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Shawn Whiteman, PhD

Shawn Whiteman

Assistant Professor of Family Studies
(Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University)

Research Interests
Sibling relationships, family relationship processes, child effects on family dynamics, family gender dynamics, family methods, middle childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood

Contact Information
Child Development and Family Studies Building, Room 216
Purdue University
101 Gates Road
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2020

Phone: (765) 494-3312
Fax: (765) 496-1144

E-mail: sdwhitem@purdue.edu


Biography
Refereed Publications
Education
Courses Recently Taught
Honors
External Grants
Professional Service

Biography

I came to Purdue in January of 2005, shortly after receiving my Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State in December of 2004. My research interests focus on family socialization processes and their connection to youth's social and emotional development during middle childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood.

Currently, my research examines how siblings directly and indirectly act as sources of social influence and social comparison within families and how their family experiences foster similarities and differences in their relationship qualities, attributes, and adjustment. For example, one project that I am currently working on the processes or ways in which adolescent brothers and sisters influence each other's health risk behaviors (e.g., alcohol and substance use). I am specifically interested in distinguishing between the processes that drive sibling similarities and differences in these domains as well identifying the contextual factors that moderate their operation.

A related, secondary research interest is the exploration of different research methodologies for studying families.

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Representative Publications (as of September 1, 2008):

Refereed Publications

Whiteman, S. D., & Mrozcek, D. (in press). A brief introduction to growth curve 

   models. Irish Journal of Psychology.

Whiteman, S. D., & Christiansen, A. E. (2008). Processes of sibling influence in

   adolescence: Individual and family correlates. Family Relations, 57, 24-34.

Whiteman, S. D., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2007). Competing processes of

   sibling influence: Observational learning and sibling deidentification.

   Social Development, 16, 642-661.

Whiteman, S. D., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2007). Explaining sibling similarities:

   Perceptions of sibling influences. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36, 963-972.

Whiteman, S. D., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2007). Longitudinal changes in

   marital relationships: The role of offspring's pubertal development. Journal of

   Marriage and Family, 69, 1005-1020.

McHale, S. M., Whiteman, S. D., Kim, J., & Crouter, A. C. (2007). Characteristics and

   correlates of sibling relationships in African American families. Journal of Family

   Psychology, 21, 227-235.

Crouter, A. C., Whiteman, S. D., McHale, S. M., & Osgood, D. W. (2007). The

   development of gender attitude traditionality across middle childhood and

   adolescence. Child Development, 78, 911-926.

Whiteman, S. D., & Loken, E. (2006). Comparing analytic techniques to classify

   dyadic relationships: An example using siblings. Journal of Marriage and Family,

   68, 1370-1382.

Updegraff, K. A., McHale, S. M., Whiteman, S. D., Thayer, S. M., & Crouter, A. C.

   (2006). The nature and correlates of Mexican American adolescents' time with

   parents and peers. Child Development, 77, 1470-1486.

Updegraff, K. A., McHale, S. M., Whiteman, S. D., Thayer, S. M., & Delgado, M. Y.

   (2005). Adolescent sibling relationships in Mexican American Families: Exploring the

   role of familism. Journal of Family Psychology, 19, 512-522.

Updegraff, K. A., Thayer, S. M., Whiteman, S. D., Denning, D., & McHale, S. M.

   (2005). Relational aggression in adolescents' sibling relationships: Links to sibling

   and parent-adolescent relationship quality. Family Relations, 54, 373-385.

McHale, S. M., Kim, J., Whiteman, S. D., & Crouter, A. C. (2004). Links between sex-

   typed time use in middle childhood and gender development in early adolescence.

   Developmental Psychology, 40, 868-881.

Whiteman, S. D., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2003). What parents learn from

   experience: The first child as a first draft? Journal of Marriage and Family, 65,

   608-621.

McHale, S. M., Crouter, A. C., & Whiteman, S. D. (2003). The family contexts of

   gender development in childhood and adolescence. Social Development, 12,

   125-148.

Whiteman, S. D., & Buchanan, C. M. (2002). Mothers' and children's expectations for

   adolescence: The impact of perceptions of an older sibling's experience. Journal of

   Family Psychology, 16, 157-171.

 

Book Chapters  

Fingerman, K. L., Whiteman, S. D., & Dotterer, A. M. (in press). Mother-child

   relationships in adolescence and adulthood. In H. T. Reis & S. K. Sprecher (Eds.),

   Encyclopedia of human relationships. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

McHale, S. M., Kim, J., & Whiteman, S. D. (2006). Sibling relationships in childhood

   and adolescence. In P. Noller &  J. A. Feeney (Eds.), Close relationships: Functions,

   forms and processes (pp. 127-150). New York, NY: Psychology Press.

Hawkins, D. N., & Whiteman, S. D. (2004). Balancing work and family: Problems and

   solutions for low-income families. In A. Booth and A. C. Crouter (Eds.) Work-family

   challenges for low-income parents and their children (pp. 273-286). Hillsdale, NJ:

   Erlbaum.

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Education

  • Ph.D., 2004, Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University
  • M.A., 2000, Psychology, Wake Forest University
  • B.A., 1998, Psychology, Shippensburg University

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Courses Recently Taught

CDFS 201: Introduction to Family Processes
CDFS 411: Adolescent Development
CDFS 600: Advanced Family Processes
CDFS 617: Advanced Research Methods for Child Development and Family Studies
CDFS 685R: Developmental and Family Studies Research Seminar

Honors

2003: Grace Henderson Fellowship, College of Health and Human Development, The Pennsylvania State University

2002: Fellow in the Center for Work and Family Research, The Pennsylvania State University

2000: Edward R. & Helen Skade Hintz Graduate Educational Enhancement Fellowship, The Pennsylvania State          University

1998: John J. Nispel Scholarship Honor Award, Shippensburg University

1998: Psychology Merit Award, Shippensburg University

1998: William H. Mackaness Psychology Award, Shippensburg University

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External Grants

2007-2008: Co-Investigator (Karen Fingerman, Principal Investigator). Supplement to the Psychology of Intergenerational Transfers Grant to Study Young Adult Siblings. MacArthur Network on Transitions to Adulthood (Frank Furstenberg, Network Chair), $71,454.  

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Professional Service

Editorial Board
2007-present: Family Relations
2007-present: Journal of Marriage and Family
2007-present: Journal of Research on Adolescence
2007-present: Journal of Youth and Adolescence

Ad hoc reviewer
Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, Family Relations, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Journal of Family Issues, Journal of Family Psychology, Journal of Marriage and Family, Journal of Personality, Journal of Research on Adolescence, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, Parenting, Personal Relationships

Reviewer for Conference Submissions
Society for Research on Adolescence (2006, 2008)
National Council on Family Relations (2002, 2003, 2007, 2008)

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Contact Information

Child Development and Family Studies
Purdue University
101 Gates Rd.
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2020

Phone: (765) 494-2932
Fax: (765) 496-1144
E-mail: cdfs@purdue.edu

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