Frances Campbell

Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, UNC-CH
Senior Scientist

Frances Campbell received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1963. In 1972 she joined the team conducting the Abecedarian Project at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center at UNC-CH; her role was that of the evaluator of the child and family outcomes. This study was a randomized trial of the efficacy of early childhood educational intervention for children born into lowl-income families. Unlike most early intervention studies of the day, this project began treatment (within a full time child care setting) in early infancy. Funded primarly by NIH, and planned and executed by Craig Ramey and other colleagues, this study eventually grew into a program project in which children were exposed to four treatment conditions: 5 years in preschool plus 3 in elementary school, 5 years in preschool alone, 3 years in elementary school alone, or no treatment. Follow-up studies of outcomes were conducted at age 12, 15, 21 and 30 years. Dr. Campbell became the PI for the follow-up work just before the age-15 round of data collection was completed.
Long-term outcomes assessed in young adulthood (age 21) showed that those with early intervention achieved more years of education, were more likely to be enrolled in college, had fewer instances of teenaged parenthood, and were less likely to use drugs. Adding young adult outcomes from a contiguous trial of early childhood education, Project CARE, confirmed the finding of those with 5 years of child care treatment had better educations and were more likely to be enrolled in college. Age-30 follow up data for Abecedarian particpants are now being prepared for publication.

Working Group

Early Childhood Interventions (ECI)

Additional Information

Email: frances.campbell@unc.edu