University of Denver

Norman F. Watt

Address:

University of Denver
Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences
Psychology
Frontier Hall 140
Denver, Colorado 80208
USA

Phone: (303) 871-3680
Fax: (303) 871-4747
E-Mail: nwatt@du.edu

Position: Professor/Chair

Previous Appointments:

Past Positions:

1975, University of Freiberg, Germany, Visiting Professor;
1970-1978, University of Massachusetts, Associate Professor, Professor, Chair;
1967, University Psychiatric Clinic, Gottingen, Germany;
1964-1970, Harvard University, Assistant Professor, Lecturer

Educational Background:

B.A., Northwestern University, 1957;
M.A., Ohio State University, 1960;
Ph.D., Ohio State University, 1962

Professional Organizations:

NIMH Task Force on Prevention Research in Mental Health;
NMHA Prevention Coalition;
Society for Life History Research in Psychopathology;
American Psychological Society;
American Association for the Advancement of Professional Psychology

About My Research:

I have been engaged for 30 years in longitudinal research on schizophrenia and related severe psychological disorders. That has involved retrospective studies of school and hospital records of hospitalized psychotic patients and prospective studies of children at high risk for schizophrenia. My current plans include contemporary and retrospective study of early onset schizophrenic women.

I have been engaged during the last 10 years in longitudinal studies of other populations at high risk for psychological disorders. These have included children of parental divorce, Hispanic school children, children prematurely bereaved by the death of a parent, and adults subjected to severely stressful life circumstances in childhood and/or adolescence.

I am currently a member of the NIH Task Force on Prevention Research in Mental Health, which has been charged with a mandate to devise a national plan and implementation program for improving knowledge about prevention in the field of mental health.

Most recently, my research interest has focused on the study of psychological resilience, targeting mainly individuals exposed to severe risk factors who nevertheless thrive and excel in spite of that risk. Foreign interests:

Germany; United Kingdom; Canada; France Cross-departmental interests:

social class; ethnic minorities; secondary education; family relations; social policy; social competence.

Publications:

Cole, J.D., Watt, N.F., West, S.G., Hawkins, J.D., Asarnow, J., Long, B.B., Markman, H.J., Ramey, S.L., and Shure, M.B. (1991). Prevention research: Conceptual models, strategies and procedures. Panel report to the NIMH Task Force Conference on Prevention Research in Mental Health, Washington, D.C., June 17-19, 1991. American Psychologist 1993, 48, 1013-1022;

Watt, N.F., David, J.P., Ladd, K.L., and Shamos, S. The life course of psychological resiliance: A phenominological perspective on deflecting life's slings and arrows. (In press):
Watt, N.F., and Saiz, C., Longitudinal studies of premorbid development of adult schizophrenics. In E. Walker (ed.), Schizophrenia: A life course developmental perspective, pp. 157-192, New York: Academic Press (1991);
Mulholland, D.J., Watt, N.F., Philpott, A., and Sarlin, N.S. Academic performance in children of divorce: Psychological resilience and vulnerability. Psychiatry, 54, 268-280 (1991);
Watt, N.F., Guajardo, M. and Markman, H.J. A psychological study of educational attainment among Hispanics. Final technical report. Denver: Colorado Department of Education (1987)

Professional Activities:

Professional contacts with academicians in Germany, Poland, Switzerland, and the U.K.;

Abnormal Psychology for undergraduate students;

Compensation programs for academic institutions, including salary, fringe benefit, and retirement programs;

NIMH Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 1963

I have had experience with the following funding agencies:

NIMH; Dept. of Education; Scottish Rite; NICHD; Headstart; NSF; Colo. Dept of Education; ACNF; March of Dimes

Language:

German: fluent reading, fluent writing, fluent speaking.

French: intermediate reading, basic writing, basic speaking.

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Revised or reviewed: March 5, 1997