School of Public Health

Education

• PD at University of Rochester, 1988
• Ph.D. at University of Michigan, 1986
• B.S. at University of Washington-Seattle, 1979
• B.A. at University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1976

Background

Professor of Public Health, University of Illinois College of Applied Health Sciences

Visiting Scholar, Institute for Research on Women and Gender, University of Michigan

Director, Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Detroit, MI

Principal Investigator, Health costs of violence against women, Agency for Healthcare Research Quality

Principal Investigator, The intergenerational transmission of aggression, National Institute of Mental Health

Research

The impact of interpersonal violence on health of women and children; the long-term health costs of abuse in families; resilience among abused family members; adolescent girls' socio-sexual health.

My research addresses the question of how abuse in families threatens the health of women and children. I seek to understand the keys to resilience for victims of interpersonal abuse and especially to identify sources of resilience in the environment. Such information is important to end a "cycle of violence" in families. I am also interested in how girls from abusive homes eventually develop and form relationships of their own which may compromise their future health. To that end I am designing a health prevention program for girls who are at risk for relationship abuse.

Publications

McCloskey, L.A., Lichter E., Williams, C., Gerber, M., Wittenberg, E., & Ganz, M. (2006) Assessing partner violence in healthcare settings leads to women patients' improved well-being and health. Public Health Reports, 121, 435-444.

Panchanadeswaran, S., & McCloskey, L.A. (2007) Predicting the timing of women's departure from abusive relationships. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22, 50-65.

McCloskey, L.A ., Williams, C.M., Lichter, E., Gerber, M., Gantz, M., Wittenberg, E., & Sege, R. (2007) Abused women disclose partner interference with health care: An unrecognized form of battering. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22, 1067-1072.

Wittenberg, E., Joshi, M., Thomas, K., Gardel, L., & McCloskey, L.A. (2007) Measuring the health-related quality of life impact of Intimate Partment Violence. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes; 5:67.

Thomas, K., Joshi, M., Wittenberg, E., & McCloskey, L.A. (2008) Intersections of harm and health: A qualitative study of women survivors of abuse. Violence against Women, 14, (11) 1274-1294.

Gerber, M., Wittenberg E., Gantz, M.L., Williams, C.M., & McCloskey, L.A. (2008) Changes in Intimate Partner Violence exposure and women's physical symptoms over time. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 23 (1), 64-9.

Williams, C.M., Larsen, U., & McCloskey, L.A. (2008) Contraceptive use among abused women. Violence against Women, 14 (12), 1382-1396.

Becker, K.B., Stuewig, J., & McCloskey, L.A. (2009) Traumatic stress symptoms of women exposed to different forms of childhood victimization and Intimate Partner Violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Dec, 13: 111-128.

McCloskey, L.A. (2011) The impact of intimate partner violence on adolescents. In S. Graham-Bermann & A. Levendosky (Eds) How intimate partner violence affects children. Washington DC: American Psychological Association (pp 225-247)

Courses Recently Taught

Theories of Health Behavior (grad)

Intimate partnet violence and health (grad)

Introduction to community health (undergrad)