Susan M. McHale, PhD

Distinguished Professor of Human Development and Family Studies and Professor of Demography

Susan McHale is a developmental psychologist with interests in bio-psycho-social processes in human behavior, health and development across the lifespan. Her work focuses on youth development from childhood through young adulthood, and she also has studied the health and development of parents in mid-life. Her research highlights the effects of family experiences on youth and parents, particularly children’s and parents’ family roles, relationships, and daily activities and how these family dynamics are linked to psychological and physical health and development; she has a particular interest in sibling-related family dynamics. She also studies diversity in the socio-cultural contexts of family dynamics, including how cultural values and practices have implications for family life and well-being in Mexican-origin and Black American families. Her research on family influences uses a range of methods, including experimental, long-term longitudinal, and daily diary designs to illuminate complex family dynamics, the larger contexts within which families are embedded, and their implications for health and well-being.