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Lauree Tilton-Weaver

Lauree Tilton-Weaver Position: Professor School/office: School of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences

Email: bGF1cmVlLnRpbHRvbi13ZWF2ZXI7b3J1LnNl

Phone: +46 19 301012

Room: L2542

Lauree Tilton-Weaver
Research subject

About Lauree Tilton-Weaver

Background:

I am a lifespan developmental psychologist, specializing in the adjustment and development of adolescents. As a social scientist, I am primarily interested in how parenting and peer relationships influence, and are influenced by, adolescents.

Research:

I have two focal interests in my research work: adolescent autonomy and adolescent internalizing problems.

Autonomy: Within the area of autonomy, I am particularly interested in how adolescence experience autonomy and how their experiences are related to their adjustment. I view adolescents as agents of their own development, and look for ways in which they influence their own developmental paths and those around them. I have studied problem behavior under this topic, because problem behavior is sometimes a normative expression of autonomy (e.g., disobeying parents, misbehaving at school, violating social norms, substance use). I’ve contrasted normative levels with more serious levels of delinquency (crime, violent behavior) engaged in by a relative few we call delinquents, and those who abstain entirely from such behaviors (abstainers). I have also devoted much of my research to understanding the interplay between parents’ attempts to regulate and adolescents’ experiences of autonomy. This includes work on adolescents’ perceptions of a maturity gap (the difference between wanting to be autonomous or mature, and actually being treated that way), and delving into what parents do that contributes or detracts from adolescents’ experiencing themselves as autonomous. The latter includes studies of parental control, privacy invasions, and their attempts to influence who adolescents have as friends. I have also been interested in how peers—friends at school and friends at home—contribute to the picture. Most recently, I collaborated with Sheila Marshall (UBC, Canada) to develop a theoretical framework for parental control and adolescents' autonomy, called Governance Transfer, reflecting the transactional patterns of parents and adolescents negotiating reguaton or governance of adolescents' behavior. In addition, I recently published (with other editors, co-authors), the Cambridge Handbook on Parental Control and Information Management During Adolescence (https://cambridgeblog.org/2024/12/parenting-old-questions-new-fears/), which is the most comprehensive text on parenting in terms of autonomy. Other collaborations involve scholars in the US, South America, Europe, and Asia.

Internalizing problems: In the main, I have focused on the manifestation of depressive symptoms and self-harm during adolescence. I have studied the links between certain kinds of parental control behaviors and depressive symptoms, as well as low self-esteem. This has led to a better understanding of how parental control—good and bad—affects adolescents’ internalizing problems. I am particularly interested in understanding when the two problems are seen together, the contextual problems that appear to give rise to them, and the cognitive-emotional processes that link contextual risk with comorbid presentations. I’m recently completed a Forte-funded project, examining the development of NSSI during adolescents, providing ground-breaking information that can help target interventions. In addition, I'm a member of the International Consortium on Self-Injury in Educationa Settings (ICSES), in which I am involved in examining university students' perceptions of stigma and in developing materials for educating school staff about self-injury.

Teaching: I am a university lecturer (rank of Professor) teaching at all levels—ground (bachelor’s) education, psychology program (clinical), and doctoral-level education. I typically teach courses in development (lifespan development, adolescence, adulthood and aging) and methods (research designs, statistics). I also supervise independent research at all levels.

 

Publications

Articles in journals |  Articles, reviews/surveys |  Chapters in books |  Collections (editor) |  Conference papers | 

Articles in journals

Articles, reviews/surveys

Chapters in books

Collections (editor)

Conference papers