Child Development Faculty Members

Dorothy Espelage (Child Development Chair)

The foci of my scholarship at UIUC have included investigations of several health-related behaviors, including bullying and youth aggression, disordered eating in adolescents and young adults, and psychosocial adjustment of families of children managing chronic illness. The majority of my energy is spent on my first two programs bullying during early adolescence and eating disorders. Within the last few years, both of these programs have evolved into the study of these health behaviors during early adolescence and both have included examination of the influences of the peer group on their maintenance. I also work with graduate students with research interests in childhood sexual abuse and dating violence. Click here to see my complete, updated research profile.

Michelle Perry

My research has focused on children's acquisition of knowledge, especially of the sort taught in schools (e.g., children's acquisition of mathematical concepts). My general area of interest is cognitive development and learning, especially in school-aged children. Currently, I am pursuing research that examines how different representations of mathematical information impact children's developing understanding of that information. My research examines the specific ways in which environmental and instructional features may influence children's learning and cognitive development. Click here to see my complete, updated research profile.

Philip Rodkin

I study how children at school get along with one another—the friendships and antipathies they form, the norms they promote and defy, the cultures they create—and focus on aggression and conflict, particularly how aggressive children are integrated into peer social life. My scholarship is framed by basic issues in children’s personality and social development and is directed towards critical educational concerns such as school violence reduction, the middle childhood origins of peer sexual harassment, and teacher education about children’s social dynamics. Click here to see my complete, updated research profile.

Brendesha Tynes

My current work explores adolescent narratives in an online forum designed to discuss racism. The data cover a three-year period and include discussions of participants' differences, similarities and how they have personally been affected by racism. Using content and discourse analysis, I examine participants' argumentation strategies and social reasoning. Future projects include studies of the psychological effects of experiencing racism online on African American and Latino adolescents and the use of educational interventions to combat racial prejudice on and offline. Click here to see my complete, updated research profile.