Greg Fosco

As the head of the Family PrOcess and Well-being Enrichment Research (POWER) Lab, Greg works with colleagues and students to investigate the family as a context of adolescent development with the ultimate goal of informing interventions to better serve families and youth. His research, and that of the Family POWER Lab, follows two inter-related lines of inquiry.

The first line focuses on understanding the family system and its influence on adolescent development. He has conducted research on adolescent social/emotional outcomes (e.g., romantic relationship competence, self-regulation), psychopathology and substance use risk, and positive well-being (e.g., subjective well-being, purpose in life). He has conducted work examining interparental conflict and relationships, family-level cohesion and conflict, and parent-child relationship quality as key facets of the family system.

The second line of research has focused on family-based prevention programs, such as the Family Check-Up, on adolescent substance use, problem behaviors, and emotional distress. He is particularly interested in examining the change processes during interventions (e.g., skill acquisition, mechanisms of change) so that we can better understand how interventions work and direct future work toward optimization of programs to be more effective and efficient.

All of his work is grounded in a family systems framework, which calls for a more complex understanding of how family relationships impact adolescent development by considering a broader range of family functioning (i.e., multiple family relationships), the interconnectedness of these family processes, and the reciprocal influence processes that unfold within families over time. For more information about the Family POWER Lab, family systems theory, current research projects, or lab activities, please visit his lab website: www.gregfosco.weebly.com

For more information on Dr. Fosco, please click here.

Current Projects

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  Families, Adolescents, and Schools Thriving in Everyday Living (FASTEN) Study

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  Penn State SELF (Student Engagement, Learning, and Flourishing)

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  Pathways to Health from Adolescence through Young Adulthood

Parental support of self-regulation among children at risk for externalizing symptoms: Developmental trajectories of physiological regulation and behavioral adjustment

Zhang, Z, Gatzke-Kopp, L., Fosco, G., & Bierman, K. (2020). Parental support of self-regulation among children at risk for externalizing symptoms: Developmental trajectories of physiological regulation and behavioral adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 56, 528-540.

Age-varying associations of parental knowledge and antisocial peer behavior with adolescent substance use

*Mak, H. W., Russell, M. A., Lanza, S. T., Feinberg, M. E., & Fosco, G. M. (2019). Age-varying associations of parental knowledge and antisocial peer behavior with adolescent substance use. Developmental Psychology. Advance online publication. doi:10.1037/dev0000866 PMCID: PMC7195894

Constellations of family risk for long-term adolescent antisocial behavior

LoBraico, E., Bray, B., Feinberg, M., & Fosco, G. (2020, January). Constellations of family risk for adolescent antisocial behavior. Journal of Family Psychology (e-pub ahead of publication).

Nurturant-involved parenting and adolescent substance use: Examining an internalizing pathway through adolescent social anxiety symptoms and substance refusal efficacy

Weymouth, B. B., Fosco, G. M., & Feinberg, M. E. (2017). Nurturant-involved parenting and adolescent substance use: Examining an internalizing pathway through adolescent social anxiety symptoms and substance refusal efficacy. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 1–14. PMID:29212564

Dynamical systems modeling of couple interaction: A new method for assessing intervention impact across the transition to parenthood

Feinberg, M. E., Xia, M., Fosco, G. M., Heyman, R. E., & Chow, S.-M. (2017). Dynamical systems modeling of couple interaction: A new method for assessing intervention impact across the transition to parenthood. Prevention Science, 18(8), 887–898. PMID:28597177

Profiles of adolescents

Fosco, G. M., & Bray, B. C. (2016). Profiles of adolescents triangulation and appraisals of interparental conflict: Implications for adjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 30, 533-542.

The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale Short Form (DERSSF)

Kaufman, E. A., Xia, M., Fosco, G. M., Yaptangco, M., Skidmore, C. R., & Crowell, S. E. (2016). The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale Short Form (DERSSF): Validation and replication in adolescent and adult samples. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 38, 443-455.

Trajectories of adolescent hostile-aggressive behavior and family climate: Longitudinal implications for young adult romantic relationship competence

Fosco, G.M., Van Ryzin, M., Xia, M., & Feinberg, M.E. (2016). Trajectories of adolescent hostile-aggressive behavior and family climate: Longitudinal implications for young adult romantic relationship competence. Developmental Psychology, 52(7), 1139-1150.

Preventing adolescent depression with the Family Check-Up: Examining family conflict as a mechanism of change

Fosco, G. M., Van Ryzin, M. J., Arin, C. M., & Stormshak, E. A. (2016). Preventing adolescent depression with the Family Check-Up: Examining family conflict as a mechanism of change. Journal of Family Psychology, 30, 82-92.

Triangulation and parent-adolescent relationships: Implications for adolescent dating competence and abuse

Fosco, G. M., Xia, M., Lynn, M. G., & Grych, J. H. (2016). Triangulation and parent-adolescent relationships: Implications for adolescent dating competence and abuse. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 26, 1179-1202.

Seven reasons to invest in well-being

Howell, K. H., Coffey, J. K., Fosco, G. M., Kracke, K., Nelson, S. K., Rothman, E. F., & Grych, J. H. (2016). Seven reasons to invest in well-being. Psychology of Violence, 6, 814.

Knowledge lability: Within-person changes in parental knowledge and their associations with adolescent problem behavior

Lippold, M. A., Fosco, G. M., Ram, N., & Feinberg, M. E. (2016). Knowledge lability: Within-person changes in parental knowledge and their associations with adolescent problem behavior. Prevention Science, 17, 274-283.

The Circle of Care: Extending beyond the nuclear family to examine the role of collaborative caretaking in adolescent development

Margolis, K., Fosco, G. M., & Stormshak, E. A. (2016). The Circle of Care: Extending beyond the nuclear family to examine the role of collaborative caretaking in adolescent development. Journal of Family Issues, 37, 1179-1202.

Family-based prevention programs for children and adolescents

Van Ryzin, M., Kumpfer, K., Fosco, G. M., & Greenberg, M. T. (2016, In Press). Family-based prevention programs for children and adolescents. New York: Psychology Press.

A component-centered meta-analysis of family-based prevention programs for adolescent substance use

Van Ryzin, M. J., Roseth, C., Fosco, G. M., Lee, Y.-K., & Chen, I.-C. (2016). A component-centered meta-analysis of family-based prevention programs for adolescent substance use. Clinical Psychology Review, 45, 72-80.

Examining reciprocal influences among family climate, school attachment, and academic self-regulation: Implications for school success

Xia, M., Fosco, G. M., & Feinberg, M. E. (2016). Examining reciprocal influences among family climate, school attachment, and academic self-regulation: Implications for school success. Journal of Family Psychology, 26, 442-452.