Faculty » Nancy G. Guerra

My professional research interests and practice experience have focused on youth development and violence prevention. I am particularly interested in social-cognitive predictors of children's aggression, violence, and delinquency, including information processing skills and normative beliefs. My research has involved longitudinal studies of risk for aggression and violence as well as preventive intervention studies designed to change children's cognitions and behavior. I was the principal investigator for the Metropolitan Area Child Study, an 8-year development and prevention study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. This study evaluated the impact of a comprehensive social-cognitive intervention involving children, teachers, and families on the prevention of aggression and violence in inner city and urban communities.

Currently, I am the principal investigator for an Academic Center of Excellence on Youth Violence Prevention funded by the Centers for Disease Control. This center is a consortium of scholars working on several studies related to youth violence. Our current research includes a large study of bullying and social capital, an effectiveness trial of the Families and Schools Together (FAST) intervention with Latino children and families, and an efficacy trial of a positive youth development program for adolescents in high schools and correctional facilities. Our center also addresses issues of ethnicity and culture and how they relate to prediction and prevention of aggression and violence. Along with center collaborators, I have recently completed an edited book on prevention of youth violence in a multicultural society. The website for this center is www.stopyouthviolence.ucr.edu.

I have served on several national expert panels and study groups, such as the President's Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's study group on serious and violent juvenile offenders. I have also been involved in a number of international research projects on youth development and violence prevention funded by the World Bank and Interamerican Development Bank in countries including Jamaica, Trinidad, El Salvador, Chile, and Colombia.

Selected Publications

Huesmann, L. R., & Guerra, N. G. (1997). Social norms and children's aggressive behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 408-419.

Metropolitan Area Child Study (2002). A cognitive-ecological approach to preventing aggression in urban settings: Initial outcomes for high-risk children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 179-194.

Guerra, N. G., Huesmann, L. R., & Spindler, A. (2003). Community violence exposure, social cognition, and aggression among urban elementary-school children. Child Development, 74, 1507-1522.

Guerra, N. G., & Huesmann, L. R. (2004) A cognitive-ecological model of aggression. Revue Internationale de Psychologie Sociale,17, 177-203.

Hanish, L. D., & Guerra, N. G., (2004). Aggressive victims, passive victims, and bullies: Developmental continuity or developmental change. Merrill Palmer Quarterly, 50, 17-38.

Boxer, P., Guerra, N. G., Huesmann, L. R., & Morales, J. (2005). Proximal effects of a small-group selected prevention program on aggression in elementary school children: An investigation of the peer contagion hypothesis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 325-338.

Boxer, P., Huesmann, L. R., Hanish, L. D., & Guerra, N. G. (in press). Sociometric popularity in school-based aggression prevention: Getting cool by getting tough. Journal of Child Clinical Psychology.

Guerra, N. G., & Phillips Smith, E. (Eds.) (2005). Preventing youth violence in a multicultural society. Washington, DC: APA Books.