Robert "Bobby" Laird, Ph.D.
Associate 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., & Marrero, M. D. (in press). Information management and behavior problems: Is concealing misbehavior necessarily a sign of trouble? Journal of Adolescence.
Laird, R. D., Marrero, M. D., & Marks, L. D. (in press). Adolescent religiosity as a protective factor for delinquency: Review of evidence and a conceptual framework for future research. In F. Columbus (Ed.), Delinquency: Causes, Reduction, & Prevention. Haupauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Laird, R. D., Marrero, M. D., & Sherwood, J. K. (in press). Developmental and interactional antecedents of monitoring in early adolescence. To appear in V. Guilamo-Ramos, J. Jaccard & P. Dittus (Eds.), Parental monitoring of adolescents. Columbia University Press.
Laird, R. D., Criss, M. M., Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (2009). Developmental trajectories and antecedents of distal parental supervision. Journal of Early Adolescence, 29, 258-284.
Laird, R. D., Criss, M. M., Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (2008). Parents’ monitoring knowledge attenuates the link between antisocial friends and adolescent delinquent behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 299-310.
Pettit, G. S., Keiley, M. K., Laird, R. D., Bates, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (2007). Developmental changes in mother-reported monitoring across childhood and adolescence: Person-centered and variable-centered perspectives. Journal of Family Psychology, 21, 206-217.
Laird, R. D., Pettit, G. S., Dodge, K. A., & Bates, J. E. (2005). Peer relationship antecedents of delinquent behavior in late adolescence: Is there evidence of demographic group differences in developmental processes? Development and Psychopathology, 17, 127-144.
Laird, R. D., Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (2003). Parents’ monitoring-relevant knowledge and adolescents’ delinquent behavior: Evidence of correlated developmental changes and reciprocal influences. Child Development, 74, 752-768.
Laird, R. D., Pettit, G. S., Dodge, K. A., & Bates, J. E. (2003). Change in parents’ monitoring knowledge: Links with parenting, relationship quality, adolescent beliefs, and antisocial behavior. Social Development, 12, 401-419.
Revised 9/8/09