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Julie smiling

Julia O. Dmitrieva

Professor

julia.dmitrieva@du.edu

303-871-3979 (Office)

Nagel Hall, 2194 S High St Denver, CO 80210

What I do

My program of research examines the role of immediate social and broader cultural contexts in the development of children and adolescent problem behaviors and wellbeing.

Specialization(s)

adolescence, Culture, Statistics

Professional Biography

Broadly speaking, my research can be divided according to three related topics – (1) the effects of social context on adolescent behavior and wellbeing, (2) the effects of social context on youth biological functioning, and (3) the role of social context as a moderator of the effects of biological and psychological traits on behavior. 

I am currently undertaking two new study directions. In one study, I am exploring qualitative differences in parenting in different cultures. In another study, I am looking at disentangling the social vs maturational aspects of adolescent risk-taking.

Degree(s)

  • Ph.D., developmental psychology, University of California at Irvine

Professional Affiliations

  • Society for Research in Child Development
  • Society for Research on Adolescence

Research

Developmental Differences in the Effects of Social Context on Externalizing Behavior. Peer social context begins to influence externalizing at an early age – kindergarteners surrounded by classmates with behavioral problems are themselves also more likely to exhibit higher externalizing behavior (Dmitrieva, Steinberg, & Belsky, 2007). Throughout adolescence, peer behavior continues to play a role in youth externalizing and delinquency, but younger adolescents may be more vulnerable to the negative effects of peer context (Goldweber, Dmitrieva, Cauffman, Piquero, & Steinberg, 2011). Interestingly, early adolescent boys are more susceptible to romantic partner deviance than early adolescent girls (Monahan, Dmitrieva, & Cauffman, 2014). However, boys become more resistant to this antisocial influence as they transition into late adolescence and young adulthood, whereas girls become more susceptible during the same developmental period.
Cultural as a Context of Youth Development. My work has focused on the issue of culture-specific and culture-general factors in adolescent development. As such, my work finds support for both culture-general effect of parenting (effects of parental involvement, parent-adolescent conflict, parental monitoring on adolescent misconduct; Dmitrieva, Chen, Greenberger, & Gil-Rivas, 2004; Farruggia, Chen, Greenberger, & Dmitrieva, 2004), as well as culture-specific patterns of developmental trajectories in academic achievement (Dmitrieva, Chen, & Greenberger, 2008) and affect (Lin & Dmitrieva, 2018). 


 

Areas of Research

effects of social context on adolescent antisocial behavior
parenting
peer context
cross-cultural differences in adolescent development

Key Projects

Featured Publications

Lin, J., & Dmitrieva, J. O. (2018). Cultural Orientation Moderates the Association Between Desired Affect and Depressed Mood Among Chinese International Students Living in the United States. Emotion.
Ford, B., Dmitrieva, J. O., Heller, D., Chentsova-Dutton, Y., Grossmann, I., Tamir, M., et al. (2015). Culture shapes whether the pursuit of happiness predicts higher or lower well-being. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, (6), 1053-1062.
McFadyen-Ketcum, L., Hurwich-Reiss, E., Stiles, A., Mendoza, M., Badanes, L. S., Dmitrieva, J. O., & Enos Watamura, S. (2015). Self-regulation and economic stress in children of Hispanic immigrants and their peers: Better regulation at a cost? Early Education & Development.
Monahan, K., Dmitrieva, J. O., & Cauffman, E. (2014). Bad romance: Sex differences in the longitudinal association between romantic relationships and deviant behavior. Journal of Research on Adolescence.
Dmitrieva, J. O. (2012). Arrested development: The effects of incarceration on the development of psychosocial maturity. . Development and Psychopathology, 24, 1073-90.

Graduate Mentorship

​​​​​​Dr. Dmitrieva will NOT be reviewing applications for fall 2025 admission.