Department of Human & Community Development, University of Illinois

Nancy McElwain

 

 

 

 

 

Curriculum Curriculum vita (pdf)

For more information about about Dr. McElwain's research see the Children's Social Development Laboratory.

Education

Ph.D. 1999, University of Michigan, Developmental Psychology

M.A. 1997, University of Michigan, Developmental Psychology

B.A. 1990, Johns Hopkins University, Anthropology

Research Interests

Parent-child relationships during infancy and early childhood; young children's friendships; children's understanding of emotions and close relationships.

My research interests focus on children's early socioemotional development in the context of their close relationships. Children often first learn about relationships and emotions during interactions with mothers, fathers, and siblings. I am interested in how early family experiences are related to young children's social and emotional understanding and the quality of their relationships with friends. In one line of research, I am investigating how patterns of mother-infant attachment are related to mother-child talk about mental states during the toddler period and children's understanding of others' emotions and mental states during the preschool and early school years. Assessing the extent to which these social-cognitive factors mediate associations between mother-infant attachment and children's friendship quality is a central aim of this research.

In a second line of research, my students and I are examining the correlates and sequelae of mothers' and fathers' emotion socialization practices. How parents react to their children's emotions, express emotions in the family, and talk about emotions has implications for children's emotional regulation and understanding. We adopt a family systems perspective in this work and consider the unique and joint contributions of mothers' and father's emotion socialization practices for children's socioemotional development.

Selected Publications

McElwain, N. L., & Volling, B. L. (in press). Preschool children's interactions with friends and older siblings: Relationship specificity and joint contributions to problem behavior. Journal of Family Psychology.

McElwain, N.L., & Booth-LaForce, C. (in press). Maternal sensitivity to distress and non-distress as predictors of infant-mother attachment security. Journal of Family Psychology.

Macfie, J., Houts, R. M., McElwain, N. L., & Cox, M. J. (2005). The effect of father-toddler and mother-toddler role reversal on the development of behavior problems in kindergarten. Social Development, 14, 514-531.

Macfie, J., McElwain, N. L., Houts, R. M., & Cox, M. J. (2005). Intergenerational transmission of role reversal between parent and child: Dyadic and family systems internal working models. Attachment and Human Development, 7, 51-65.

McElwain, N. L., & Volling, B. L. (2004). Attachment security and parental sensitivity during infancy: Associations with friendship quality and false belief understanding at age four. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21, 639-667.

McElwain, N. L., Cox, M. J., Burchinal, M. R., & Macfie, J. (2003). Differentiating among insecure mother-infant attachment classifications: A focus on child-friend interaction and exploration during solitary play at 36 months. Attachment and Human Development, 5, 136-164.

McElwain, N. L., Olson, S. L., & Volling, B. L. (2002). Concurrent and longitudinal associations among preschool boys' conflict management, disruptive behavior, and peer rejection. Early Education and Development, 13, 245-263.

McElwain, N. L., & Volling, B. L. (2002). Relating individual control, social understanding, and gender to child-friend interaction: A relationships perspective. Social Development, 11, 362-385.

Volling, B. L., McElwain, N. L., Miller, A. L. (2002). Emotion regulation in context: The jealousy complex between young siblings and its relations with child and family characteristics. Child Development, 73, 581-600.

Volling, B. L., McElwain, N. L., Notaro, P. C., & Herrera, C. (2002). Parents' emotional availability and infant emotional competence: Predictors of parent-infant attachment and emerging self-regulation. Journal of Family Psychology, 16, 447-465.

Professional Affiliations

Society for Research in child Development

American Psychological Association

International Society on Infant Studies

Courses Taught

HDFS 290: Introduction to Research Methods