Diversity is an integral part of all societies and groups. Scholars from different theoretical perspectives and interests investigate variability and similarities across groups in developmental and family outcomes in several domains. Research focuses on the processes linked to group (e.g., culture, social class) variation and commonalty. Examples of research areas include child-parent relationships and parenting practices across cultures, preschoolers' perceptions and interactions with children with disabilities, children's perceptions of conflict in varying political settings, and pathways to literacy readiness across culturally, socially, and economically diverse groups.

Faculty Research

• Karen Diamond
  While it is increasingly common for young children with disabilities to participate in preschool with typically developing peers, children with disabilities have fewer opportunities for social interactions with peers. Dr. Diamond's research focuses on typically developing children's ideas about age-mates with disabilities and influences on children's decisions to include a peer with a disability in play.
• Aryn Dotterer
  Dr. Dotterer is interested in child development and parent-child relationships among low-income and ethnic minority families. Her work examines racial, gender, and achievement socialization in African American families; relations between discrimination at school and school engagement among African American and Latino adolescents; and parenting practices and school readiness among African American, Latino, and European American children.
• Doran French
  
• Judy Myers-Walls
  Dr. Myers-Walls' work has included populations from Serbia, Korea, the Philippines, and multiple cultural groups in the U.S. Publications and training programs have focused on the cultural context of parenting and of family life education, and study-abroad programs have allowed students to experience Indian culture in depth.
• Germán Posada
  Attachment theory suggests that attachment relationships is a universal phenomenon that is sensitive to context. Dr Posada's research investigates central propositions of the theory through studies that include cross-cultural, cross-ethnic, and cross-SES explorations and comparisons to test the generality and specificity of attachment relationships processes.
• Seung-Hee Son
  Dr. Son's research tries to find ways to disentangle a complex web of sociocultural and maturational factors on child development, by comparing low-income, Asian, and Latin-American children's experiences in home and school.