Joint Program in Social Work and Psychology Area Chair; Associate Professor of Psychology
She, Her, Hers
About
My research has contributed to the body of knowledge on off-time pubertal development, that is, developing earlier or later than one's same-sex peers. Off-time development is a non-normative aspect of puberty that confers risk for serious problems including depression, anxiety, and delinquency.
My work centers on the complex interpersonal experiences that off-time developing Black girls face and how these experiences impact their mental health, behavior, and education. My research is based on Black Feminist and Womanist theories, which are culturally rooted perspectives that consider the contextual and interactive effects of history, culture, race, class, gender, and other forms of oppression. These frameworks offer a contextual understanding of the experiences and perspectives of pubescent Black girls and ground the outcomes of Black girls in a culturally relevant, strength-based way.
One area of my work explores parallel developmental tasks such as ethnic-racial identity development and psychologically threatening experiences (e.g., ethnic-racial and gender discrimination) that create resilience or vulnerability to puberty-linked outcomes like depression and delinquency.
The second area of my work investigates how interpersonal experiences with adults and peers, such as exclusion by peers, and contextual conditions, such as the racial composition of schools, help or hinder off-time pubertal effects.
I draw upon both secondary data analysis and original data collection.
Areas of study: biological transitions, gender identity, ethnic-racial identity, relationships in the school context, peers, friendships, parent-early adolescent relationships
Select Publications
Carter, R., Blazek, J. L., & Kwesele, C. (2020). Perceptions of pubertal timing relative to peers: Comparison targets and social contexts of comparison. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26(2), 221.
Carter, R., Seaton, E. K., & Blazek, J. L. (2020). Comparing Associations Between Puberty, Ethnic–Racial Identity, Self‐Concept, and Depressive Symptoms Among African American and Caribbean Black Boys. Child Development.
Blazek, J. L., & Carter, R. (2019). Understanding disordered eating in Black adolescents: Effects of gender identity, racial identity, and perceived puberty. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 20(2), 252.
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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- Carter Lab - 1249 East Hall
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