Fellowships at the Center for Developmental Science

Current Postdoctoral Fellows

JENNIFER G. BOHANEK, Ph.D. in Cognition and Development from Emory University in 2006

Graduate mentor: Robyn Fivush, Ph.D.
CCHD mentors: Lynne Baker-Ward, Ph.D. and Patricia Bauer, Ph.D.

Research Interests:
Jennifer’s research as a graduate student at Emory University focused on the social-emotional factors that shape the development of autobiographical narratives in preadolescent children, adolescents, and adults, and in turn, how autobiographical narratives themselves contribute to social-emotional well-being. More specifically, her research addressed the differential socialization of positive and negative emotional events, and how narratives differing by emotional valence and intensity may be related to different aspects of well-being for children, adolescents, adults, and families. As a postdoctoral fellow, Jennifer will broaden her research to examine the origins of autobiographical memory in younger children (e.g. preschool-age), and also plans to investigate the role of both social-emotional and cognitive variables involved in this developmental process. Further, Jennifer will also take part in research examining autobiographical memories in other age groups (middle-childhood, adults) and across different types of emotional events, and how these may be related to various psychological outcomes.

Publications:
Fivush, R., Bohanek, J.G., Robertson, R., & Duke, M.P. (2004). Family narratives and the development of children’s emotional well-being. In M.W. Pratt and B.E. Fiese (Eds.), Family stories and the lifecourse: Across time and generations. (pp.55-76). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Bohanek, J.G., Fivush, R., & Walker, E. (2005). Memories of positive and negative emotional events. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19, 51-66.

Bohanek, J.G., Marin, K.A., Fivush, R., & Duke, M.P. (2006). Family narrative interaction and children’s sense of self. Family Process, 45, 39-54.

Bohanek, J.G., Marin, K.A., & Fivush, R. (in press). Family narratives, self, and gender in early adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence.

Duke, M.P., Fivush R., Lazarus, A., & Bohanek, J.G. (in press). Of ketchup and kin: Dinnertime conversations as a major source of family knowledge, family adjustment, and family resilience. To appear in B. Shore and M. Auslander (Eds.), Family Time. (also published as a working paper for the Emory Center for the study of Myth and Ritual in American Life).

Fivush, R., Bohanek. J.G., & Duke, M.P. (in press). The self in time: Subjective perspective and intergenerational history. To appear in F. Sani (Ed.), Continuity and self.

Fivush, R., Bohanek, J.G., Marin, K., & Sales, J.M. (in press). Emotional memory and memory for emotions. To appear in O. Luminet, A. Curci and M. Conway (Eds.), Flashbulb memories: New issues and new perspectives.

Marin, K.A., Bohanek, J.G., & Fivush, R. (in press). Positive effects of talking about the negative: Family narratives of negative experiences and preadolescents’ perceived competence. Journal of Research on Adolescence.

Manuscripts under review:
Bohanek, J.G., Fivush, R., Zaman, W., Thomas-Lepore, C.E., Merchant, S., & Duke, M.P. (submitted). Narrative interaction in family dinnertime conversations.

Fivush, R., Sales, J.M., & Bohanek, J.G. (submitted). Meaning-making in mothers’ and children’s narratives of emotional events.

Bohanek, J.G., & Fivush, R. (submitted). Do different narrative characteristics predict different outcomes? Relations between narrative structure, linguistic structure, narrative content, and psychological well-being across positive and negative emotional events.

Manuscripts in preparation:
Bohanek, J.G. & Fivush, R. Change in the content and structure of women’s narratives of emotional events over time predicts psychological outcomes.

Bohanek, J.G. & Fivush, R. Relations between narratives of positive and negative events and psychological outcomes in childhood.

Marin, K.A., Bohanek, J.G., McWilliams, K., & Fivush, R. Family reminiscing style in positive and negative shared experiences: Relations to child well-being.

AMY M. HEDRICK, Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Loyola University Chicago in December of 2006.

Graduate Mentor: Catherine Haden, Ph.D.
CCHD Mentors: Peter Ornstein, Ph.D. and Steve Reznick, Ph.D.

Research Interests:
Amy’s research interests focus on the social and individual child factors that play a role in learning and memory. During her graduate training, she was involved in a longitudinal exploration of changes in children’s deliberate and event memory skills over a span of four years. Her dissertation work then centered on experimentally investigating how verbal conversational exchanges influenced children’s abilities to recall specific information from novel events. While participating in the CCHD training program, Amy will continue to examine children’s developing memory skills and cognitive capabilities as she works on several existing projects with Drs. Ornstein and Reznick. She has also recently been involved with several collaborators to develop new experimental studies to further investigate the ways in which children’s participation in conversational exchanges with elaborative partners shape their abilities to retain specific event information. As her training progresses, Amy plans to continue investigating how children’s early experiences with various social partners link to their developing skills as they transition into school.

Publications:
Ornstein, P.A., Haden, C.A., & Hedrick, A.M. ( 2004). Learning to remember: Social-communicative exchanges and the development of children's memory skills. Developmental Review, 24, 374-395.

Manuscripts in Preparation:
Hedrick, A.M., SanSouci, P.P, Haden, C.A., & Ornstein, P.A. A longitudinal exploration of mother-child conversational exchanges as events unfold and children’s event memory.

Hedrick, A.M., Haden, C.A., & Ornstein, P.A. The influence of elaborative conversations during and after events on children's memory.

EMILY MESSERSMITH, Ph.D. in Education and Psychology from the
University of Michigan in 2007.

Graduate Mentors: Jacquelynne Eccles, Ph.D. and John Schulenberg, Ph.D.
CCHD Mentors: Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia, Ph.D. and Michael Shanahan, Ph.D.

Research Interests:
Emily is interested in the development of adolescents’ and young adults’ plans, goals, and choices, especially those regarding educational attainment and career development. Her dissertation focused on adolescents’ expectations for the amount of education they will complete, and how these expectations change during the transition to adulthood. Emily will continue to examine achievement-related motivation and behaviors during her postdoctoral fellowship at CCHD. Specifically, she will examine the congruence between educational and occupational goals, and the relation between achievement-related goal attainment and mental health during the transition to adulthood. She will also be contributing to a study of students’ situated motivation in science classes.

CHRISTINE VAUGHAN, Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Florida in 2006.

Graduate Mentor: William Sacco, Ph.D.
CCHD Mentor: Carolyn Tucker Halpern, Ph.D.

Research Interests:
Christine’s graduate research focused primarily on psychosocial factors implicated in the emergence of gender differences in depression during adolescence, with special attention paid to the role of heterosocial interactions and their effect on females’ mood states. She will continue this program of research at CDS under the supervision of Carolyn Halpern, Ph.D. Specifically, Christine will examine explanations for gender differences in depression using the Add Health dataset, with an eye towards elucidating the relationships among multiple contributing risk factors of a biological, psychological, and social nature. These factors include pubertal development, dating, sexual activity, the quality of the adolescent-parent relationship, peer relations, and weight concerns. Christine’s program of research also extends to the investigation of interpersonal antecedents and sequelae of depression.

Publications:
Sacco, W.P. & Vaughan, C.A. (2006). Depression and the response of others: A social-cognitive interpersonal process model. In T.E. Joiner, J.S. Brown, & J. Kistner (Eds.), The interpersonal, cognitive, and social nature of depression (pp. 101-132). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Sacco, W.P., Wells, K.J., Friedman, A., Matthew, R., Perez, S., & Vaughan, C.A. (in press). Adherence, BMI, and depression in adults with type 2 diabetes: The mediational role of diabetes symptoms and self-efficacy. Health Psychology.

Sacco, W.P., Wells, K.J., Vaughan, C.A., Friedman, A., Perez, S., & Morales, R. (2005). Depression in adults with type 2 diabetes: The role of adherence, body mass index, and self-efficacy. Health Psychology, 24, 630-634.

Tenzer, S.A., Murray, D.W., Vaughan, C.A., & Sacco, W.P. (2006). Maternal depressive symptoms, relationship satisfaction, and verbal behavior: A social-cognitive analysis. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 23, 131-149.

Manuscripts under review:
Racial/ethnic differences in body mass index: A sociocultural perspective. Vaughan, C.A., Sacco, W.P., & Beckstead, J.W. Gender differences in depression during early adolescence: A biopsychosocial perspective. Vaughan, C.A., & Halpern, C.T.

Manuscripts in preparation:
Development and validation of the Perceived Romantic Appeal of Thinness Scale (PRATS). Vaughan, C.A., Sacco, W.P., & Beckstead, J.W. Self-objectification and emotional reactions in the context of mixed-sex interactions. Vaughan, C.A., & Sacco, W.P.

DAWN WITHERSPOON, Ph.D. in Community Psychology from New York University in January 2007

Graduate Mentor: Diane Hughes, Ph.D.
CCHD Mentors: Nancy Hill, Ph.D. and Linda Burton, Ph.D.

Research Interests:
Dawn’s research interests focus on how contextual factors affect adolescent academic, psycho-social, and behavioral well-being. During her graduate training, she was involved with the Early Adolescent Cohort Project RAP of the Center for Research on Culture, Development, and Education which entails a longitudinal exploration of individual and contextual factors related to academic achievement, motivation, and beliefs for urban ethnically diverse youth. Her dissertation work focused on positive neighborhood characteristics (i.e., collective efficacy and connection) as potential protective factors for urban adolescent well-being. Specifically, Dawn explored how these positive neighborhood characteristics might compensate for or buffer the effects of neighborhood stressors (i.e., neighborhood disadvantage, violence, and crime) on adolescent well-being. While participating in the CCHD training program, Dawn will continue to examine these relationships in rural and suburban samples of adolescents and young children using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Additionally, Dawn will explore these relationships longitudinally to determine how adolescents’ perceptions of neighborhoods change over time using several existing projects of Drs. Hill, Burton, and Ennett. She also hopes that these empirical investigations will have implications for community-based interventions which seek to enhance the lives of youth living in stressful environments.

Publications:
Schotland, M., & Witherspoon, D. (2005). Social support systems of urban
adolescents. In C. Fisher & R. Lerner (Eds). Encyclopedia of Applied
Developmental Science Vol. 2 (pp. 1027-1029). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Hughes, D., Witherspoon, D., & Rivas, D. (under review). Received
ethnic/racial socialization messages and youth’s academic and behavioral
outcomes: Examining the mediating role of ethnic identity and self-esteem.

Witherspoon, D., Schotland, M., Way, N., & Hughes, D. (under review). Urban
youths’ cumulative connection to family, school, and neighborhood contexts.

Manuscripts in preparation:
Becker, B., & Witherspoon. (in preparation).  Cross-ethnic friendship
formation in school and neighborhood contexts: A study of African American,
Puerto Rican, Dominican, Chinese, and White adolescents

Witherspoon, D. P. (in preparation). Modeling the structure of family, peer,
and school microsystems of social support over time among low-income urban
adolescents.