Kari Adamsons (she/her)

Professor

Human Development and Family Sciences

I am accepting new graduate students for Fall 2026.

Overview

My principal research focus is fathering, particularly the ways in which mothers and fathers negotiate parenting roles across transitions and diverse contexts, the factors that impact father-child relationships, and the ways that fathers influence children (e.g., transmission of risk behaviors, childhood obesity). My second research emphasis is family theory, concentrated on identity theory and the process of theorizing. I have engaged in both primary data collection and secondary data analysis, and I am primarily a quantitative researcher although I engage in some mixed methods and focus group research. I teach classes on parenting, family dynamics, family diversity, close relationships, family theory, and men and masculinities.

Education

College of William and Mary, BA, Psychology – 1996

University of North Carolina at Greensboro, MS, Human Development and Family Studies – 2002

University of North Carolina at Greensboro, PhD, Human Development and Family Studies – 2006