Section: Research

Kenneth Fletcher, Ph.D.

Academic Role: Associate Professor

Faculty Appointment(s) In:
   Psychiatry

Kenneth E. Fletcher, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and the Graduate School of Nursing.  Dr Fletcher is a research psychologist, statistician, and psychometrician with particular interests in scale construction and trauma. He created four of the first measures of childhood PTSD written specifically for children in language they can understand and at a third grade reading. These measures are now used by researchers and clinicians around the world.

Dr Fletcher provides research methodology and statistical consultation, specializing in survey design, psychometrics, program evaluation, and advanced statistical modeling. Dr Fletcher is also a member of the Editorial Board of CHEST, which is the official publication of the American College of Chest Physicians.

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests:

1. Scale construction and psychometrics.
2. The assessment, epidemiology, and treatment of trauma, especially among children and veterans, and in health settings.
3. The assessment of attitudes toward the mentally ill.
4. The assessment of the capability of addiction centers and mental health centers to provide integrated treatment to patients with co-occurring disorders.
5. Co-occurring disorders among children and adolescents.
6. Health services research, particularly related to mental health of children.

Ongoing Projects:

1. Evaluation of the Boston Police Study, funded by the Sidney Baer Foundation, to assess two different methods of training police officers to interact with people with mental health problems.  As part of this effort, Dr. Fletcher is helping to create and evaluate the psychometric properties of a new measure to assess police attitudes toward the mentally ill, the Mental Health Attitude Survey for Police (MHASP).
2. Creation and psychometric evaluation of a new self-report measure to assess addiction and mental health centers to provide integrated treatment to patients with co-occurring addiction and mental health problems, the Co-occurring Disorders Program Brief Screening Tool (CODP-BST).
3. Evaluation of comprehensive substance abuse and mental health service system for homeless veterans with a DSM-IV diagnosis of substance abuse or dependence and a mental health diagnosis of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and/or a Personality Disorder. This program, called Maintaining Independence and Sobriety through Systems Integration, Outreach, and Networking (MISSION), combines three core evidence-based practices, Integrated Substance Abuse and Mental Health Treatment, Critical Time Intervention case management and Supported Employment, into a comprehensive, 12-month service.  In addition, the MISSION program will provide Peer Support, a Systems Broker, to improve overall system effectiveness within and across VA and non-VA service systems, and a program manual to facilitate MISSION implementation at other settings.
4. Assist in the development and evaluation of a survey of primary care physicians in Massachusetts regarding their attitudes toward and actual assessment of childhood trauma histories of their adult patients.
5. Assist in the development of a survey of state correctional mental health program directors to assess methods of intervening with prisoners who commit self-injurious behaviors.
6. Construction of a new set of childhood PTSD measures that will be appropriate for different age groups and that will assess not only PTSD reactions but Acute Stress Disorder and Complex PTSD symptomatology as well.
7. Evaluation of a national survey of Korean smokers that will assess their willingness to participate in smoking cessation interventions.

Office: WSH 8B01
Phone: 508-856-8630
Fax: 508-856-8700
E-mail: Kenneth.Fletcher@umassmed.edu
Keywords: Child Mental Health, Statistical Methods, Juvenile Sexual Offending, Trauma

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