Julia Dmitrieva
Assistant Professor, Developmental and DCN

I am interested in how social environment influences adolescent development. In general, my research seeks to understand how cultural and the more proximal social contexts (e.g., family and peer) influence adolescent psychosocial adjustment and academic achievement. Although person � environment, as well as gene x environment, interactions have been theorized about in great depth, their instances have been rarely demonstrated empirically. My research aims at extending existing theoretical models in order to explore culture and social context as moderators of the effects of individual traits on adolescent outcomes.

My research on the cross-cultural differences in adolescent psychosocial adjustment explores cultural and ethnic differences in the effects of parent-adolescent and peer-adolescent relationships on externalizing behavior, internalizing symptoms, and academic achievement. In a separate line of research, I have examined how the more proximal contexts (e.g., family and peer) interact with individual psychological (e.g., personality) and biological (e.g., genetic) traits in their effects on externalizing behavior.

Representative Publications

Dmitrieva, J., Steinberg, L., & Belsky, J. (2007). Child-Care history, classroom composition and children's functioning in kindergarten. Psychological Science, 18, 1032-1039.

Dmitrieva, J., Chen, C., & Greenberger, E. (in press). Whither the "Whiz Kids" went: Asian American students' transition to college. In G. Li and L. Wang (Eds.), Model Minority Myths Revisited: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Demystifying Asian American Education Experiences. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Dmitrieva, J., Chen, C., Greenberger, E., & Gil-Rivas, V. (2004). Family relationships and adolescent psychosocial outcomes: Converging findings from Eastern and Western cultures. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 14, 425-448.

Julia Dmitrieva

Assistant Professor,
Developmental and DCN
e-mail: julia.dmitrieva@psy.du.edu