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Ann Skinner

Research Scientist
Center for Child and Family Policy
Box 90545, Durham, NC 27708
210 Rubenstein Hall, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


Ann Skinner joined the Center in 2001 and is a Research Scientist with Parenting Across Cultures (PAC) and C-StARR.  She is also the Principal Investigator for a study examining the effects of the war on young people and their families in Ukraine.

Her research focuses on the ways in which stressful community, familial, and interpersonal events impact parent-child relationships and the development of aggression and internalizing behaviors in youth. She has extensive experience in data management of multisite projects and in supervising teams for school- and community-based interventions and data collection. 

Skinner is a former supervisor in the Junior Researcher Programme, where she led a group of junior international scholars exploring the impact of COVID-19 on adolescent and young adult development.  She is currently a 2022-23 fellow with the ICDSS COVID-19 Global Scholars Program.

Prior to her work with Parenting Across Cultures, Skinner was a senior school specialist and research analyst on the GREAT Schools and Families middle school violence prevention project at the Center, as well as Project CLASS.

Skinner has a Ph.D in developmental psychology from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, a master's degree in education, and B.A. in psychology, both from the College of William and Mary, with a focus on teaching students with emotional and learning disabilities. Before joining the Center, she worked as a special education teacher, trainer, and supervisor in the North Carolina public schools and at residential facilities for at-risk youth in Rhode Island and North Carolina.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Recent Publications


The role of family relationships on adolescents' development and adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review.

Journal Article Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence · March 2025 In typical times, adolescents' relationships with family members influence changing cognitive, social, and physical aspects of their development. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, impacted the full family system in ways that were unprecedented. Scholars of a ... Full text Cite

How adolescents' lives were disrupted over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal investigation in 12 cultural groups in 9 nations from March 2020 to July 2022.

Journal Article Development and psychopathology · February 2025 It is unclear how much adolescents' lives were disrupted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic or what risk factors predicted such disruption. To answer these questions, 1,080 adolescents in 9 nations were surveyed 5 times from March 2020 to July 2022. Rates of ... Full text Cite

Parents’ learning support and school attitudes in relation to adolescent academic identity and school performance in nine countries

Journal Article European Journal of Psychology of Education · December 1, 2024 An important question for parents and educators alike is how to promote adolescents’ academic identity and school performance. This study investigated relations among parental education, parents’ attitudes toward their adolescents’ school, parental support ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


Childhood, Adolescence, and Covid-Related Risk and Protective Factors in the Development of Adjustment in Early Adulthood Across Cultures

ResearchProject Manager · Awarded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development · 2022 - 2027

Adolescents and AI

ResearchResearch Scientist · Awarded by University of California - Irvine · 2024 - 2025

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