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Research Areas:

Clinical PsychologyÌý| Developmental Science

Research Summary:

Prof. Dirks’ research focuses on (a) mapping the social and emotional skills children, adolescents, and young adults need to develop and maintain healthy relationships with peers and siblings; and (b) understanding how interpersonal functioning contributes to psychological symptoms.ÌýShe uses different methodologies to answer her research questions, including observational approaches, daily diaries, questionnaires, and tasks examining emotion recognition and production. Ongoing projects focus on examining the associations between both emotional recognition and expressive accuracy and the maintenance of high-quality friendships during adolescence and young adulthood, understanding how adolescents’ everyday interactions with classmates, friends, and siblings are associated with their social and emotional and well-being, measuring victimization occurring in friendship, and understanding when and why adolescents and young adults might end a friendship.

Selected References:

*Morningstar, M., Gilbert, A., *Burdo, J., *Leis, M., & Dirks, M. A. (2021).ÌýÌýEmotion.Ìý

*Santucci, K., *Khullar, T. H., & Dirks, M. A. (2021).ÌýÌýSocial Development.Ìý

*Kirmayer, M. H., *Khullar, T. H., & Dirks, M. A.Ìý(2021).ÌýÌýJournal of Research on Adolescence, 31,Ìý435-450.Ìý

*Dryburgh, N. S. J., *Khullar, T., Sandre, A., Persram, R., Bukowski, W. M., & Dirks, M. A. (2020).Ìý Evidence-base update of measures of social skills and social competence in clinical samples of youth.ÌýJournal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 49,Ìý573-594.Ìý

Dirks, M. A., Recchia, H.E, …, Wakschlag, L. S. (2019).ÌýJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 60,Ìý267-276.Ìý

Dirks, M. A., *Cuttini, L., *Mott, A. J., & Henry, D. B.Ìý (2017). Associations between early adolescents’ victimization and self-reported responses to peer provocation are moderated by peer-reported aggression.ÌýJournal of Research on Adolescence, 27,Ìý436-451.