College of Arts & Sciences

Gabriel Kuperminc

Broadly speaking, I engage in two types of research focused on 1) understanding processes of resilience and positive youth development in adolescence and 2) evaluating the effectiveness of community based prevention and health promotion programs. These types of research often intersect. Research projects are conducted in collaboration with colleagues and students at GSU and other institutions and include:

Resilience and Positive Youth Development

Currently Funded Projects:

• Evaluation of Cool Girls, Inc. Since 1999, my research team has been conducting annual evaluations of the effectiveness of this a comprehensive youth development program that provides mentoring, tutoring, and life skills training to high risk, urban, preadolescent and early adolescent girls. Funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Cool Girls, Inc.
• Teen Health Project. From 2011-2015, our team is working with a local non-profit organization called the Center for Black Women’s Wellness to evaluate the Teen Health Project, a teen pregnancy prevention program that is considered by the Office of Adolescent Health to be a “best practice.”

Other Projects:

• Proyecto Juventud. A 5-year investigation of how the process of immigration affects developmental outcomes for Latino adolescents. Funding from WT Grant Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, GSU. Collaborators: Greg Jurkovic and Julia Perilla at GSU, Art Murphy (now at U. of North Caroline Greensboro), José de Jesús Gutiérrez Rodriguez and Francisco Gutiérrez Rodriguez at the University of Guadalajara.
• Prevention Intervention Research Group. Ongoing survey designed to assess risk and resilience among culturally diverse youth in school settings. The survey has been translated into Spanish and Japanese. This survey has been administered in a high school and two middle schools in Georgia. Versions have been used in Atlanta After-School All Stars program and have been administered to school children in Japan. Funding from the AIG Corporation and GSU. Collaborators: Drs. Chris Henrich and Joel Meyers.

Recent Publications Related to Resilience and Positive Youth Development:

• Kuperminc, G.P., Thomason, J., DiMeo, M., & Broomfield-Massey, K.(2011). Cool Girls, Inc.: Promoting the positive development of urban preadolescent and early adolescent girls. Journal of Primary Prevention.
• Wilkins, N., & Kuperminc, G.P. (2010). Why try? Achievement motivation, perceived academic climate and academic outcomes among Latino youth. Journal of Early Adolescence, 30, 246 –276.
• Kuperminc, G.P., Jurkovic, G.J., & Casey, S. (2009). Relation of filial responsibility to the personal and social adjustment of Latino adolescents from immigrant families. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 14-22.

Evaluation of Community Based Programs

• Georgia BASICS (Brief Assessment, Screening, Intervention, Continuum of Care System). I conduct the evaluation of this collaborative project designed to identify persons at risk for alcohol and substance abuse in major urban hospital emergency departments (and other clinic sites). Using a public health approach patients who are screened into the study receive brief advice, brief intervention, brief treatment and/or referral for alcohol or drug problems. Funding from the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities via a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. GSU Collaborators: Drs. Jim Emshoff and Dominic Parrott.
• Georgia Family Connection Partnership. I participate in an interdisciplinary team conducting outcome evaluation of a statewide network of 157 county collaboratives serving all of the counties in Georgia. Collaborators: Drs. Scott Weaver (Public Health), EMSTAR Research.

Recent Conference Presentations Related to the Evaluation of Community Based Programs

• Darnell, A., Kuperminc, G., & Emshoff, J. (2011, June). Clarification of the conceptual definition of collaboration. In B. Nowell (Chair). Advancing the Theory of Collaborative Approaches to Community Change. Poster symposium presented at the 13th Biennial Conference of the Society for Community Research and Action, Chicago, IL.
• Gilmore, D., Dalton, R., & Kuperminc, G. (2011, June). Retention in longitudinal substance abuse research: Tracking procedures and participant variability. Poster presented at the 13th Biennial Conference of the Society for Community Research and Action, Chicago, IL.
• Harper, C., Barile, J., Darnell, A., Emshoff, J., Erickson, S., Kuperminc, G., & Weaver, S. (2011, June). Community Collaboration Effectiveness: Evidence from Georgia Family Connection. Poster presented at the 13th Biennial Conference of the Society for Community Research and Action, Chicago, IL.

** I am recruiting 1-2 graduate students for Fall 2012 to work with me on one or more of these projects **

Recently Taught Courses

Undergraduate Level

• Introduction to Community Psychology
• Study Abroad: Human Rights in Argentina – From Dictatorship to Democracy

Graduate Level

• Introduction to Community Psychology
• Assessment, Consultation and Evaluation
• Adolescent Development

Contact Information
Office: 1112 Urban Life Center
Phone: 404-413-6281
Send me email: gkuperminc@gsu.edu