Former Ph.D. Students

Julia J. Morgan, Ph.D. (2025)

Hometown: St. Joseph, Missouri
Research Interests: Relationship quality and adjustment, family processes, parenting, emotional regulation and coping
Affiliation: Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Science, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO

Dan Liu, Ph.D. (2022)

Hometown: Chongqing, China
Research Interests: Child and adolescent development, how parenting and sleep are associated with adolescent self-control, mental health, and deviant behaviors
Affiliation: Postdoc, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, College of Medicine, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

Magda Javakhishvili, Ph.D. (2019)

Hometown: Gori, The Republic of Georgia
Research Interests: Socio-cultural conceptualizations of psychological "disorders" and deviance among adolescents; social underpinnings of experiencing risk and engaging in risk taking and health-compromising behaviors; how family processes define life trajectories of internalizing and externalizing problems
Affiliation: Postdoc, Utah State University, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Logan, UT

Jakub Mikuška, Ph.D. (2019) 

Hometown: Bratislava, Slovakia 
Research Interests: Adolescent development, personality, video games, social media, cyberspace, research methods
Affiliation: Postdoc, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

Gabriela Ksinan Jiskrova, Ph.D. (2018) 

Hometown: Brno, Czech Republic
Research Interests: Identity development, minority group adolescents 
Affiliation: Postdoc, Faculty of Science, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

Albert J. Ksinan, Ph.D. (2018)

Hometown: Ostravice, Czech Republic
Research Interests: Structural equation modeling, personality, hierarchical linear modeling
Affiliation: Postdoc, Faculty of Science, Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

Charlene Harris, Ph.D. (2015) 

Hometown: Siparia, Trinidad and Tobago
Research Interests: Perceptions of mental health, youth violence and victimization, family/parent-child relationships, cultural and race relations on adolescent deviance and crime perpetration, adolescent sensation seeking and health risk behaviors
Affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD

Melissa J. Scarpate, Ph.D. (2015) 

Hometown: Midland City, Alabama 
Research Interests: Child and family well-being, strengthening families, quality pre-K programs, family processes, single-parent families, kinship support, child/adolescent developmental outcomes
Affiliation: Director, Research and Program Evaluation, Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education

Emily Kahumoku-Fessler, Ph.D. (2011)

Hometown: Enterprise, Alabama 
Research Interests: Sexuality, Body Image/Objectified Body Consciousness, Clinical Interventions for issues regarding sexuality, Adolescent Development
Affiliation: Assistant Professor, Associate Director of Marriage and Family Therapy Program, Chaminade University, Honolulu, HI

Dusty Jenkins, Ph.D. (2010)

Hometown: Baytown, Texas
Research Interests: Adolescent development, Adolescent sexual attitudes and behaviors, Dating relationships 
Affiliation: Professor, Department of Psychology, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX

Pan Chen, Ph.D. (2009) 

Hometown: Changsha, China
Research Interests: Adolescent development, deviant behaviors, the influence of the single-child policy on adolescent adjustment, cross-cultural perspectives, Chinese immigrants 
Affiliation: Director, Educational Outcomes, PeerVoice - Global Independent Medical Education

Li Huang, Ph.D. (2007)

Hometown: Yue Yang, China
Research Interests: Deviance, self-control, family processes, General Theory of Crime, cross-cultural/cross-national, adolescent problem behaviors
Affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Sociology and Philosophy, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL

Elizabeth M. Trejos, Ph.D. (2006)

Hometown: San José, Costa Rica
Research Interests: Family processes, immigrants, crime, adolescent adjustment problems, internalizing behaviors, cross-national/cross-cultural studies
Affiliation: Vice Provost International Affairs, C.R. Hutcheson Professor in Human Development & Family Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX

Lloyd E. Pickering, Ph.D. (2005) 

Hometown: Robbinsdale, Minnesota
Research Interests: Adolescence, family processes, deviant behavior, religiosity, parent-teen relationships
Affiliation: Consultant

Lara M. Belliston, Ph.D. (2004)

Hometown: Westminster, California
Research Interests: Adolescent Development, Program Evaluation, Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors, Family Processes, Theory and Research Methods
Affiliation: Lead of the State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup, Office of Prevention and Wellness, Ohio's Strategic Prevention Framework Partnership for Success, Columbus, OH

J. Blake Snider, Ph.D. (2002)

Hometown: Anniston, Alabama
Research Interests: Parenting, adolescence, religiosity, mentoring, transition to adulthood, attachment theory
Affiliation: Assistant Chair, Associate Professor, Department of Management, Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business, Clemson University, Clemson, SC