ANNA KATE EDGEMON

My research focuses on understanding adolescent behaviors, including challenging problem behavior, impulsivity, and delinquency, within the context of residential treatment facilities. Specifically, my work emphasizes improving conditions of confinement for underserved and marginalized youth groups, including justice-involved adolescents and children in foster care. From a behavior-analytic perspective, and informed by cognitive, neuroscientific, and translational science perspectives, my goal is to advance understanding of the predictors of, and interventions for, these behaviors. By better understanding these behaviors, we can develop better prevention strategies and promote evidence-based treatment for underserved populations.

 

Research Experience

My experience working within facilities includes collaborating with psychologists, educators, administrators, and facility staff to (a) develop a multi-tiered system of support, (b) teach behavior management strategies to facility staff, (b) improve staff and resident relationships, and (c) decrease challenging behavior. As a result of this work, I authored a manuscript evaluating the conditional probability of challenging behavior among facility residents across days of the week and time of day. In addition, I am authoring a manuscript currently in progress describing development and outcomes associated with this multi-tiered system of support. This work was featured on the Behavioral Observations podcast in April 2023.

 

I also have exeperience supervising provision of clinical services for justice-involved youth who display severe challenging behavior and warrant the highest tier of supports. These services were delivered by graduate clinicians in a master’s program in ABA at Auburn University. In this role, developed evidence-based interventions to improve conditions of confinement for this population. To this end, I authored an article evaluating the effect of behavior contracts to decrease challenging behavior among justice-involved and foster youth. I also authored an article that examined correspondence between staff and resident responses to an indirect assessment of challenging behavior, both published in Behavioral Interventions. In addition, I recently received acceptance for my proposal for the Sidney W. & Janet R. Bijou Grant provided by the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis to evaluate sleep disturbance among residents using wrist activity monitors. This project was featured in Inside Behavior Analysis.

 

In addition to evaluating interventions to decrease challenging behavior, my clinically-driven research has evaluated interventions for skill acquisition. My thesis project evaluated the effect of a nutrition intervention on behavioral demand for healthier alternatives among adolescents at the residential facility. This manuscript is currently under review. In addition, I authored an article published in the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis examining behavioral skills training to improve interview skills among justice-involved youth that has been cited over 30 times. This work was featured on the ABA Wizard podcast in August 2020.

 

Future Directions

I aim to build on the findings of my previous work by developing evidence-based preventative interventions for implementation in juvenile residential treatment facilities, detention centers, inpatient facilities, and other agencies serving marginalized, high-risk youth populations. My experiences using advanced research methodology provides a foundation for further expansion into group design, particularly using behavioral economic approaches in translational research. My clinical and research experiences, zeal for assisting underserved populations, and commitment to rigorous methodology will continue to support my career goal of producing research to improve outcomes for youth most in need.