Kari Adamsons

Associate Professor

Human Development and Family Sciences

---

Overview

My principal research focus is fathering, particularly the ways in which mothers and fathers negotiate parenting roles across contexts and transitions (e.g., divorce, transition to parenthood) and the factors that impact father-child relationships. My second research emphasis is family theory, concentrated on identity theory and the process of theorizing. My third area of scholarly expertise is couple relationships and the factors that affect couple processes and outcomes, particularly marital/relationship stability. I have engaged in both primary data collection and secondary data analysis, and I am primarily a quantitative researcher. I teach classes on parenting, close relationships, family theory, and men and masculinities.

Research Topics

• Father involvement and father-child relationships, especially with nonresident fathers
• Father influences on childhood obesity
• Coparenting
• Family theory and theorizing
• Couple relationships
• Parent education
• Program evaluation

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