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Recognizing Austin's Early Childhood Leaders

Recognizing Austin's Early Childhood Leaders

Community members from the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences and the Priscilla Pond Flawn Child and Family Lab School have been recognized for their important work in the community by the Austin Association for the Education of Young Children.

Risks of Harm from Spanking Confirmed by Analysis of Five Decades of Research

The more children are spanked, the more likely they are to defy their parents and to experience increased anti-social behavior, aggression, mental health problems and cognitive difficulties, according to a new meta-analysis of 50 years of research on spanking by experts at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Michigan. T​he study, published in this month's Journal of...
Data About LGBT Students Could Help Address Harassment and Bullying

Data About LGBT Students Could Help Address Harassment and Bullying

​Collecting data about school discipline encounters involving LGBT students could help policymakers and educators create a safe learning environment for LGBT teens, suggests a new research brief co-authored by Stephen Russell, Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences at UT Austin, in collaboration with the Equity Project at Indiana University. ​ The paper discusses the necessity of data about issues on campus like disciplinary measures against and bullying of...

Dr. Fatima Varner Joins HDFS Faculty

Dr. Fatima Varner joined the faculty of the Human Development and Family Sciences department in January 2016 as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Varner is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Ph.D. program in Human Development and Social Policy, and she received her bachelor’s degree from North Carolina State University. She also was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for the Study...

Policies on Sexual Orientation Pay Off for Schools

It is now well-known that LGBTQ students often have a hard time in school, including feeling unsafe and being bullied, and those experiences are strongly linked to academic, mental health, and other problems for LGBTQ youth. For over a decade now, schools have been trying strategies to create safer schools for LGBTQ and all students. It’s been more than 15 years...
Featured Publications - Fall 2015

Featured Publications - Fall 2015

The following highlight the exciting research being conducted by faculty and students in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin.   Benner, A.D. & Wang, Y. (2015). Adolescent substance use: The role of demographic marginalization and socioemotional distress. Developmental Psychology, 51, 1086-1097. Adolescents who were racially/ethnically marginalized at school (i.e., who had less...

Mixing Ages in Head Start Stunts Academic Progress

Four-year-olds in the nation’s largest preschool program fare worse with 3-year-olds in their classrooms, according to new research that shows a common practice in most Head Start programs may stunt children’s learning. Three-fourths of Head Start classes teach 3- and 4-year-old children together, but a new study, led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, found that older children...

Seniors' Social Lives and Health

Dr. Karen Fingerman, professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, has recently been awarded a $2.4 million grant over the next five years from the National Institute on Agingto study how social interactions improve the health of older adults. Participants will use wearable electronic devices and cellphone apps to monitor their physical activity and social interactions in real...
Dr. Stephen Russell Joins HDFS Faculty

Dr. Stephen Russell Joins HDFS Faculty

Dr. Stephen Russell joined the faculty in Human Development in Family Sciences in the summer of 2015 as the Priscilla Pond Flawn Regents Professor of Child Development. Dr. Russell completed his Ph.D. in sociology at Duke University with a concentration in life course studies and demography. After a postdoctoral fellow position at UNC-Chapel Hill, he served as a faculty member at...
Relationships are Key to Health across the Lifespan

Relationships are Key to Health across the Lifespan

A wealth of research indicates that maintaining a satisfying romantic relationship is critical for one’s mental and physical well-being. For instance, individuals who have a supportive relationship partner report higher self-esteem, greater self-efficacy, and lower levels of psychological distress and depression. Likewise, the quality of one’s romantic relationship is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular health, immune functioning, and even mortality risk....
Exploring Schools, Peers, and Prejudice in Adolescence

Exploring Schools, Peers, and Prejudice in Adolescence

Adolescents spend a great deal of time at school, an institution that serves as the central site of peer relations in addition to its central mission of promoting teaching and learning. For this reason, the general social climate of schools (what is going on among students at the school, how students feel in the school) matters for the well-being of young...
Material and Emotional Support across Generations

Material and Emotional Support across Generations

Young people today face an array of hurdles finding work and settling into permanent relationships. Parents are a mainstay of support in helping young adults make these transitions successfully. Economic disparities are at a peak in the U.S., and families may transmit and exacerbate those disparities if parents from different economic backgrounds provide differing levels of support. Indeed, new research by...
Good Mothers Provide Foundations for Future

Good Mothers Provide Foundations for Future

by Deborah Jacobvitz, Professor and Chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences  

This past Sunday was a celebration of all things motherhood, and rightfully so because research is showing just how important mothers truly are.

As the chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, I along with my colleagues have followed parents as they have raised their children. We observed family functioning as children matured from infancy through adolescence. Decades of research have pointed to one important conclusion: The quality of parenting a child receives from his or her mother affects how well he or she is prepared to be a parent.