Research interests in the lab involve understanding how context shapes adolescents’ development and how race, ethnicity, and other cultural attributes interact with contextual characteristics to influence adolescent outcomes. Past projects in the lab (FAN-C: Families, Adolescents, and Neighborhoods in Context; PLACES/LUGARES) have explored the roles of different contexts such as residential neighborhood, school, family, etc. on African American and Latino adolescent’s academic outcomes, beliefs, and behavior. Our current projects are PARADE explores family, peer, and neighborhood influences on youth behaviors, and a qualitative data analysis project analyzing parent and youth focus groups for major themes. Other lab projects led by Dr. Witherspoon and graduate students  are available to join.

Opportunities for undergraduates in this lab include assisting with data collection (e.g., preparing research materials, interacting with adolescents, entering and coding data) and analysis (e.g., running descriptive statistics and simple analyses, preparing data manuals, conducting literature searches, and completing annotated bibliographies). Students are also trained in working with qualitative data – a unique experience in the Psych department at Penn State! Other lab tasks may be assigned as needed. Publication and honors thesis research possibilities exist.