Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) Faculty
- David M. Almeida
- Professor
- Ph.D. (Lifespan Developmental Psychology) 1993, University of Victoria
- Areas: Adult Development and Aging, Research Methods
- Centers/Labs: The Gerontology Center
- Interests: Daily stress processes; adult development; family factors in mental health; work and family linkages; fatherhood; statistical techniques for measuring change.
- dalmeida@psu.edu
- Professor
- Mayra Bamaca
- Assistant Professor
- Ph.D. (Family and Human Development) 2008, Arizona State University
- Areas: Individual Development; Adolescence
- Interests: Adolescent development and adjustment among ethnic minority youth, with an emphasis on Latino adolescents living in the U.S.
- myb12@psu.edu
- Leann L. Birch
- Distinguished Professor
- Ph.D. (Psychology), 1975, University of Michigan
- Areas: Child Development
- Centers/Labs: Director,The Center for Childhood Obesity Research and Children's Eating Lab
- Interests: A contextual approach to the development of problems of eating and energy balance: The links among parents' own eating and weight status, parenting practices, and child outcomes from infancy through adolescence, with a current focus on the emergence of dieting and problems of energy balance in girls during middle childhood and early adolescence.
- llb15@psu.edu
- Chalandra M. Bryant
- Associate Professor
- Ph.D. (Child Development & Family Relations), 1996, University of Texas at Austin
- Areas: Family Studies
- Interests: Marital and premarital relationships, particularly among African American couples; the role social networks play in influencing partners' satisfaction with and commitment to their significant others.
- cmb34@psu.edu
- H. Harrington (Bo) Cleveland
- Associate Professor
- Ph.D. (Family Studies and Human Development), 1998, University of Arizona
- Areas: Adolescent Development
- Interests: Interaction of genetic and environmental influences on adolescent and young adult risk-behaviors, including alcohol and tobacco use, aggression, and delinquency; contribution of traits to the selection and modification of social contexts.
- hhc10@psu.edu
- J. Douglas Coatsworth
- Associate Professor, Professor-in-Charge, HDFS Undergraduate Program
- Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology/Child Development), 1991, University of Minnesota
- Areas: Prevention, Adolescent Development
- Centers/Labs: Prevention Research Center
- Interests: Prevention research and theory; design and evaluation of family-based interventions to promote development and to prevent mental health and behavioral problems in children and adolescents; resilience.
- jdc15@psu.edu
- Linda M. Collins
- Professor
- Ph.D. (Quantitative Psychology), 1983, University of Southern California
- Areas: Research Methodology
- Centers/Labs: Director, Methodology Center
- Interests: Research methods; experimental and non-experimental design, particularly for building and evaluating behavioral interventions; models for longitudinal data; latent class analysis.
- lmc8@psu.edu
- Ann C. Crouter
- Professor and Dean, College of Health and Human Development
- Ph.D. (Human Development and Family Studies), 1982, Cornell University
- Areas: Child and Adolescent Development; Family Relationships and Dynamics
- Interests: Inter-relationships of parents' employment situations, family processes, and children's and adolescent's social development; gender socialization in middle childhood and adolescence.
- ac1@psu.edu
- Professor and Dean, College of Health and Human Development
- Anthony R. D'Augelli
- Professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Outreach, CHHD.
- Ph.D. (Clinical/Community Psychology), 1972, University of Connecticut
- Areas: Adolescent Development
- Interests: Community interventions; issues in the development of sexual orientation.
- ard@psu.edu
- Professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Outreach, CHHD.
- David J. Eggebeen
- Associate Professor
- Ph.D. (Sociology), 1986, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Areas: Family Studies
- Centers/Labs: The Population Research Institute.
- Interests: Intergenerational support over the lifecourse; fatherhood; young adulthood.
- e5x@psu.edu
- Associate Professor
- Lisa Gatzke-Kopp
- Assistant Professor
- Ph.D. (Psychology: Clinical Neuroscience), 2003, University of Southern California
- Areas: Child Development, Prevention/Intervention
- Centers/Labs: Child Brain Development Lab
- Interests: Developmental neuroscience of psychopathology, with a particular focus on how children develop behavior problems such as aggression, hyperactivity, and substance abuse. Research has shown that such problems likely evolve when innate vulnerability interacts with environmental stressors. Understanding the neurobiological dysfunction that contributes to this vulnerability informs the identification of experiential and environmental factors that exacerbate or ameliorate risk. Identification of these factors positions researchers, and eventually policy makers, to implement changes in the environment that may alter these trajectories and improve developmental outcomes.
- lmk18@psu.edu
- Denis Gerstorf
- Assistant Professor
- Ph.D. (Psychology), 2004, Free University, Berlin, Germany
- Areas: Adult Development and Aging, Research Methods
- Centers/Labs: The Gerontology Center
- Interests: Multivariate approach to study heterogeneity and differential aging; cross-domain interface of cognition, well-being, and health; terminal decline, intraindividual variability; dyadic interdependencies in development; statistical techniques for measuring change.
- gerstorf@psu.edu
- Ph.D. (Psychology), 2004, Free University, Berlin, Germany
- Scott D. Gest
- Associate Professor
- Ph.D. (Child Development), 1995, University of Minnesota
- Areas: Child Development
- Centers/Labs: Prevention Research Center
- Interests: Reading and social competence in elementary school; peer relations; early preventive intervention; risk and adaptation from childhood to adulthood; behavioral inhibition.
- gest@psu.edu
- Associate Professor
- Mark T. Greenberg
- Edna Peterson Bennett Endowed Chair in Prevention Research
- Ph.D. (Developmental Psychology), 1978, University of Virginia, Professor
- Areas: Prevention, Child Development
- Centers/Labs: Director, Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development
- Interests: Intervening in the developmental processes in risk and non-risk populations with a specific emphasis on aggression, violence, and externalizing disorders; promoting healthy social and emotional development; school-based prevention.
- mxg47@psu.edu
- Edna Peterson Bennett Endowed Chair in Prevention Research
- Melissa A. Hardy
- Distinguished Professor
- Ph.D. (Sociology), 1980, Indiana University
- Areas: Aging, Research Methods
- Centers/Labs: Director, Gerontology CenterInterests: Work and Retirement; Public Policy; Political Attitudes; Women's Issues and Aging; Cognitive Components of Saving and Investment Behavior; Older Workers.
- mah38@psu.edu
- Distinguished Professor
- Daphne Hernandez
- Assistant Professor
- Ph.D. (Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology), 2005, Boston College
- Areas: Family Studies
- Centers/Labs: Population Research Institute
- Interests: Antipoverty policies on children's development; fathers and family health and well-being.
- dch19@psu.edu
- Kathryn E. Hood
- Associate Professor
- Ph.D. (Psychology), 1983, Temple University
- Areas: Individual Development
- Interests: Narrative analysis of girls' social-aggressive development in the Carolina Longitudinal Study; Development of impulsive and inhibited behavior in mice; Selective breeding for high or low aggressive behavior in mice; Sex differences, menstrual cycle effects, and beliefs about human physiology; Developmental theory.
- ig4@psu.edu
- Associate Professor
- Kathryn Hynes
- Assistant Professor
- Ph.D. (Sociology), 2005, Cornell University
- Areas: Family Studies
- Centers/Labs: Population Research Institute
- Interests: Child and family policy topics including welfare reform, child care, after-school programs, and maternity leave; parents' work-family strategies; social and economic contexts influencing the transition to fatherhood.
- kbh13@psu.edu
- Assistant Professor
- Rukmalie Jayakody
- Associate Professor
- Ph.D. (Sociology and Social Work), 1996, University of Michigan
- Areas: Family Studies
- Centers/Labs: The Population Research Institute.
- Interests: The impacts of poverty and social policies on families and children: welfare reform and barriers to self-sufficiency; family structure and child outcomes; living arrangements and family transitions.
- jayakody@pop.psu.edu
- Associate Professor
- Eva S. Lefkowitz
- Associate Professor
- Ph.D. (Developmental Psychology), 1998, University of California, Los Angeles
- Areas: Adolescent and Adult Development, Family Studies
- Interests: Development during adolescence and emerging adulthood, with a focus on sexual attitudes and behaviors, gender role development, romantic relationships, religiosity, ethnic identity, body image, and communication; communication between adults and their parents
- EXL20@psu.edu
- Associate Professor
- Jennifer L. Maggs
- Associate Professor
- Ph.D. (Developmental Psychology), 1993, University of Victoria
- Areas: Adolescent Development
- Centers: Prevention Research Center
- Interests: Adolescent social development and health; transition to adulthood; risk behaviors, particularly alcohol use; prevention science; research methods.
- jmaggs@psu.edu
- Associate Professor
- Lynn M. Martire
- Associate Professor (arriving Fall, 2010)
- Ph.D. (Social Psychology), 1997
- Kent State University
- Areas: Adult Development and Aging; Family Studies
- Centers: The Gerontology Center
- Interests: Family relationships and management of chronic illness in adulthood; couple-oriented interventions; chronic pain; late-life depression
- lmm51@psu.edu
- Susan McHale
- Professor
- Ph.D. (Psychology), 1979, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- Areas: Child Development and Family Studies
- Centers: Director, Social Science Research Institute
- Interests: Family relationships and family roles (particularly gender roles) in childhood and adolescence; differential socialization of siblings.
- x2u@psu.edu
- Professor
- Peter Molenaar
- Professor
- Ph.D. (Social Sciences), 1981, University of Utrecht
- Areas: Research Methodology
- Interests: Single-subject time series analysis, optimal guidance of developmenal processes, optimal control of disease processes, structural equation modeling, dynamic factor analysis and P-technique.
- pxm21@psu.edu
- Professor
- Nilam Ram, Ph.D.
- Assistant Professor
- (Psychology), 2006 University of Virginia
- Areas: Research Methodology
- Interests: Changes in the psychological processes of emotion, personality, and cognition, how they develop over the course of the lifespan, and how intraindividual change and variability study designs can contribute to our understanding of human behavior.
- nur5@psu.edu
- Assistant Professor
- Michael J. Rovine
- Professor
- Ph.D. (Educational Psychology), 1982, Penn State
- Areas: Research Methodology
- Interests: Environmental psychology; structural modeling with both continuous and discrete variables; analyzing longitudinal data.
- mr7@psu.edu
- Professor
- Martin J. Sliwinski
- Professor
- Ph.D. (Experimental Neuropsychology), 1992, City University of New York
- Areas: Adult Development and Aging, Research Methods
- Centers/Labs: Director,
- Interests: Cognitive aging; adult development; stress, health and cognition; early detection of dementia; web-based survey research and cognitive testing, intensive measurement designs (measurement bursts, daily diaries and experience sampling), statistical methods for analysis of intraindividual variability and change
- mjs56@psu.edu
- Emilie Phillips Smith
- Professor
- Ph.D. (Ecological/Community Psychology), 1990, Michigan State University
- Areas: Child Development, Family Studies, and Prevention
- Centers/Labs: Director, Center for Human Development and Family Research in Diverse Contexts
- Interests: Home, school, and community partnerships in development and prevention; afterschool settings and positive youth development; the role of identity, race, ethnicity, and sociocultural factors in child, adolescent, and family development.
- emilieps@psu.edu
- Professor
- Cynthia A. Stifter
- Professor
- Ph.D. (Human Development), 1987, University of Maryland
- Areas: Child Development
- Centers/Labs: Infant Temperament Lab
- Interests:Socio-emotional development in infants, toddlers, and preschool children, specifically focused on emotion regulation and its impact on early behavior problems and physical health. Other research areas: developmental psychophysiology, infant crying and colic, parental regulation strategies, positive emotions.
- tvr@psu.edu
- Professor
- Douglas M. Teti
- Professor, Professor-in-Charge of the HDFS Graduate Program.
- Ph.D. (Developmental Psychology), 1984, University of Vermont
- Areas: Child Development, Family Studies, Research Methods
- Centers/Labs: The Prevention Research Center
- Interests: Socioemotional development in infancy and early childhood, parenting, and intervention strategies designed to promote early development and parent-child relations.
- dmt16@psu.edu
- Professor, Professor-in-Charge of the HDFS Graduate Program.
- Fred W. Vondracek
- Professor
- Ph.D. (Psychology), 1968, Penn State
- Interests: Career development from childhood to old age: interdisciplinary perspectives on theory development and research.
- fwv@psu.edu
- Professor
- Steven H. Zarit
- Professor and Head
- Ph.D. (Human Development), 1972, University of Chicago
- Areas: Adult Development and Aging
- Centers/Labs: The Gerontology Center
- Interests: Mental health and aging, family caregiving; functioning of the oldest old; innovative models of prevention and treatment.
- z67@psu.edu
- Professor and Head
Other HDFS Teaching Faculty
- Sherry E. Corneal
- Associate Professor
- Ph.D. (Human Development and Family Studies), 1990, Penn State
- Interests: Family systems theory and family therapy; individual counseling; methodologies to study the individual in depth.
- ccc3@psu.edu
- Associate Professor
- Jennifer C. Ishler
- Assistant Professor
- D.Ed. (Higher Education Administration), Penn State University
- Interests: First year seminars, assessment in student affairs, gender issues.
- jxc51@psu.edu
- Assistant Professor
- Carolyn Johnson
- Assistant Professor
- D.Ed. (Counseling Psychology), 2003, The Pennsylvania State University
- Interests: Adolescent transition to young adulthood; effects of drug and alcohol use on development; role assumptions and effects on drug and alcohol consumption.
- chj101@psu.edu
- Assistant Professor
- Sarah Kollat
- Instructor
- Ph.D. (Developmental Psychology), 2007, Pennsylvania State University
- Interests: Interrelations between family climate, children's self-views, and children's peer relationships; behavioral therapy in the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders.
- sxh345@psu.edu
- Eric Loken
- Assistant Professor
- Ph.D. (Developmental Psychology), 2001, Harvard University
- Areas: Research Methods
- Interests: Methodology; latent class analysis; academic interventions for adolescents; cognitive ability in preschool children.
- loken@psu.edu
- Assistant Professor
- Gregory Roth
- Assistant Professor
- Director, HDFS Internship Program
- Ph.D. (Counselor Education), 2007, The Pennsylvania State University
- gxr100@psu.edu
- Edward A. Smith
- Associate Professor and Director of Evaluation Research, Prevention Research Center
- DPH (Public Health), 1983, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Interests: Adolescent development with a focus on the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions to prevent problem behaviors.
- eas8@psu.edu
- Associate Professor and Director of Evaluation Research, Prevention Research Center
HDFS Faculty at Commonwealth Campus Locations
- Gordon K. Nelson
- Associate Professor, Capitol College
- Ph.D. (Educational Psychology), 1973, University of Wisconsin
- Interests: Life span studies--adult development and aging, models and theories that emphasize interlocking developmental system.
- gxn1@psu.edu
- Ph.D. (Educational Psychology), 1973, University of Wisconsin
- Judith L. Newman
- Associate Professor, Abington College
- Ph.D. (Developmental Psychology), 1978, Temple University
- Interests: Cognitive development across the life span; children's concepts of family; the child's understanding of death and of illness; male caregiving.
- jln1@psu.edu
- Ph.D. (Developmental Psychology), 1978, Temple University
University of Jena Exchange Program
- Rainer K. Silbereisen
- Adjunct Professor of Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University
- Ph.D. (Psychology). Technical University of Berlin (1975). Professor and Chair of the Department of Developmental Psychology at the University of Jena (Germany)
- Interests: Human Development across the life-span, particularly during adolescence and early adulthood. Dynamic interactionism, biological, psychological, and socio-cultural determinants of human development. The impact of social change on adolescent and young adult development.
- rainer.silbereisen@uni-jena.de
- Adjunct Professor of Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University
Courtesy Faculty
Faculty with Courtesy and Joint and Appointments