Our lab aims to understand how children, adolescents, and emerging adults relate to one another, decide they like (or dislike) one another, and form lasting friendships, as well as what the longer term effects of peer relationships may be on adjustment. We are also interested in why some youth have trouble with peers and how to develop better interventions to help these youth.

Some of the research focuses on youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) because this disorder is quite common, and many youth with ADHD experience difficulties getting along with peers, socially interacting, and making and keeping friends. Some of the reasons for this may be due to stigma, while other reasons may be due to the core features of the disorder. Other research in this lab concerns how typical youth interact with peers, and this is because peer relationships are important for everyone! Our research mainly involves children (ages 6-11), but some studies investigate how adolescents and emerging adults form social bonds, particularly in the digital world such as on social media or through video games. (With covid-19, the digital world seems to get more and more relevant, doesn’t it?)

Interested in participating in our research studies? Learn more under For Families. Think you might want to join the lab for graduate school or as an undergraduate research assistant? Go to Prospective Students. Thanks for visiting and we hope to hear from you!