About Dr. Parker

Alison Parker, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist at innovation Research & Training, Inc. Dr. Parker received a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from North Carolina State University and has extensive experience in the area of children and adolescents’ social, emotional, and cognitive development. At iRT, Dr. Parker’s work has concentrated on children and adolescents’ self-regulatory abilities and healthy decision-making through the development of prevention programs and resources as well as the creation of tools to assess social and emotional learning.

Current projects and responsibilities:

Principal Investigator: Mindfulness-based substance abuse prevention program for adolescents with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (Phase II SBIR) The purpose of this project is to complete the development of and evaluate the efficacy of the Aware Program, an online mindfulness-based substance abuse prevention program for adolescents with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

Principal Investigator: Mindfulness-based coping program for adolescents (Phase I SBIR) The purpose of this project is to develop a prototype of and examine the feasibility of a mindfulness education program for high school students.

Principal Investigator: Elementary school mindfulness-based substance use prevention program (Phase I SBIR) The purpose of this project is to complete the development of and evaluate the efficacy of the Master Mind program, a mindfulness education, substance abuse prevention program for elementary school children.

Co-Principal Investigator: Web-based resource for youth about clinical research (Phase I SBIR) The purpose of this project is to develop a web-based resource for children with a chronic disease or illness to support their decision-making about participating in clinical trials.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Halberstadt, A. G., Castro, V. L., & Parker, A. E. (under review). Nonverbal communication. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Lifespan Human Development.

Parker, A.E., & Kupersmidt, J. B. (in press). Two universal mindfulness education programs for elementary and middle school students: Master Mind and Moment. In K. Schonert-Reichl & R. Roeser (Eds). The Handbook of Mindfulness in Education: Emerging Theory, Research, and Programs (Vol. 1). Springer Press.

Halberstadt, A. G., Beale, K. S., Meade, A., Craig, A., & Parker, A. E. (2015). Anger infamilies: Individual and dyadic contributions. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 32, 810-828.

Parker, A., E. (2014). [Review of the book Psychology of Meditation, by N. N. Singh]. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 23, 1139-1143.

Parker, A., E., Kupersmidt, J. B., Mathis, E. T., Scull, T. M., & Sims, C. (2014). The impact of mindfulness education on elementary school students: Evaluation of the Master Mind Program. Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, 7, 184-204.

Halberstadt, A. G., Dunsmore, J. C., Bryant, A. J., Parker, A. E., Beale, K. S., & Thompson, J. A. (2013). Development and validation of the parents’ beliefs about children’s emotions questionnaire. Psychological Assessment, 25, 1195-1210.

Halberstadt, A. G., Parker, A. E., & Castro, V. L. (2013). Nonverbal communication: Developmental perspectives. (pp. 93-127) In J. A. Hall & M. L. Knapp (Eds.) Handbook of communication science: Nonverbal communication (Vol. 2). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Parker, A. E., Mathis, E. T., & Kupersmidt, J. B. (2013). How is this child feeling? Preschool-aged children’s recognition of emotions in faces and body poses. Early Education and Development, 24, 188-211.

Parker, A. E., Halberstadt, A. G., Dunsmore, J. C., Townley, G. E., Beale, K.S., Bryant, A., & Thompson, J. A. (2012). “Emotions are a window into one’s heart”: Parental beliefs about children’s emotions in three ethnic groups. Monographs for the Society for Research on Child Development, 77, 1-137.

Scull, T.M., Kupersmidt, J. B., Parker, A. E., Elmore, K., & Benson, J. W. (2010). Media-related cognitions and adolescent substance use in the context of parent and peer influences. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 981-998.

Halberstadt, A. G., Thompson, J. A., Parker, A. E., & Dunsmore, J. C. (2008). Parents’ emotion-related beliefs and behaviors in relation to children’s coping with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Infant and Child Development, 17, 557-580.

Halberstadt, A. G., & Parker, A. E. (2007). Function, structure, and process as independent dimensions in research on emotion. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 14, 402-406.

Hakim-Larson, J., Parker, A. E., Lee, C., Goodwin, J., & Voelker, S. (2006). Parental meta-emotion and psychometric properties of the parenting styles self-test. Early Education and Development, 17, 229-251.