Research Interests

My primary research interest has been in the investigation of traumatic stress and mental health in Black youth and families. My most recent work focuses on the impact of exposure to community violence and traumatic loss on Black adolescents and families in disinvested, urban communities. I have also examined the role of modifiable protective factors, such as future orientation, coping strategies, and parent-child relationships, that buffer the effects of traumatic stress.  My team and I seek to address disparities in community violence exposure and traumatic loss and to minimize the adverse effects of violence exposure by enhancing existing strengths and assets embedded in Black youth, families, and communities. I aim to utilize findings from my research to design and implement strengths-based interventions that promote healing for Black adolescents and families.

Recent Publications

Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Gilreath, T., Burnside, A., Mintah, P. & Lindsey, M. (in press). Profiles of suicidal ideation among Black male adolescents: Examination of individual and socioecological predictors.  Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.

Wilkins, K. V., Wilkins, W. L., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Tolan, P. H., & Woods-Jaeger, B. (2023). Family matters: The effects of multigenerational community violence exposure on family functioning. Research in Human Development, 20(1-2), 6-24.

Alvis, L., Douglas, R. D., Oosterhoff, B., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Kaplow, J., (2023). Identity-based bullying and mental health among Black and Latino youth: the moderating role of emotional suppression. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 36(2), 409-420.

Briana Woods-Jaeger, B., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Mathies-Dinizulu, S., Elder, A., & Smith, R. (2023). Developing practices for hospital-based violence intervention programs to address anti-Black racism and historical trauma.  American Psychologist, 78(2), 199-210.

Sargent, E., Wilkins, K., Phan, J., & Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (2022). Cognitive,  personality, and demographic factors: A moderated mediation of chronic violence exposure and violent offending in justice-involved youth. Psychology of Violence, 12(6), 413-423.

Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Alli, J., Davis-Stover-Davis, C. P., & Henderson, H. (2022). A trauma-informed decision-making model of firearm behavior for Black adolescents: Implications for prevention. Preventive Medicine, 165(Part A), 107305.  Invited manuscript for the Special Issue on the Epidemiology and Prevention of Gun Violence.

Phan, J., Harris, B. & Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (2022). Coping socialization in Black families: A latent profile analysis.  Journal of Family Psychology, 36(8), 1306-1317.

Phan, J. & Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (2022). Examining the pathologic adaptation model of community violence exposure in justice involved adolescents: The moderating and mediating effects of moral disengagement. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 15, 669-681.

Woods-Jaeger, B., Briggs, E. C., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Cho, B., & Lemon, E.  (2021). Translating cultural assets research into action to mitigate adverse childhood experience-related health disparities among African American youth.  American Psychologist, 76, 326-336.

Nebbitt, V., Lombe, M., Pitzer, K., Foell, A., Enelamah, N., Chu, Y., Yu, M., Neweransky, C. &

Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (2021). Exposure to violence and posttraumatic stress among youth in public housing: Do community, family, and peers matter?  Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 8, 264-274.

So, S., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., & Voisin, D. R. (2021).  Examining the factor structure  of the coping with community violence scale for urban youth.  Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(1-2), 1127-1154.

Phan, J., Harris, B. & Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (in press). Coping socialization in African American families: A latent profile analysis.  Journal of Family Psychology.

Phan, J. & Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (in press). Examining the pathologic adaptation model of community violence exposure in justice involved adolescents: The moderating and mediating effects of moral disengagement. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma.

Boxer, P., Brunson, R., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Kahn, K., Patton, D., Richardson, J., Rivera, L., Smith-Lee, J. R., Staller, M., Krahé, B., Dubow, E., Parrott, D., & Algrim, K. (2021).  Addressing the Inappropriate Use of Force by Police in the United States and Beyond: A Behavioral and Social Science Perspective. Report of the Police Violence Commission International Society for Research on Aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 47, 502-512.

Woods-Jaeger, B., Briggs, E. C., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Cho, B., & Lemon, E.  (2021).  Translating cultural assets research into action to mitigate adverse childhood experience-related health disparities among African American youth.  American Psychologist, 76, 326-336.

Nebbitt, V., Lombe, M., Pitzer, K., Foell, A., Enelamah, N., Chu, Y., Yu, M., Neweransky, C. & Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (2021). Exposure to violence and posttraumatic stress among youth in public housing: Do community, family, and peers matter?  Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 8, 264-274.

 So, S., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., & Voisin, D. R. (2021).  Examining the factor structure of the coping with community violence scale for urban youth.  Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(1-2), 1127-1154.

 Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Graham, S., Barbarin, O., Tolan, P. & Murry, V. M. (2021). Coping and adaptation in challenging environments: Introduction to the special issue on development of boys and young men of color. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 101220.

 Phan, J., So, S., Thomas, A., & Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (2020). Hyperarousal and hypervigilance in African American male adolescents exposed to community violence. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 70, 101168.

Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Burnside, A. & Tinsley, D. (2020).  The prevalence and longitudinal patterns of continuous community violence exposure and trauma-related symptoms in serious male adolescent offenders. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 33, 541–551.

Barbarin, O., Tolan, P., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., & Murry, V. (2020). Promoting social justice for African American boys and young men through research and intervention: A challenge for developmental science. Applied Developmental Science, 24(3), 196-207.

Pierre, C., Burnside, A., & Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (2020). A longitudinal examination of community violence exposure, school belongingness, and mental health among African American adolescent males. School Mental Health, 12(2), 388-399.

Sargent, E., Zahniser, E., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Morency, M. & Jenkins, E. (2020).   Examining the effects of family and community violence on African American adolescents: The roles of violence type and relationship proximity to violence.  Journal of Early Adolescence, 40(5), 633-661.

Anderson, R. E., Jones, S. C. T., Anyiwo, N., McKenny, M., & Gaylord-Harden, N. (2019). What’s race got to do with it? The contribution of racial socialization to Black adolescent coping. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 29(4), 822–831.

 Burnside, A. & Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (2019). Hopelessness as a predictor of community violence exposure in ethnic minority male adolescent offenders. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 47(5), 801-810.

Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Bai, G. J., So, S. & Tolan, P. H. (2018). Adolescent males of color exposed to community violence:  Do parents impact adolescents’ coping strategies? Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(10), 3262-3276.

 Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Barbarin, O., Tolan, P. & Murry, V. M. (2018). Understanding development of African American boys and young men:  Moving from risks to positive development. American Psychologist, 73(6), 753-767.

So, S., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Voisin, D. & Scott, D. (2018). Future orientation as a protective factor for African American adolescents exposed to community violence.  Youth and Society, 50(6), 734-757.

Burnside, A., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., So, S., & Voisin, D. R. (2018). A latent class analysis of community violence exposure and peer delinquency in African American adolescents.  Children and Youth Services Review, 91, 196-203.

 Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Bai, G. J., & Simic, D. (2017).  Examining a dual-process model of desensitization and hypersensitization to community violence in African American male adolescents. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 30(5), 463-471.

 Gaylord-Harden, N. K., So, S., Bai, G. J. & Tolan, P. H. (2017). Examining the effects of emotional and cognitive desensitization to community violence exposure in male adolescents of color.  American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 87(4), 463-473.

 Gaylord-Harden, N. K., So, S., Bai, G. J., Henry, D. & Tolan, P. H. (2017).  Examining the pathologic adaptation model of community violence exposure in male adolescents of color.  Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 46(1), 125-135.

Janusek, L. W., Tell, D., Gaylord-Harden, N. K., & Matthews, H. L. (2017).  Relationship of childhood adversity and neighborhood violence to a proinflammatory phenotype in emerging Adult African American men: An epigenetic link. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 60, 126-135.

 Voisin, D. R., Patel, S., Hong, J. S., Takahashi, L. & Gaylord-Harden, N. K. (2016).  Behavioral health correlates of exposure to community violence among African American adolescents in Chicago. Children and Youth Services Review, 69, 97-105.

So, S., Voisin, D., Burnside, A., & Gaylord-Harden, N. K., (2016). The relationship between future orientation and health related factors among African American adolescents. Children and Youth Services Review, 61, 15-21.

 Gaylord-Harden, N. K., Dickson, D. & Pierre, C. L. (2016). Profiles of community violence exposure among African American youth: An examination of desensitization using latent class analysis.  Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 31(11), 2077-2101.