Peter McCauley

Entered the Program: 2022

Hometown: Lexington, KY

Current program: Ph.D., Human Development and Family Sciences

Previous Education: 

  • M.A., Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Connecticut, 2024
  • B.A., Psychology, University of Kentucky, 2022

 Research Interests: 

  • Sexual and gender minority youth identity development
  • Bias-based harassment
  • Intervention methods

 Advising Committee:

 Assistantship Experience:

  • Fall 2022 – present, Research Assistantship, SHINE Lab
  • Spring 2025, Teaching Assistantship, Human Development: Infancy through Adolescence
  • Spring 2025, Teaching Assistantship, Human Sexuality
  • Spring 2024, Teaching Assistantship, Close Relationships Across the Lifespan
  • Fall 2023, Teaching Assistantship, Close Relationships Across the Lifespan
  • Spring 2023, Teaching Assistantship, Family Interaction Processes

Publications:

McCauley, P. S., Biefeld, S. D., & Brown, C. S. (in press). Late adolescents’ involvement in SOGIE-based harassment: Considering sexual prejudice and gender typicality. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

Gans K. M., Chacon, V., Warykas, W. S., Esquivel, V., Baird, M., Zhang, S., McCauley, P. S., Miller, M., Stekler, N., Rodriguez, V. Z., Tovar, A., & Risica, P. M. (2025). Exploring barriers and facilitators to water availability and accessibility, and potential strategies for improving water accessibility and children’s intake in family childcare homes: A qualitative study. Frontiers in Nutrition, 12, 1442070. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2025.1442070

McCauley, P. S., Eaton, L. A., Puhl, R. M., & Watson, R. J. (2025). Support from school personnel and in-school resources jointly moderate the association between identity-based harassment and depressive symptoms among sexual and gender diverse youth. Journal of Educational Psychology, 117(3), 445–465. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000945

Watson, R. J., Lawrence, S., McCauley, P. S., Wheldon, C., Fish, J., & Eaton, L. A. (2025). Examining tobacco use at the intersection of gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity using national U.S. data on sexual and gender diverse youth. Addictive Behaviors, 163, 108246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108246

Watson, R. J., McCauley, P. S., Taylor, A., Morgan, E., Jacka, B., & Eaton, L. A. (2025) Aging concerns related to sexuality and gender: HIV prevention and healthy aging. AIDS & Behavior, 29(5), 1569–1579. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-025-04627-9

McCauley, P. S., Del Farno, A., Caba, A., Renley, B., Shuler, S., Eaton, L. A., & Watson, R. J. (2024). Stress of being outed to parents, LGBTQ family support, and depressive symptoms among sexual and gender diverse youth. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 34(1), 205–221. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12912

McCauley, P. S., Lessard, L. M., Babcock, N., *Sun, N., Eaton, L. A., & Watson, R. J. (2024). Sexual minority youth reporting SOGIE-based harassment to adults at school: The roles of experienced harassment, outness, safety, and adult support at school. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 53(3), 669–684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01914-3

McCauley, P. S., Morgan, E., Caba, A. E., Renley, B. M., Eaton, L. A., & Watson, R. J. (2024). Perceptions of bias in HIV prevention services, happiness with social support, and anticipated PrEP stigma among Black and Latine/x sexual and gender diverse individuals. AIDS Care, 36(5), 682–691. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2024.2326126

Sherwood, H., McCauley, P. S., Caba, A. E., Dorri, A., Watson, R. J., & Russell, S. T. (2024). Sexual orientation. In W. Troop-Gordon (Ed.), The Sage encyclopedia of adolescence. Sage.

Watson, R. J., Caba, A., Lawrence, S., Renley, B., McCauley, P. S., Wheldon, C., Eaton, L., Russell. S.T., & Eisenberg, M. (2024). Examining mental health and bullying concerns at the intersection of sexuality, gender, race, and ethnicity among a national sample of sexual and gender diverse youth. LGBT Health, 11(1), 2–27. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2023.0072

Manuscripts Under Review:

Caba, A. E., McCauley, P. S., Babcock, N., Eaton, L. A., & Watson, R. J. (under review). “There’s no winning. There’s no losing”: Black and Latinx sexual minority men’s perceptions about representation in PrEP marketing.

Lee, H., Sullivan, T., Abramson, J., McCauley, P. S., Mereish, E., & Watson, R. J. (under review). Structural cissexism, mental health, and unmet healthcare needs among gender diverse adolescents.

McCauley, P. S., Lessard, L. M., Moody, R., Eaton, L. A., & Watson, R. J. (revise & resubmit). Exploring the role of telling teachers about identity-based harassment in relation to psychological distress among a national sample of sexual and gender diverse youth.

*Sun, N., G., *McCauley, P. S., Rider, N., Lessard, L. M., Eaton, L. A., & Watson, R. J. (under review). Depressive and anxiety symptoms among Asian American sexual and gender minoritized youth experiencing SOGIE- and race-based harassment: Investigating the role of social support.

 

Headshot, Peter McCauley
Contact Information
Emailpeter.mccauley@uconn.edu