Research

 

My area of interest, broadly defined, is in the ways in which parents influence their children's peer relationships with a particular interest in fathers. My current research is focuses on these specific areas:

 

Family-peer linkages: I am particularly interested in the things that parents do to help or hinder children's relationships with peers. Specifically, I study parental instruction and parent-child interaction to determine the ways in which parents socialize their children to interact with others.

 

Emotional competence: Secondly, I am interested in the ways parents' and children's emotional responses are used in the service of establishing and maintaining peer interactions. My research has examined the types and amounts of various emotional displays and understanding of emotions as predictors of children's social competence. I am also interested in parental socialization of emotional responses.

 

Fathers: Finally, I am particularly interested in the ways fathers influence children's development. Most developmental work is conducted with mothers and when fathers are included it is often viewed as a "bonus." My current research is examining the specific behaviors and attitudes of fathers (and about fathers) as predictors of children's emotional and social development. This line of research also examines how perceptions of father involvement is related to actual behavior and child outcomes.

 

Recent Publications

 

• McDowell, D.J., Parke, R.D., & Wang, S.J. (2005). Differences between mothers' and fathers' advice giving style and content: Relations with social competence and psychosocial functioning in middle childhood. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 49, 55-76
• McDowell, D.J., & Parke, R.D. (2005). Parental control and affect as predictors of children's display rule use and social competence with peers.  Social Development, 14, 440-457
• Parke, R.D. & McDowell, D.J. (2002). Fatherhood. International, Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family Relationships. New York: Macmillan
• McDowell, D.J., Parke, R.D., & Spitzer, S. (2002). Parent and child cognitive representations of social situations and children's social competence. Social Development
• McDowell, D.J., Kim, M., O'Neil, R. & Parke, R.D. (2002). Children's emotional regulation and social competence in middle childhood: The role of maternal and paternal interactive style. Marriage and Family Review (Special Issue: Emotion and Families), 34, 345-364
• Parke, R.D., McDowell, D.J., Kim, M., Killian, C., Dennis, J., Flyr, M.L., & Wild, M.N. (2002). Father-child relationships and children's relationships with peers. In C.S. Tamis-LeMonda & N. Cabrera (Eds.), Handbook of Father Involvement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives (pp. 141-167). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

 

Recent Courses Taught

 

• PSY/CSP 171: Social and Emotional Development
• PSY/CSP 211: Intruduction to Statistics
• PSY/CSP 276: Psychology of Parenting

 

Current Graduate Students

 

• Sonnette Bascoe - 2nd year Project: TBD
• Jessamy Comer - 2nd year Project: TBD