Department of Human & Community Development, University of Illinois

Kelly Bost

 

Education

Post-Doc 1995, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Center for Developmental Science

Ph.D. 1995, Auburn University, Family and Child Development

M.S. 1992, Auburn University, Family and Child Development

B.S. 1984, Auburn University, Psychology

 

Research Interests

Parent-child interactions; children's peer relationships; children's social networks and social competence; parent-child narrative styles.

My research focuses on the relationship contexts through which children co-construct and develop socially adaptive or maladaptive behavior. Specific areas of interest include: 1) How children's experiences in the family system relate to and influence their beliefs about emergent relationships over time (especially peer relationships); 2) how children's social networks and resources contribute to individual differences in their capacity for coping in social groups; and 3) the stability and content of peer-related social structures. This latter focus has involved documenting peer group structures in preschool classroom settings using direct observation as well as the stability of interaction patterns among peers.

Another interest is the examination of neighborhood ecology factors in relation to parental beliefs about child rearing, the social ecologies of children and parents, and children's interpersonal functioning. Determining how particular resources and constraints within neighborhood and community structures influence family functioning is the aim of this research.

Currently, my students and I are working on longitudinal projects designed to examine how mother- and father- child attachment relationships and how parents structure conversations about past events relate to children's developing beliefs about relationships and the assembly of their social and narrative skills.

 

Selected Publications

Szewczyk, M., Bost, K.,& Boston, A. (2005). Attachment, temperament, and preschoolers' peer competence. Social Development, 14, 379-397.

McBride, B., Brown, G., Bost, K., Shin, N., & Vaughn, B., & Korth, B. (2005). Paternal identity, maternal gatekeeping, and father involvement. Family Relations, 54, 360-372.

Bost, K. K., Vaughn, B., Boston, A., & O'Neal, C. (2004). A longitudinal assessment of preschool children's social networks: Structural and functional changes over time. Social Development, 13, 393-412.

Vaughn, B., Vollenweider, M., Bost, K., Azria, M., & Snider, B. (2003). Negative interactions and social competence for preschool children in two samples: Reconsidering the interpretation of aggressive behavior for young children. Merrill Palmer Quarterly,49, 245-278.

Bost, K. K., Cox, M., Burchinal, M., & Payne, C. (2002). Structural and supportive changes in couples' family and friendship networks across the transition to parenthood. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 517-531.

Vaughn, B. E., Azria, M., Krzysik, K., Caya, K., Bost, K., Newell, W., & Kazura, K. (2000). Friendship and social competence in a sample of preschool children attending Head Start. Developmental Psychology, 36, 326-338.

 

Courses Taught

HDFS 105: Introduction to Human Development

HDFS 305: Middle Childhood