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Michigan State University
Michigan State University

College of Social Sciences

Department of Human Development and Family Studies

Doctoral Degrees

Department of Human Development and Family Studies > Academics > Graduate >

Doctorate

Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development and Family Studies

Human Development and Family Studies is the interdisciplinary study of individuals and relationships across the lifespan in diverse contexts of families, communities, and cultures. Ph.D. candidates are prepared to transform the human experience through applied research rooted in social justice.

Doctoral students collaborate with faculty mentors in experiences related to applied research, developing a focal area of scholarship. Each student completes rigorous course work, including research methodology, comprehensive exams, and the dissertation. Student achievements are documented in a professional portfolio throughout the doctoral program.

The Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Human Development and Family Studies offers three concentrations from which students may choose.

A teacher works on an activity with two chilren.

Child Development

Students earning a doctorate in Child Development complete a rigorous set of experiences in preparation for a research career in a university academic environment, research organization, or similar settings.

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PhD students talk with supervising faculty member.

Couple and Family Therapy

Our COAMFTE-accredited Couple and Family Therapy Ph.D. program focuses on relational processes, empirically-supported interventions, and clinical research methodology. 

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Graduate students and faculty talking at a conference table.

Diversity, Youth and Family Development

Join a nationally known, diverse community of scholars exploring child/adolescent development, culture, gender, sexuality and families. 

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Learning Goals

The Learning Goals of the HDFS PhD provide a focus for each student’s training. Each student crafts their own focus and has choices in the course work, research, and other learning experiences, as they work to meet the common learning goals.

Use foundational and contemporary theoretical frameworks, relevant to the study of individuals and families in context, to explain developmental and / or change processes. 
Construct (organize, make sense of) and critically evaluate the body of empirical knowledge for a field/ topic of study to identify gaps and justify new directions. 
Critically analyze and make sound methodological decisions, implement a research study, and defend choices. 
Demonstrate effective written and oral communication to disseminate information to a scholarly audience, integrating theory, empirical knowledge, and research methods as appropriate.
Demonstrate effective teaching, including instructional design and implementation. 
Use HDFS theory and research to address real-world problems in practice, programming, or policy. 
Demonstrate ethical behavior in all aspects of scholarship and articulate understanding of ethical issues in research, teaching, and practice. 
Articulate an understanding of positionality, and describe approaches to diversity, equity, and inclusion relevant to research, teaching, practice, and policy.  

Choosing a faculty member

Choosing a faculty member to work with during your scholarly career is one of the most important decisions you will make. Below are the faculty accepting graduate students. All faculty are available to you regardless of concentration, so we encourage you to learn more about our faculty and who might best support your interests and objectives. 

 

Doctoral Degree Advisor

An intake advisor is designated to counsel you during the first semester. You should select a permanent academic advisor before the completion of two semesters of study. The faculty member who guides the dissertation may be either the academic advisor or another member of the committee. The intake advisor often becomes the permanent advisor, but you have the option to select an alternative.

Doctoral Degree Committee

A PhD program of study is planned by you and a committee composed of at least four Michigan State University regular faculty members, one of whom is designated as a major professor. The Ph.D. committee is appointed to direct your work and its membership must be approved by the Graduate Program Director. For additional details on related University policy, see the Academic Programs Catalog. 

Dr. Adrian Blow, Professor, conducts research on issues related to families and trauma. His most recent work is focused on military families, change processes in family therapy, and couple resiliency processes.

Dr. Ahnalee Brincks, Associate Professor, is a public health scientist whose research is situated at the intersection of prevention science and advanced statistical methods.  She focuses on optimizing interventions by uncovering how, and for whom, interventions are most effective. She is an expert in adaptive interventions and the study designs used to develop them.

Dr. Lekie Dwanyen, Assistant Professor, studies the relational effects of traumatic stress and mass trauma exposure. She is interested in the development of family-level traumatic stress interventions for communities internally or externally displaced from war and political violence.

Dr. Kendal Holtrop, Associate Professor and Couple and Family Therapy Ph.D. Program Director, maintains a program of research focused on parenting and parenting interventions. Her research activities include adapting and implementing evidence-based interventions in community settings as well as examining parenting practices and family processes to inform intervention work.

Dr. Chi-Fang Tseng, Assistant Professor, studies mental health outcomes among marginalized populations. Her research focuses on culturally adapted evidence-based couple interventions, with particular attention to couples with marginalized identities. Her goal is to provide tailored and effective interventions to reduce mental health disparities.

Dr. Andrea Wittenborn, HDFS Chair and Professor, studies the process and outcomes of interventions for depression, including methods for personalizing treatment. Her research targets interpersonal mechanisms of depression with the goal of decreasing depressive symptoms and enhancing close relationships.

Ryan Bowles in an associate professor whose research studies early childhood language and literacy development. 

Sarah Douglas is an associate professor whose research focuses on three distinct areas: paraeducator supports for students with disabilities, communication partner training to support children who use augmentative and alternative communication, and sensor technologies to measure social interactions of children with disabilities. 

Lori Skibbe is a professor who researches individual differences in the development of early language and literacy skills for children, including those with disabilities.

Claire Vallotton is a professor whose research interests are the early development and integration of cognitive-linguistic and social-emotional skills within the context of caregiver-child relationships, family risks, and culture. 

Linda Halgunseth is an associate professor whose research focuses on parenting and children’s health and well-being in African, European, and Latin American families. 

Jinny Han is an assistant professor whose research interests lie in the area of student success, equity in education, ethnic-racial socialization, mentoring and positive youth development, and program evaluation. 

Deborah Johnson is a professor whose research explores racially and culturally related development, parental racial socialization and coping, cultural adjustment from early childhood through emerging adulthood, in both domestic and international children and youth. 

Megan Maas is an assistant professor in Human Development & Family Studies. Her work sits at the intersection of sexual violence prevention and sexual health promotion. 

Desiree Qin is a professor whose research focuses on highlighting nuanced, complex family processes that have been overlooked in quantitative work on Asian immigrant families, especially struggle in parent-child relations, e.g., emotional alienation, parent-child conflicts, communication challenges and negative impact of tiger parenting.

Emilie Smith is a professor whose community-engaged research seeks to understand the ways in which families, schools, and communities interact to affect positive youth development, and particularly, racial-ethnic identity and socialization among those of diverse socio-economic and geographic backgrounds.

Francisco Villarruel is a professor whose research seeks to contribute to a fair and equal justice program for youth. He has also been involved in research that focuses on youth development and what communities can do to foster the development transitions of youth to adulthood.

Yijie Wang is an associate professor whose research interests center on the development of adolescents, particularly those from racial and ethnic minority families. Her work investigates how socio-cultural processes (e.g., ethnic/racial socialization, discrimination) in multiple developmental settings (e.g., family, peer, school, neighborhood) influence youth’s psychosocial and psychobiological adjustment. 

Dr. Adrian Blow, Professor, conducts research on issues related to families and trauma. His most recent work is focused on military families, change processes in family therapy, and couple resiliency processes.

Dr. Ahnalee Brincks, Associate Professor, is a public health scientist whose research is situated at the intersection of prevention science and advanced statistical methods.  She focuses on optimizing interventions by uncovering how, and for whom, interventions are most effective. She is an expert in adaptive interventions and the study designs used to develop them.

Dr. Lekie Dwanyen, Assistant Professor, studies the relational effects of traumatic stress and mass trauma exposure. She is interested in the development of family-level traumatic stress interventions for communities internally or externally displaced from war and political violence.

Dr. Kendal Holtrop, Associate Professor and Couple and Family Therapy Ph.D. Program Director, maintains a program of research focused on parenting and parenting interventions. Her research activities include adapting and implementing evidence-based interventions in community settings as well as examining parenting practices and family processes to inform intervention work.

Dr. Chi-Fang Tseng, Assistant Professor, studies mental health outcomes among marginalized populations. Her research focuses on culturally adapted evidence-based couple interventions, with particular attention to couples with marginalized identities. Her goal is to provide tailored and effective interventions to reduce mental health disparities.

Dr. Andrea Wittenborn, HDFS Chair and Professor, studies the process and outcomes of interventions for depression, including methods for personalizing treatment. Her research targets interpersonal mechanisms of depression with the goal of decreasing depressive symptoms and enhancing close relationships.

Ryan Bowles in an associate professor whose research studies early childhood language and literacy development. 

Sarah Douglas is an associate professor whose research focuses on three distinct areas: paraeducator supports for students with disabilities, communication partner training to support children who use augmentative and alternative communication, and sensor technologies to measure social interactions of children with disabilities. 

Lori Skibbe is a professor who researches individual differences in the development of early language and literacy skills for children, including those with disabilities.

Claire Vallotton is a professor whose research interests are the early development and integration of cognitive-linguistic and social-emotional skills within the context of caregiver-child relationships, family risks, and culture. 

Linda Halgunseth is an associate professor whose research focuses on parenting and children’s health and well-being in African, European, and Latin American families. 

Jinny Han is an assistant professor whose research interests lie in the area of student success, equity in education, ethnic-racial socialization, mentoring and positive youth development, and program evaluation. 

Deborah Johnson is a professor whose research explores racially and culturally related development, parental racial socialization and coping, cultural adjustment from early childhood through emerging adulthood, in both domestic and international children and youth. 

Megan Maas is an assistant professor in Human Development & Family Studies. Her work sits at the intersection of sexual violence prevention and sexual health promotion. 

Desiree Qin is a professor whose research focuses on highlighting nuanced, complex family processes that have been overlooked in quantitative work on Asian immigrant families, especially struggle in parent-child relations, e.g., emotional alienation, parent-child conflicts, communication challenges and negative impact of tiger parenting.

Emilie Smith is a professor whose community-engaged research seeks to understand the ways in which families, schools, and communities interact to affect positive youth development, and particularly, racial-ethnic identity and socialization among those of diverse socio-economic and geographic backgrounds.

Francisco Villarruel is a professor whose research seeks to contribute to a fair and equal justice program for youth. He has also been involved in research that focuses on youth development and what communities can do to foster the development transitions of youth to adulthood.

Yijie Wang is an associate professor whose research interests center on the development of adolescents, particularly those from racial and ethnic minority families. Her work investigates how socio-cultural processes (e.g., ethnic/racial socialization, discrimination) in multiple developmental settings (e.g., family, peer, school, neighborhood) influence youth’s psychosocial and psychobiological adjustment. 

Methods Training

Our department offers a variety of advanced methods courses and other learning opportunities for graduate students to prepare them to be critical consumers and ethical producers of rigorous research. Our faculty have expertise in advanced research design and statistical methods in applied research settings. Our methods training program reflects this applied focus by helping students apply advanced statistical techniques to real-world scientific questions.

HDFS 880: Research Design and Measurement

HDFS 881: Quantitative Research Methods

HDFS 960: Applied Multivariate Data Analysis

HDFS 961:Applied Structural Equation Modeling

HDFS 962:Longitudinal Structural Equation Modeling

HDFS 892: Measurement

See MSU Course Descriptions to learn more about each course and their prerequisites” and then link to https://reg.msu.edu/Courses/Search.aspx  

For non-HDFS students interested in enrolling, please contact us at: HDFS.methods@hdfs.msu.edu

Dr. Ryan P. Bowles is an expert in Rasch measurement, Item Response Theory, and Structural Equation Modeling with categorical outcomes. His research focuses on the assessment of early childhood language and literacy development. Dr. Bowles teaches Quantitative Research Methods, Applied Multivariate Data Analysis, Applied SEM, Longitudinal SEM, and Measurement.

Dr. Ahnalee Brincks specializes in latent variable modeling and has expertise in longitudinal data analysis, hierarchical linear models, structural equation modeling, and the analysis of data from randomized clinical trials.

Dr. Megan Maas specializes in latent class methodologies, longitudinal survey research, and dyadic data analysis to understand sexual behaviors, how online and offline sexual behaviors change over time, and how partners in intimate relationships affect one another. Dr. Maas teaches Research Design and Measurement and Quantitative Research Methods.

Dr. Amy K. Nuttall is an expert in structural equation modeling (SEM), longitudinal data analysis (LSEM), and mixture modeling. She employs these methods in longitudinal data (including intensive longitudinal “diary” sampling), family/dyadic data, and biological data to understand the impact of family processes and dynamics on development over time. Dr. Nuttall teaches Applied Multivariate Data Analysis, Applied SEM, and Longitudinal SEM.

Dr. Yijie Wang’s research employs experience sampling and longitudinal designs to understand development in daily lives and over time. Her work also uses secondary data from nationally representative samples such as the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS). Dr. Wang teaches Applied Multivariate Data Analysis.

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