Family Social Science professor receives UROC research grant
Chalandra M. Bryant, professor and Pauline Boss Faculty Fellow in Ambiguous Loss in the Department of Family Social Science, has been awarded a $15,000 research grant from the Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC). In addition to Dr. Bryant, the research team includes Joyce Serido, associate professor and extension specialist in FSOS; Mary Jo Katras, program leader, Extension Center for Family Development; Sharon Powell, extension educator; and community member, Tonia Brinston who is a career advisor and financial educator at Twin Cities R!SE.
According to a center release, the UROC Research Agenda was launched in September 2020 to address themes that community members and University of Minnesota researchers and practitioners identified as being critical to a thriving North Minneapolis and Twin Cities urban core. The agenda is designed to guide collaborative research and advance the University’s public engagement agenda in three topic areas—individual and community healing; systems and systemic racism; and individual, family, and community financial well-being—while improving outcomes through robust, long-term University-community partnerships geared toward making meaningful change.
This community-based participatory research project (CBPR), “Linking Historical Trauma, Ambiguous Loss, and Financial Decision-Making Among African American Families,” is designed to address psychological withdrawal, racial financial trauma, and economic disparities with a focus on African American families in Minneapolis’ Northside community. The study also involves providing training to help families improve their financial well-being. The research team hopes to alleviate financial traumas experienced by African Americans. Dr. Bryant will serve as principal investigator and conduct the research in partnership with University of Minnesota Extension and the community.
More about Dr. Bryant
Dr. Bryant’s research agenda focuses on the developmental roots and course of close relationships; the ability to sustain close intimate ties; the manner in which social, familial, economic, and psychosocial factors are linked to marital outcomes; and how stressors, such as ambiguous loss impact marital functioning. She has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Family Theory and Review and the Journal of Marriage and Family, and is a co-author of the book, Family Stress Management: A Contextual Approach, Third Edition published by Sage. She has been honored with the National Council on Family Relation’s (NCFR) Reuben Hill Research and Theory Award.