Robert "Bobby" Laird, Ph.D.
Professor
(1996, Auburn University)
Click here for Dr. Laird's lab and clinic info
Research Interests
Dr. Laird’s research interests center on the contexts in which children develop social and behavioral competencies with an emphasis on parent-child and peer relationships. He conducts research designed to understand family and peer relationship contributions to the development of social skills and problem behaviors. Specifically, he is interested in what parents do to influence their children’s peer relationships (intentionally or unintentionally) and what influences parenting and peer relationships have on the development of children and adolescents. In addressing these issues, Dr. Laird takes the position that family and peer relationships are multi-dimensional and bi-directional, and that findings must be interpreted within the larger developmental context.
Selected Publications (click here for curriculum vita)
Laird, R. D., & De Los Reyes, A. (2012).Testing informant discrepancies as predictors of early adolescent psychopathology: Why difference scores cannot tell you what you want to know and how polynomial regression may. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. DOI: 10.1007/s10802-012-9659-y
Laird, R. D., Marrero, M. D., Melching, J. A., & Kuhn, E. S. (2012). Information management strategies in early adolescence: Developmental change in use and transactional associations with psychological adjustment. Developmental Psychology. DOI: 10.1037/a0028845
Fairlie, A. M., Wood, M. D., & Laird, R. D. (2012). Prospective effect of parents on peer influences and college alcohol involvement relations. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 26, 30-41. DOI: 10.1037/a0023879
Laird, R. D. (2011). Teenage driving offers challenges and potential rewards for developmentalists. Child Development Perspectives, 5, 311-316. DOI: 10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00203.x
Kuhn, E. S., & Laird, R. D. (2011). Individual differences in early adolescents’ beliefs in the legitimacy of parental authority. Developmental Psychology 47, 1353-1365. DOI:10.1037/a0024050
Laird, R. D., & Weems, C. F. (2011). The equivalence of regression models using difference scores and models using separate scores for each informant: Implications for the study of informant discrepancies. Psychological Assessment, 23, 388-397. PMID: 21319905. DOI: 10.1037/a0021926
Callahan, K. L., Scaramella, L. V., Laird, R. D., & Sohr-Preston, S. L. (2011). Neighborhood disadvantage as a moderator of the association between harsh parenting and toddler-aged children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Journal of Family Psychology, 25, 68-76. PMID: 21355648 DOI:10.1037/a0022448
Laird, R. D., Marks, L. D., & Marrero, M. D. (2011). Religiosity, self-control, and antisocial behavior: Religiosity as a promotive and protective factor. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 32,78-85.DOI: 10.1016/j.appdev.2010.12.003
Laird, R. D. (2011). Correlates and antecedents of parental psychological control in early adolescence. Parenting: Science and Practice, 11 72-86.DOI: 10.1080/15295192.2011.539510
Laird, R. D., Marrero, M. D. (2011). Mothers' knowledge of early adolescents' activities following the middle school transition and pubertal maturation. Journal of Early Adolescence, 31, 209-233. DOI: 10.1177/0272431609361202
Lansford, J. E., Criss, M. M., Laird, R. D., Shaw, D. S., Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (2011). Reciprocal relations between parents' physical discipline and children's externalizing behavior during middle childhood and adolescence. Development & Psychopathology, 23, 225-238.DOI: 10.1017/S0954579410000751
Laird, R. D., & Marrero, M. D. (2010). Information management and behavior problems: Is concealing misbehavior necessarily a sign of trouble? Journal of Adolescence, 33, 297-308. DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.05.018
Laird, R. D., Marrero, M. D., & Sentse. M. (2010). Revisiting parental monitoring: Evidence that parental solicitation can be effective when needed most. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 39, 1431-1441.DOI: 10.1007/s10964-009-9453-5
Laird, R. D., Marrero, M. D., & Sherwood, J. K. (2010). Developmental and interactional antecedents of monitoring in early adolescence. In V. Guilamo-Ramos, J. Jaccard & P. Dittus (Eds.), Parental monitoring of adolescents: Current perspectives for researchers and practitioners (pp.l 39-66). New York: Columbia University Press.
Sentse, M., & Laird, R. D. (2010). Parent-child relationships and dyadic friendship experiences as predictors of behavior problems in early adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 39, 873-884 DOI: 10.1080/15374416.2010.517160
Keijsers, L., & Laird, R. D. (2010). Introduction to special issue. Careful conversations: Adolescents managing their parents' access to information. Journal of Adolescence, 33, 255-259. DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2009.10.009
Revised 9/20/2012