Lauren Beverung, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor | Milwaukee School of Engineering

Milwaukee, WI, UNITED STATES

Dr. Lauren Beverung holds degrees in developmental psychology and human development & family sciences.

Education, Licensure and Certification (3)

Ph.D.: Human Development & Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin 2012

M.S.: Developmental Psychology, Illinois State University 2007

B.A.: Psychology, Bowling Green State University 2005

Biography

Dr. Lauren Beverung is an Assistant Professor in MSOE’s Humanities, Social Science and Communication Department where she serves as the coordinator of the Psychology Minor and teaches Psychology courses. Dr. Beverung’s classes include: Foundations in Psychology, Developmental Psychology, The Family, Death & Dying, Abnormal Psychology, and Cognitive Psychology. In addition to teaching responsibilities, Dr. Beverung coordinates the Festival of Big Ideas scholarship competition each spring term and serves on several academic committees.

As a research psychologist, Dr. Beverung’s areas of expertise include social, emotional and cognitive development of children; parent-child relationships and parenting; and grief/bereavement. She has broad interests in the effects of long-term adversity on families. Her research has focused on three areas: 1) the intergenerational transmission of parenting; 2) the impact of negative life events (i.e., bereavement, chronic illness, violent injury) on children, adults, and the family system; and 3) developmental research methodology. Currently, Dr. Beverung is collaborating with researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin, Marquette, and UW-Milwaukee on a study assessing the impact of COVID-19 on caregiver well-being. This study is part of a large body of research being conducted through CTSI

Areas of Expertise (7)

Research Methods

Grief and Bereavement

Child Development

Psychology

Parent-Child Relationships and Parenting

Lifespan Development

Adverse Life Experiences

Accomplishments (4)

Young Investigator’s Award Nominee (professional)

American Journal of Hematology

Professional Development Award (professional)

Office of Postdoctoral Education, Medical College of Wisconsin

Professional Development Award (professional)

Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin

Services for Students with Disabilities Appreciation Award (professional)

University of Texas at Austin

Affiliations (6)

American Psychological Association (APA) : Member
Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) : Member
Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) of Southeast Wisconsin : Member
Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) : Member
Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP): Member
Association for Psychological Science (APS): Member

Media Appearances (1)

New Interview

Fox6 Now Milwaukee tv

2020-03-09

Dr. Beverung was interviewed by reporter Bill Miston of Fox6 Now Milwaukee to provide a psychological perspective on the rapidly developing COVID-19 pandemic.

Event and Speaking Appearances (2)

Using PROMIS as a Research Tool

17th annual Building Bridges to Research Based Nursing Practice Conference Milwaukee, WI

Health-related Quality of Life in Infants with Sickle Cell Disease

Society for Research in Child Development biennial conference Philadelphia, PA

Selected Publications (5)

Reliability, Validity, and Feasibility of Direct Elicitation of Children’s Preferences for Health States: A Systematic Review

Medical Decision Making

Crump, R.T., Beverung, L.M., Lau, R., Sieracki, R., Nicholson, M.

2016 Background. Children’s preferences for health states represent an important perspective when comparing the value of alternative health care interventions related to pediatric medicine, and are fundamental to comparative effectiveness research. However, there is debate over whether these preference data can be collected and used. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to establish psychometric properties of eliciting preferences for health states from children using direct methods. Data Sources. Ovid Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, EconLit. Study Selection. English studies, published after 1990, were identified using Medical Subject Headings or keywords. Results were reviewed to confirm that the study was based on: 1) a sample of children, and 2) preferences for health states. Data Extraction. Standardized data collection forms were used to record the preference elicitation method used, and any reported evidence regarding the validity, reliability, or feasibility of the method. Data Synthesis. Twenty-six studies were ultimately included in the analysis. The standard gamble and time tradeoff were the most commonly reported direct preference elicitation methods. Seven studies reported validity, four reported reliability, and nine reported feasibility. Of the validity reports, construct validity was assessed most often. Reliability reports typically involved interclass correlation coefficient. For feasibility, four studies reported completion rates. Limitations. The search was limited to four databases and restricted to English studies published after 1990. Only evidence available in published studies were considered; measurement properties may have been tested in pilot or pre-studies but were not published, and are not included in this review. Conclusion. The few studies found through this systematic review demonstrate that there is little empirical evidence on which to judge the use of direct preference elicitation methods with children regarding health states.

Women’s Retrospective Experiences of Bereavement: Predicting Unresolved Attachment

OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying

Beverung, L.M., Jacobvitz, D.

2015 This study’s goal was to gain a better understanding of why some women become unresolved with regard to loss and others do not. Sixty women were administered (a) the adult attachment interview to assess their childhood relationship with their parents and experience of and response to loss and (b) a grief interview that was coded for circumstances surrounding bereavement experiences: relationship to the deceased, cause of death, suddenness, developmental timing, and emotional support. Women were less likely to be unresolved if they had a secure/autonomous attachment classification. The cause of death, regardless of its inherent suddenness, did not increase the risk of being unresolved. Women were more likely to be unresolved only if they perceived their losses as sudden. No other risk factors were significantly related to being unresolved. Findings from this study have important implications for developing effective intervention programs to help adults cope with losses of important people.

Health-related Quality of Life in Infants With Sickle Cell Disease

Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

Beverung, L.M., Bemrich-Stolz, C., Torres, S., Panepinto, J.A.

2015 Using historical cohorts of healthy, acutely ill, and chronically ill infants for comparison, we sought to determine whether infants with sickle cell disease (SCD) have impaired health-related quality of life (HRQL). We conducted a cross-sectional study at 2 sites: the Medical College of Wisconsin/Children’s of Wisconsin and the University of Alabama School of Medicine/Children’s of Alabama. Parents of 90 infants with SCD completed the PedsQL Infant Module corresponding to their infant’s age (1 to 12 mo or 13 to 24 mo) during a regular clinic visit. At 1 to 12 months, infants with SCD displayed lower Physical HRQL than healthy infants, but better HRQL than chronically ill infants. By 13 to 24 months, infants with SCD had worse HRQL in all areas than healthy infants and worse Physical and Total HRQL than acutely ill infants. Compared with chronically ill infants in this age group, infants with SCD had similar Physical HRQL and better Psychosocial and Total HRQL. By 13 to 24 months, a greater proportion of infants with SCD had impaired Physical and Total HRQL compared with infants aged 1 to 12 months. All differences were significant at the (P

Clinically meaningful interpretation of pediatric health-related quality of life in sickle cell disease

Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

Beverung, L.M., Varni, J.W., Panepinto, J.A.

2015 Health-related quality of life (HRQL) measures provide information about disease assessment; however, healthcare providers may be reluctant to use HRQL assessments as scores can be difficult to interpret. We sought to identify levels for impaired pain-related HRQL in children with sickle cell disease (SCD). Children (n=251) completed the PedsQL™ Generic Core Scales and PedsQL™ SCD Module in a multisite study. Using children’s item scores on the Pain and Hurt and Pain Impact scales of the PedsQL™ SCD Module, High, Intermediate, and Low Functioning groups were created. We compared functioning groups to the Pain and Hurt and Pain Impact scale scores to determine levels representing high and low HRQL. These scores were compared to disease severity and the PedsQL™ Generic Core Scales. Scores of 60 or below on the PedsQL™ SCD Pain and Hurt and Pain Impact scales were associated with severe disease and met requirements for impaired functioning on the PedsQL™ Generic Core Scales. Scores of 81 or higher on the Pain and Hurt and the Pain Impact scales can be considered consistent with good HRQL in those domains in SCD. Alternately, scores of 60 or lower are cause for concern and suggest areas of HRQL impairment in SCD.

Health‐related quality of life in children with sickle cell anemia: Impact of blood transfusion therapy

American Journal of Hematology

Beverung, L.M., Strouse, J.J., Hulbert, M.L., Neville, K., Liem, R.I., Inusa, B., Fuh, B., King, A., Meier, E.R., Casella, J., DeBaun, M.R.

2014 The completion of the Multicenter Silent Infarct Transfusion Trial demonstrated that children with pre‐existing silent cerebral infarct and sickle cell anemia (SCA) who received regular blood transfusion therapy had a 58% relative risk reduction of infarct recurrence when compared to observation. However, the total benefit of blood transfusion therapy, as assessed by the parents, was not measured against the burden of monthly blood transfusion therapy. In this planned ancillary study, we tested the hypothesis that a patient centered outcome, health‐related quality of life (HRQL), would be greater in participants randomly assigned to the blood transfusion therapy group than the observation group. A total of 89% (175 of 196) of the randomly allocated participants had evaluable entry and exit HRQL evaluations. The increase in Change in Health, measured as the child's health being better, was significantly greater for the transfusion group than the observation group (difference estimate = −0.54, P ≤ 0.001). This study provides the first evidence that children with SCA who received regular blood transfusion therapy felt better and had better overall HRQL than those who did not receive transfusion therapy.