Honors Faculty Areas of Research Interest
Professor Dirghangi
- Assessing the impact of
Bringing Baby Home parent workshop on couples’ relationship afterchild birth andparent child relationship. - Implementing coping skill related interventions (Women’s Circles) enabling emerging
adults transition to college life successfully - Implementing coping skill related interventions (Girl’s Circles) enabling adolescent girls
make better mental and physical health choices. - Adolescent well-being in relation to peer relationships
- Adolescent well-being in the school setting, with a focus on bullying and victimization.
- Adolescent experiences of cyberbullying and intervention efforts
- Impact of Peers on healthy and unhealthy eating habits/body image development
- Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Adolescents’ and Emerging Adults’ Mental Health Outcomes such as Identity and Interpersonal Styles Development
Professor Hart
- The impact of the Camp Fire on community members including college students.
- Suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention, particularly in the child, adolescent, and young adult populations.
- The intersection of adverse childhood experiences (ACE’s) with a variety of health indicators in emerging adults.
- Incorporating Teacher-Child Interaction Training (TCIT) into a variety of community agency services and Child Development student internship experiences.
- The educational success of preschool, elementary, and secondary students experiencing emotional and behavioral challenges.
- Promoting nurturing, sensitive and responsive caregiving of parents and caregivers for young children.
- Emotion regulation, disordered eating attitudes, and social-emotional health of pre-adolescents and adolescents.
- Mood disorders, particularly early-onset (pediatric) bipolar disorder.
- Illuminating protective factors inherent in high-risk individuals to promote successful life experiences.
- Latent variable modeling and longitudinal analyses; using person-centered statistical models to evaluate life processes.
Professor Nenadal
- K-12 curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation
- Observing, evaluating, and providing feedback on teaching techniques in K-12 classrooms
- Talking with and teaching children about social issues
- Individuals’ attitudes and beliefs about social groups
- Children’s and adults’ beliefs about wealth and poverty
- Effects of poverty on children’s development
Professor Shepherd
- Parent-child attachment relationships: school age, adolescence, and young adults
- Adolescent and young adult sources of social support, emotional intelligence, and wellbeing
- Parenting behaviors and developmental parenting.
- Children's subjective well-being, self-esteem, self-concept, and resiliency
- Father involvement, attachment, and generative fathering
- Childhood trauma and attachment
Professor Walton
- The development of perfectionism
- Gender differences in perfectionism
- Parenting variables that predict perfectionism
- Personality variables that predict perfectionism
- Cross cultural influences on perfectionism and academic achievement
- Emotional development in young children
