Mark Chaffin

The Mark Chaffin Centers for Healthy Development is named in honor of the late Mark Chaffin, a leader in the field of child maltreatment research who dedicated his career to helping at-risk children and families.

Dr. Chaffin joined the faculty of the Georgia State School of Public Health and its Center for Healthy Development in 2014 as a Professor of Health Promotion and Behavior. He previously worked as a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, where he directed research for the Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Section and the Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. Dr. Chaffin was at OUHSC for 17 years, and previously was on faculty at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Dr. Chaffin was a psychologist by training and completed a fellowship in pediatric psychology before beginning his academic career. His practice, teaching, research and publications focused mainly on the development, adaptation and implementation of evidence-based service models in youth-serving prevention and social services systems, such as child welfare, juvenile justice, and early childhood developmental disabilities systems. He was a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, received a number of national awards for his research and publications, taught nationally and internationally, and served on a number of national advisory boards and review panels.

Education

Ph.D., 1990, University of Oklahoma, Counseling Psychology
M.A., 1979, University of Oklahoma, Human Relations/Professional Psychology
B.A., 1974, University of Oklahoma, Honors in Psychology

Specialization

Licensed Psychologist

Publications

Fedele, D., Hullman, S., Chaffin, M., Kenner, C., Fisher, M., Kirk, K., Eddington, A., Phipps, S., McNall-Knapp, R., & Mullins, L. (in press) Impact of a parent-based interdisciplinary intervention for mothers on adjustment in children newly diagnosed with cancer. Journal of Pediatric Psychology.

Balachova T., Bonner B., Chaffin M., Isurina G., Shapkaitz V., Tsvetkova L., Volkova E., Grandilevskaya I., Skitnevskaya L.,& Knowlton N. (2013). Brief FASD prevention intervention: physicians’ skills demonstrated in a clinical trial in Russia. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. 8.

Chaffin, M., Bard, D., Bigfoot, D.S., & Maher, E.J. (2012). Is a structured manualized, evidence-based treatment protocol culturally competent and equivalently effective among American Indian parents in child welfare? Child Maltreatment.

Mullins, L.L., Fedele, D.A., Chaffin, M., Hullmann, S.E., Kenner, C., Eddington, A.R., Phipps, S., & McNall-Knapp, R.Y. (2012). A clinic-based inderdisciplinary intervention for mothers of children newly diagnosed with cancer: A pilot study. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 37, 1104-1115.

Aarons, G.A., Green, A.E., Palinkas, L.A., Self-Brown, S., Whitaker, D.J., Lutzker, J.R., Siloveky, J.F., Hecht, D.B., & Chaffin M. (2012). Dynamic adaptation process to implement an evidence-based child maltreatment intervention. Implementation Science, 18.

Chaffin, M., Hecht, D., Bard, D., Silovsky, J., & Beasley, W.H. (2012). A statewide trial of the SafeCare home-based services model with parents in Child Protective Services. Pediatrics, 129, 509-515.

Balachova, T., Bonner, B., Chaffin, M., Bard, D., Isurina, G., Tsvetkova, L., & Volkova, E. (2012). Women’s alcohol consumption and risk for alcohol-exposed pregnancies in Russia. Addiction, 107, 109-117.

Silovsky, JF, Bard, D., Chaffin, M., Hecht, D., Burris L., Owora, A., Beasley, L., Doughty, D., & Lutzker, J. (2011). Prevention of child maltreatment in high-risk rural families: A randomized clinical trial with child welfare outcomes. Children and Youth Services Review, 33, 1435-1444.

Chaffin, M. & Bard, D. (2011) Changes in parental depression symptoms during family preservation services. Child Abuse and Neglect, 35, 448-458.

Chaffin, M., Bard, D., Hecht, D., & Silovsky, JF. (2011) Change trajectories during home based services with chronic child welfare cases. Child Maltreatment, 16, 114-125.