Samantha E. Lawrence

Ph.D., Health, Wellbeing, and Prevention &

Diversity and Culture

Human Development and Family Studies

Entered the Program: 2017

Current program: 

  • Ph.D.
  • Areas of Specialization: Diversity and Culture; Child and Adolescent Development; Health, Wellbeing, and Prevention

Previous Education:

  • M.A., Human Development and Family Sciences, UConn, 2019
  • B.A., Psychological Sciences & Human Development and Family Studies, UConn Honors College, 2017

Research Interests:

  • Mental health consequences of group/identity-based victimization (e.g., ethnicity/race, gender identity, sexual orientation, mental health status)
  • Experiences of, reasoning about, and responses to intergroup relations and group-based victimization
  • Intergroup relations and victimization in international contexts of social change and high conflict

Advising Committee:

Major Advisor: Alaina Brenick

Assistantship Experience:

  • Fall 2019 – Instructor, Course: Adolescent Development
  • Spring 2019 – Instructor, Course: Research Methods in HDFS
  • Fall 2017 – Spring 2019 – Research Assistantship, Developmental Aspects of Sexual Health (DASH) Lab, Advisor: Eva S. Lefkowitz
  • Fall 2018 – Teaching Assistantship, Course: Research Methods in HDFS, Advisor: Keith Bellizzi
  • Fall 2017, Spring 2018 – Teaching Assistantship, Course: Family Interaction Processes, Advisor: Louisa Baker

Recent awards/scholarships/fellowships:

  • 2019               Outstanding Instructor in Human Development and Family Sciences Award
  • 2018, 2019    Provost’s Acknowledgment for Teaching Excellence
  • 2019               Mattoon-Kline Endowed Scholarship Fund
  • 2019               Human Development and Family Sciences Departmental Award
  • 2019               Predoctoral Graduate School Fellowship Award in support of summer research efforts in the doctoral program, UConn Graduate School
  • 2018               Evaluations of school-based rights violations of transgender and gender non-conforming youth: A social ecological perspective, Wood/Raith Living Trust Summer Fellowship, UConn
  • 2018               Summer Fellowship for Advanced Graduate Students in support of summer research efforts, UConn Graduate School
  • 2018               L. Eugene Thomas Human Development and Family Studies Award

Recent publications:

Brenick, A., Lawrence, S. E., Carvalheiro, D., & Berger, R. (2019). Teaching tolerance or acting tolerant? Evaluating skills- and contact-based prejudice reduction interventions among palestinian-israeli and jewish-israeli youth. Journal of School Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2019.07.001

Berger, R., Brenick, A., Lawrence, S. E., Lila Coco, & Abu-Raiya, H. (2018). The effectiveness and durability of contact- and skills-based approaches to prejudice reduction. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 59, 46-53. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2018.04.002

Samantha Lawrence