Biography

Megan R. Gunnar received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at Stanford University in 1978 and then completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Psychoneuroendocrinology at Stanford Medical School. In 1979 she became an assistant professor at the Institute of Child Development, moving through the ranks to full professor in 1990. Professor Gunnar has spent her career studying how stress biology affects human development and the processes that help children regulate stress and emotions. She is a recipient of lifetime achievement awards from APA, APS, and ISPNE. She is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Education. She is involved in activities to translate developmental science for use by policy makers including being a founding member of the Harvard’s National Scientific Council and serving on the Advisory Council to Children’s Cabinet for the State of Minnesota.

Website: https://innovation.umn.edu/gunnar-lab/

Jesús Palacios, Ph.D., is Professor of Developmental and Educational Psychology at the University of Seville, Spain. His research, teaching and professional activities are centered on family and children relationships. More specifically, he has developed expertise in the area of child protection, with adoption and foster care as the main areas of specialty. Research studies include both domestic and intercountry adoptions, as well as foster care. Practice work includes the development of professional tools for the preparation and suitability assessment of prospective adopters and foster carers. He consults regularly with governmental agencies about how to improve systems of foster care and adoption on behalf of children. He has been active in connecting adoption researchers around the world and was the lead author on a paper published in Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, entitled, "Adoption in the service of child protection: An international interdisciplinary perspective."

Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jesus_Palacios2

Dr. Rachel H. Farr is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Kentucky. Her research focuses on diverse families, particularly those with LGBTQ+ adults and formed through adoption. For 14 years, she has conducted a large longitudinal study about how parental sexual orientation relates to child, parent, and family outcomes among diverse adoptive families across the United States. With support from the William T. Grant Foundation, Dr. Farr is studying racially, economically, and geographically diverse youth with LGBTQ+ parents in the U.S. Her work has been published in top-tier developmental psychology journals, such as Child Development and Developmental Psychology, and has garnered national media attention (e.g., the New York Times, Huffington Post, Washington Post, and National Public Radio). Farr’s findings are relevant to policy, practice and law surrounding ongoing controversy about LGBTQ+ parenting and adoption; they have been cited in numerous amicus briefs for U.S. Supreme Court cases.

Webpage: https://psychology.as.uky.edu/users/rhfa223

Adoption Across Development

Session Type: Invited Symposium

Abstract

This symposium focuses on development of children and family who experience adoption.

Sub Unit

• Invited Program

Individual Presentations

• Possibilities and Limits of Recovery After Early Life Adversities: Evidence from Adoption Research - Presenting Author: Jesús Palacios, University of Seville, Spain

• LGBTQ+ Adoptive Parent Families: Parent-child Socialization, Individual Development Across Time, and Policy Considerations - Presenting Author: Rachel H. Farr, University of Kentucky

Moderator

• Megan R. Gunnar, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Introducer

• Jessica Flannery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill