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Richard A. WeinbergPh.D., 1968, University of Minnesota Office: 180 Child Development Developmental behavior genetics, psychoeducational assessment techniques, early childhood education and public policy |
My research has focused on the development of individual differences in intellectual skills, personality characteristics, social attitudes, and other psychological variables from early childhood through young adulthood. I have employed the adoption method to study the effects of environments and human genetic endowment on development. With Sandra Scarr, my long-time collaborator, I have followed up 101 transracial adoptive Caucasian families first seen over 30 years ago, when the adopted (primarily Caucasian, African-American, or Interracial) children and birth children in the families were, on the average, 7 and 10-years old respectively. The longitudinal follow-up study focused on academic and intellectual achievements and on life adjustment of the transracial adoptees and their non-adopted siblings during late adolescence/early adulthood.
Most recently, in collaboration with Irwin Waldman at Emory University and Manfred van Dulmen at Kent State University, I have pursued a series of unanswered questions regarding the psychosocial adjustment of members of the original participating transracial adoptive families during the children’s adolescence when new problems might have emerged to disrupt the families’ adaptations. Highlighting data drawn from parental interviews, four composite scales were created to assess school problems, behavior problems, general health, and delinquency among the 240 children in the 91 adoptive families. It was found that the majority of children in transracial adoptive families did not show evidence of poor psychosocial adjustment as portrayed by the perceptions of their parents in interviews. However, for almost every indicator, the birth offspring were the least likely among the groups of children to be seen as having experienced significant adjustment problems. In contrast, the adopted children were perceived as more likely to have experienced poor adjustment. These data suggested that individual differences, rather than group differences, are more critical for understanding the adolescent psychosocial adjustment outcomes of this sample of transracial adoptees and their non-adopted siblings. The findings are consistent with the literature demonstrating that adoptees, including adolescents, are at greater risk than non-adoptees for externalizing behavior problems including delinquency, general, and school adjustment. This research has been supported by The National Science Foundation and a grant from the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota.
Recent publications
Invited Review of "The Infant and the Family in the Twenty‑First century." (2004). Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43:1, 115‑116.
A Body Coming Through the Rye. (2004). American Psychological Society Observer 17(4), 35.
Children and Sports/Athletics (2005). In Fisher, C. B. & Lemer, R. M. (Eds.), Applied Developmental Science An Encyclopedia of Research Policies and Programs Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1048‑1051 (with J. Ostrov).
Peers (2005). In Fisher, C. B. & Lerner, R. M. (Eds.), Applied Developmental Science An Encyclopedia of Research Policies and Programs Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 816‑819 (with J. Ostrov).
Intelligence Testing (2005). In Fisher, C. B. & Lemer, R. M. (Eds.), Applied Developmental Science An Encyclopedia of Research Policies and Programs Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 599‑601 (with A. Luckner).
The Minnesota Transracial Adoption Study: Parent reports of psychosocial adjustment at late adolescence (2004, approved 2005). Adoption Quarterly, 8(2), 27-44. (with I. Waldman, M. van Dulmen and J. Scarr).
Recent honors and awards
- University of Minnesota School Psychology Training Program Distinguished Alumnus Award, 2005.
- Biography (2005). In Fisher, C. B. & Lerner, R. M. (Eds.), Applied Developmental Science: An Encyclopedia of Research, Policies, and Programs, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1134-1137.
- President’s Award for Outstanding Service to the University of Minnesota, 2004.
- Gifted Child Quarterly, Article of the Year, 2002.
- University Distinguished Teaching Professor and member of Academy of Distinguished Teachers, 1999-.
- Emma M. Birkmaier Professor of Educational Leadership, 1994-97.