Faculty Profile

Cleopatra Caldwell

Cleopatra Caldwell, PhD

  • Chair and Professor, Health Behavior and Health Education
  • Director, Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Health
  • Co-Associate Director, Program for Research on Black Americans

Dr. Cleopatra Howard Caldwell is Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education and Director of the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture, and Health (CRECH) at the School of Public Health, University of Michigan. She is also a Faculty Associate with the Program for Research on Black Americans (PRBA) at the Institute for Social Research and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan. As a social psychologist with expertise in psychosocial and environmental factors influencing the health and well-being of Black populations, her research includes both intervention and basic research involving survey research techniques with adults, adolescents and families. She also has expertise in conducting community-based participatory research (CBPR), developing academic-community partnerships to design and evaluate health interventions for Black youth and their family. Specific examples include the NICHD/NIH funded Parenting and Men's Health Study, the CDC funded Fathers and Sons Evaluation Project, and the Ruth Mott Foundation funded Fathers and Sons Physical Activity and Nutrition Program. She has published in a number of areas including the influence of social relationships and social identities on the health and well-being of Black adolescents, the role of paternal support, racial discrimination, and racial identity attitudes as risk or protective factors for adolescent risky behaviors and fatherhood as a context for understanding men's health. Further, Dr. Caldwell has extensive experience conducting research to understand health risk behaviors and mental health of ethnically diverse adolescents, including African American and Caribbean Black youth.

  • PhD, Social Psychology, University of Michigan, 1986
  • AM, Psychology, University of Michigan, 1983
  • MA, Human Development, Wayne State University, 1975
  • BS, Psychology, North Carolina A and T State University, 1973

Intergenerational family influences on the psychological well-being of teenage parents.

Improving adolescent health through strengthening family relationships.

Family relationships, discrimination, and the mental health of African American and Caribbean Black adolescents.

Research methods in African American communities.

Caldwell, C.H., Wright, J.C., Zimmerman, M.A., Walsemann, K.M., Williams, D., and Isichei, P.A.C. (2004). Enhancing adolescent health behaviors through strengthening non-resident father-son relationships: A model for intervention with African American families. Health Education Research: Theory and Practice..

Caldwell, C.H., Sellers, R.M., Bernat, D.H., and Zimmerman, M.A. (2004). Racial identity, parental support, and alcohol use in a sample of academically at-risk African American high school students. American Journal of Community Psychology 71-81.

Repetto, R.B., Zimmerman, M.A., and Caldwell, C.H. (2004). A longitudinal study of the relationship between depressive symptoms and alcohol use in a sample of Black youth. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 179-183.

Caldwell, C.H., Kohn-Wood, L.P., Schmeelk-Cone, K.H., Chavous, T.M., and Zimmerman, M.A. (2004). Racial discrimination and racial identity as risk or protective factors for violent behaviors in African American young adults. American Journal of Community Psychology 91-105.

Caldwell, C.H., Chavous, T.M., Barnett, T.E., Kohn-Wood, L.P., and Zimmerman, M.A. (2003). Social determinants of experiences with violence among adolescents: Unpacking the role of race in violence. Phylon 50, 87-113.

Sellers, R.M., Caldwell, C.H., Schmeelk-Cone, K.H., and Zimmerman, M.A. (2003). The role of racial identity and racial discrimination in the mental health of African American young adults. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 302-317.

Email: cleoc@umich.edu 
Department Phone: 734-764-9494
Office Phone: 734-647-3176
Fax: 734-763-7379

Address 1: 3790 SPH I
1415 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029

Address 2: 2846 SPH I
1415 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029

For media inquiries: sph.media@umich.edu