Professional Experience

• July 2006-present
  Professor and Extension Specialist, Family and Youth Resiliency and Policy, The Pennsylvania State University
• January 2001-present
  Affiliate Faculty Member with College of Health and Human Development’s Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University
• January 2000-June 2006
  Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, Family and Youth Resiliency and Policy, The Pennsylvania State University
• July 1996-December 1999
  Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences at the University of Florida
• August 1995-May 1996
  Specialist in Youth and Curriculum Development, Department of Family and Child Ecology and Michigan State University Extension
• May 1993-July 1995
  Extension Associate for Youth Development, Michigan State University Extension

Education

• August 1995 - Ph.D., Family and Child Ecology
  Michigan State University
• August 1991 - M.S., Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University
• May 1989 - B.A., Psychology (with High Distinction), The Pennsylvania State University

Research and Extension Areas

• Adolescent and Family Development
• Assets, Risk & Protective Factors
• Collaboration & Community Development
• Contextual Influences on Development
• Evaluation of Prevention & Intervention Programs
• Civic Engagement in Youth
• Prevention Science
• Risk Behaviors & Resiliency
• Theories of Adolescence
• Youth Development

Office

107 Ferguson Building
University Park, PA 16802
Phone: 814-865-6988
Fax: 814-863-4753
E-mail: dfp102@psu.edu

Responsibilities

• Director, Penn State Cooperative Extension’s Children, Youth, and Families Are Resilient Initiative
• Co-Investigator, Promoting School/Community – University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience research project

Extension Programs

• Building and Sustaining Collaboration
• Family/Youth Resiliency and Policy
• Putting YOUTH Back Into Sports Project
• Reading Wizards
• School Readiness
• Youth Engaged in Technology (PA CYFAR Project)

Extension Publications

• Say Y.E.S. To Youth: Youth Engagement Strategies
• Youth Engaged in Technology Curriculum
• After-School Programs Behavioral Issues Toolkit
• After-School Programs Parental Involvement Plan
• Protecting Your Child on the Internet
• Coaches Making Youth Sports a Positive Experience
• Parents Making Youth Sports a Positive Experience: Spectators
• Parents Making Youth Sports a Positive Experience: Role Models
• Bullying: What Educators can do about it
• Bullying: What Parents can do about it

Teaching Areas

• Child/Adolescent Development
• Collaboration
• Grant Writing
• Human Service Skills
• Human Ecosystems
• Program Development & Evaluation
• Research Methods
• Theories of Adolescence

Selected Research Publications

• Borden, L. M., & Perkins, D. F. (2006). Community youth development professionals: Providing the necessary supports. Child & Youth Care Forum, 35, 101-153.
• Jones, K. R., & Perkins, D. F. (2006). Youth and adult perceptions of their relationships within community-based youth programs. Youth and Society, 38, 90-109.
• Perkins, D. F., Mincemoyer, C. C., & Lillehoj, K. (2006). Extension educators’ perception of community readiness, knowledge of youth prevention science, and experience with collaboration. Journal of Family and Consumer Science, 98 (4), 20-26.
• Ramos, D., & Perkins, D. F. (2006). Goodness of fit assessment of the Alcohol Intervention Program and the underlying theories of change. Journal of American College Health, 55, 57-64.
• Scheve, J. A., Perkins, D. F., & Mincemoyer, C. C. (2006). Community team’s characteristics that foster youth engagement. Journal of Youth Development: Bridging Research and Practice, 1, 8 pages. Available online at: http://www.nae4ha.org/directory/jyd/jyd_article.aspx?id=d4d218b6-2440-4b13-b4da-967da882f90a.
• Borden, L. M., Perkins, D. F., Villarruel, F. A., Carlton Hug, A, Stone, M., & Keith, J. G. (2006). Challenges and opportunities to Latino youth development: Increasing meaningful participation in youth development programs. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 28, 187-208.
• Jones, K. R., & Perkins, D. F. (2005). Assessing perceptions to determine the quality of youth-adult relationships among community youth programs. Journal of Extension, 43, 1-14. Available online at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2005october/a5.shtml.
• Mincemoyer, C., & Perkins, D. F. (2005). Measuring the impact of youth development programs: A national on-line youth life skills evaluation system. The Forum for Family and Consumer Issues (11 pages). Available online at: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/fcs/pub/forum.html.
• Perkins, D. F., & Borden, L. M. (2006). Competitive Sports Pressure and Out-of-School Learning Experiences. In F. A. Villarruel, & T. Luster (Eds.), Adolescent mental health (239-256). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing.
• Perkins, D. F., & Caldwell, L. (2005). Resiliency, protective processes, promotion, and community youth development. In Witt, P., & Caldwell, L. (Eds.), Recreation and youth development (149-167). State College, PA: Venture Publishing.
• Ansay, S., & Perkins, D. F. (2004). Interpreting outcomes: Using focus groups in evaluation research. Family Relations, 53, 310-316.
• Perkins, D. F., & Borden, L. M. (2004). A multidimensional ecological examination of a youth development program for military dependent youth. Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 27, 49-65.
• Perkins, D. F., Jacobs, J., Barber, B, & Eccles, J. S. (2004). Childhood and adolescent sports participation as predictors of participation in sports and physical fitness activities during adulthood. Youth and Society, 35, 495-520.
• Perkins, D. F., & Jones, K. R. (2004). Risk behaviors and resiliency within physically abused adolescents. Child Abuse and Neglect, 28, 547-563.
• Perkins, D. F., & Borden, L. M. (2003). Risk factors, risk behaviors, and resiliency in adolescence. In R. M. Lerner, M. A. Easterbrooks, & J. Mistry (Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Vol. 6 developmental psychology (pp. 273-419).: Wiley.
• Perkins, D. F., Borden, L. M., Keith, J. G., Hoppe-Rooney, T., & Villarruel, F. A. (2003). Community youth development: A partnership for creating a positive world. In F. A. Villarruel, D. F. Perkins, L. M. Borden, & J. G. Keith (Eds.), Community youth development: Practice, policy, and research (1-23). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Perkins, D. F., Luster, T., & Jank, W. (2002). Protective factors, physical abuse, and purging from community-wide surveys of female adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 17, 377-400.
• Perkins, D. F., & Hartless, G. (2002). Suicide among adolescents: An ecological risk factor approach. Journal of Adolescent Research, 17, 3-26.
• Ansay, S., &  Perkins, D. F. (2001). The relationship between parental bonding and family reunification: A social bonding perspective. Family Relations, 50, 220-229.
• Perkins, D. F. (2001). Issues facing rural youth and a framework for positive change. Journal of Family Relations and Human Development/Family Economics and Resource Management, 4, 122-130.
• Perkins, D. F., Borden, L. M., & Knox, A. A. (1999). Two critical factors in collaboration for children, youth, and families. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 91, 73-82.
• Borden, L. M., & Perkins, D. F. (1999). Assessing your collaboration: A self-evaluation tool. Journal of Extension, 37, 5 pages. Available online at: http://www.joe.org/joe/1999april/tt1.html.
• Perkins, D. F., & Luster, T. (1999). The relationship between sexual abuse and purging: Findings from community-wide surveys of female adolescents. Child Abuse and Neglect, The International Journal, 23, 371-382.
• Lerner, R. M., & Perkins, D. F. (1999). Issues in studying social interactions in, and promoting the positive development of, adolescents. In R. M. Lerner & D. F. Perkins (Eds.), Social interactions in adolescence and promoting positive societal contributions of youth (pp. 9-12). New York: Garland.