Skip to main content
home
Departments/Centers
caret-down
caret-up
Faculty/Staff Resources
caret-down
caret-up
Contacts/Directory
caret-down
caret-up
times-circle
Search search
Mobile Search:
Students working on a research study to track facial gestures.

The world-class faculty in Penn State’s Human Development and Family Studies Department actively engage in cutting-edge research that expands the body of knowledge in our field, while also acting as mentors to our graduate students.

In keeping with our innovative and interdisciplinary mission in Human Development and Family Studies, the research possibilities here are extensive and diverse, covering domains such as adjustment among ethnic minority youth, development of risky behaviors in childhood and adolescence, infant sleep patterns and behaviors, gender socialization, preventing illness and criminal behavior — and much more.  To see what kind of research faculty and students are presenting at various research conferences this year click here.

 

Find

Last Name
Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Summary Statement

Daily stress processes; adult development; family factors in mental health; work and family linkages; fatherhood; statistical techniques for measuring change.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate teaching professor of social work
Field education director, World Campus Master of Social Work program
Summary Statement

James Andrews is responsible for field education in Human Development and Family Studies and the World Campus Master of Social Work program. He also teaches courses in ethics, clinical practice and policy.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Karl R. and Diane Wendle Fink Early Career Professor for the Study of Families
Summary Statement

Sunhye Bai researches daily family processes that shape adolescent development, with a focus on family-based risk and protective factors for youth internalizing problems.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
ICDS Faculty Co-Hire
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Director, Quantitative Developmental Systems Methodology Core
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Professor-in-Charge, Undergraduate Programs
Summary Statement

Bo Cleveland studies individual differences in substance use and misuse as well as how individuals’ characteristics modify the impact of experiences on substance use and addictive behaviors. His work focuses on person-context and person-experience interactions.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family
Director, Child Maltreatment Solutions Network
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, and Public Policy
Director of the Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative
Summary Statement

Max Crowley is a prevention scientist investigating how to optimize investments in healthy development—with a focus on preventive strategies to reduce substance misuse and delinquent behavior.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Research Professor, Director of the Program for Translational Research on Adversity and Neurodevelopment, and President of the National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Associate Director of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center
Summary Statement

Research interests include family systems processes underlying adolescent development (substance use, problem behavior, emotional distress, positive well-being) and understanding change processes in family-centered preventive interventions.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies

Summary Statement

Steffany Fredman researches the interpersonal context of mental health (PTSD and related conditions), couples’ adaptation to stress, and couple-based interventions to enhance individual, couple, and family well-being. 

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Professor-in-Charge, Graduate Program
Co-Director, Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition (CBBC)
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Summary Statement

Michael Hunter's research interests lie at the intersection of human development, mathematical modeling, and statistical computing.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies and Sociology
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Assistant professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Ann Atherton Hertzler Early Career Professor in Health and Human Development
Summary Statement

Jones' work addresses the syndemic of substance use disorders, violence, sexual risk behaviors, and HIV/STIs, as well as evaluation of structural and behavioral interventions aimed at reducing substance use and associated harms.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Edna Bennet Pierce Professor of Compassion and Caring
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
Summary Statement

Lynn Martire’s research aims to identify the ways in which close relationships in adulthood affect health and chronic illness management, and the effects of chronic illness on close relationships. Dr. Martire teaches HDFS 418 and 546 (Family Relationships).

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Director, Center for Safe and Healthy Children
Ken Young Family Professor for Healthy Children
Principal Investigator NICHD P50 Capstone Center for Healthy Children
Summary Statement

Jennie Noll studies the bio-psycho-social consequences of child maltreatment including sexual abuse, the biological embedding of early-life stress, cognitive development of stress-exposed populations, pathways to teen pregnancy for females exposed to trauma, and more. 

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
ICDS Faculty Co-Hire
Summary Statement

Zita Oravecz's research work has been focused on developing and disseminating innovative computational and statistical techniques for addressing questions related to emotional and cognitive functioning and development.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Bennett Pierce Professor of Caring and Compassion and Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Summary Statement

Dr. Rulison's work focuses on how peer networks shape substance use and related health-risk behaviors and how program developers can build more potent interventions and promote the diffusion of intervention effects.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Director, Center for Healthy Aging
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Distinguished Professor of HDFS
Professor of Psychology and Pediatrics
Department Head
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Assistant professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Summary Statement

Dr. Tornello has three major research interests: Family, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The majority her work has focused on the role of family composition and parental sexual orientation and gender in the family system.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS