CNHS Newsletter McGinley
Dr. Meredith McGinley joined the UW-Parkside community in Fall 2017 as an assistant professor in the psychology department. In her faculty role Dr. McGinley teaches undergraduate courses in Introduction to Psychological Science, Introduction to Human Development, Infant Development, and Adolescent Development. She will be teaching Lifespan Development in Counseling in the new Masters (MS) in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program. Dr. McGinley has been collaborating with students on quantitative research projects focusing on the social, emotional, and moral development of adolescents and emerging adults.
Alexandria Evans (psychology major) and I are currently working on research that is examining the transfer of secure attachments with parents to secure attachments with peers, and how these positive peer relationships contribute to prosocial (i.e., helping) behaviors and mental health in emerging adults. We will be submitting this project for presentation at the 2019 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, as well as to a peer-reviewed developmental psychology journal.
Dr. McGinley received her BA from Lebanon Valley College (Annville, PA) in Psychology and MA and PhD from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Developmental Psychology. Her dissertation focused on examining the joint effects of temperament and sensitive parenting on prosocial (i.e., helping) behaviors across childhood. She has published articles examining the social, cultural, and individual influences on empathy and prosocial behaviors in children, adolescents, and emerging adults, as well as the role of victimization and stress on anxiety, depression, and drinking behaviors across the lifespan. Additionally, she has published papers examining the psychometric properties of instruments used to assess these factors, and serves as a statistical consultant on multiple NIH grants examining the well-being of children, adolescents, and working adults.
Dr. McGinley has previously taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Northern Illinois University, an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology at North Central College (Naperville, IL), and an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Chatham University (Pittsburgh, PA). She was also a Visiting Senior Research Specialist at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. McGinley resides in Illinois with her husband and two children.