Dr. Bret R. Kloos
Assistant Professor

Bret Kloos is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of South Carolina. He specializes in the areas of community psychology and recovery from serious mental illness, with particular interests in:

• promotion of adaptive functioning in community settings
• meaning-making after major life disruptions
• mutual support and self-help
• acculturation of immigrant groups
• collaboration with community-based resources (e.g., religious organizations, civic groups) to address social and health problems

Dr. Kloos received his doctoral degree in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to coming to USC, he was on the faculty of the Yale University School of Medicine, which included positions as the Director of the Mental Health Network Supportive Housing Program, Director of Research on Adaptation in Community Settings, and the Coordinator of the Connecticut Self-Help Network. He has received funding from NIMH, HUD, and the Center for Mental Health Services/ SAMHSA to conduct research and develop programs related to the housing needs of persons with serious mental illness and co-occurring addictive disorders. His teaching interests include community psychology, community intervention, community mental health, research methods, and social psychology.

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Housing & Adaptive Functioning Lab

Pincipal Investigator:	Bret Kloos
Graduate Students:	Eric Green Jackie McDaniel Rachel Smolowitz Lindsey Stillman Kip Thompson Greg Townley Annie Wright
Undergraduate Students:	Payton Foust Valerie Hoyt

HAF Lab Overview:

The Housing & Adaptive Functioning Research Lab investigates the relationships between housing environments and adaptive functioning for persons facing challenging life circumstances. Current projects include people diagnosed with serious mental illness, people displaced by Hurricane Katrina, and new immigrants to the United States. These projects share similar conceptual frameworks but investigate outcomes most relevant to the challenges in community living faced by the research participants.

We conceive of housing environments as including (a) physical components (e.g., apartment, other buildings in the neighborhood), (b) psychosocial components (e.g., perceptions of safety, neighborhood social climate, tolerance) and (c) interpersonal relationships tied to one’s housing (e.g., landlords/n property managers, neighbors). Our conceptual framework is grounded in the fields of social ecology and community psychology. We also incorporate methods and research questions from clinical psychology, anthropology, prevention science, public health, and social psychology. We use quantitative methods (e.g., mulit-level modeling, geographic information system analyses) and qualitative methods (e.g., narrative, ethnography, visual ethnography) to investigate the influences of community contexts on individual functioning. Most of our research questions emphasize transactional models of risk and protective factors associated with housing and neighborhood environments.

At present, the HAF lab is collaborating on several projects with the SC Department of Mental Health, local community mental health centers, SC-SHARE, and local non-profit housing providers to pursue this research. We are also collaborating with other investigators at USC. The projects described below are funded by the National Institute of Mental Health., the National Science Foundation, and the University of South Carolina.

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HAF Lab Projects:

Housing & Adaptive Functioning of Persons with Serious Mental Illness Living in Supported Housing
HAF SMI Project Managers – Years 1-2 – Stillman & Wright; Year 3 - McDaniel, Smolowitz, & Townley

This statewide project recruited 533 persons with mental illness living in their own apartments to participate in interviews about their housing, neighborhood experiences, stressors, social support, treatment, psychiatric well-being, & recovery and adaptive functioning. Research participants were recruited from 99 sites across South Carolina and all 17 community mental health centers. They completed a baseline interview and were invited to complete a 12-month follow-up; approximately 80% of the sample (n=424) completed the follow-up interview. Persons with supported housing have their own apartments in the community, legally represent themselves as tenants, receive a housing subsidy, and have available mental health services tailored to meet their needs. The housing is usually affiliated with a mental health center, local housing authority, or a partner non-profit agency. At the beginning of the study, there were approximately 750 units of supported housing in South Carolina.

Data sources for the study include tenant interviews, case manager interviews, surveys of MHC housing program administrators, researcher ratings of housing environments, and census data for each community.

The goal of this four-year program of research is to develop and test a transactional model of risk and protective factors for persons with serious mental illness. The purpose of the research is to build an evidence base that can guide future interventions in the promotion of adaptive functioning and recovery in community settings. We are working with the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, local mental health centers, housing providers, and advocacy organizations to use the findings from this research to improve programs and policies for persons with SMI. Data analysis is on-going. Research is supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the USC Department of Psychology.

Housing Environments for Mental Health Consumers Participating in CMHC Rehabilitation Programs
Project Manager – Smolowitz

This study extends the HAF housing environment research to persons with SMI who live in more structured settings – residential care facilities, supervised apartments – as well as persons living with family. It draws its sample of 125 from the psychiatric rehabilitation programs of a community mental health center. Analyses are on-going. It is supported by NIMH

Community Living for Persons with Serious Mental Illness
Project Managers – Wright & Townley

This qualitative study builds upon the largely quantitative HAF SMI studies to develop a richer understanding of participation in community life for persons with mental illness. We interviewed 40 persons with SMI living independently in the Columbia/ Lexington area of South Carolina. Half of the sample had supported housing and half did not. Over a series of three in-depth interviews, we investigated persons’ experiences in neighborhoods, challenges, resources, and expectations for participating in community life. Our data collection methods included participant interviews, naturalistic observation of neighborhoods, a guided "walk about" by research participants and visual ethnographic documentation of aspects of community life most important to research participants. Data collection will be completed in the Fall of 2006. Research is funded by the NIMH.

Housing Environments of Latino Immigrants
Project Manager – Kloos

This pilot study extends the housing environment research to understanding the experience of Latino immigrant families. It adapts the conceptual framework developed for the HAF-SMI studies described above to understand the acculturation processes and experiences that may improve or impede well-being of Latino immigrants. It is supported by a mini-grant from the USC Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies. Data collection is on-going. We will seek federal funding for a larger scale study.

USC CARES Study – Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Project Manager – Thompson

The HAF lab is collaborating with the labs of Dr. Ben Hankin & Dr. Kate Flory on an integrated clinical-community investigation of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. USC - CARES is an acronym for the University of South Carolina - Coping, Affect, Resilience, and Environmental Stressors/Supports Study. We have interviewed over 100 persons who evacuated to Columbia, SC and 100 persons who have returned to the U.S Gulf Coast. Over the course of 8 months, we have been investigating factors that may increase the likelihood of episodes of depression, PTSD, and substance abuse as well as documenting factors associated with resilient responses. The scope of the study ranges from genetic vulnerabilities for psychopathology to patterns of social support associated with stress buffering and resilience. The HAF Lab is particularly interested in how "current" neighborhood conditions, social relationships, and resilience cognitive schemas may contribute to more positive experiences after a catastrophe of this magnitude. The on-going study includes qualitative and quantitative analyses. It is supported by a National Science Foundation grant to Drs. Hankin and Flory and NIMH funding to Dr. Kloos.

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Recent Student Committees

Joanna Lau, Dissertation, Chair
Acculturative Stress, Coping, and Psychological Well-Being Among Chinese Sojourners

Brian McGregor, Dissertation, Chair
The Role of Social Support in Housing Environments: Implications for the Well-Being of Persons with Mental Illness

Erin Spelman, Dissertation, Chair
The Role of Reflection on Social and Emotional Learning Outcomes in Service-Learning Programs

Lindsey Stillman, Dissertation, Chair
Site Level Influences on Activity Patterns among Supported Housing Tenants

Eric Green, Dissertation, Chair
When Protracted Conflicts End: An Ecological Framework for Understanding Systemic Violence and Promoting Systemic Peacebuilding in Northern Uganda

Annie Wright, Master’s Thesis, Chair
Measuring the Effects of Housing Environments on the Well-Being of Persons with Serious Mental Illness in Supported Housing Programs

Rachel Smolowitz, Master’s Thesis, Chair
Toward a Conceptual Definition of Recovery from SMI

Payton Foust, Honor’s College Thesis, Chair
The Role of Landlord in the Functioning of Persons with Severe Mental Illness Living in Supported Housing

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Honors and Awards

• NIMH Mentored, Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award 2002-2007
• Best Dissertation on a Topic Relevant to Community Psychology (2000) Society of Community Research & Action, Division 27 of the American Psychological Association
• Outstanding Instructor, University of Illinois, Spring 1993

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Selected Publications

Wright, P.A. & Kloos, B. (In press). Housing Environment and Mental Health Outcomes: A Levels of Analysis Perspective. Journal of Environmental Psychology.

Kloos, B., Gross, S.M., Meese, K.J., Meade, C.S., Doughty, J.D., Hawkins, D.D., Zimmerman,S.O., Snow, D.L., Sikkema, K.J. (2005). Negotiating Risk: Knowledge and Use of HIV Prevention by Persons with Serious Mental Illness Living in Supportive Housing. American Journal of Community Psychology, 36, 357-372

Kloos, B. (2005). Community science: An alternative place to stand? American Journal of Community Psychology, 35, 259-267.

Kloos, B. (2005). Creating new possibilities for promoting liberation, well-being, and recovery: Learning from experiences of psychiatric consumers / survivors. In G. Nelson, & I. Prilleltensky, (Eds.) Community psychology: In pursuit of well-being and liberation. London: MacMillan.

Kloos, B. (Ed.) (2005). Special Section - Expanding the potential for self-help and mutual support to improve well-being: Continuities and vitality in new contexts. The Community Psychologist, 38 (2), 33-43.

Kloos, B. (2004). Self-help and mutual support: The relevance for community psychology. The Community Psychologist, 37 (1) 23-25.

Chinman, M., Kloos, B, O’Connell, M., & Davidson, L. (2002). Service providers’ views of psychiatric mutual support groups. Journal of Community Psychology, 30 (4), 349-366.

Kloos, B., Zimmerman, S.O., Scrimenti, K., & Crusto, C. (2002). Landlords as partners for promoting success in supported housing: "It takes more than a lease and a key". Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 25 (3), 235-244.

Rowe, M., Kloos, B., Chinman, M, Davidson, L. & Cross, A.B. (2001). Homelessness, mental illness, and citizenship. Social Policy and Administration, 35 (1) 14-31.

Kloos, B. & Moore, T. (2000). The prospect and purpose of locating community research and action in religious settings. Journal of Community Psychology, 28 (2) 119-137.

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Useful Links

University of South Carolina

University of South Carolina
USC Department of Psychology
USC Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies

South Carolina

Information about South Carolina
SC SHARE
Mental Illness Recovery Center, Inc. (MIRCI)
Mental Health Association of South Carolina
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill -SC
South Carolina Department of Mental Health

Community Psychology

Society for Community Research & Action
Community Psychology Net
American Journal of Community Psychology
Journal of Community Psychology

Self-Help, Community Integration, Recovery from Mental Illness

American Self-Help Group Clearinghouse
National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse
UPenn Collaborative on Community Integration
Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation

Mental Health Services & Research

NASMHPD Research Institute
National Institute of Mental Health
Center for Mental Health Services

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HAF Lab Graduate Students

Lindsey Stillman, Email: stillmanl@mailbox.sc.edu

I am finishing my Ph.D. in the Clinical-Community Psychology Program. Originally from Vermont, I attended Emory University and worked in Philadelphia before moving to South Carolina. I am currently completing a community-based doctoral internship with the Interim Midlands Commission on Homelessness. My dissertation research is focused on site level influences on activity patterns of individuals with Serious Mental Illness that live in Supported Housing. My primary career interests are promoting community and social service change including policy change, strategic planning, and empowerment evaluation. After I complete my degree, I will hope build a career consulting with nonprofit and social service agencies building the capacity of organizations and institutions to improve the quality of life in communities. My other interests include travel, international cuisine, and movies.

Eric P. Green, Email: epgreen@sc.edu, Website: http://www.ericpgreen.com

I am originally from Pennsylvania and graduated from Bucknell University. My first involvement in the HAF Lab was as an interviewer during the summer of 2004 (Wave I). I officially joined the Lab in the fall of 2005 to help with preparations for quantitative data analysis and recently started working with qualitative data. My research interests revolve around understanding the influence of social contexts on the functioning on the well-being of children affected by conflict. Currently I am preparing for nine months of dissertation fieldwork in northern Uganda. This project will use both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the post-war social ecology in northern Uganda. A major goal of this study is to understand the impact of direct violence, structural violence, and post-war relocation on multiple ecological levels of this society. This project is intended to create an empirical base for the promotion of systemic peacebuilding in a society emerging from what the United Nations Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs has called "the biggest forgotten, neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today."

I am also currently teaching an undergraduate Community Psychology course and working part-time at a community agency. Growing out of my community practicum experience, I coordinate the Kids Cafe program at Harvest Hope Food Bank. In the 2005-2006 school year, we served more than 33,000 meals through safe, nurturing after school programs to children in need in the Midlands area of South Carolina. The Food Bank’s Kids Cafe program was honored by America's Second Harvest with a Model Program Award in 2005. This award supported a needs-based strategic plan we developed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies

Annie Wright, Email: wrightp3@mailbox.sc.edu

My honors undergraduate work at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN focused on public high school teachers as social support figures for pregnant and parenting adolescent students. My undergraduate interests also included Urban Studies, which led me to focus on Community Psychology, particularly in the Housing and Adaptive Functioning research lab at USC. My master’s work came out of this lab and looked at the multi-level influence of community, neighborhood, and apartment quality on well-being outcomes for seriously mentally ill adults. Recently, I completed a comprehensive exam paper on the potential influences of school social climate on student functioning, with a focus on the experiences of diverse student bodies. This used a conceptual framework similar to the HAF Lab for investigating potential person-environment interactions. For my dissertation research, I plan to further develop my interests in school-based interventions and school environments. I have a particular interest in social support from adults in the school context and bridging school and neighborhood ties. In addition to this graduate research work, I am a yoga instructor for an Anusara studio here in Columbia.

Rachel Smolowitz, Email: smolowit@gwm.sc.edu

I am in my third year of the Clinical-Community Psychology program. I graduated from Johns Hopkins University and worked in Philadelphia at a day program for the seriously mentally ill before moving to Columbia. In the spirit of the hyphen between "clinical and community", my interests focus on the experiences of the serious mental illness and recovery in community contexts. My other academic interests involve public mental health services and, of course, housing for people with mental illness. I also work on Dr. Dawn Wilson’s study investigating motivation for physical activity in sixth graders. I volunteer at Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands. I love my kitties, Fido and Rover, and can frequently be found knitting socks.

Jackie McDaniel, Email: mcdanijm@gwm.sc.edu

I am from Fulton, MO and received my undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Fine Art at Fontbonne University in St. Louis. I spent one year working on the psychiatric wards of Barnes-Jewish Hospital during which I noticed that poor housing environments were a stressor that led some patients to recurrent hospitalizations. This observation sparked an interest understanding community level variables regarding mental health and consequently led to an interest in Bret’s research. I joined the HAF Lab as an interviewer before beginning my doctoral training here at USC. My current research interests revolve around social support and recovery for adults with serious mental illness. I am also interested in exploring the stigma surrounding mental illness, designing interventions to reduce stigmatizing attitudes of community members, and understanding the effects of internalized stigma among adults with mental illness. When I’m not studying, I enjoy being outdoors, spending time with friends, eating ice cream, and traveling. I also love watching sports and would consider myself the St. Louis Cardinal’s biggest fan.

Greg Townley, Email: townley@gwm.sc.edu

I am originally from Rocky Mount, NC, and I completed undergraduate training in Psychology and Africana Studies at NC State University in Raleigh. An undergraduate course in community psychology and volunteer work at Dorothea Dix state hospital led me to the University of South Carolina. I enjoy working with the HAF lab, and some of my favorite times during my first year were spent conducting interviews across the state. I am interested in neighborhood and community effects on mental health, with a specific interest in sense of community, social capital, and belonging. My master’s thesis explores predictors and outcomes of sense of community for individuals with serious mental illness. I am also dedicated to understanding and improving cross-cultural awareness of mental health and counseling issues. In my free time, I enjoy watching movies and going to concerts. I am a huge Bob Dylan fan, and I firmly believe that barbecue is a noun (and a very tasty noun, at that).

Kip Thompson, Email: thompskv@gwm.sc.edu

I am a first-year student in the Clinical-Community psychology program. Originally from Virginia, I attended Morehouse College and worked in New Jersey prior to coming to USC. My research interests include resiliency, and its impact on African American adolescents dealing with clinical depression. Currently, I am working with Dr. Kloos on a qualitative research project focused on the experiences of Hurricane Katrina evacuees investigating sense-making after life disruptions, resilience and coping processes. In my free time, I enjoy traveling, movie-watching, immersing myself in random pop trivia, and television shows Lost and Nip/Tuck.

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