UNCG Family Research Center

Family Research Center Staff

Dr. Marion O’Brien directs the Family Research Center and is Professor in the Department of Human Development & Family Studies at UNCG. She has conducted extensive research on children and families and is one of the investigators of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care & Youth Development, a national longitudinal study of more than 1,200 children and families nationwide. She is also an investigator for the Right Track Project in Guilford County, NC, a longitudinal study of children's temperamental characteristics, peer relationships and school performance.

Dr. O’Brien also studies parenting practices and parental attitudes and their influence on parent-child relationships and child development. A book for professionals who work with families of children with autism, Beyond the Autism Diagnosis, was published by Paul H. Brookes Publishers in 2006.

Korinne Chiu is the Project Coordinator for the STAR Project. She holds an MA degree from Wake Forest University in Experimental Psychology. She completed her Master’s thesis on how preschoolers make personality judgments of others based on behaviors and intentions. She worked for two years at the Winston-Salem Children’s Developmental Services Agency providing early intervention services to children from birth to three years of age. Her research interests include the influence of sociodemographic factors on children’s social-emotional and cognitive development.

Nayena Blankson is a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the STAR Project. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Southern California, where she studied with the late Dr. John L. Horn and Dr. Rand Wilcox. Her Ph.D. dissertation was on the measurement of, and relationships among, shyness, attachment security, and cognitive abilities. Her research interests include (1) the design of psychological research, particularly the design for research on infant and child development; (2) measurement invariance, multivariate mathematical/statistical methods, and structural equation modeling; and (3) the organization and development of cognitive abilities as it relates to personality, attachment security, and schooling.

Pam Dover is the Scheduling Coordinator for the STAR Project. She holds a BA in Psychology from UNCG and has experience in research from working with the Right Track Project. She is currently working towards a graduate certificate in nonprofit management and hopes to find a career in an art-related nonprofit field.

Rebecca Anderson is the Data Manager for the STAR Project. She has her BS in Human Development and Family Studies with a concentration in Early Care and Education. She worked with the STAR project as an undergraduate. She plans on attending a PsyD Program in the near future, but meanwhile is taking classes at UNCG to be better prepared.

Deana Hasty is the Program Assistant for the FRC. She has a BS in Sociology from Virginia Tech. She is the Administrative Assistant for the FRC and also assists with the Pre-Award grant development process for HES faculty.