Department of psychology

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Kathryn A. Kerns, Ph.D.

Education: Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook (1987)

Research Interests

I am interested in children's attachments to parents during middle childhood. Recent studies have examined:
1) the validity of interview and questionnaire measures of attachment
2) how attachment is related to children's social and emotional development
3) normative changes in attachment during middle childhood

Courses Frequently Taught

• Social Development (undergraduate)
• Social Development (graduate)
• Developmental Psychology (graduate)
  

Recent Publications

Weimer, B. L. , Kerns, K. A., & Oldenburg, C. M. (2004). Adolescents' interactions with a best friend: Associations with attachment stye. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88, 102 - 120.

Kerns, K. A., Schlegelmilch, A., Morgan, T. A., & Abraham, M. M. (2005). Assessing attachment in middle childhood. In K. A. Kerns and R. A. Richardson (Eds.), Attachment in Middle Childhood (pp. 46 - 70). N.Y.: Guilford.

Kerns, K. A., & Richardson, R. A. Eds.) (2005). Attachment in Middle Childhood. N.Y.: Guilford.

Gentzler, A. L., Contreras, J. M., Kerns, K. A., & Weimer, B. L. (2005). Parent-child emotional communication and children's coping in middle childhood. Social Development, 14, 591-612.

Kerns, K. A., Tomich, P. L., & Kim, P. (2006). Normative trends in children's perceptions of availability and utilization of attachment figures in middle childhood. Social Development, 15, 1-22.