Category: Faculty Partner Research

Ellen Ernst Kossek – A new Pew Research Center survey shows most working parents find it difficult to balance job responsibilities and family life, with many handling parenting tasks during work hours and work duties at home. Mothers report greater challenges than fathers as work-life boundaries continue to blur.

Nasreen Lalani – New research highlights the challenges of recruiting Black/African American women with advanced breast and gynecological cancers into research studies. Findings show that trust, community partnerships and relationship-centered recruitment strategies are essential for overcoming structural barriers and advancing equitable cancer research.

Sarah Eason – Research brief examines how integrating Science of Reading principles into early mathematics instruction can strengthen children’s learning across both domains. It highlights the role of vocabulary development, oral language, and structured discussion in supporting mathematical reasoning, communication, and word-problem solving. The brief also outlines practical strategies for embedding literacy-rich practices into early math instruction and teacher preparation programs.

A.J. Schwichtenberg – Neurodivergent children experience higher rates of sleep difficulties than their peers. This narrative review examines behavioral sleep interventions developed over the past five years and highlights their impact on sleep health, daytime functioning, and family well-being.

Christie Sennott – A qualitative study of college women explores how parental communication styles about sexual and reproductive health during adolescence influence contraceptive behaviors in emerging adulthood. Findings show that open communication and access to contraception are associated with more effective contraceptive use, while avoidance is linked to higher rates of unprotected sex and reliance on less effective methods.

David Purpura – As research on early mathematics continues to grow, a new review proposes a framework for defining and organizing the skills children develop before kindergarten. The authors identify numeracy, geometry, measurement and patterning as core domains of early mathematics and call for greater consistency in terminology to strengthen research, practice and policy.

Kristine Marceau – Adolescents with a higher proportion of other-sex close friends tended to report greater alcohol involvement, but a new longitudinal study found no evidence that changes in friendship composition directly led to changes in alcohol use over time. The findings suggest that the relationship between other-sex friendships and alcohol use reflects broader differences between adolescents rather than a reciprocal influence process.

Chris Agnew – New scholarship examines how and why people move into and out of singlehood, highlighting the personal, relational and societal factors that shape these transitions. The work also explores how changes in relationship status influence identity, well-being and social relationships.

Sarah Eason – A new study examines what parents of pre-K children want to hear from educators and how communication practices align with those expectations. Findings suggest that parents value regular updates about their children’s social-emotional and behavioral development, while educators generally meet families’ communication needs and play an important role in strengthening family-school partnerships.

Leigha MacNeill – A new study strengthens an early childhood mental health risk calculator designed to identify young children who may be at risk for later mental health challenges. Findings show that including child strengths, such as social competence, and parenting strengths can improve prediction, supporting more equitable and strengths-based approaches to early screening and intervention.