Director’s Welcome

On behalf of the University of Washington Social Development Research Group (SDRG), I’d like to welcome you to our website and to our work.

A research branch of the School of Social Work at the University of Washington, SDRG was founded in 1979 by J. David Hawkins, PhD, and Richard F. Catalano, PhD, who shared a vision of vibrant communities fostering healthy youth development through the application of solid scientific prevention principles. The organization has flourished over the years under their leadership and that of Kevin Haggerty, MSW, PhD, who served as director until September 2021.

For over 40 years, SDRG’s mission has been to promote healthy development and to study ways to prevent problem behaviors in young people through prevention science. Our research to date has included several groundbreaking longitudinal studies—the Seattle Social Development Project, the Community Youth Development Study, and Raising Healthy Children—which have shown the enduring impact effective prevention approaches can have on the lives of young people and the communities, schools, and families in which they grow. We put this knowledge to use in our community-, school-, and family-based interventions, which are available through the Center for Communities That Care. Our Survey Research Division performs topnotch data collection for our projects and a variety of clients across the University of Washington and beyond, while our seasoned administrative staff make all our work possible. More recently the focus of our work has broadened to support a strong and effective prevention workforce through the Northwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC). I take great pride in our dedicated and accomplished staff for their leadership and contributions, and I continue to be inspired by our collaborators, whose research and prevention efforts now extend to five continents and 17 states.

As we move into the future, I am optimistic about the capacity of prevention science and the efforts of SDRG to contribute solutions to pressing social problems, including the societal imperative for more equitable health and well-being among marginalized populations and those who experience structural racism. To that end, we will continue to study the science of healthy development, develop effective interventions, and partner with communities and service systems to disseminate effective prevention approaches, while advancing and advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion in all our efforts.

Please feel free to browse our website to learn about SDRG’s work, find us on social media, and connect with us if you have questions or would like to partner around prevention and healthy development.

Margaret Kuklinski, PhD

SDRG Director