Our research is interdisciplinary and draws on theories and methods from human development and family science, developmental science, socio-cultural ecological perspectives, sociology, social network science, and behavioral endocrinology. We use longitudinal research designs, social network analysis, and advanced statistical modeling approaches to understand how social dynamics shape developmental, psychosocial, and bio-behavioral outcomes in adolescence and young adulthood. We pursue the following research lines in the lab:
Research Line 1: How do peer networks promote social identity development among ethnically diverse and immigrant youth?
Developmental theories suggest multiple mechanisms through which peers influence social identity development (i.e., gender, ethnic-racial, national, bicultural), with a common theme suggesting that these identities develop through a dialectical process of youth making sense of their social group membership in light of experiences with peers. Whereas these theories presuppose dynamic processes of development, empirical work has relied on the static or oversimplifying depiction of the peer context (e.g., group composition). Our work has advanced this research through the introduction of longitudinal social network analysis (SNA) methods. This research has shown that youth befriend one another based on similar levels of ethnic-racial and national identity developmental components (i.e., exploration and resolution), and, over time, they influence each other to become similar on these dimensions of social identities.
Research Line 2: How do peer networks shape and transmit the benefits and challenges of intergroup relationships (i.e., across race, ethnicity, and immigrant status) for adolescent development?
Our ongoing research focuses on using SNA methods to elucidate how peer network dynamics promote and interfere with the development of ethnically and racially diverse youth. Cross-racial and cross-ethnic peer relations contain both opportunities and challenges for adolescent development. Because peer relationships can serve promotive, protective, and detrimental functions, SNA methods enable a nuanced look at relational mechanisms operating in diverse peer networks and shaping youth outcomes. This work focuses on the impact of ethnic-racial discrimination on peer network dynamics, ethnic harassment and defending behaviors in networks, as well as interactions between friendship and rejection networks.
Research Line 3: How do psychosocial interventions affect changes in structure and dynamics of adolescent peer networks?
Our ongoing research uses SNA methods to examine impact of psycho-social interventions on structure and dynamics of adolescent peer networks. Through a combination of randomized control trial, SNA and longitudinal research design methods, we are now testing whether these intervention programs, which are effective at improving outcomes at the level of an individual, lead to an improvement in peer network structure and dynamics. Answering these questions will provide further insight into impact of psychosocial interventions and inform strategies and tactics for promoting positive youth development, health, and wellbeing.
Research Line 4: How do in-person peer networks interact with and inform social media behaviors in adolescence?
Social media is an integral part of adolescents’ daily lives and is a vital digital context where they develop and connect with their peers. Peer connections in both in-person and digital contexts play an important role in adolescent development because they provide support, promote social belonging, and inform norms and behaviors. Currently, we have a limited understanding of friends’ roles in establishing norms, attitudes, and behaviors related to social media. Our ongoing collaborative research efforts seek to identify how in-person friendship networks are associated with several digital behaviors, including social media addiction, digital status-seeking, and digital distress. Understanding these processes is critical because in-person friends can perpetuate, amplify, and reduce digital behaviors and distress, and digital experiences can feed back into and alter the dynamics of in-person peer relationships.
Research Line 5: How do peer networks promote, protect, and interfere with adolescent and young adult psychological adjustment and health?
Guided by developmental theories, we seek to understand how peer social networks promote, protect, and interfere with psychological adjustment and health. We are particularly interested in understanding how individuals create their networks, how peer influence operates in networks, and the costs and benefits of social networks for a developing individual. We aim to uncover multiple —and at times conflicting— functions that peer networks play in adolescent and young adult development and health. For instance, for adolescents, friendship networks can simultaneously provide support and opportunities to practice social skills and explore and develop their identity. At the same time, peer networks can be a source of interpersonal stress and a vehicle for spreading harmful rumors, attitudes, and health-risk behaviors. Our research has focused on understanding how these processes occur in peer networks and predict psychological adjustment (i.e., internalizing and externalizing behaviors, loneliness).