My research program focuses on the roles that close interpersonal relationships (e.g., friendships, parent-child relationships) play in social and emotional development and psychopathology during late childhood and early adolescence. I am especially interested in how peer relationships function as risk and protective factors in the lives of children and adolescents who are considered at risk for such internalizing and externalizing difficulties as anxiety, depression, and aggression. My work includes longitudinal analyses of peer nomination and self-report data, along with laboratory observations of adolescents and their best friends. Other current research projects examine the developmental significance and internalizing consequences of temporal changes in peer relationships (funded by NICHD grant 1R03 HD056524-01; PI: Julie Bowker), the peer and psychological correlates of social behaviors across cultures, and the ways in which peer relationships impact the eating behavior and psychological well-being of overweight and obese young adolescents.
