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People of the Methodology Center |
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Home  People Mary Lai, M.Ed.
Mary Lai, M.Ed.
PAMT Pre-Doctoral Fellow, The Prevention Research Center & The Methodology Center
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Human Development and Family Studies Department
The Pennsylvania State University
105D South Henderson
University Park, PA 16802
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This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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814-865-5206 |
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814-865-2530
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| Education: |
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M.Ed., Columbia University, 2001 (Sociology and Education)
B.S., University of California, Berkeley, 1999 (Asian American Studies)
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| Research Interests: |
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Adolescent substance use and delinquency including the development of co-occurring behaviors over time, contextual influences, program evaluation, the role of culture in prevention, and immigrant and minority populations.
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| Current Projects and Collaborators: |
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As a predoctoral fellow in the Prevention and Methodology Training (PAMT) program, I am working with Edward Smith of the Prevention Research Center and Bethany Bray of The Methodology Center to identify subgroups of co-occurring adolescent substance use and delinquent behaviors using data from the NIDA-funded HealthWise: South Africa project. Future work will include exploring how these behaviors co-occur over time and whether these developmental associations differ for males and females.
I also participate in a lab led by H. Harrington Cleveland to analyze data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). We are examining the effects of school-level drinking of white students as a contextual influence on minority drinking. I will present preliminary findings of both studies at the 2009 annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research.
In addition, I am interested in delinquency among Asian and Pacific Islander youth in the U.S. and community-based, participatory research methods to address this issue.
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Honors and Awards:
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- Society for Prevention Research Early Career Prevention Network Top 5 Student Poster for Substance Use and Delinquency Profiles Among South African Adolescents, May 2009
- NIH/NIDA Pre-doctoral Research Fellowship: Prevention and Methodology Training Program (The Methodology Center and Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University; T32-DA-017629)
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| Publications: |
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Peer-reviewed Papers |
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Le, T. N., Lai, M. H., & Wallen, J. (In press). Multiculturalism and subjective happiness as mediated by cultural and relational variables. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.
Lai, M. H. (2008). Asian/Pacific Islander Youth Violence Prevention Center: Community mobilization efforts to reduce and prevent youth violence [Special issue]. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(3S), S48-S55.
Lai, M. H. (2005). Responding to Asian and Pacific Islander youth violence: Lessons learned from a community mobilization strategy [Special issue]. Crime and Delinquency, 51(2), 158-179.
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Other Publications |
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Lai, M. H. (2007). Vietnamese American youth in trouble: A thing of the past? BN Magazine, October, 58-61.
Arifuku, I., Morris, M., Nuñez, M., & Lai, M. (2003). Culture counts: How five community-based organizations serve Asian and Pacific Islander youth. Oakland: API Youth Violence Prevention Center/NCCD.
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