

Campion Hall Room 239C
Telephone: 617-552-2648
Email: jacqueline.lerner@bc.edu
ORCID 0000-0003-4637-8538
Adolescent development and transitions, character development, positive youth development, life-span theory and methods, relational development systems
Throughout her illustrious career, Jackie Lerner has investigated positive youth development—including social, emotional, and character development. Her work has taken her across the globe to examine relational development systems, life-span theory, and more in children and adolescents. Her research includes the first national longitudinal study of youth development, “The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development.”
Lerner joined the Lynch School in 1996. She is currently the co-coordinator for the Human Development program and previously served as chair of the CDEP department.
She earned her doctorate from Pennsylvania State University and has authored dozens of scholarly articles and book chapters. Lerner serves on the Military Child Education Coalition scientific advisory board and in editorial roles for several prominent journals.
Lerner is a member of numerous professional societies, including the Society for Research in Child Development and the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development. She is currently collaborating on a multi-year, international research study on the positive development of the world's poorest youth.