[2] Hawkins began his academic career in 1976 by joining the University of Washington, Seattle where he held various appointments spanning different departments and positions, including serving as a research assistant professor at the School of Social Work from 1976 to 1980.
[11] Hawkins' research has contributed to the understanding of risk and protective factors related to substance abuse, drugs, and alcohol, and delinquency, informing prevention,[12] treatment, and policy efforts.
[8] In the early 2000s, he developed a self-reporting survey instrument to assess risk and protective factors as well as drug use and delinquent behaviors, across different environments,[14] and conducted cross-national investigations on youth substance use in the Netherlands and the United States, demonstrating similar influences of risk and protective factors on youth behavioral outcomes despite varying policy approaches.
[21] In his evaluation of the correlation between risk and protective factors in relation to problem behaviors including alcohol use, depressive symptoms, and antisocial behavior during adolescence, his study established that implementing preventive strategies that target factors influencing the likelihood of externalizing issues can also effectively reduce depressive symptoms in adolescents.
[29] He examined the long term effects of the Raising Healthy Children school based preventive intervention involving parents and teachers in the Seattle Social Development Project.
He found that the intervention delivered when participants were in grades 1 through 6 positively impacted various aspects of early adulthood, encompassing academic,[30] and occupational performance, emotional and mental well-being, as well as displaying effects in reducing crime and substance use by the age of 21.
[31] His evaluation of the long-term effects of the social development intervention found that it had a positive impact on mental well-being, education, sexual health, and economic accomplishments, which persisted through age 39.
[32] An assessment of the long-term effects of the Raising Healthy Children intervention also found that it enhanced not only future adult performance but also the well-being of participants' children, reducing the prevalence of developmental delays and adolescent drug use and increasing their academic, cognitive and social and emotional skills as rated by teachers unaware of their parent's involvement in the Seattle Social Development Project.