简介

I am interested in factors that promote positive socio‑emotional development, especially during adolescence. Specifically, my research is aimed at understanding how characteristics of the family (e.g., family structure, family relationships, parenting styles and strategies, ethnicity) and of the individual (e.g., beliefs about development, biological change) influence adjustment during this time of life. Current research topics, and example publications and presentations for each topic, include: Beliefs about Adolescents I am investigating parents’ and adolescents’ beliefs about the adolescent period. What are parents’ and children’s expectations for and stereotypes about adolescence, and how do these influence parenting and parent-child relationships over the transition from childhood to adolescence? Results of my research suggest that negative stereotypes about adolescents can lead to expectations for specific children that are more negative than they should be based on the child’s history of behavior. Furthermore, results of a longitudinal study indicate that negative expectations for a young adolescent child (on the part of mothers and of the children themselves) predict more negative perceived parent-child relationships and more risk-taking and difficult behavior over time.