Category: Faculty Partner Research

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.

Arielle Borovsky – A study comparing children with developmental language disorder and typically developing peers found that difficulties in sentence prediction stem from both vocabulary knowledge and online processing abilities. Children with DLD showed weaker lexicosemantic knowledge and additional challenges in sustaining predictions over time, highlighting the combined role of language and cognitive processing in early language development.

Kim Updegraff – A study of Latino children found that daily experiences of sibling relational aggression were associated with poorer mood, more physical health symptoms and, in some cases, more negative peer relationships. The findings highlight the important role sibling relationships play in children’s overall well-being and development.

Libby Richards – A longitudinal study of older adults found that strained relationships with close others were consistently linked to higher risk of physical, psychological and financial elder mistreatment. Social engagement was not a significant predictor, highlighting relationship quality as a more important factor in understanding and preventing elder mistreatment.

Kim Updegraff – A family-focused prevention program designed to strengthen sibling relationships and parenting in Latino families showed high levels of participation, attendance, and satisfaction among both caregivers and children. The study also found that cultural and family factors such as familism values, ethnic socialization, and cultural orientation influenced engagement, expectations, and overall program experiences.

Ximena Arriaga – Individuals experiencing partner abuse often face psychological conflict between maintaining attachment and ensuring personal safety. This work explores how abusive dynamics can foster self-doubt and dependency, leading individuals to reinterpret or minimize harmful behavior as a coping mechanism. The framework highlights how these cognitive responses can contribute to psychological entrapment and informs approaches for more effective support and intervention.