Kristina P. Brant, Ph.D.
- Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology
- Social Science Research Institute Co-funded Faculty Member
University Park, PA 16802
- Email kmb8133@psu.edu
Areas of Expertise
- Appalachia
- Child welfare system
- Criminal legal system
- Qualitative methods
- Rural health
- Rural poverty
- Substance use
Websites
Education
- Ph.D., Harvard University, 2021
- MA, Harvard University, 2018
- BA, University of Chicago, 2014
Through mixed-methods, community-engaged research and the development of research-informed Extension programs, my scholarship aims to explore and support the health of rural U.S. communities and families. My work takes a particular geographic focus on rural Pennsylvania and the broader Appalachian region.
Research Interests
My core research program has two foci: I interrogate how substance use is experienced by family units, and I examine aspects of the rural risk environment that shape vulnerabilities to substance use-related harms. Current projects in this first line of work examine dynamics in kinship families and the unique barriers and facilitators to recovery faced by criminal legal-involved mothers. Current projects in this second line of work explore the impacts of broadband access on substance use harms in rural Appalachia, the impacts of climate change-related flooding on substance use harms in rural Appalachia, the impacts of the opioid settlement in Pennsylvania, and access to medications for opioid use disorder and harm reduction services in rural Pennsylvania. I am also currently engaged in a project examining a novel housing intervention for men who have recently been incarcerated for 10+ years.
In past work, I have also studied primary care access in rural Pennsylvania, emergency food access in rural Pennsylvania, people's utilization of social support networks, and the impacts of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
My work has been published in numerous sociology and substance use journals, such as American Sociological Review and International Journal of Drug Policy. My projects have been funded by USDA NIFA, NIH, NSF, and the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.
Extension Interests
Through my role as an Extension faculty member, I seek to help Extension educators and other service providers work with vulnerable populations, particularly people who use(d) drugs and kinship families, and I aim to support these populations directly and to reduce public stigma towards these populations through community-based education.
My Extension work is rooted in providing direction and support to two teams within the Food, Families, and Communities unit—the Relatives as Parents Program (RAPP) team and the Substance Use Education team. Current projects include the development of a curriculum for kinship caregiver support groups and the development of a recovery-friendly workplace initiative.
My Extension work has been supported by the Extension Foundation.
Publications
Initial stakeholder perceptions around opioid settlement funds in Pennsylvania
Substance Abuse: Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, Kampman, Halie, Brant, Kristina, Weinberg, Maya, Sterner, Glenn, King, Brian Hastings, 2025
In Many of Appalachia's Flood-Ravaged Areas, Residents Have Little Choice but to Rebuild in Risky Locations
The Conversation, Brant, Kristina, 2025
The benefits and potential biases of lived experience in substance use treatment services
Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, Brant, Kristina, Quadri, Oluwaseyi, McCracken, Aden, Jones, Abenaa, 2025
Avoiding Support, Avoiding Punishment: Fear of the Child Welfare System in the Opioid Era, Brant, Kristina, 2025
Supporting Kinship Caregivers with the Caring for Our Kin Curriculum, Amor-Zitzelberger, Jacqueline, Brant, Kristina, 2025
Learning from Experience: What is Successful Respite During and Post-Pandemic?
GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy, Crittenden, Jennifer, Sansone, Darlene, Brant, Kristina, Odum, Jennifer, O'Brien, Caitlin, McCormick, Lisa, 2025
Access to MOUD and Harm Reduction Services in Rural Pennsylvania
Rural Policy - The Research Bulletin of the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, Brant, Kristina, McCracken, Aden, 2025
Connecting Underserved Groups with Emergency Food Assistance: Immigrant Communities, Velasco Palacios, Hazel, Brant, Kristina, Lindemann, Justine, 2025
Emergency Food Assistance in Pennsylvania: About the Series, Brant, Kristina, Lindemann, Justine, 2025
Policies and Programs to Support Non-Food Benefits of Emergency Food Services, Lindemann, Justine, Brant, Kristina, 2025
Stigma-Related Barriers to Accessing Emergency Food Assistance, Demerly, Nicholas, Brant, Kristina, Lindemann, Justine, 2025
Connecting Underserved Groups with Emergency Food Assistance: Individuals Experiencing Housing Instability, Shin, Jihyun, Brant, Kristina, Lindemann, Justine, 2025
Models of Food Pantry Distribution: Benefits and Challenges to Residents, Lindemann, Justine, Brant, Kristina, 2025
Just an unfair score: Perceptions of gender inequity in the treatment of substance use disorders among women involved in the criminal legal system
Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, Jones, A. A., Brant, K., Bishop, R. E., Strong-Jones, S., Kreager, D. A., 2025
Physical Accessibility Barriers to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Treatment: A Qualitative Study of Perspectives from Women with Opioid Use Disorder and Health and Criminal Legal Professionals
Contemporary Drug Problems, Skogseth, Emma M., Brant, Kristina, Latkin, Carl, Jones, Abenaa A., 2025
The Role of Child Maltreatment and Revictimization on Substance Use Trajectories Among Women Involved in the Criminal Justice System
Women and Criminal Justice, Jones, Abenaa, Strong-Jones, Sienna, Bishop, Rachael E., Brant, Kristina, Campbell, Jacquelyn, 2025
A CONVERSATION WITH KURT DANYSH, DIRECTOR OF THE CUMBERLAND HOUSE: A Peer-Led Reentry Intervention for Older, Recently Incarcerated Men, Lipscomb, Divine, Danysh, Kurt M., Brant, Kristina, Hazelwood, Andrea R., Kreager, Derek Allen, 2025
The loss of rural vital places: A case study using the social determinants of health framework
Wellbeing, Space and Society, Rhubart, Danielle, Kowalkowski, Jennifer, Velasco Palacios, Hazel, Brant, Kristina, 2024
The Avoidance of Strong Ties
American Sociological Review, Small, Mario L., Brant, Kristina, Fekete, Maleah, 2024
Implementing a Teaching Rural Mobile Health Clinic: Challenges and Adaptations
Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, Brant, Kristina, Segel, Joel E., McShane, M, Rhubart, Danielle, Kowalkowski, Jennifer, Valesco Palacios, Hazel, Velasco Palacios, Hazel, Palacios, Hazel Velasco, Jackson, Jorden, 2024
Pregnancy- and parenting-related barriers to receiving medication for opioid use disorder: A multi-paneled qualitative study of women in treatment, women who terminated treatment, and the professionals who serve them
Women's Health, Hannah, Apsley, Apsley, Hannah B., Brant, Kristina, Brothers, Sarah, Harrison, Eric, Skogseth, Emma, Schwartz, Robert P., Jones, Abenaa, 2024
Women and Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: Contributors to Treatment Success From the Perspectives of Women in Recovery, Women With Past Attempts in Drug Treatment, and Health and Criminal Justice Professionals
Substance Use: Research and Treatment, Crowley, Daniel, Skogseth, Emma, Brant, K, Harrison, Eric, Apsley, Hannah, Schwartz, Robert, Jones, Abenaa, 2024
“Tethered to this ball and chain”: Women's perspectives on bodily agency within opioid treatment programs
International Journal of Drug Policy, McCracken, Aden, Brant, Kristina, Latkin, Carl, Jones, Abenaa, 2024
The Impact of Family Systems and Social Networks on Substance Use Initiation and Recovery Among Women With Substance Use Disorders
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Jones, Abenaa A., Strong-Jones, Sienna, Bishop, Rachael E., Brant, Kristina, Owczarzak, Jill, Ngigi, Kelly W., Latkin, Carl, 2024
Adverse effects of criminal legal system involvement: a qualitative study examining the role of incarceration and reentry on substance use trajectories among women with opioid use disorders
BMC Global and Public Health, Strong-Jones, S, Brant, K, Kreager, D, Harrison, E, Jones, Abenaa, 2024
Innovative Ways to Support Kinship Care Families Highlighted at the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Intergenerational Conference, Kaplan, Matthew, Brant, Kristina, Amor-Zitzelberger, Jacqueline, Horvath, Rozalia, Pollich, Cynthia, Sansone, Darlene, 2024
Future Directions for Rural Population Research: Findings from RPRN’s Stakeholder Listening Sessions
Rural Population Research Network, Brant, Kristina, Kelly, Paige, Rhubart, Danielle, Mangoni, Gloria, Green, John, Curtis, Katherine, de Koff, Jason, Upendram, Sreedhar, Upendrum, Sreedhar, Green, Eleanor, 2024
An Examination of Emergency Food Supply and Distribution in Rural Pennsylvania, Brant, Kristina, Lindemann, Justine, Velasco Palacios, Hazel, Demerly, Nicholas, Shin, Jihyun, 2024
Community responses and adaptations following the closure of a rural pharmacy and primary care facility
Journal of Rural Health, Palacios, Hazel Velasco, Velasco Palacios, Hazel, Brant, Kristina, Rhubart, Danielle, Jackson, Jorden, 2024
Challenges and Recommendations for Overdose Prevention and Harm Reduction in an Era of Fentanyl and Xylazine: Perspectives of Women With Opioid Use Disorder and Professionals
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Harrison, Eric, Brant, Kristina, Strong-Jones, Sienna, Skogseth, Emma, Latkin, Carl, Jones, Abenaa, 2024
Nonparental Primary Caregivers: A Case Study from the United States, Brant, Kristina, 2023
How Penn State Extension Supports Pennsylvanians in Recovery, Brant, Kristina, 2023
Building and Coalescing Support for Kinship Families: A Call for Action in Pennsylvania’s First Statewide Intergenerational Conference, Brant, Kristina, Kaplan, Matthew, Amor-Zitzelberger, Jacqueline, Horvath, Rozalia, Pollich, Cynthia, Sansone, Darlene, 2023
The Inaugural Pennsylvania Intergenerational Conference Video (July 5-7, 2022), Kaplan, Matt, Brant, Kristina, 2022
When Mamaw Becomes Mom: Social Capital and Kinship Family Formation amid the Rural Opioid Crisis
RSF, Brant, Kristina, 2022
A Weekend Together at Camp: Kinship Family Retreats as a Tool for Respite, Bonding, and Support, Brant, K, Kaplan, Matthew, Amor-Zitzelberger, J, Horvath, R, Pollich, Cynthia, Sansone, Darlene, 2022
Family Bonding – Grandfamilies Style: Family Walks, Kaplan, Matthew, Pollich, Cynthia, Sansone, Darlene, Horvath, Rozalia, Amor-Zitzelberger, Jacqueline, Brant, Kristina, 2022
Supporting Kinship Families amid the COVID-19 Crisis
Fahe.com, Brant, Kristina, 2020
DACAmented in the age of deportation: navigating spaces of belonging and vulnerability in social and personal live
Ethnic and Racial Studies, Gonzales, Roberto G., Brant, Kristina, Roth, Benjamin, 2020
DACA Has Changed Lives—and the Country—for the Better. It Must Be Preserved.
The Guardian, Gonzales, Roberto, Brant, Kristina, 2019
The Long-Term Impact of DACA: Forging Futures Despite DACA’s Uncertainty, Gonzales, Roberto, Camacho, Sayil, Brant, Kristina, Aguilar, Carlos, 2019
(Un)authorized Transitions: Illegality, DACA, and the Life Course
Research in Human Development, Gonzales, Roberto G., Ellis, Basia, Rendón-García, Sarah A., Brant, Kristina, 2018
Taking Giant Leaps Forward: Experiences of a Range of DACA Beneficiaries at the 5-Year Mark, Gonzales, Roberto, Murillo, Marco, Lacomba, Cristina, Brant, Kristina, Franco, Martha, Lee, Jaein, Vasudevan, Deepa, 2017
DACA Boosts Young Immigrants’ Well-Being, Mental Health
NBCNews.com, Gonzales, Roberto, Brant, Kristina, 2017
The Increasing Significance of Place: Assessing the Diverging Trajectories of DACA-eligible Young Adults in the New South, Gonzales, Roberto, Roth, Benjamin, Brant, Kristina, 2017
How Will I Pay for It? Undocumented Students and the Barriers to College Affordability, Gonzales, Roberto, Luna-Duarte, Maria, Diaz-Strong, Daysi, Rivas, M, Brant, Kristina, 2016
DACA at Year Three: Challenges and Opportunities in Accessing Higher Education and Employment, Gonzales, Roberto, Roth, Benjamin, Brant, Kristina, Lee, Jaein, Valdivia, Carolina, 2016
Who is Gaining the Most from Obama’s Deferred Action Program for Young Adult Undocumented Immigrants?, Lee, Jaein, Ordorica, Carolina, Brant, Kristina, 2015
