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Scenes from the Department of Human Development and Family Studies

Barbara M. Newman

Highest Degree:
Ph.D. from University of Michigan

Teaching Interests:
Dr. Newman's teaching interests include lifespan development, adolescent development, and theories of human development.

Research Interests:
Research interests focus on parent-child relationships in early adolescence, factors that promote success in the transition to high school, and the relationship of a sense of group belonging to positive adjustment. Dr. Newman is also interested in factors associated with getting out of troubling credit card debt.

Other scholarly and/or creative work:
Other scholarly work includes writing in the field of human development, especially the lifespan textbook, "Development through life: A psychosocial approach" co-authored with Philip R. Newman, which has been translated into Chinese and Japanese and is now in its 10th edition.

Selected Publications (2000 to present):
Newman, B.M., & Newman, P.R. (2009, 10th edition) Development through life: A psychosocial approach. Belmont, CA: Cengage/Wadsworth.

Newman, B.M. and Newman, P.R. Theories of Human Development. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2007.

Newman, B. M., Lohman B. J., Myers , M. C., Newman P. R. (2000). Experiences of urban youth navigating the transition to ninth grade. Journal of Youth and Society, 31 , (4), 387-416.

Newman, B. M., Myers, M.C., Newman, P. R., Lohman, B. J., and Smith, V. L. (2000). The transition to high school for academically promising, urban, low-income African American youth. Adolescence, 35, (137), 45-66.

Newman, B.M., Lohman, B.J., & Newman, P. R. (2007). Peer group membership and a sense of belonging: Their relationship to adolescent behavior problems. Adolescence, 42, 241-263.

Newman, B.M., Newman, P.R., Griffen, S., O’Connor, K., & Spas, J. (2007). The relationship of social support to depressive symptoms during the transition to high school. Adolescence, 42, 441-459.

Thums, S.L., Newman, B.M., & Xiao, J.J. (2008). Credit card debt reduction and developmental stages of the lifespan. Journal of Personal Finance, 6, 86-107.

Xiao, J. J., Newman, B. M., Prochaska, J. M., Leon, B., & Bassett, R. (2004). Voices of debt troubled consumers: A theory-based qualitative inquiry. Journal of Personal Finance, 3, 56-74.

Xiao, J. J., Newman, B. M., Prochaska, J. M., Leon, B., Bassett, R. L., & Johnson, J. J. (2004). Applying the transtheoretical model of change to consumer debt behavior. Financial Counseling and Planning, 15, 77-88.