African American Family Life: Ecological and Cultural Diversity

Vonnie C. McLoyd, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Research Scientist at the Center for Developmental Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Her scholarly work focuses on the effects of economic disadvantage and employment-related transitions on family life and child development, and the mediators and moderators of these effects. Dr. McLoyd is also interested in how race, ethnicity, and culture shape child socialization and development. She is director of a training program at UNC in research on Black child development, funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.Nancy E. Hill, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at Duke University and Faculty Affiliate of the Center for Developmental Science at UNC. Her research focuses on how family socialization varies across ethnicity and socioeconomic status, and demographic variations in the relationship between family dynamics and children's development, especially among African American and Latino families. She is one of the founders of the Study Group on Race, Culture, and Ethnicity, an interdisciplinary group of scientists brought together to develop theory and methodology for defining and understanding cultural contexts.Kenneth A. Dodge, PhD, is the Pritzker Professor of Public Policy and Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. He is Founding and Emeritus Director of the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy. A clinical and developmental psychologist, Dr. Dodge studies early childhood development, prevention of violent behavior in the family, and public policy to improve population outcomes for communities. He is the developer of Family Connects, a population approach to improve children's outcomes in the first year of life. The author of more than 500 highly cited scientific articles, which have been cited more than 100,000 times, Dr. Dodge has been elected into the National Academy of Medicine and is the 2019-2021 President of the Society for Research in Child Development.