Practice, 7 (1), 69-97.
Coley, R. L, & Hernandez, D. C. (2006). Predictors of paternal involvement for resident and nonresident low-income fathers. Developmental Psychology, 42, 1041-1056
Coley, R.L., Morris, J.E., & Hernandez, D. (2004). Out-of-school care and problem behavior trajectories among low-income adolescents: Individual, family, and neighborhood characteristics as added risks. Child Development 75 (3) 948-965.
Weissenberger, A. A., Dell, M. L., Liow, K., Frattalli, C. M., Hernandez, D., Zametkin, A. J. (2001). Aggression and psychiatric comorbidity in children with hypothalamic hamartomas and their unaffected siblings. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Teaching and Mentoring
HDFS 429 Advanced Child Development
HDFS 597D Fathers and Families
Graduate Research Assistants
- Emily Doyle, Human Development & Family Studies Department and Demography Training Program
- Kaylin Greene, Human Development & Family Studies Department and Demography Training Program
- Emily Pressler, Human Development & Family Studies Department
- Elizabeth Riina, Human Development & Family Studies Department
Undergraduate Research Assistants
- Emily Alexander, Psychology Department
- Alexa Birnbaum, Human Development & Family Studies Department
- Gina Govora, Psychology Department