Robert Atkins, Associate Professor of Nursing, College of Nursing (B.A., Brown; BSN, Penn; MSN, Rutgers; PhD, Temple) studies children and adolescents with a focus on how personality functioning affects health.
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Dr. Atkins teaches research methods and pediatric primary care courses

Dr. Atkins’ research with nationally representative longitudinal survey data and qualitative data collected in Camden explores the effects of urban poverty on child and adolescent health and development. Atkins’ current work explores three questions about the health and development of youth living in high-poverty neighborhoods: 1) What social and institutional processes mediate the relationship of high-poverty neighborhoods to the health and well-being of youth living in those neighborhoods? 2)  How does childhood personality influence the emergence of health-damaging behaviors in adolescence? 3) What do youth in high-poverty neighborhoods do to promote, maintain, or restore their own health?

STARR (Sports Teaching Adolescents Responsibility and Resiliency) Program. With Dan Hart, Robert Atkins founded the STARR Program, now in its eleventh year, which combines year-round sports, community service, camping, and homework support in order to foster development among youth in one of the poorest cities in America. The Camden STARR Program is working with approx. 80-100 African American, Latino, and Southeastern Asian adolescents, to foster the development of responsibility and resiliency in young teenagers through sports, community service, fundraising activities, and education and computer training. (Read "Citizenship and Urban Youth" by Bob Atkins and Dan Hart)

Healthy Futures for Camden Youth (HFCY). With Dan Hart, Robert Atkins has developed the HFCY Program (now in its fourth year) to improve access to healthcare for youth in Camden, New Jersey. Central to the program is the door-to-door canvassing of neighborhoods throughout the city in order to enroll low income and immigrant families in the health insurance programs that are prerequisite to obtaining care. HFCY has targeted health concerns related to children and teens. With Nancy Southerland and Dan Hart, Robert Atkins interviewed parents who enrolled in NJ's Family Care Program. The researchers found that the health insurance program dramatically improves children's access to health care.
The report: "Does Health Insurance Improve Children's Lives? A Study of New Jersey's Family Care Program" is available in PDF:
http://camden-nt1.rutgers.edu/hart/hfcywebdocument.PDF

Atkins, R., Bluebond-Langner, M., Read, N., Pittsley, J., & Hart, D. (2010). Adolescents as health agents and consumers: Results of a pilot study of the health and health-related behaviors of adolescents living in a high-poverty, urban neighborhood. Journal of Pediatric Nursing.

Atkins, R. & Matsuba, M.K. (2008). The association of personality and the likelihood of serious unintentional injury during childhood. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 23, 451-459.

Atkins, R. & Hart, D. (2008). The under-controlled do it first: Childhood personality and sexual debut. Research in Nursing and Health, 31, 626-639.

Atkins, R. (2008). The association of childhood personality on risky sexual behaviors during adolescence. Journal of School Health, 78, 594-600.

Atkins, R. (2007). The association of personality type in early childhood with violence in adolescence. Research in Nursing and Health. 30, 308-319.

Hart, D., Donnelly, T., Youniss, J. & Atkins, R. (2007). High School Community Service as a Predictor of Adult Voting and Volunteering. American Educational Research Journal, 44, 107-219.

Matsuba, K., Hart, D. & Atkins, R. (2007). Psychological and Social-Structural Influences on Commitment to Volunteering. Journal of Research in Personality. 41, 889-907.

Hart, D., Atkins, R., & Tursi, N.  (2006). Origins and developmental influences        on self-esteem.  In M. Kernis (Ed.) Self-esteem: Issues and answers (pp. 157-162).  London: Psychology Press.

Atkins, R., Hart, D., & Donnelly, T. (2005).  The association of childhood personality type with volunteering during adolescence.  Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 51, 145-162.

Hart, D., Atkins, R., & Youniss, J.  (2005). Knowledge, youth bulges, and rebellion.  Psychological Science, 16, 661-662.

Hart, D., Burock, D., London, B., Atkins, R & Bonilla-Santiago, G.  (2005). The Relation of Personality Type to Salivary Cortisol, Classroom Behavior, and Academic Achievement.  The European Journal of Personality, 19, 391-407.

Hart, D., Atkins, R., & Watson, N. C.  (2005). How to start your own youth development micro-program.  SRA Newsletter, Spring, 1. 

Donnelly, T., Matsuba, K., Atkins, R. & Hart, D. (2005).  The relationship between spiritual  development and civic development. P.L. Benson, E.C. Roehlkepartain, P. Ebstyne, & L.M. Wagener’s  (Eds.), Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence, Sage Publications. 

2008-2011 Atkins, R. (Principal Investigator) Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars Award: Adolescents as Health Agents and Consumers: The Knowledge, Behavior, Attitudes, and Experiences of Youth living in High-Poverty Urban Neighborhoods.

2005-2007: Atkins, R. (Principal Investigator) Busch Biomedical Award: An Exploration of the Neighborhood Characteristics Associated with Violence in Camden, NJ (July, 2005).

Atkins, R. (Principal Investigator) Center for Children and Childhood Studies Associates Award, An Investigation of the Neighborhood Characteristics Associated with Assault and Criminal Violence in the City of Camden, NJ (October, 2005);

Atkins, R. (Principal Investigator) Busch Biomedical Award,  An Exploration of the Neighborhood Characteristics Associated with Violence in Camden, NJ (July, 2005);

Atkins, R. (Principal Investigator) Cornwall Center Research Award, An Investigation of the Association between Neighborhood Stress and the Development of Violent Behavior in Urban Youth (June, 2005);

Atkins, R. (Principal Investigator) College of Nursing Office of Research Faculty Award, An Exploratory Investigation of Urban Neighborhoods and Youth Violence (June, 2005);

Campbell Soup Foundation, "The Camden STARR Program" (2000-2006);

 Ameri*Corp, National Civilian Conservation Crop, Healthy Futures for Camden Youth (2000-2003);

 Ameri*Corp, National Civilian Conservation Crop, Healthy Futures for Camden Youth (2002);

Camden Empowerment Zone Corporation, The Camden STARR Program (1999).