A non-profit research center dedicated to strengthening children, families, and communities.

The Oregon Social Learning Center is a non-profit, collaborative, multidisciplinary research center dedicated to increasing the scientific understanding of social and psychological processes related to healthy development and family functioning. We apply that understanding to the design and evaluation of interventions that strengthen children, adolescents, families, and communities.

Helpful Resources

We’re pleased to provide a number of useful resources for parents, clinicians, and teachers, including a searchable database of publications by OSLC scientists.

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KITS Year 1 Outcomes
  • For the child readiness groups, 83% attended at least half of the classes; 42% attended three-fourths of the sessions
  • For the parent groups, 47% attended at least half but only 22% attended three-fourths of the sessions
  • Summer attendance was better: Average attendance for children in the summer was 80%; this fell to 38% during the fall
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Scientist Spotlights

Gracelyn Cruden, Ph.D.

OSLC welcomes Gracelyn Cruden, Ph.D. to our team as an Early Career Scientist. Dr. Cruden completed her doctoral studies at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill’s Department of Health Policy and Management. Her research focuses on the application of systems science thinking and methodology to support prevention and implementation science, specifically related to reducing child maltreatment and improving mental health across the life course. She will be joining the SIC, R3, and FAIR teams and bringing her systems science expertise to these implementation and scale-up projects.

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Many Men’s Drinking Increases in Their 30’s, Study Shows

The study, “Growth, Persistence, and Desistance of Alcohol Use for At-Risk Men in Their 30s” was published online in Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research. The study was supported by funds from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The team of scientists, led by Senior Scientist Dr. Deborah Capaldi, studied approximately 200 men and their partners over 20 years and a particularly interesting finding was that, whereas wife or partner heavy drinking may effect men’s drinking, drunkenness of the men’s friends was a stronger predictor. This indicates that peer influence, thought to wane as men mature, may still be strong in their 30s.

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OSLC Mourns the Loss of Founder Jerry Patterson

 

Dr. Patterson took great joy in mentoring upcoming researchers and he influenced the thinking of countless psychologists and practitioners. In Jerry’s last days, he expressed regret to be leaving before solving the many problems of negative reinforcement, a mechanism that plays a major function within coercion theory.
Gerald R. Patterson, Ph.D.