Research Overview
My broad research interests are in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts; antiracism education; cultural literacy and responsiveness; and social and racial justice and activism. My core research endeavors include: (1) Investigating how microaggressions and racism impacts child, adolescent, and adult development across multiple settings (K-12 school, college, professional spaces) and contexts (suburban, rural, urban). (2) Understanding how engagement in DEI, antiracism, and social and racial justice work affects BIPOC individuals’ mental/psychological state, self-care, and overall well-being across multiple settings (school, work, church) utilizing the post-traumatic slave syndrome framework. (3) Examining how one’s faith is used to cope with microaggressions, racism, and social/racial injustice as well as what other coping practices are implemented and how those contribute to resiliency across the lifespan.
Other Areas of Expertise
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)
Response to Intervention for Behavior (RtI:B)
Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
Restorative Justice Practices
Current Dissertation Advisees
Cariann Coward – PsyD Candidate
Dissertation: Utilizing Sand Tray to Assess the Effects of Racial Tensions in Black Mental Health Therapists: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Approach
Joseph Grace – PsyD Candidate
Dissertation: Examining the Benefits of Implementing Restorative Practices and DBT STEP-A in High School
Tiarra Mitchell – PsyD Candidate
Dissertation: Examining the Benefits of a Mentor Program Pairing BIPOC Undergraduate Students with a BIPOC Graduate Student: A Program Evaluation
Zeina Naoum – PsyD Candidate
Dissertation: Investigating the Champions of Antiracism and Social Justice Training Program Experience for Teachers: A Phenomenological Approach
Thao Nguyen – PsyD Candidate
Dissertation: Overgeneral Autobiographical Memory in College Students: Association with Depression and Trauma History
Matthew Weinerth – PsyD Candidate
Dissertation: Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories Protocol for Intrusive Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in College Students
McKenna Wise – PsyD Candidate
Dissertation: Examining How the Hybrid Learning Model Due to Covid-19 Impacted the Functioning of a Self-Contained Classroom.
Former Dissertation Advisees
Brianna Diaz – May 2021
Dissertation: Contextualizing the Concept of Refugee Mental Health in Education: A Phenomenological Study of Educators’ Perceptions on Refugee Mental Health Needs
Rebecca Draper – May 2020
Dissertation: The Effectiveness and Comparison of Tier 2 Interventions on Improving Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Outcomes in Elementary School
Melanie Weber – May 2021
Dissertation: Stress, Perceived Support, and Well-Being Among Teachers During Coronavirus Pandemic
Talks
October 2020: Presenter for the Greater Rochester Area School Psychologists webinar entitled Why Embracing Teaching on Black Lives Matter Matters for Our Students that entailed the following learning objectives: (1) Obtain knowledge about the history of the Black Lives Matter movement and the events that sparked the need for it. (2) Understand how the "Don’t Say Nothing" culture has impacted K-12 students. (3) Gain resources for educators on ways to discuss Black Lives Matter across K-12 grade levels. (4) Realize the importance of activism for empowering K-12 students.
April 2020: Co-presenter at National Association for Multicultural Education conference for talk entitled Igniting Change: Parents as Partners in Creating Equitable Schools and Outcomes with the following goals: (1) Trace the journey of how one school community partnered with parents in an effort to disrupt injustices and inequities in schools and improve the outcomes and experiences for African American and Hispanic/Latinx students. (2) Immerse attendees in the issues that ignited the formation of the parent group and explore the topics that fueled its development. (3) Use interactive engagement protocols to afford participants the opportunity to develop an action plan to leverage parent engagement and build a cadre of “Champions of Equity” within their own organization.
Publications
Davies, P.T., Parry, L.Q., Bascoe, S.M., & Cummings, E.M. (2020). Interparental conflict as a curvilinear risk factor of youth emotional and cortisol reactivity. Developmental Psychology, 56(9), 1787-1802. doi: 10.1037/dev0001037
Davies, P.T., Thompson, M.J., Cicchetti, D., Bascoe, S.M., & Cummings, E.M. (2020). The Interplay of Polygenic Plasticity and Adrenocortical Activity as Sources of Variability in Pathways Among Family Adversity, Youth Emotional Reactivity, and Psychological Problems. Development and Psychopathology, 32(2), 587-603. doi: 10.1017/S0954579419000439
Davies, P.T., Parry, L.Q., Bascoe, S.M., Martin, M.J., & Cummings, E.M. (2018). Children’s vulnerability to interparental conflict: The protective role of sibling relationship quality. Child Development, 90(6), 2118-2134. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13078
Davies, P.T., Sturge-Apple, M.L., Bascoe, S.M., & Cummings, E.M. (2013). The legacy of early insecurity histories in shaping adolescent adaptation to interparental conflict. Child Development, 85(1), 338-354. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12119
Bascoe, S.M., Davies, P.T., & Cummings, E.M. (2012). Beyond warmth and conflict: The developmental utility of a boundary conceptualization of sibling relationship processes. Child Development, 83(6), 2121-2138. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01817.x
Martin, M.J., Bascoe, S.M., & Davies, P.T. (2011). Family Relations. In B. B. Brown and M. Printstein (Eds.). Encyclopedia of Adolescence, Vol. 2 (pp. 84-94). Maryland Heights, MO: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809324-5.06038-7
Bascoe, S. M., Davies, P.T., Sturge-Apple, M.L., & Cummings, E. M. (2009). Children’s representations of family relationships, peer information processing, and school adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 45(6), 1740-1751. doi: 10.1037/a0016688
Committees
Academic Diversity Committee
College Resource Group for Race and Ethnicity, Co-Chair Institutional Review Board
Racism in Enrollment Advisory Council
Undergraduate-Graduate BIPOC Mentor Program