Rona Carter
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Dr. Carter explores how biological transitions and interpersonal relationships (peers, friends, teachers) in the school context influence adolescent girl’s academic and psychological outcomes and how intersecting identities (gender, ethnicity-race) shape girls' interpersonal experiences in school. Her research is guided by the central tenets of social development theory which emphasize that individual development occurs within a social and cultural context, which itself develops, and furthermore, perpetually interacts with the developing individual.
Current projects include a peer-based culturally-responsive education program (Double Digits) for elementary school-aged girls that promote peer reinforcement/support for Black and Latinx girls’ successful handling of puberty and identity-related messages while also improving their social skills and peer relationships. Data is also being collected from elementary school teachers to examine whether teachers overtax capacities or underestimate the academic potential of early (or late) developing girls because they physically look older (or younger) than their chronological age suggests.
Dr. Carter’s research has been published in Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Journal of Research on Adolescence, School Psychology of Education, and Journal of Youth and Adolescence, among others.
Selected Publications
Teachers’ academic and behavioral expectations and girls’ pubertal development: Does the classroom learning environment matter?
Carter, R., Mustafaa, F., Leath, S., & Butler-Barnes, S. T. (2018). Teachers’ academic and behavioral expectations and girls’ pubertal development: Does the classroom learning environment matter? Social Psychology of Education, 1-28. doi: 10.1007/s11218-018-9450-1
Peer exclusion during the pubertal transition: The role of social competence.
Carter, R., Halawah, A., & Trinh, S. L. (2018). Peer exclusion during the pubertal transition: The role of social competence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47, 121 – doi: 10.1007/s10964-017-0682-8
Pubertal timing, racial identity, neighborhood and school context among Black adolescent females.
Seaton, E., & Carter, R. (2018). Pubertal timing, racial identity, neighborhood and school context among Black adolescent females. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24, 40 – doi: 10.1037/cdp0000162
Teachers’ expectations of girls’ classroom performance and behavior: Effects of girls’ race and pubertal timing.
Carter, R., Mustafaa, F. N., & Leath, S. (2017). Teachers’ expectations of girls’ classroom performance and behavior: Effects of girls’ race and pubertal timing. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 0272431617699947
Racial identity in the context of pubertal development: Implications for adjustment.
Carter, R., Seaton, E., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2017). Racial identity in the context of pubertal development: Implications for adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 53, 2170 – doi: 10.1037/dev0000413
Comparing associations between perceived puberty, same race- friends and -peers, and psychosocial outcomes among African American and Caribbean Black girls.
Carter, R., Leath, S., Butler-Barnes, S. T., Byrd, C. M., Chavous, T. M., Caldwell Howard, C., & Jackson, J. S. (2017). Comparing associations between perceived puberty, same race- friends and -peers, and psychosocial outcomes among African American and Caribbean Black girls. Journal of Black Psychology, 43, 836 – 862. doi: 10.1177/0095798417711024
Promoting resilience among African American girls: Racial identity as a protective factor.
Butler-Barnes, S. T., Leath, S., Williams, A., Byrd, C. M., Carter, R., & Chavous, T. M. (2017). Promoting resilience among African American girls: Racial identity as a protective factor. Child Development. doi:10.1111/cdev.12995.