The Catholic University of America

 


Sandra Barrueco
Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology


email: barrueco@cua.edu


330 O'Boyle Hall 202-319-5758

  

 

 

My research program utilizes a prevention science framework to examine and address developmental and mental health difficulties among young language-minority, immigrant, and migrant children. Contributing to empirical and clinical advancements in this area are three interrelated investigative foci: 1) methodological improvements in the assessment and early identification of young bilingual children, 2) expansion of the theoretical and research bases pertaining to developmental and clinical processes within young Latino children and their families, and 3) creation and examination of multisystemic preventive interventions fostering linguistic and socioemotional functioning.  These studies are fiscally supported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Education, foundations, and other entities. 

At CUA, I am a faculty member of the Children, Families, and Cultures specialization within the Clinical Psychology program. I also serve as a Fellow of the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies and an Affiliated Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies. Further, I am engaged in the local and national communities, as reflected by my appointments as Board Vice President of DC Bilingual Charter School and the Advisory Committee of the American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Immigration. 
 
In terms of my background and training, I am a licensed clinical psychologist in Maryland and DC, beginning my career as a preschool teacher assistant. I obtained my doctorate at the University of Denver in child clinical psychology with an emphasis in cognitive neuroscience and an internship at Children’s National Medical Center in clinical child and pediatric psychology. I subsequently focused on the early childhood identification and prevention of developmental and mental health difficulties as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neuropsychology at Kennedy Krieger Institute. I also completed a research postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where I designed and conducted prevention and intervention science investigations.  Most recently, I participated in a faculty fellowship in the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education at the University of Virginia. Throughout my training and career, I have been dedicated to learning and utilizing advanced statistics, including latent variable and multilevel level modeling, to advance scientific knowledge and practice with young immigrant children and families. This approach is rooted in a community-based participatory research framework involving strong collaborations with families and the local and national programs that serve them.

 

 Education

Ph.D., Child Clinical Psychology, University of Denver (2003)
M.A., Child Clinical Psychology, University of Denver (1998)
B.A., magna cum laude, Psychology & Economics, Amherst College (1996)

 

 

Selected Publications

Barrueco, S., López, M. L., Ong, C. A., & Lozano, P. (November 2011). Assessing young children within and across languages: Approaches & measures. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.


Barrueco, S. (January 2012). Meeting the needs of migrant and seasonal farm worker families: Description of and findings from a multisystemic intervention. In B. Wasik & B. Van Horn, Handbook of Family Literacy. New York, New York: Routledge.
 

Barrueco, S. (February 2012). Assessing young bilingual children with special needs. In S. M. Benner, Assessment of young children with special needs: A context-based approach (2nd ed.). New York, New York: Routledge.

Barrueco, S. & Twohy, E. (in press). Strengthening and unifying Latino and African-American families: Community psychology in Washington, D.C. In E. S. Pumar (Ed.), The Hispanic Presence in the Washington DC Metropolitan Region (Research in Race and Ethnic Relations). Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald Publishers.

Achilles, G. A., Barrueco, S., & Bottoms, B. L. (accepted). The evolving legacy of the American Psychological Association’s Division 37: Bridging research, practice, and policy to benefit children and families. In A. M. Culp (Ed.), Handbook of Child and Family Advocacy: Issues in Clinical Child Psychology.  New York, NY: Springer Publishing.

 

O’Brien, R., Barrueco, S., López, M. L., & D’Elio, M.A. (2011). Design of the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Survey. Department of Health and Human Services: Washington, DC.


Valdez, C. R., Mills, C. L., Barrueco, S., & Riley, A. W. (2011). A pilot study of a family-focused intervention for children and families affected by maternal depression. Journal of Family Therapy, 33, 3-19.


Barrueco, S. & O’Brien, R. (2011). Latino agricultural families and their young children: Advancing theoretical and empirical conceptualizations. In J. Kromkowski (Ed.), Annual editions: Race and ethnic Relations (pp. 168-175). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.


Riley, A. W., Valdez, C.R., Barrueco, S., Mills, C.L., Beardslee, W., Sandler, I., & Rawal, P. (2008).
Development of a family-based program to reduce risk and promote resilience among families affected by maternal depression: Theoretical basis and program description. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 11, 12-29.


López, M. L. & Barrueco, S. (2008). In search of meaning: Disentangling the complex influences on children’s school readiness. In A. Booth & A. C. Crouter (Eds.), Early disparities in school readiness: How do families contribute to successful and unsuccessful transitions into school (pp. 31-48). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.


Barrueco, S., López, M.L. & Miles, J.C. (2007). Parenting behaviors in the first year of life: A national examination of Latinos and other cultural groups. Latinos and Education, 6(3), 253-265.
 

Barrueco, S., Rawal, P. Passley, J., Valdez, C., & Riley, A. (2005). Keeping Families Strong youth manual: A clinic-based intervention and prevention program for families experiencing depression. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.


Petras, H., Ialongo, N., Lambert, S.F., Barrueco, S., Schaeffer, C.M., Chilcoat, H., & Kellam, S. (2005). The utility of elementary school TOCA-R scores in identifying later violence amongst adolescent females. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 44, 790-797.


Hartman, S.G., Olmos-Gallo, A., Barrueco, S., & Markman, H.J. (2004). Reality testing in prevention science: An experimental approach to effecting change in marriage. In R. Conger, F. O. Lorenz, & K.A.S Wickrama (Eds.), Continuity and change in family relations: Theory, methods and empirical findings. Routledge, Inc.
 

Stein, M. A., Barrueco, S. & Halperin, J. M. (2003). Psychological and neuropsychological testing. In J. M. Wiener & M. K. Dulcan (Ed.). Textbook of child and adolescent psychiatry. London: American Psychiatric Publishing.

 

 

Courses

Clinical Assessment II: Intelligence Testing (graduate)
Community and Cultural Psychology (undergraduate)
Cultural Issues in Clinical Psychology (graduate)
Lifespan Development (undergraduate)
Practicum in Individual Psychotherapy (graduate)
Research Methods in Psychology (graduate)