Research

 

My research examines a range of issues related to children's social-emotional and social-cognitive development.

 

My current research focuses on three areas:

(a) adolescent-parent relationships and adolescent development in different cultural contexts. We are currently conducting several studies of disclosure, nondisclosure, and secrecy in adolescent-parent relationships. This includes a daily diary study of Latino, African-American, and European-American high school students, as well as a multi-ethnic survey study. We have recently completed a five-year longitudinal study of middle-class African American families with adolescents. We are also conducting a study of selfishness and selflessness in adolescent-parent relationships;

(b) the development of young children's moral and social knowledge, including the development of and conceptual distinctions between children's understanding of moral and social- conventional rules and transgressions, relationships among social knowledge, affect, and behavior, and contextual influences on social and moral judgments; and

(c) parents' parenting beliefs and their relationships to parenting practices and child outcomes.

 

For more detail, please visit the Social Development and Family Processes Research Group website.

 

For more information, please visit Dr. Smetana's faculty page in the Developmental Program area.

 

Recent Publications

 

• Smetana, J. G., Metzger, A., Gettman, D. C., & Campione-Barr, N. (2006). Disclosure and secrecy in adolescent-parent relationships. Child Development, 77, 201-217.
• Smetana, J. G., Campione-Barr, N., & Metzger, A. (2006).  Adolescent development in interpersonal and societal contexts.  In Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 57 (pp. 255-284). Palo Alto CA:  Annual Review Press.
• Killen, M., & Smetana, J. G. (Eds.). (2006). Handbook of Moral Development. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
• Smetana, J. G. (2006). Social domain theory: Consistencies and variations in children's moral and social judgments. In M. Killen & J. G. Smetana (Eds.), Handbook of Moral Development (pp. 119-154).  Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
• Smetana, J. G. (Ed., 2005), Changing Conceptions of Parental Authority: New Directions for Child Development, San Francisco; Jossey-Bass.
• Smetana, J. G. (2005). Adolescent-parent conflict: Resistance and subversion as developmental process.  In L. Nucci (Ed). Resistance, subversion, and subordination in moral development (pp. 69-91). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
• Daddis, C., & Smetana J. G. (2005). Middle class African American families' expectations for adolescents' behavioral autonomy. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 29, 371-381.
• Smetana, J. G., Campione-Barr, N., & Daddis, C. (2004). Developmental and longitudinal antecedents of family decision-making: Defining health behavioral autonomy for African American adolescents. Child Development, 75, 1418-1434.
• Campion-Barr, N., & Smetana, J. G. (2004). In the eye of the beholder: Subjective and observer ratings of middle class African American mother-adolescent interactions. Developmental Psychology, 40, 927-934.
• Smetana, J. G., Metzger, A., & Campione-Barr, N. (2004). African American adolescents' relationships with parents: Developmental transitions and longitudinal patterns. Child Development, 75, 932-947.
• Smetana, J. G. & Turiel, E. (2003). Morality during adolescence. In G. R. Adams & M. Berzonsky (Eds.), The Blackwell Handbook of Adolescence (pp. 247-268). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
• Yau, J., & Smetana, J. G. (2003). Conceptions of moral, social-conventional, and personal events among Chinese preschoolers in Hong Kong. Child Development, 74, 647-658.
• Smetana, J. G. (2002). Culture, autonomy, and personal jurisdiction in adolescent-parent relationships. In H. W. Reese and R. Kail (Eds.), Advances in Child Development and Behavior, Vol. 29 (pp. 51-87). New York: Academic Press.

 

Current and Recent Graduate Students

 

• Marc Jambon, Ph.D. Student

• Marina Tasopoulos
  2nd Year Project: Happy, sad & mad:  The link between family discussions about emotions and child social competence
• Myriam Villalobos
  2nd Year Project:  Latino values and adolescent-parent relationships: The influence of familism and respeto on adolescent disclosure, lying, and conflict with parents
• Wendy Weinerman, Ph.D. Student
• Aaron Metzger, Ph.D. (2007)
  Ph.D. Dissertation:  Domain-specific judgments of civic and political engagement in late adolescence:  Associations with adolescent activity involvement
  

• Nicole Campione-Barr, Ph.D. (2006)
  Ph.D. Dissertation: The Impact of Sibling Relationships on Parent-Adolescent Relationships and Adolescent Autonomy Development
• Christopher Daddis, Ph.D. (2004)
  Ph.D Dissertation: Close Friendships and the Expanding Boundaries of the Personal Domain during Early and Middle Adolescence
• Joanne Stevens, Ph.D. (2002)
  Ph.D Dissertation: Conceptions of romantic relationships in poor, pregnant African American adolescents

 

Recent Courses Taught

 

• CSP 278 - Adolescent Development
• CSP 569 - Developmental Theory and Research
• CSP 583 - Moral Development

 

Grants

 

Disclosure, Nondisclosure, and Secrecy in Adolescent-Parent Relationships. Grant funded by the National Science Foundation.

Judith Smetana, Principal Investigator

September 1, 2005 - August 31, 2008

 

Selfishness and Selflessness in Adolescent-Parent Relationships. Grant funded by the Fetzer Institute and Institute for Research on Unlimited Love.

Judith Smetana, Principal Investigator

September 1, 2004 – January 31, 2006

 

Recent Honors and Distinctions

 

Secretary. Society for Research in Child Development, 2003-2009

 

Associate Editor, Child Development, 1998-2004

 

Current Editorial Boards:

• Child Development
• Parenting:  Science & Practice
• Social Development

 

Previous Editorial Boards (past 5 years):

• Child Development
• Developmental Psychology
• Human Development
• Journal of Adolescent Research