Katharine H. Zeiders, Ph.D.

Research Focus

Dr. Zeiders is accepting graduate students for the 2024-2025 academic year. 

My program of research focuses on Latinx families and youths’ well-being. My work operates from a general stress process model and draws from the risk and resilience literature to (a) identify relevant challenges related to Latinx families’ and youths’ well-being (b) explore biological processes mediating the link between challenges and well-being and (c) identify the ways in which individual and family cultural orientations, beliefs, and behaviors moderate stress processes. My research interests are explored in individuals’ naturalistic environments using daily and weekly diary methodology alongside more long-term developmental approaches.

Current Projects

Puberty and Sociocultural Experiences among Mexican-American Boys (Fall 2019 - Fall 2022)

Funder: National Science Foundation

Co-PIs: Dr. Katharine Zeiders, Dr. Ada Wilkinson-Lee, and Dr. Lindsay Hoyt

Puberty is a time of physical, social, and cognitive changes with direct implications for adolescents’ development and long-term well-being. Although scientific knowledge of puberty is growing, there remains little information about how puberty impacts the social and cultural experiences of Latinx boys in the U.S. The goal of this project, El Proyecto Hijos de Tucson (The Tucson Sons Project), is to understand how biological and physical markers of puberty relate to everyday experiences of boys from Mexican-American families. The study will conduct interviews with 400 Mexican-American families who have a male adolescent between the ages of 12-16 years old. By following the families over two years, the project will investigate how boys’ pubertal development influences social interactions with their parents, teachers, and friends, and examine how these biological and social factors together impact their mental health and well-being. The research will provide critical information to families, community members, and health care providers about the ways in which puberty shapes the context and development of Latinx boys.

Health and Relationships During College Study

 A weekly diary study of Latinx and Black college students’ discrimination and physiological/behavioral response. PIs: Dr. Katharine Zeiders and Dr. Antoinette Landor (University of Missouri)

The College Election Study (Fall 2016)

The purpose of this study was to examine college students’ stress hormone profiles before, during, and after the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Sociopolitical contexts can influence individuals’ daily experiences, but we know little about how particular issues salient to elections (e.g., immigration, religious freedom, marriage) are experienced physiologically. We hope to understand how individuals’ political affiliations, beliefs, thoughts, and attitudes relate to key election issues, and in turn, predict differential physiological responses.

Collaborators:

Dr. Katharine Zeiders (University of Arizona, Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences)

Dr. Lindsay Hoyt (Fordham University, Psychology)

Dr. Russell Toomey (University of Arizona, Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences)

Dr. Rajni Nair (Arizona State University, College of Integrative Arts and Sciences)

The Adolescent Election Study (Fall 2016)

The purpose of this study was to examine how parents’ beliefs, values, and political perspectives influence adolescents’ stress hormone profiles before, during, and after the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Parents’ experiences play an important role in their children’s daily lives, but we know little about how sociopolitical contexts predicts overall family functioning and adolescents’ physiology and well-being. We hope to understand how larger macrosystem influences trickle down to affect the interactions and relationships between parents and adolescents.

Collaborators:

Dr. Katharine Zeiders (University of Arizona, Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences)

Dr. Lindsay Hoyt (Fordham University, Psychology)

Dr. Rajni Nair (Arizona State University, College of Integrative Arts and Sciences)

Subjects Taught

FSHD 447a Sociocultural Development

FSHD 507A Research Methods I

FSHD 507B Research Methods II

FSHD 537B Intermediate Statistical Analysis 

FSHD 607 Stress (Graduate Seminar)