Robert B McCall

Biographic Data

ID5379151
NAMERobert B McCall
GIVEN NAMESRobert B
FAMILY NAMEMcCall
SIGNATUREMCCALL R B
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Pittsburgh
ORCID0009-0008-8811-151X
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS51
TOTAL CITATIONS108
AUTHOR COUNT51
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR1969
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2021
H-INDEX6

  • Conducting International Research and Service Collaborations: Tips, Threats, and Triumphs

    Christina J Groark, Robert B McCallBOOKConducting International Research…2021

  • Know the Country and Its People

    Robert B McCall, Christina J GroarkCHAPTERConducting International Research…2021

  • Caregiver Sensitivity and Consistency and Children's Prior Family Experience as Contexts for Early Development Within Institutions

    Open AccessBrandi N Hawk, Robert B McCall et al.ARTICLEInfant Mental Health Journal2018References: 42

    The current study addressed whether two institution‐wide interventions in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, that increased caregiver sensitivity (Training Only: TO) or both caregiver sensitivity and consistency (Training plus Structural Changes: T+SC) promoted better socioemotional and cognitive development than did a No Intervention (NoI) institution during the first year of life for children who were placed soon after birth. It also assessed …

  • Caregiver–child Interaction, Caregiver Transitions, and Group Size as Mediators Between Intervention Condition and Attachment and Physical Growth Outcomes in Institutionalized Children

    Open AccessHilary A Warner, Robert B McCall et al.ARTICLEInfant Mental Health Journal2017References: 37

    This report describes a secondary analysis of data from a comprehensive intervention project which included training and structural changes in three Baby Homes in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. Multiple mediator models were tested according to the R.M. Baron and D.A. Kenny ( ) causal‐steps approach to examine whether caregiver–child interaction quality, number of caregiver transitions, and group size mediated the effects of the intervention …

  • The Development of Children Placed Into Different Types of Russian Families Following an Institutional Intervention

    Robert B McCall, Rifkat J Muhamedrahimov et al.ARTICLEInternational Perspectives in…2016

    This study examined whether interventions in Russian Baby Homes promoting warm, sensitive, and responsive caregiver-child interactions and relationships would be associated with advantages in those children's behavior years after they transitioned to family care. Children ( N = 135) who had resided for at least 3 months ( M = 13.8 months) in one of three intervention institutions were subsequently placed in Russian families (relatives or non-rela…

  • Research on Institutionalized Children: Implications for International Child Welfare Practitioners and Policymakers

    Robert B McCall, Christina J GroarkARTICLEInternational Perspectives in…2015

    This paper reviews the empirical literature on the effects of institutionalization on young children’s development from the perspective of global child welfare practice and policy. It considers the characteristics of typical institutions, how to assess the quality of care in institutions, the level of physical and behavioral/mental development of infants and young children while residing in institutions, the crucial role of caregiver–child intera…

  • Social Skills in Children Adopted From Socially-Emotionally Depriving Institutions

    Megan M Julian, Robert B McCallARTICLEAdoption Quarterly2015Cited by: 6References: 5

    This study assessed social skills in post-institutionalized (PI) children with respect to age-at-adoption, age-at-assessment, and gender. Parent ratings of social skills (Social Skills Rating System) and behavior problems (Child Behavior Checklist) were obtained for 214 children and 127 adolescents who were adopted from socially-emotionally depriving Russian institutions. Results showed that children adopted before 18 months of age have better so…

  • Supporting families throughout the international special needs adoption process

    Open AccessKeely E O'Dell, Robert B McCall et al.ARTICLEChildren and Youth Services Review2015Cited by: 3References: 95

  • Chinese collective foster care model: Description and evaluation

    Open AccessWen-Chi Wang, Robert B McCall et al.ARTICLEInternational Social Work2015Cited by: 2

    Family environments are known to usually be better for children’s development than institutional care. China has experience with different forms of foster care, but none have been empirically evaluated, especially with respect to children’s outcomes. One form of foster care is ‘collective fostering’, in which many foster families live in a single apartment building on the grounds of the institution. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effe…

  • Global Research, Practice, and Policy Issues on the Care of Infants and Young Children at Risk: The Articles in Context

    Open AccessRobert B McCall, Christina J Groark et al.ARTICLEInfant Mental Health Journal2014

    The original article to which this Erratum refers was published in Infant Mental Health Journal 35(2):87–93 (doi: 10.1002/imhj.21441). The article incorrectly attributes support of the intervention conducted in Nepal to the Mitrataa Foundation; support was actually provided by the International Child Resource Institute Nepal as correctly described by Wright et al. in the same issue. McCall et al. take responsibility for this error and apologize

  • Global Research, Practice, and Policy Issues on the Care of Infants and Young Children at Risk: The Articles in Context

    Open AccessRobert B McCall, Christina J Groark et al.ARTICLEInfant Mental Health Journal2014References: 26

    This Special Issue includes articles that contribute to (a) the global research base pertaining to the development of infants and toddlers at risk, primarily those who are institutionalized in lower resource countries; (b) interventions in institutions and to promote family alternatives to institutionalization; and (c) attempts to create modern child welfare systems emphasizing family care in entire states and countries. This introduction places …

  • Characteristics of children transitioned to intercountry adoption, domestic adoption, foster care, and biological families from institutions in St Petersburg, Russian Federation

    Open AccessRobert B McCall, Christina J Groark et al.ARTICLEInternational Social Work2014Cited by: 2

    Young children ( N = 381) from three institutions in St Petersburg (Russian Federation) who were transitioned to intercountry (USA) adoption or to various domestic families in Russia did not differ in birth weight, length, head circumference, and rated condition at birth, nor did they differ upon departure from the institutions with respect to physical growth and behavioral development. These results provide little support to the occasional alleg…

  • Structure, Caregiver–Child Interactions, and Children’s General Physical and Behavioral Development in Three Central American Institutions

    Christina J Groark, Robert B McCall et al.ARTICLEInternational Perspectives in…2013

    This article describes structural characteristics and caregiver–child interactions ( N = 34) in three Central American institutions for infants and young children ( N = 79) and relates differences in these characteristics to differences in children’s physical, behavioral, and cognitive development. Generally, the institution with the smallest group size, fewest children per caregiver, and a few consistent caregivers had children with the best phy…

  • Potential Selective Responding in a Parent Questionnaire Study of Post-Institutionalized Children

    Brandi N Hawk, Amanda J Wright et al.ARTICLEAdoption Quarterly2013References: 1

    Selective responding bias, though under-researched, is of particular concern in the study of post-institutionalized children because many studies rely on mailed questionnaires and response rates are often low. The current study addresses the impact of selective responding in a single wave of data collection and in a multi-wave study. Participants were 121 parents from a larger four-wave study of post-institutionalized children, identified as Neve…

  • Age at Adoption: A Measure of Time in the Orphanage or Child-Specific Factors

    Brandi N Hawk, Brandi Hawk et al.ARTICLEAdoption Quarterly2012Cited by: 1References: 6

    This study examined the association between pre-adoption variables (e.g., time in orphanage, birth weight) and age at adoption in a sample of 169 children, aged 0–4 years, adopted from orphanages in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. Time in orphanage was the best predictor of age at adoption. Later adoptees were also more likely to have spent time in a family prior to the orphanage and to have experienced abuse/neglect than earlier adoptees. Th…

  • The role of transitions to new age groups in the development of institutionalized children

    Open AccessRobert B McCall, Larry Fish et al.ARTICLEInfant Mental Health Journal2012Cited by: 2References: 33

    Children in two institutions in St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) experienced ward transitions, one in which caregivers were trained to provide sensitive, responsive caregiving and one that conducted business as usual. A third institution eliminated transitions, received the same training, and implemented a variety of structural and employment changes designed to promote improved caregiver–child interactions and relationships. While the no‐tran…

  • Blending Theory with Practice: Implementing Kindergarten Transition Using the Interactive Systems Framework

    Open AccessKen J Smythe-Leistico, Colleen P Young et al.ARTICLEAmerican Journal of Community…2012Cited by: 2References: 16

    The Interactive Systems Framework (ISF; Wandersman et al. in Am J Commu Psychol 41(3–4):171–181, 2008) was used to implement a kindergarten transition demonstration project collaboratively developed by elementary and early education providers, community‐based family and housing services, parents, and a University intermediary and technical assistance group. First person accounts from stakeholders at all levels provide a complementary and broad pe…

  • I. Children in Institutional Care: Delayed Development and Resilience

    Open AccessMarinus H Van Ijzendoorn, Jesús Palacios et al.ARTICLEMonographs of the Society for…2011

    Children exposed to institutional care often suffer from “structural neglect” which may include minimum physical resources, unfavorable and unstable staffing patterns, and socially emotionally inadequate caregiver-child interactions. This chapter is devoted to the analysis of the ill effects of early institutional experiences on resident children’s development. Delays in the important areas of physical, hormonal, cognitive, and emotional developm…

  • Implementing changes in institutions to improve young children's development

    Open AccessChristina J Groark, Robert B McCallARTICLEInfant Mental Health Journal2011Cited by: 4References: 11

    An estimated 8‐million children, mostly birth to approximately 6 to 8 years of age, live in institutions worldwide. While institutional environments vary, certain characteristics are common, including relatively large groups; high children:caregiver ratios; many and frequently changing caregivers; homogeneous grouping by age and disability status; periodic graduations to new groups of peers and caregivers; and an “institutional style of caregivin…

  • Characteristics of environments, caregivers, and children in three Central American orphanages

    Open AccessChristina J Groark, Robert B McCall et al.ARTICLEInfant Mental Health Journal2011Cited by: 5References: 27

    This study provides descriptive empirical information on the environments, organizational structure, caregivers, caregiver–child interactions, and children's general behavioral development and problem behaviors from three institutions for young children in Central America. While the institutions were clean, they were physically sparse and had Infant–Toddler Environmental Rating Scale (ITERS; T. Harms, D. Cryer, & R. Clifford, 2006 ) and Early Chi…

  • Specific extreme behaviors of postinstitutionalized Russian adoptees

    Brandi N Hawk, Robert B McCallARTICLEDevelopmental Psychology2011Cited by: 14References: 1

    Behavior problems reported by parents on the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) were studied in 316 children adopted from social-emotionally depriving Russian institutions as a function of age at adoption (18-month cutoff), age at assessment (6-11 and 12-18 years), and gender. Children adopted after 18 months had higher problem scores predominately when assessed at 12-18 years. Although most children had no behavior problems, 5…

  • Commentary

    Open AccessRobert B McCallARTICLEHuman Development2010

  • Commentary

    Open AccessRobert B McCallARTICLEHuman Development2010

  • A caregiver–child socioemotional and relationship rating scale

    Open AccessRobert B McCall, Christina J Groark et al.ARTICLEInfant Mental Health Journal2010Cited by: 2References: 25

    This article reports the construction and pilot reliability, validity, and psychometric properties of a new caregiver–child rating scale that emphasizes caregiver–child socioemotional interactions and relationships. While the scale was developed and studied in orphanages for young children, it potentially could be used in nonresidential early care and education settings as well as for parent–child interactions in the home. The intent was to asses…

  • A socioemotional intervention in a Latin American orphanage

    Open AccessRobert B McCall, Christina J Groark et al.ARTICLEInfant Mental Health Journal2010Cited by: 17References: 18

    A pilot intervention that emphasized training and technical assistance to promote warm, sensitive, and responsive one‐on‐one caregiver–child interactions primarily during feeding and bathing/changing was implemented using regular staff in a depressed orphanage for children birth to approximately 8 years of age in Latin America. Despite a variety of unanticipated irregularities in the implementation of the intervention, many beyond the researchers…