Jennifer Harrison Elder, PhD, RN, FAAN

Professor and Associate Dean for Research

University of Florida
PO Box 100187
Gainesville, FL 32610-0187

Telephone: 352-273-6318
Fax: 352-273-6356
Email: elderjh@ufl.edu

Teaching

Dr. Elder has taught across all levels of the curriculum including both didactic and clinical courses. She currently focuses on directing the PhD program, teaching PhD students research methods, and providing research experiences for undergraduate honors students. She mentors PhD students whose dissertations focus on autism and related disorders, parent child interactions, in-home parent training, father-child interventions, and innovative technologies for promoting child and family health. Her teaching/mentoring has been recognized with a Howard Hughes Mentoring Institute Distinguished Mentor Award, two UF Superior Accomplishment Awards, and two UF Research Professorship Awards.

Research

Dr. Elder has spent over 30 years studying autism and related child neuropsychiatric disorders and includes students from nursing and a variety of other disciplines in all of her research. Much of her family-focused work examines methods of educating families, enhancing family cohesion, and reducing caregiver stress of children with autism. Dr. Elder. has been the primary investigator on four NIH/NINR grants totaling over $2.5 million dollars. She has given numerous international research presentations including an invited presentation in New Delhi by India’s  president.

Service

Dr. Elder is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and frequently reviews for NIH, American Nurses Foundation, Southern Nursing Research Society, Sigma Theta Tau International and refereed journals both in and outside the field of nursing.  She has served on a variety of committees both within the College of Nursing and University. She is a member of the American Nurses Association, American Academy of Nursing, Florida Nurses Association, Southern Nursing Research Society, International Society for Autism Research, and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society in Nursing.

Administration

Dr. Elder is the Associate Dean for Research.

Education

Dr. Elder received her BSN in Nursing at the Medical College of Georgia. She received her MSN in Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing and her PhD in Nursing Science at the University of Florida.

Selected Publications

  • Bendixen, R, Elder, J., Donaldson, S., Kairalla, J., Valcante, G., & Ferdig, R. (2011). Effects of a father-based in-home intervention on perceived stress and family dynamics in parents of children with autism. In Press. American Journal of Occupational Therapy.
  • Donaldson S., Elder, J., Self, E., & Christie, M. (2011). Fathers’ Perceptions of Their Roles During In-Home Training for Children With Autism, Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing 24 (2011) 200–207.
  • Elder, J. H., Donaldson, S. O., Kairalla, J., Valcante, G., Bendixen, R., Ferdig, R., Self, E., Walker, J., Palau, C., & Serrano, M. (2010). In-home training for fathers of children with autism: a follow up study and evaluation of four individual training components. Journal of Child and Family Studies. doi:10.1007/s10826-010-9387-2, PMC Journal – In Process
  • Smith, L.O. & Elder, J.H. (2010). Siblings and family environments of persons with autism spectrum disorder: A review of the literature. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 23(3),189-95.
  • Elder, J.H. and D’Alessandro, T. (2009). Supporting families of children with autism spectrum disorders: questions parent ask and what nurses need to know. Pediatric Nursing, 35(4), 240-245, 253.
  • Inglese, M. D. and Elder, J.H., (2009). Caring for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Part I, Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 24(1), 41-8
  • Storch, E. & Elder, J.H. (2009) Introduction to the special series on Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 24(1), 1-2.
  • Ferdig, R.E., Amberg, H.G., Elder, J.H., Donaldson, S.A., Valcante, G., Bendixen, R. (2009). Autism and family interventions: The use of the Internet to train fathers of autistic children. International Journal of Web-based Learning and Teaching Technologies.
  • Elder, J. H. (2008). The Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet in Autism: An Overview with Clinical Implications. Nutrition in Clinical Practice. 23(6):583-8.
  • Ferdig, R.E., Amberg, H.G., Elder, J.H, Valcante, G., Donaldson, S., & Bendixen, R. (2008). The development of a web-based platform for fathers of children with autism.Learning Technology [Online serial], 10 (2), 11-15.
  • Cormier, E. & Elder, J.H.(2007). Diet and Child Behavior Problems: Fact or Fiction?,Pediatric Nursing, 33(2), 138-143.
  • Seung. H.K., Rogalski, Y., Shankar, M. & Elder, J.H. (2007). The Gluten-and Casein-Free Diet and Autism: Communication Outcomes from a Preliminary Double-Blind Clinical Trail. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology.
  • Seung, H.K., Siddiqi, S., & Elder, J.H. (2006). Intervention outcomes of a bilingual child with autism. Journal of Medical Speech Language Pathology, 14, 1, 53-63.
  • Seung, H. K., Ashwell, S., Elder. J. H., & Valcante, G. (2006). Verbal communication outcomes in children with autism after in-home father training. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 50, 139-50.
  • Elder, J. H., Shankar, M., Shuster, J., Theriaque, D., Burns, S. & Sherrill, L. (2006). The gluten-free, casein-free diet in autism: Results of a preliminary double blind clinical trial, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 36 (3), 413-420
  • Elder, J. H. (2005). Enhancing reliability and validity of behavioral observations.Applied Nursing Research, 12(4), 206-209.
  • Elder, J.H., Valcante, G., Yarandi, H., White, D., & Elder, T. (2005) Evaluating in-home training for fathers of children with autism using single-subject experimentation and group analysis methods, Nursing Research, 54 (1), 22-32.
  • Elder, J.H., Valcante, G., Won, D., & Zylis, R. (2003). Effects of in-home training for culturally diverse fathers of children with autism. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 24,(3), 273-295.
  • Elder, J.H., Valcante, G., Yarandi, H., Groce, S., & Carlton, M. (2002). Social interactions of children with autism: A comparison of father-child and mother-child clinic and home play sessions. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 28, 573-58.
  • Elder, J.H. (2002). Current treatments in autism: Examining the scientific evidence and clinical implications. Journal of Neuroscience Nursing, 34, 67-73.