Lab Director
Kenneth H. Rubin (B.A., McGill University; Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University) is Professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology and Founding Director, Center for Children, Relationships, and Culture at the University of Maryland. Rubin’s research interests are focused on such topics as social, emotional, and personality development; social cognition; play; aggression; social withdrawal/behavioral inhibition/shyness; peer relationships and friendship; parenting and parent-child relationships; and cross-cultural studies. Many of his over 300 peer-reviewed publications have been co-authored by colleagues on five continents.
Rubin has received continuous funding during his career from NIH and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. He has been a member of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study section on Human Development and Aging as well as the National Institute of Mental Health’s study section on Risk and Prevention.
Rubin was the elected President of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development (1998-2002), an elected member of the Society for Research in Child Development Governing Council (2009-2015), and an elected member of the American Psychological Association, Developmental Psychology Division Executive Board (1987-1990). He served as Associate Editor of Child Development (1981-1984; 1998-2001).
Rubin is a Fellow of the American and Canadian Psychological Associations, the Association of Psychological Science, and the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development. Among his honors are the Society for Research in Child Development Award for distinguished Contributions to Understanding International, Cultural and Contextual Diversity in Child Development; the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Research and Theory in Behavioral Development; the Developmental Psychology Mentor Award of the American Psychological Association; the Pickering Award for Outstanding Contribution to Developmental Psychology in Canada; and the Killam Research Fellowship (Canada Council).
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Phone: (301) 405-5194
Email: krubin@umd.edu
Lab Staff
Lindsay Druskin is the LSCFR’s lab manager and the project coordinator for the Preschool Shyness Study. She recently graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Human Development. Broadly, her research interests include child psychopathology, parenting, and the influence of early experiences on later mental health outcomes. As an undergraduate, Lindsay completed a thesis on the impact that adolescent friendship quality has on the relationship between mother- and father-child attachment and internalizing symptoms. Lindsay hopes to attend graduate school.
Email: ldruskin@umd.edu
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Email: ldruskin@umd.edu
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Graduate Students
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Matthew Barstead is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Human Development and Quantiative Methodology at the University of Maryland. To date, much of his work has focused on identifying individual and contextual factors that serve to maintain and exacerbate maladaptive social and emotional development, with a primary focus on anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal. Recently, his research has grown to include the measurement of autonomic dysregulation as a biomarker of deficient self-regulatory capacities. A primary interest of his is the development of open-source tools to aid researchers in their efforts to effectively extract features from peripheral physiological measures that can be used to improve mental health diagnoses and/or monitor treatment response. His approach to the creation of these tools is best characterized as a marriage of machine learning/statistical modeling with trained user oversight, in the hopes of achieving an effective balance between efficiency and accuracy.
Matt's Research Site Email: barstead@umd.edu |
Kelly Smith is a fifth year doctoral student. She received a B.A. in psychology from Georgetown University. Her research interests include the development of prosocial and socially competent behavior, the influence of parenting on children’s social development, and interventions to improve the quality of children’s relationships.
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Hailey Fleece is a first year master’s student in the Human Development program. She received a B.A. in psychology from the University of Maryland in 2018. Her research interests include the impact of parent child relationships on the development of anxiety disorders in children. Hailey hopes to go on to obtain a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology to become a child psychologist.
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Research Assistants
Kelly Dombek is a master's student enrolled in UMD's MPS in Clinical Psychological Science program. She completed her undergraduate degree at Haverford College in 2017 with a BA in Philosophy and a minor in Psychology. Her main research interests are attachment, anxiety disorders, and moral psychology. After graduating with her master's, she plans to apply to doctorate programs in Clinical or Counseling Psychology.
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Emily Delinski is the Head Undergraduate RA for the LSCFR. She is a senior working towards a B.S. in Psychology. Her research interests are parent and child interactions, childhood anxiety, and parental impact on pediatric mental disorders. Emily plans on attending graduate school for developmental psychology after she graduates.
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Hannah Brockstein is a senior working towards a B.S. in Psychology and Family Science. Her research interests include parent-child relationships, child psychopathology, and child and adolescent mental health. After graduation, Hannah plans to obtain her Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
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Jennifer Frost is a senior pursuing her B.S. in Psychology. Her main research interests are child and adult psychopathology, health equity, and childhood development. After graduation, Jennifer plans to attend medical school in order to become a pediatrician.
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Rebecca Martins is a senior working towards a B.A. in psychology. Her research interests are child psychology and adolescent psychology. Rebecca plans to attend graduate school in order to obtain a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
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Fatima Quintana is a senior pursuing a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Human Development. Her research interests include child development, behavioral issues, learning disabilities and parent-child relationships. Fatima plans on attending graduate school in order to receive her Ph.D. in School Psychology.
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Bess Bloomer is a junior working toward a B.A. in Psychology. Her research interests include neurodevelopmental disorders, early intervention, the development of child/adolescent psychopathology, and peer and family-based relationships. Bess plans to obtain a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology after graduating.
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Abby DiGate is a junior working towards a B.S in Kinesiology. Her research interests include child psychopathology and developmental psychology. After graduation she hopes to attend graduate school to earn a Masters in Occupational Therapy with a focus in children with disabilities.
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Sarah Elbaum is a junior working towards a B.S in Hearing and Speech Sciences. Her research interests include child psychopathology and how speech and language disorders affect children's social interactions. Sarah plans to attend graduate school to obtain her Master's degree in speech pathology.
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Claire Hunt is a junior working towards a B.S. in Psychology. Her research interests include child development and adult psychopathology, specifically the intersection between mental health and abnormal or deviant behavior. After graduation, Claire is considering pursuing either law school or a graduate program in clinical or forensic psychology.
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Kendall Hurwitz is a junior working towards a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Her interests include child development with a focus on child psychopathology, spectrum disorders such as autism, and how parent-child relationships affect a child’s growth and development. In the future, she hopes to attend graduate school to obtain a PsyD in Clinical or Counseling Psychology.
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Sebastian Langan is a junior pursuing a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience. His research interests include the intersection of neuroscience, developmental psychology, psycho-biology, behavioral psychology, and genetics. Sebastian plans to either attend a graduate program in neuroscience with a focus on computational and behavioral neuroscience or a program in neuropsychology.
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Hannah Levinson is a junior working towards a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Human Development. Her research interests include parent-child relationships, adult and child psychopathology, and child development. Hannah plans on attending graduate school.
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Grace Tanaya is a junior pursuing a B.S in Psychology. Her research interests include developmental psychology, child and adult psychopathology, and mental health perceptions in Asian culture. Grace plans to go to graduate school for her PsyD or PhD in clinical psychology.
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Olivia Kline is a sophomore pursuing a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Spanish. Olivia's research interests include child psychopathology, developmental psychology, and health and pediatric psychology. After graduation, she plans to attend medical school to become a child psychiatrist.
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Stephanie Pham is a sophomore pursuing a B.S. in Psychology and is interested in a Hearing and Speech sciences minor or double major. Her research interests include child psychopathology, anxiety, stress and coping, and mental health intervention. Stephanie ultimately wants to attend graduate school to pursue a PsyD. in clinical psychology and become a practicing psychotherapist or another variant of mental health professional.
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