Gail A Wasserman
Biographic Data
| ID | 1731768 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gail A Wasserman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gail A |
| FAMILY NAME | Wasserman |
| SIGNATURE | WASSERMAN G A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Columbia University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 75 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1985 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Site engagement in implementation research
The cost of implementing and sustaining an evidence-based, behavioral-health electronic screening system in probation departments
BACKGROUND: Roughly 50%-75% of youths who have had contact with the juvenile justice system have a mental-health disorder. In 2019, a northeastern state required probation departments to implement an evidence-based behavioral health (BH) screen. e-Connect is a digital clinical decisional support system designed to identify suicide thoughts and behaviors and related BH risk and triage youths based on BH need, then facilitate linkage to care. OBJEC…
Family Connect
Despite high rates of substance use, youth involved in the juvenile justice system are unlikely to be linked to the treatment services they need. Family Connect is a flexible, family-focused, linkage intervention developed to address multilevel barriers and increase youth engagement in care through the introduction of a linkage specialist. We describe the components of Family Connect and present findings from the intervention pilot test comparing…
Evaluating e-Connect
Addressing the behavioral health needs of youths involved in the justice system is key to reducing recidivism risk and preventing long-term system involvement. However, rates of treatment referral and initiation remain low, especially among minoritized youths and boys. The e-Connect System, a digital, clinical decision support system, addresses this problem by increasing rates of behavioral health treatment referral and initiation rates among you…
Bridging juvenile justice and behavioral health systems
Perceived importance of substance use prevention in juvenile justice
BACKGROUND: Youth under juvenile justice (JJ) supervision are at high-risk of adverse outcomes from substance use, making prevention important. Few studies have examined prevention-related attitudes of JJ employees, yet such attitudes may be important for implementing prevention programs. Attitudes toward prevention may reflect individual characteristics and organizational contexts. METHODS: Mixed effects regression was used to analyze data from …
An Exploration of Family and Juvenile Justice Systems to Reduce Youth HIV / STI Risk
Using in-depth interviews with 20 probation youth (60% female; 35% white; 30% Hispanic; mean age 15years, range=13-17), their caregivers (100% female; mean age 44years, range=34-71) and 12 female probation officers (100% white; mean age 46years, range=34-57), we explored how family and probation systems exacerbate or mitigate sexual risk. We conducted thematic analyses of interviews, comparing narratives of families of sexually risky ( n= 9) vers…
Psychiatric Disorder, Comorbidity, and Suicidal Behavior in Juvenile Justice Youth
Results of collaborations with juvenile justice agencies nationwide were examined to provide generalizable estimates of psychiatric disorder and suicidality among justice system youth. Diagnostic assessments were aggregated from 57 sites ( N = 9,819) from an automated computer-assisted self-interview (Voice Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children). Disorder was predicted from setting type (system intake, detention, corrections), adjusting for …
Child development
Social environment and depression among pregnant women in urban areas of Pakistan
Low-Level Environmental Lead Exposure and Children’s Intellectual Function
Lead is a confirmed neurotoxin, but questions remain about lead-associated intellectual deficits at blood lead levels or = 7.5 microg/dL (p = 0.015). We conclude that environmental lead exposure in children who have maximal blood lead levels < 7.5 microg/dL is associated with intellectual deficits.
A cure for crime
Youth crime is a serious social problem, as is the high proportion of young offenders in the juvenile justice system who have mental disorders. A recent policy innovation applies the theory of therapeutic jurisprudence and diverts youth with mental disorders to treatment in lieu of further court processing. The expansion of mental health diversion programs reflects an increasingly popular view that there is a causal relationship between youth men…
Gender Differences in Psychiatric Disorders at Juvenile Probation Intake
Objective. We identified gender differences in psychiatric disorders among youths at probation intake. Methods. We measured disorders with the Voice Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children among 991 randomly selected youths (200 girls) at probation intake in 8 Texas counties. Logistic regression analyses predicted diagnostic clusters by gender, adjusting for demographics and offense characteristics. Results. Demographic and offense characteris…
Measuring the Home Environments of Children in Early Adolescence
This article describes the development of the Early Adolescent version of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (EA-HOME) Inventory and presents information regarding its usefulness in 5 sociocultural groups (African Americans, Chinese Americans, European Americans, Mexican Americans, and Dominican Americans). EA-HOME is designed to measure the quantity and quality of stimulation, support, and structure available to children age…
Witnessed community violence and antisocial behavior in high-risk, urban boys
Examined the longitudinal relation between children's self-report of witnessing community violence, family environment, and parent report of child antisocial behavior in a sample of 6- to 10-year-old urban American boys (N = 97) at familial risk for antisocial behavior. Boys reported high rates of lifetime exposure to community violence. Boys' reports of witnessing community violence were significantly positively related to changes over 15 months…
Darryl, a cartoon-based measure of cardinal posttraumatic stress symptoms in school-age children
OBJECTIVES: This report examines the reliability and validity of Darryl, a cartoon-based measure of the cardinal symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHODS: We measured exposure to community violence through the reports of children and their parents and then administered Darryl to a sample of 110 children aged 7 to 9 residing in urban neighborhoods with high crime rates. RESULTS: Darryl's reliability is excellent overall and is acc…
The effect of lead exposure on behavior problems in preschool children
OBJECTIVES: Interpreting associations between lead exposure and child behavior problems is difficult because studies have not controlled for sociodemographic confounders or have used shed teeth to mark exposure. This study explored associations between blood lead and preschool behavior. METHODS: Children from a smelter town and a non-lead-exposed town in Yugoslavia were followed up prospectively from pregnancy through age 3. The Child Behavior Ch…
Wasserman et al. Respond
Wasserman et al. Respond Gail A. Wasserman, Joe Graziano, and Pam Factor-Litvak CopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.88.12.1879-a Published Online: October 07, 2011
Cardiac Profile and Disruptive Behavior in Boys at Risk for Delinquency
The objective of this study was to examine associations in youth between antisocial behavior and cardiovascular profile. Younger brothers of adjudicated delinquents (N = 120) received a standardized psychiatric assessment and an assessment of three factors often studied in behavioral cardiology research: family history of hypertension, resting blood pressure, and obesity. As a group, relative to population norms, these youth exhibited signs of ob…
Social Supports and Living Arrangements of Adolescent and Adult Mothers
Social support may buffer the potenttial stresses of childrearing, which may be most acute among adolescent mothers because of their increased likelihood of poverty and single motherhood. The present study examined amount, type. and sources of support, associations with living arrangements, and the qualitv of the child-rearing environment among 144 adolescents (age 5 18 years) and 139 adults (age a 20 years) matched for SES and ethnicity. Current…
Infant sex differences
Measuring the Home Environments of Children in Early Adolescence
This article describes the development of the Early Adolescent version of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (EA-HOME) Inventory and presents information regarding its usefulness in 5 sociocultural groups (African Americans, Chinese Americans, European Americans, Mexican Americans, and Dominican Americans). EA-HOME is designed to measure the quantity and quality of stimulation, support, and structure available to children age…
Gender Differences in Psychiatric Disorders at Juvenile Probation Intake
Objective. We identified gender differences in psychiatric disorders among youths at probation intake. Methods. We measured disorders with the Voice Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children among 991 randomly selected youths (200 girls) at probation intake in 8 Texas counties. Logistic regression analyses predicted diagnostic clusters by gender, adjusting for demographics and offense characteristics. Results. Demographic and offense characteris…
A cure for crime
Youth crime is a serious social problem, as is the high proportion of young offenders in the juvenile justice system who have mental disorders. A recent policy innovation applies the theory of therapeutic jurisprudence and diverts youth with mental disorders to treatment in lieu of further court processing. The expansion of mental health diversion programs reflects an increasingly popular view that there is a causal relationship between youth men…
Social environment and depression among pregnant women in urban areas of Pakistan
The effect of lead exposure on behavior problems in preschool children
OBJECTIVES: Interpreting associations between lead exposure and child behavior problems is difficult because studies have not controlled for sociodemographic confounders or have used shed teeth to mark exposure. This study explored associations between blood lead and preschool behavior. METHODS: Children from a smelter town and a non-lead-exposed town in Yugoslavia were followed up prospectively from pregnancy through age 3. The Child Behavior Ch…
Social Supports and Living Arrangements of Adolescent and Adult Mothers
Social support may buffer the potenttial stresses of childrearing, which may be most acute among adolescent mothers because of their increased likelihood of poverty and single motherhood. The present study examined amount, type. and sources of support, associations with living arrangements, and the qualitv of the child-rearing environment among 144 adolescents (age 5 18 years) and 139 adults (age a 20 years) matched for SES and ethnicity. Current…
An Exploration of Family and Juvenile Justice Systems to Reduce Youth HIV / STI Risk
Using in-depth interviews with 20 probation youth (60% female; 35% white; 30% Hispanic; mean age 15years, range=13-17), their caregivers (100% female; mean age 44years, range=34-71) and 12 female probation officers (100% white; mean age 46years, range=34-57), we explored how family and probation systems exacerbate or mitigate sexual risk. We conducted thematic analyses of interviews, comparing narratives of families of sexually risky ( n= 9) vers…
Darryl, a cartoon-based measure of cardinal posttraumatic stress symptoms in school-age children
OBJECTIVES: This report examines the reliability and validity of Darryl, a cartoon-based measure of the cardinal symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHODS: We measured exposure to community violence through the reports of children and their parents and then administered Darryl to a sample of 110 children aged 7 to 9 residing in urban neighborhoods with high crime rates. RESULTS: Darryl's reliability is excellent overall and is acc…
Infant sex differences
Infant sex differences
Social Supports and Living Arrangements of Adolescent and Adult Mothers
Social support may buffer the potenttial stresses of childrearing, which may be most acute among adolescent mothers because of their increased likelihood of poverty and single motherhood. The present study examined amount, type. and sources of support, associations with living arrangements, and the qualitv of the child-rearing environment among 144 adolescents (age 5 18 years) and 139 adults (age a 20 years) matched for SES and ethnicity. Current…
Cardiac Profile and Disruptive Behavior in Boys at Risk for Delinquency
The objective of this study was to examine associations in youth between antisocial behavior and cardiovascular profile. Younger brothers of adjudicated delinquents (N = 120) received a standardized psychiatric assessment and an assessment of three factors often studied in behavioral cardiology research: family history of hypertension, resting blood pressure, and obesity. As a group, relative to population norms, these youth exhibited signs of ob…
The effect of lead exposure on behavior problems in preschool children
OBJECTIVES: Interpreting associations between lead exposure and child behavior problems is difficult because studies have not controlled for sociodemographic confounders or have used shed teeth to mark exposure. This study explored associations between blood lead and preschool behavior. METHODS: Children from a smelter town and a non-lead-exposed town in Yugoslavia were followed up prospectively from pregnancy through age 3. The Child Behavior Ch…
Wasserman et al. Respond
Wasserman et al. Respond Gail A. Wasserman, Joe Graziano, and Pam Factor-Litvak CopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.88.12.1879-a Published Online: October 07, 2011
Witnessed community violence and antisocial behavior in high-risk, urban boys
Examined the longitudinal relation between children's self-report of witnessing community violence, family environment, and parent report of child antisocial behavior in a sample of 6- to 10-year-old urban American boys (N = 97) at familial risk for antisocial behavior. Boys reported high rates of lifetime exposure to community violence. Boys' reports of witnessing community violence were significantly positively related to changes over 15 months…
Darryl, a cartoon-based measure of cardinal posttraumatic stress symptoms in school-age children
OBJECTIVES: This report examines the reliability and validity of Darryl, a cartoon-based measure of the cardinal symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHODS: We measured exposure to community violence through the reports of children and their parents and then administered Darryl to a sample of 110 children aged 7 to 9 residing in urban neighborhoods with high crime rates. RESULTS: Darryl's reliability is excellent overall and is acc…
Measuring the Home Environments of Children in Early Adolescence
This article describes the development of the Early Adolescent version of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (EA-HOME) Inventory and presents information regarding its usefulness in 5 sociocultural groups (African Americans, Chinese Americans, European Americans, Mexican Americans, and Dominican Americans). EA-HOME is designed to measure the quantity and quality of stimulation, support, and structure available to children age…
Low-Level Environmental Lead Exposure and Children’s Intellectual Function
Lead is a confirmed neurotoxin, but questions remain about lead-associated intellectual deficits at blood lead levels or = 7.5 microg/dL (p = 0.015). We conclude that environmental lead exposure in children who have maximal blood lead levels < 7.5 microg/dL is associated with intellectual deficits.
A cure for crime
Youth crime is a serious social problem, as is the high proportion of young offenders in the juvenile justice system who have mental disorders. A recent policy innovation applies the theory of therapeutic jurisprudence and diverts youth with mental disorders to treatment in lieu of further court processing. The expansion of mental health diversion programs reflects an increasingly popular view that there is a causal relationship between youth men…
Gender Differences in Psychiatric Disorders at Juvenile Probation Intake
Objective. We identified gender differences in psychiatric disorders among youths at probation intake. Methods. We measured disorders with the Voice Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children among 991 randomly selected youths (200 girls) at probation intake in 8 Texas counties. Logistic regression analyses predicted diagnostic clusters by gender, adjusting for demographics and offense characteristics. Results. Demographic and offense characteris…
Social environment and depression among pregnant women in urban areas of Pakistan
Child development
Psychiatric Disorder, Comorbidity, and Suicidal Behavior in Juvenile Justice Youth
Results of collaborations with juvenile justice agencies nationwide were examined to provide generalizable estimates of psychiatric disorder and suicidality among justice system youth. Diagnostic assessments were aggregated from 57 sites ( N = 9,819) from an automated computer-assisted self-interview (Voice Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children). Disorder was predicted from setting type (system intake, detention, corrections), adjusting for …
An Exploration of Family and Juvenile Justice Systems to Reduce Youth HIV / STI Risk
Using in-depth interviews with 20 probation youth (60% female; 35% white; 30% Hispanic; mean age 15years, range=13-17), their caregivers (100% female; mean age 44years, range=34-71) and 12 female probation officers (100% white; mean age 46years, range=34-57), we explored how family and probation systems exacerbate or mitigate sexual risk. We conducted thematic analyses of interviews, comparing narratives of families of sexually risky ( n= 9) vers…
Perceived importance of substance use prevention in juvenile justice
BACKGROUND: Youth under juvenile justice (JJ) supervision are at high-risk of adverse outcomes from substance use, making prevention important. Few studies have examined prevention-related attitudes of JJ employees, yet such attitudes may be important for implementing prevention programs. Attitudes toward prevention may reflect individual characteristics and organizational contexts. METHODS: Mixed effects regression was used to analyze data from …
Bridging juvenile justice and behavioral health systems
Family Connect
Despite high rates of substance use, youth involved in the juvenile justice system are unlikely to be linked to the treatment services they need. Family Connect is a flexible, family-focused, linkage intervention developed to address multilevel barriers and increase youth engagement in care through the introduction of a linkage specialist. We describe the components of Family Connect and present findings from the intervention pilot test comparing…
Evaluating e-Connect
Addressing the behavioral health needs of youths involved in the justice system is key to reducing recidivism risk and preventing long-term system involvement. However, rates of treatment referral and initiation remain low, especially among minoritized youths and boys. The e-Connect System, a digital, clinical decision support system, addresses this problem by increasing rates of behavioral health treatment referral and initiation rates among you…
Site engagement in implementation research
The cost of implementing and sustaining an evidence-based, behavioral-health electronic screening system in probation departments
BACKGROUND: Roughly 50%-75% of youths who have had contact with the juvenile justice system have a mental-health disorder. In 2019, a northeastern state required probation departments to implement an evidence-based behavioral health (BH) screen. e-Connect is a digital clinical decisional support system designed to identify suicide thoughts and behaviors and related BH risk and triage youths based on BH need, then facilitate linkage to care. OBJEC…
Psychology (17 works) · Medicine (16 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (11 works) · Psychiatry (9 works) · Political science (8 works) · Clinical Psychology (6 works) · Economic Justice (6 works) · Environmental health (6 works) · Developmental psychology (5 works) · Juvenile (5 works)