Casey McGregor

Labs

Biography

Dr. Casey M. McGregor is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Rhode Island. She holds a Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science from Virginia Tech.

Dr. McGregor is a Family Scientist; she examines relationships, dynamics, and interactions within families through her research. Her specific focus is families with young children. Through the examination of parent-child relationships, co-parent relationships and processes, and young children’s developmental adjustment, Dr. McGregor aims to identify practices and social structures that best support everyone within the family system.  

In her teaching, Dr. McGregor uses several approaches to pedagogy. She believes that students come to the classroom with their own unique worldview and that their experiences are an important aspect of how they understand the content of the course. She encourages students to work together to understand complex social problems and to be active learners by posing their own questions or scenarios and coming up with answers or solutions. Dr. McGregor emphasizes intersectionality and cultural differences in all the classes she teaches so students can broaden their understanding of family diversity.

Research

Dr. McGregor is committed to research that advances the health and wellbeing of parents and children, especially those within families experiencing disadvantage or marginalization.  Her current research encompasses two main areas: (1) understanding parenting and relational processes affected by societal parenting ideologies, and (2) exploring the intersection of multiple social positions on parenting processes and their impact on children’s development and adjustment. For example, Dr. McGregor is currently working on understanding the associations amongst intensive mothering attitudes, positive parenting behaviors, parenting stress and depression, and young children’s social-emotional development in families across the socioeconomic spectrum. She aims to understand how hyper-parenting attitudes may influence children’s development through the role of maternal parenting behaviors and experiences of stress.

Dr. McGregor’s previous research projects involved identifying strengths and protective factors within families experiencing parental incarceration, and adolescent mothers and their extended families. She employs a range of research methods, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches to answer her research questions. Please email Dr. McGregor if you are interested in joining her lab.

Education

  • Ph.D., Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech, 2021
  • M.S., Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Tech, 2018
  • B.S., Human Development and Family Studies, Penn State University (Altoona), 2016