Dr. Marcelo's research examines the influence of risk and protective factors on child development across diverse ecological contexts with particular emphases on culture and adversity. Her first research interest examines children's pretend play, creativity, and emotional expressiveness as related to their socioemotional and academic adjustment in different contexts (e.g., school, peers, home). Her second interest focuses on ethnic-racial identity in early childhood and its influence on children's experiences of their race-ethnicity, particularly in relation to encounters with bias and discrimination. These two complementary lines of research converge in her effort to clarify how developmental processes vary in form and/or meaning as a function of the broader ecological contexts in which they occur.
