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Human Development and Family Studies
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The family is central to human development and family studies, as it is a primary context in which individual socialization and development take place. It is, perhaps, the principal medium through which culture, society, and social change affect the individual. And it is a social fact in itself that feeds back and can accelerate or mitigate changes occurring in broader society.

Graduate study at Penn State offers students a unique opportunity to develop the substantive, methodological, and theoretical skills necessary to study human families.

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Last Name
Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Summary Statement

Daily stress processes; adult development; family factors in mental health; work and family linkages; fatherhood; statistical techniques for measuring change.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Director, Child Maltreatment Solutions Network
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Edna Bennett Pierce Faculty Fellow in Prevention Research
Summary Statement

Research interests include family systems processes underlying adolescent development (substance use, problem behavior, emotional distress, positive well-being) and understanding change processes in family-centered preventive interventions.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Associate Professor of Psychology
Edna P. Bennett Faculty Fellow in Prevention Research
Summary Statement

Steffany Fredman studies the interpersonal context of mental health (PTSD and related conditions), couple-/family- based interventions designed to simultaneously enhance individual mental health and relational wellbeing, and couple and family adaptation to stress across the li

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Associate Teaching Professor of Social Work, World Campus Master of Social Work program
Summary Statement

Jayakody is the director of the online Master of Social Work program.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Assistant professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Ann Atherton Hertzler Early Career Professor in Health and Human Development
Summary Statement

Jones' work addresses the syndemic of substance use disorders, violence, sexual risk behaviors, and HIV/STIs, as well as evaluation of structural and behavioral interventions aimed at reducing substance use and associated harms.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
Summary Statement

Lynn Martire’s research aims to identify the ways in which close relationships in adulthood affect health and chronic illness management, and the effects of chronic illness on close relationships. Dr. Martire teaches HDFS 418 and 546 (Family Relationships).

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Distinguished Professor of HDFS
Professor of Psychology and Pediatrics
Department Head
Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS
Assistant professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Summary Statement

Dr. Tornello has three major research interests: Family, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The majority her work has focused on the role of family composition and parental sexual orientation and gender in the family system.

Department
  • Human Development and Family Studies - HDFS