Eleanor D. Brown
Eleanor D. Brown | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Clinical psychologist and academic |
| Academic background | |
| Education | B.A. in Psychology (Education Concentration) Ph.D. in Psychology (Clinical Concentration) |
| Alma mater | Haverford College (2000) University of Delaware (2005) |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | West Chester University (WCU) |
Eleanor D. Brown is a clinical psychologist and an academic. She is a Professor of Psychology at West Chester University (WCU), where she directs the Early Childhood Cognition and Emotions Lab (ECCEL) and co-directs the Research on Equity via the Arts in Childhood (REACH) Lab.[1]
Brown is most known for her research on children experiencing stress and trauma related to poverty and racism, as well as on arts-based interventions. Her work has emphasized the diversity among families facing adversity and identified ways to leverage family and community strengths to support children's well-being. She has collaborated with community partners, including Settlement Music School, to explore how music and the arts can promote equity.[2][3]
Education and early career
[edit]Brown received her B.A. in Psychology with a Concentration in Education from Haverford College in May 2000. She completed her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Child Development and Children Facing Risk at the University of Delaware in August 2005.[4]
Brown began her career in clinical work as a Child and Family Therapist at the Family Support Network at WCU and later as a Cognitive Therapist at the Center for Cognitive Therapy at UPenn. Since 2006, she has worked as an Early Childhood Consultant and Child and Family Therapist at ECCEL.[1]
Career
[edit]Brown became a research fellow and later a consultant for Ronald Seifer's Early Childhood Research Center at Brown University Medical School (2004-2010). She was a Research Consultant at Johns Hopkins' Science of Learning Institute from 2019 to 2020, and has been the director of the ECCEL at WCU since 2005,[5] and the Co-Director of REACH since 2020.[6]
Brown joined WCU as an assistant professor in 2005, became an associate professor in 2010, and has been a full professor since 2015.[1] From 2006 to 2012, she was the president of the Faculty Senate.[7] She co-founded and facilitated the WCU CARES (Campus Allies Regarding Emotions of Students) program from 2008 to 2012.[8]
Brown was co-president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Association for Psychology of Women from 2011 to 2021, and served on the Arts and Pre-K Advisory Committee for the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (2016-2019).[9]
Research
[edit]Brown has studied children's development, poverty, racism, marginalized groups, and models of change, focusing on Head Start, arts, mindfulness, and anti-racism training. She partnered with Settlement Music School's Kaleidoscope Arts Enrichment Preschool, leading a series of studies on the impact of the arts,[2] with her research on arts and cortisol in economically disadvantaged children funded by the NEA Art Works Research grants program.[10] In 2010, her findings showed that children in arts classes achieved significantly higher gains in receptive vocabulary—a key predictor of school success—compared to peers at a nearby preschool.[11] Subsequent research in 2013 revealed that Kaleidoscope students experienced 60% more positive emotions during arts activities than those in traditional classrooms, along with improved emotional regulation.[12] In 2017, participation in arts classes was linked to reduced cortisol levels in economically disadvantaged children, indicating lower stress.[13] Furthermore, in 2018, her work confirmed that Kaleidoscope students demonstrated greater school readiness than those in a non-arts-integrated Head Start program, underscoring the potential of arts integration to enhance educational opportunities for disadvantaged children.[14]
Brown's investigation found that daily poverty-related stress is associated with negative parent mood, varying with the presence of a stable partner, underscoring the importance of social support in low-income families.[15] Another study linked this stress to parental coping strategies and learned helplessness in young children attending Head Start, highlighting how parental coping can mitigate the negative developmental impacts of poverty.[16] Her research has indicated that elevated cortisol levels during preschool are related to executive functioning difficulties in children facing poverty-related stress, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions.[17] Another study suggested that more playtime and sleep time are linked to lower stress levels for children attending Head Start preschool, suggesting ways parents; may promote their children's well-being.[18]
Her work on the relationship between emotional intelligence and stress regulation in preschoolers demonstrated that improving emotional knowledge could help lower stress hormone levels.[19][20] She also examined the role of arts education in fostering emotional growth, reducing stress, and enhancing social skills, particularly for children facing economic hardship.[21][22]
Brown's research has been featured in media outlets such as Pacific Standard,[23][24][25] ScienceDaily,[26] and PsyPost.[27][28]
Selected articles
[edit]- Brown, E. D., & Ackerman, B. P. (2011). Contextual risk, maternal negative emotionality, and the negative emotion dysregulation of preschool children from economically disadvantaged families. Early Education & Development, 22(6), 931-944.
- Brown, E. D., & Sax, K. L. (2013). Arts enrichment and emotion expression and regulation for young children at risk. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28, 337.
- Brown, E. D., Garnett, M. L., Anderson, K. E., & Laurenceau, J. P. (2017). Can the arts get under the skin? Arts and cortisol for economically disadvantaged children. Child Development, 88(4), 1368-1381.
- Brown, E. D., Anderson, K. E., Garnett, M. L., & Hill, E. M. (2019). Economic instability and household chaos relate to cortisol for children in poverty. Journal of Family Psychology, 33(6), 629.
- Brown, E. D., Weaver, Z., Streich, M., Shivde, G., & Garnett, M. (2023). Cortisol across preschool day relates to teacher ratings of executive functioning for children facing economic hardship. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 62, 31-40.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Dr. Ellie Brown Research Labs".
- ^ a b "Kaleidoscope Research".
- ^ "Kaleidoscope research featured in National Endowment for the Arts webinar".
- ^ "Psychologists in the news".
- ^ "About the ECCEL Program".
- ^ "About the Team - Project Directors - REACH".
- ^ "Pulling Out in Pennsylvania?".
- ^ "2010-2011 Report - Student Welfare Committee -- Ellie Brown (Psychology), Chair" (PDF).
- ^ "THE IMPACT OF ARTS AND CULTURE AGENDA: PRE-K" (PDF).
- ^ "National Endowment for the Arts Awards $149,000 to WCU for Research into Equity Via the Arts for Children".
- ^ "Arts enrichment and school readiness for children at risk".
- ^ "Arts enrichment and preschool emotions for low-income children at risk".
- ^ "Can the Arts Get Under the Skin? Arts and Cortisol for Economically Disadvantaged Children".
- ^ "The art of Head Start: Intensive arts integration associated with advantage in school readiness for economically disadvantaged children".
- ^ "Daily poverty-related stress and mood for low-income parents, as a function of the presence of a cohabiting partner relationship".
- ^ "Daily poverty‐related stress and coping: Associations with child learned helplessness".
- ^ "Cortisol across preschool day relates to teacher ratings of executive functioning for children facing economic hardship".
- ^ "Playtime and bedtime relate to cortisol levels for children facing economic hardship".
- ^ "Emotion Knowledge Relates to Cortisol for Children Attending Head Start Preschool".
- ^ "WCU News - WCU Study Links Emotional Intelligence to Stress Regulation in Preschoolers".
- ^ "Music and dance education offer lifelong skills and opportunities for underserved students".
- ^ "Germantown residents bring music into Philadelphia Schools".
- ^ "Arts-Heavy Preschool Helps Children Grow Emotionally".
- ^ "Arts-Rich Preschool Readies Kids for Learning".
- ^ "Arts Education Reduces Stress Level of Low-Income Students".
- ^ "Arts programming may help lower stress in economically disadvantaged preschoolers".
- ^ "Economic instability and household chaos are linked to physiological dysregulation in children".
- ^ "Economic instability and household chaos relate to cortisol for children in poverty".