Amy Kerivan Marks, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Psychology
B.A., Cornell University (Biology & Society), Ph.D., Brown University (Developmental & Experimental Psychology).

Contact Information

Suffolk University
Department of Psychology
41 Temple Street
Boston, MA 02114
Donahue 609
617-573-8017 (Office)
617-367-2924 (Fax)
akmarks@suffolk.edu

 

Courses Taught

PSYCH 215 Behavioral Statistics
PSYCH 334 Adolescent Development
PSYCH 723 Multivariate Statistics

 

Specialty Areas

Developmental Psychology (Social & Emotional Functioning), At-Risk Youth, Diversity, Culture & Acculturation, Mixed Methods and Statistics.

My research aims to better understand the ways in which ecological settings promote or inhibit a variety of developmental processes across childhood and adolescence.  By studying development “in context,” my lab hopes to learn more about how culture shapes social and emotional development.  This work typically takes a positive youth development perspective, as well as an interest in the unique characteristics of settings that increase risk for poor health and education outcomes among ethnic and racial minority youth.  Recent studies have looked at: (1) Characteristics of immigration processes, schools & families that promote academic achievement and early ethnic identity development among children of immigrant families; and (2) Individual differences in affective regulation, school attitudes, and implicit measures of ethnic identities, related to “being bicultural” in adolescence.

In addition, a new study of two national datasets (NELS and AddHealth) is currently underway to document characteristics of settings that support the “immigrant paradox” - a population phenomenon in which more highly acculturated youth have worse health, behavioral and education outcomes than recently immigrated peers.  Students in my lab are currently studying patterns of depression and sexual risk behaviors by immigrant generation, as well as studying ethnic and sexual identity development in adolescence. As part of a collaboration with Prof. Coyne, students in my lab are also studying how acculturation impats early childhood development in a low-income Chinese American community. Inspired by the complexity of these topics, I take a “mixed methods” approach to my research (e.g., combining correlational, qualitative, experimental, and data modeling studies), and draw from several ecological and minority youth development theoretical frameworks.  

Selected Publications

Garcia Coll, c., & Marks, A.K. (2009). Immigrant stories: Identity and academic pathways during middle childhood. New York: Oxford University Press.

Marks, A. K., Powell, K., & García Coll, C. (2009). Ethnic Identity. In The Chicago Companion to the Child. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Marks, A.K., Patton, F. & Garcia Coll, C. (2009). School adjustment and emerging ethnic identities among children of immigrants. In R. Takanishi & E.L. Grigorenko (Eds.), Immigration, Diversity, and Education. Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group.    

Marks, A. K., Szalacha, L. S., Lamarre, M. Boyd, M. J., & García Coll, C. (2007). Emerging ethnic identity and interethnic group social preferences in middle childhood:  Findings from the Children of Immigrants, Development in Context (CIDC) study. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31(5), 501-513.

Marks, A. K., & García Coll, C. (2007). Psychological and demographic correlates of early academic skill development among American Indian and Alaska Native youth: A growth modeling study. Developmental Psychology, 43(3), 663-674.