Curry School of Education

Education

• Ph.D., Florida Atlantic University, 2010
• M.A., Florida Atlantic University, 2008
• B.A., California State University System, 2005

Personal Statement

I am currently a Research Scientist at CASTL and the Managing Director for an intervention project (see MyTeachingPartner-Secondary) that currently reaches several hundred teachers and several thousand students.  My research interests center around understanding the function and development of close relationships in adolescence.  I am particularly interested in the ways in which contexts drive changes in close relationships over time.  A related interest is in developmental quantitative methodologies.  I regularly utilize multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling, and various dyadic analyses to answer developmental questions (see publications below).

Selected Publications

• Hafen, C. A., Allen, J. P., Gregory, A., Mikami, A. Y., Hamre, B., & Pianta, R. C. (2012). The pivotal role of autonomy in secondary school classrooms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 245-255. Read: CASTL Research Brief.
• Hafen, C. A., DeLay, D., & Laursen, B. (2012). Transformations in friend relationships across the transition into adolescence.  In B. Laursen & W. A. Collins (Eds.), Relationship Pathways: From Adolescence to Young Adulthood (pp. 69-90). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Hafen, C. A., Laursen, B., Kerr, M., Stattin, H., & Burk, W. J. (2011). Stable friends, unstable friends, and homophily: Similarity breeds constancy. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 607-612.
• Laursen, B., Hafen, C. A., Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2012). Friend influence over adolescent problem behaviors as a function of relative peer acceptance:  To be liked is to be emulated. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 121, 88-94.
• Laursen, B., & Hafen, C. A. (2010).  Future directions in the study of close relationships: Conflict is bad (except when it’s not). Social Development, 19, 858-872.
• Hafen, C. A., & Laursen, B. (2009).  More problems and less support:  Early adolescent adjustment forecast changes in perceived support from parents. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 192-203.