Greg Fosco
PRC Associate Director; Professor, Human Development and Family Studies
306 BBH Building
814-865-5622
gmf19@psu.edu
Pronouns: he/him
Introduction & Projects
"I am dedicated to understanding and improving the lives of families and adolescents."
As associate director of the Prevention Research Center, Greg Fosco guides the scientific vision and direction of the Center. As the head of the Family PrOcess and Well-being Enrichment Research (POWER) Lab, he 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
More information about Dr. Fosco >
Prevention-related Projects
Recent Publications
Hochgraf, A. K., Fosco, G. M., & Lanza, S. T. (2022). Journal of Adolescent Heath. Advance online publication.
Feinberg, M. E., Fang, S., Fosco G. M., Sloan, C. J., Mogle, J., & Spoth, R. L. (2022). Long-term effects of adolescent substance use prevention on participants, partners, and their children: Resiliency and outcomes 15 years later during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prevention Science. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-022-01384-2
Profiles of future expectations among urban adolescents in Cambodia
Knapp, K. S., Chimed-Ochir, U., Apsley, H. B., Eng, S., Fosco, G. M., & Cleveland, H. H. (2022). Profiles of future expectations among urban adolescents in Cambodia. Developmental Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001374
Fosco, G. M., LoBraico, E. J., Sloan, C. J., Fang, S., & Feinberg, M. E. (2021). Family vulnerability, disruption, and chaos predict parent and child COVID-19 health-protective behavior adherence. Families, systems & health: The Journal of Collaborative Family Healthcare. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000649
Triadic family structures and their day-to-day dynamics: A multilevel latent profile analysis
Xia, M., Bray, B.C., & Fosco, G.M. (In Press). Capturing triadic family structures and their day-to-day dynamics: A multilevel latent profile analysis. Family Process. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/famp.12722
MacNeill, L.A. & Fosco, G.M. (2021). Intraindividual differences in adolescent threat appraisals and anxiety associated with interparental conflict. Journal of Marriage and Family, 84, 583-601. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12795
Fosco, G.M., Sloan, C. J., Fang, S., & Feinberg M.E. (2021). Family vulnerability and disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic: Prospective pathways to child maladjustment. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13458
Predictors of attendance patterns in a universal family-based preventive intervention program
LoBraico, E.J., Fosco, G.M., Feinberg, M.E., Spoth, R. Redmond, C. & Bray, B.C. (In Press). Predictors of Attendance Patterns in a Universal Family-Based Preventive Intervention Program. Journal of Primary Prevention.
Fosco, G.M, McCauley, D.M., Sloan, C.J. (2021). Distal and proximal family contextual effects on adolescents’ interparental conflict appraisals: A daily diary study. Journal of Family Psychology, 35, 927-938. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000703
Hochgraf, A. K., Fosco, G. M., Lanza, S. T., & McHale, S. (2021). Developmental timing of parent-youth intimacy as a protective factor for adolescent adjustment problems. Journal of Family Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000864
New conceptualizations and directions in the study of family context
Teti, D.M. & Fosco, G.M. (2021). New conceptualizations and directions in the study of family context. Journal of Family Psychology, 35(2), 123–127. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000816
Shewark, E.A., Ramos, A.M., Liu, C., Ganiban, J.M., Fosco, G.M., Shaw, D.S., Reiss, D., Natsuaki, M.N., Leve, L.D., & Neiderhiser, J.M. The role of child negative emotionality in parenting and child adjustment: Gene-environment interplay. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13420
LoBraico, E.J., Bray, B.C., Feinberg, M.E., & Fosco, G.M. (2020). Constellations of Family Risk for Long-Term Adolescent Antisocial Behavior: A Latent Profile Analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 34, 587-597.
Mayfield, K. & Fosco, G.M. (2021). Links between School and Home: Associations between Adolescent School Day Experiences and Maternal Perceptions of Family Relations. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 30, 121-133.
Developmental timing of parent-youth intimacy as a protective factor for adolescent adjustment problems
Hochgraf, A.K., Lanza, S.T., Fosco, G.M., & McHale, S.M. (In Press). Developmental Timing of Parent-Youth Intimacy as a Protective Factor for Adolescent Adjustment Problems. Journal of Family Psychology
McCauley, D. M., Sloan, C. J., Xia, M., & Fosco, G. M. (2021). Same family, divergent realities: How triangulation preserves parents’ illusory harmony while adolescents navigate interparental conflicts. Journal of Family Psychology, 35(2), 128–137. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000785
Sloan, C. J., Fosco, G. M., & Ram, N. (2021). Sensitization in situ: Identifying interindividual differences in adolescents’ intraindividual responsiveness to interparental conflict. Family Relations, 22, 583-601. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12604
Mak, H. W., Fosco, G.M., & Lanza, S. T. (2021). Dynamic Associations of Parent-Adolescent Closeness and Friend Support with Adolescent Depressive Symptoms Across Ages 12-19. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 31, 299-316.
When do adolescents feel loved? A daily within-person study of parent-adolescent relations
Coffey, J., Xia, M. & Fosco, G.M. (In Press). When do Adolescents Feel Loved? A Daily Within-Person Study of Parent-Adolescent Relations. Emotion. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32658506/
Fosco, G.M., Brinberg, M. & Ram, N. (2021). Day-to-day changes in parent-adolescent connectedness: Relations with daily subjective well-being and eudaimonia differ for parents and adolescents. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 640-650. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1791945
Lippold, M.A., Hussong, A., Fosco, G.M., & Ram, N. (2021). Youth Internalizing Problems and Changes in Parent-Child Relationships Across Adolescence: Lability and Developmental Trends. Journal of Early Adolescence, 41, 472-497.
Zhang, X., Gatzke-Kopp, L.M., Fosco, G.M., & Bierman, K.L. (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.
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
LoBraico, E.J., Bray, B.C., Feinberg, M.E., & Fosco, G.M. (2020). Constellations of Family Risk for Long-Term Adolescent Antisocial Behavior: A Latent Profile Analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 34, 587-597.
Constellations of family risk for long-term adolescent antisocial behavior
LoBraico, E., Bray, B., Feinberg, M., & Fosco, G. (2020). Constellations of family risk for adolescent antisocial behavior. Journal of Family Psychology, 34(5), 587-597. (e-pub ahead of publication). https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/fam0000640
Elaborating on premature adolescent autonomy: Linking daily family processes to developmental risk
Fosco, G.M. & LoBraico, E. (2019). Elaborating on premature adolescent autonomy: Linking daily family processes to developmental risk. Development and Psychopathology, 31, 1741-1755. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954579419001032
Xia, M., Weymouth, B., Bray, B.C., Lippold, M. A., Feinberg, M.E., & Fosco, G.M. (2020). Exploring Influence of Triadic Family Relationship Profiles on Adolescents’ Early Substance Initiation. Prevention Science, 21, 519-529.
Fosco, G.M. & Lydon-Staley, D.M. (2020). Implications of Family Cohesion and Conflict for Adolescent Mood and Well-Being: Examining Within- and Between-Family Processes on a Daily Timescale. Family Process, 59, 1672-1689.
LoBraico, E. J., Brinberg, M., Ram, N., & Fosco, G.M. (2020). Exploring Processes in Day-to-Day Parent-Adolescent Conflict and Angry Mood: Evidence for Circular Causality. Family Process, 59, 1706-1721.
Fosco, G.M. & Lydon-Staley, D.M. (2019). A within-family examination of interparental conflict, cognitive appraisals, and adolescent mood and well-being. Child Development, 90, e421-e436. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12997
Fosco, G.M., Mak H.W., Ramos, A. LoBraico, E.J., & Lippold, M.A. (2019). Exploring the promise of assessing dynamic characteristics of the family for predicting adolescent risk outcomes. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 60, 848-856. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13052
Adolescent emotion network dynamics in daily life and implications for depression
Lydon-Staley, D.M., Xia, M., Mak, H.W., & Fosco, G.M. (2019). Adolescent emotion network dynamics in daily life and implications for depression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 47, 717-729. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0474-y
Glatz, T., Lippold, M.A., Jensen, T.M., Fosco, G.M., & Feinberg, M.E. (2020). Hostile interactions in the family: What are the patterns and how are they linked to youth externalizing problems? Journal of Early Adolescence, 40, 58-82.
Brinberg, M., Fosco, G.M., & Ram, N. (2017). Examining inter-family differences in intra-family (parent-adolescent) dynamics using grid-sequence analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 31, 994-1004. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000371
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
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
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.
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.
Van Ryzin, M.J., Kumpfer, K.L, Fosco, G.M., & Greenberg, M.F. (Eds.) (2015). Family-based prevention programs for children and adolescents: Theory, research, and large-scale dissemination. Psychology Press. https://www.routledge.com/Family-Based-Prevention-Programs-for-Children-and-Adolescents-Theory-Research/Ryzin-Kumpfer-Fosco-Greenberg/p/book/9781848724853
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.
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.
Related News
October 18, 2022
Bennett Lecture to focus on moving a family-centered intervention online
Read more.
June 09, 2022
New study shows links between family dynamics and COVID-19 preventative measures
Read more.
May 16, 2022
Understanding the life aspirations of urban adolescents in Cambodia
Read more.
February 21, 2022
An ounce of prevention: Research center aims to stop problems before they start
Read more.
November 12, 2021
Expert on the health of Hispanic families to deliver 2021 Bennett Lecture
The public is invited to attend a free lecture on promoting health in Hispanic families from 4-5:30 p.m. on Nov. 18 featuring Guillermo (Willy) Prado, vice provost for faculty affairs; dean of the graduate school; and professor of nursing and health studies, public health sciences, and psychology at the University of Miami.
Read more.
August 02, 2021
Closeness with dads may play a special role in how kids weather adolescence
Adolescence can be an emotionally turbulent time, but new research at Penn State found that close, supportive relationships with parents — especially dads — at key points during adolescence can help stave off certain adjustment problems.
Read more.
June 21, 2021
Parents may underestimate impact of involving adolescent children in conflicts
When parents who are fighting with each other draw their adolescent children into their conflicts, the children may perceive those conflicts very differently than their parents, according to a new Penn State study.
Read more.
June 17, 2021
Parenting teens: Is there an app for that?
Penn State researchers are developing an app to promote family well-being The middle-school years mark a time of rapid change for pre-teens and teens, as well as for their parents. As adolescents seek greater independence, it can be challenging for their parents to connect with and guide them. Penn State researchers, with funding from the Mental Research Institute, are developing a smartphone app to promote positive, engaged family relationships that promote healthy development for adolescents.
Read more.
June 11, 2021
Training scientists in substance use prevention the focus of $3.2 million grant
A $3.2 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) will fund the continuation of Penn State's Prevention and Methodology Training (PAMT) program, which focuses on training the next generation of scientists in preventing substance use and addiction.
Read more.
April 21, 2021
New conceptualizations and directions in the study of family context
As editors of an April 2021 special section of the Journal of Family Psychology, Douglas M. Teti, professor of human development and family studies, psychology, and pediatrics at Penn State; and Gregory M. Fosco, associate professor of human development and family studies and associate director of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, advocate a position in which the study of family contexts becomes a field of study in its own right.
Read more.
November 23, 2020
Video: Penn State prevention researchers respond to COVID-19
Read more.
August 06, 2020
Parental warmth on high-conflict days helps teens to feel loved
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — While parent-teen conflict is inevitable, parents expressing warmth and support on high-conflict days can bolster how much their teen feels loved, according to a study conducted by Gregory Fosco, Penn State associate professor of human development and family studies and associate director of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center.
Read more.
May 01, 2020
Emotionally Supportive Parenting Can Help Disadvantaged Children Stay On The Rails
From a blog post written by Xutong Zhang, graduate student in Human Development and Family Studies; and Lisa Gatzke-Kopp, professor of human development and family studies, for the Child and Family Blog.
Read more.
April 22, 2020
Researchers to study impact of COVID-19 and social distancing on families
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Since social distancing has been implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19, many families are experiencing high levels of stress and conflict — arguments and conflict between parents, between parents and children, and between siblings.
Read more.
August 02, 2018
Research by Xia, Feinberg, Fosco featured in July 31 issue of NIH Research Matters
Young adults who were raised in a healthy family are more likely to have a healthy romantic relationship.
Read more.
May 02, 2018
Parents may help prep kids for healthier, less violent relationships
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Warm, nurturing parents may pass along strategies for building and maintaining positive relationships to their kids, setting them up for healthier, less-violent romantic relationships as young adults, according to researchers.
Read more.