HDFS Faculty Research Interests

Graduate faculty in the Human Development and Family Science Program

Arya Ansari, Assistant Professor, PhD, Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, 2016. Interests: child development; early childhood education and teaching; education policy; family systems; kindergarten/preschool education and teaching.

Suzanne Bartle-Haring, Professor and Director of the Couple and Family Therapy Specialization, Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 1990. Interests: Bowen Family Theory; how individuals maintain a sense of self as separate and connected in relationships; how the process of balancing separateness and connectedness or not impacts health decision-making.

Autumn Bermea, Assistant Professor, PhD, Family Science and Human Development, Montclair State University, 2019. Interests: How experiences of minority stress impact intimate partner violence (IPV); The role of contextual factors in leaving abusive relationships and accessing responsive services; The influence of intersectional identities (e.g., race, socioeconomic status) on experiences of IPV; Developing theory in IPV to reflect the above factors, specifically feminist theory, intersectionality, and queer theory

Michael Betz, Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Ohio State University, 2011. Interests: family demography; poverty; marriage and fertility decisions; impact of local economic conditions on families; family policy.

Ji-Young Choi, Associate Professor, PhD, Purdue University, 2014. Interests: child development (school readiness; birth to age 5); early childhood education; education policy (access and quality issues in early childhood education programs/services); dual language learning.

Xin Feng, Assistant Professor, Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 2005. Interests: the interplay of temperament, parenting behavior, and contextual influences in the development of emotion regulation and emotional problems in early and middle childhood; quantitative methods for the analysis of change.

Stephen Gavazzi, Professor, Ph.D. University of Connecticut, 1991. Interests: families with youth; adolescents at risk; family engagement; the intermediary influence of family factors on the associations between race, gender, family structure, neighborhood conditions, and outcomes variables associated with adolescent problem behavior; adolescent development and wellbeing; addressing issues related to the Morrill Act and Native American land dispossession.

Sarah Lang, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., The Ohio State University, Human Development and Family Science, 2014. Interests: Child Care and Support Services Management; Child Development; Early Childhood Education and Teaching; Human Development and Family Studies; Kindergarten/Preschool Education and Teaching; LGBTQ+ Studies; Teacher Education; Workforce Development and Education.

Allen Mallory Assistant Professor, Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin, 2020. Interests: understanding intersectional risk and protective factors for the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ youth and adults and risk and protective factors for individuals and couples’ sexual well-being.

Keeley Pratt, Assistant Professor, Ph.D. East Carolina University, 2010. Interests: 1) intergenerational family factors (parenting styles and practices, feeding styles and practices, family functioning, and parenting around physical activity behaviors) that contribute to or are modifiable in the treatment of child/adolescent obesity; 2) intergenerational outcomes (child, sibling, parent, grandparent) from integrated-multidisciplinary care models in the treatment of child/adolescent obesity; 3) assessing and expanding mental health education to include clinician training on systemic weight-related behaviors in families, and training to work with clients and families who are struggling with being overweight and obesity; and 4) Medical Family Therapy.

Kelly Purtell, Assistant Professor, Ph.D. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2010. Interests: 1) the influence of family poverty on adolescents’ expectations and preparation for the transition to adulthood; 2) the role of income support benefits (ex. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) in the development of children and adolescents in low-income families; 3) Understanding how educational settings, both in early childhood and K-12 grades, influence the academic development of economically disadvantaged youth; 4) quantitative methodology, including longitudinal methods and experimental design.

Natasha Slesnick, Professor, Ph.D. University of New Mexico, 1996. Interests: families and adolescents with issues pertaining to: homelessness, substance use, child abuse, depression, high risk behaviors; development and evaluation of effective interventions for runaway and homeless youth and their families.

Anastasia Snyder, Associate Professor, Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University, 1999. Interests: family demography; family formation patterns; changing family structure and family contexts for children; how rural residence differentiates family behaviors and attitudes; youth development.

Deanna Wilkinson, Associate Professor, Ph.D. Rutgers University, 1998. Interests: urban Issues (i.e. capacity building, sustainable partnerships, grassroots organizing, communities and crime, youth violence, intimate partner violence, victimization, social control, prevention, polices, and guns); adolescent development (i.e. contextual and holistic approaches); social justice and change; evaluation research; research methods (i.e. GIS, HLM, qualitative analysis, and mixed-methods research); translating research to practice.

Jen Wong, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 2010. Interests: daily stress processes; employment and work-family processes; well-being and physical health; biomarkers of health (e.g., cortisol); midlife and late adulthood; parents of individuals with developmental disabilities.

Human Sciences faculty affiliated with the Human Development and Family Science Program

H. Eugene Folden, Jr., Clinical Associate Professor, Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 1995. Human Sciences Program Area: Human Development and Family Science. Interests: how older men cope with loss, especially spousal loss; creativity in later life; maintenance of ties in later life, especially sibling ties; coping with the loss of independence in later life; successful aging; family theory.

Jackie Goodway, Professor, Ph.D. Michigan State University, 1994. Human Sciences Program Area: Kinesiology. Interests: promotion of motor skill development and physical activity in young children who grow up in disadvantaged environments. Her work has shown that such children demonstrate substantial delays in fundamental motor skill development. She has implemented developmentally, culturally appropriate, evidence-based motor skill interventions in a variety of contexts.

Sherman D. Hanna, Professor, Ph.D., Cornell University, 1974. Human Sciences Program Area: Consumer Sciences. Interests: Normative personal finance; Racial/ethnic differences in financial behavior; Household credit decisions; Retirement adequacy; Household saving patterns; Household credit decisions; Financial decisions of couples.

Dean Lillard, Professor, Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1991. Human Sciences Program Area: Consumer Sciences. Interests: health economics, the economics of schooling, and international comparisons of economic behavior. His research in health economics is primarily focused on the economics of the marketing and consumption of cigarettes and alcohol. His research on the economics of schooling includes studies of direct effects of policy on educational outcomes and on the role that education plays in other economic behaviors such as smoking, production of health, and earnings. His cross-national research ranges widely from comparisons of the role that obesity plays in determining labor market outcomes to comparisons of smoking behavior cross-nationally.

Cäzilia Loibl, Professor, Ph.D., Technische Universität München, Germany, 2002. Human Sciences Program Area: Consumer Sciences. Interests: analysis of household financial behaviors; design and evaluation of state and national financial literacy interventions; public policy evaluation.

Tansel Yilmazer, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., University of Texas, 2002. Human Sciences Program Area: Consumer Sciences. Interests: Household Economics, Household Finance, Small Business Finance, Financial Institutions and Services, Health Economics. In particular, I study i) the role of household demographics and health status in household wealth accumulation, saving and portfolio choices; ii) the consequences of the implementation of policies related to savings and investments for the financial well-being of families; and iii) the factors affecting the availability and cost of credit to consumers and small businesses.

Courtesy faculty

James S. Bates, Assistant Professor, Department of Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences, College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences, Ph.D. Syracuse University, 2009. Interests: intergenerational family relationships; men in families; family life education; program design, implementation, evaluation, and analysis; theory development.