Nancy S. Landale, Ph.D., is professor of sociology and demography and director of the Population Research Institute at The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Landale’s areas of interest include family demography, immigration and immigrant incorporation, the Hispanic population, and children’s health. She is widely known for her research on the implications of migration to the U.S. mainland for family processes and maternal/infant health among Puerto Ricans. Her current work focuses on the educational and health outcomes of Mexican children of immigrants. A major issue addressed in this work is how migration and assimilation affect key aspects of the family environment (socioeconomic status, family relationships, and health practices), thereby influencing children’s outcomes. Dr. Landale is also currently conducting a study of academic achievement among children of legal immigrants. Dr. Landale served as a member of two panels of the National Research Council that are relevant to the present volume: “The Health and Adjustment of Immigrant Families and Children” (1996–98) and “Transforming Our Common Destiny: Hispanics in the U.S.” (2003–05).
Susan McHale, Ph.D., is director of the Social Science Research Institute and The Children, Youth, and Family Consortium and professor of human development at The Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on children's and adolescents' family roles, relationships, and daily experiences and how these family dynamics are linked to youth development and adjustment. She is particularly interested in gender dynamics in families. Dr. McHale has studied how differential family roles and experiences of sisters and brothers are linked to the choices they make in education, work, and family formation. Dr. McHale’s research also investigates the cultural contexts of family dynamics including how parents’ and youths’ sociocultural values, practices, and daily experiences have implications for family life and youth adjustment in African American and Mexican American families. Most recently, she has extended her research to examine the role of family dynamics, particularly family stressors, in youths’ physical health.
Alan Booth, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Sociology, Demography, and Human Development & Family Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. He has been a senior scientist in Penn State's Population Research Institute since 1991. Dr. Booth has co-organized the university's National Symposium of Family Issues since its inception in 1993. He is the author of more than 100 scholarly articles and 4 books, and editor of 16 volumes. He was editor of Journal of Marriage and the Family from 1985 to 1991. Dr. Booth directed a 20-year study of marital instability in a national sample of 2000 married people. The project has been the basis for many studies on the causes of divorce; the effects of divorce on children's well-being; remarriage; and stepfamilies, as well as the effects of having a nonresident parent on psychological distress, educational achievement, romantic relationships, and family formation. A major focus of Booth's research is on hormones (e.g., testosterone and cortisol) and family relationships (i.e., parent-child relationship quality, peer relationships, and marital happiness).
