Faculty Directory
Rebekah Levine Coley
Professor
Director, Boston College Institute of Early Childhood Policy
Rebekah Levine Coley
Ph.D.
Contact
239A Campion Hall
Telephone: 617-552-6018
Email: coleyre@bc.edu
ORCID 0000-0001-7172-061X
Education
- Ph.D., University of Michigan
- Postdoctoral Training, University of Chicago
- Management Development Program, Harvard University
Research Interests
Primary focus on delineating the key family, school, and community processes which transmit economic and social inequality to children's and adolescents' development. Incorporate longitudinal, multi-method, and evaluation methodologies to inform social and educational policies at the local, state, and federal level. Specific research foci include: child and family social policy; economic, racial, and social inequities; mental and behavioral health; educational and economic success; community and educational contexts; family processes and parenting
Expertise
- Cognitive and Social Development
- Equity and Social Justice
- Health and Well Being
- Social & Emotional Development
Department
Profile
Rebekah Levine Coley, Ph.D. is Professor of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology and Director of the Institute of Early Childhood Policy at Boston College. She received her doctorate in Developmental Psychology from the University of Michigan and postdoctoral training in Demography and Public Policy at the University of Chicago. Professor Coley’s expertise lies in assessing and counteracting economic, social, and racial inequities in mental and behavioral health and educational and economic attainment. Her research employs quantitative, qualitative, and evaluation methodologies to assess and inform social and educational policies and practices at the federal, state, and local level which seek to disrupt the transmission of inequities to children, families, and communities. Professor Coley’s research has been published in dozens of leading journals and edited volumes, and has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Australian Research Council, and numerous private foundations. She is the founding Editor of the Child Evidence Brief series published by the Society for Research in Child Development which seeks to translate developmental science to federal and state policy makers, and has held leadership positions in the Society for Research in Child Development, the Society for Research on Adolescence, the Child Care and Early Education Policy Research Consortium, and the University-based Child and Family Policy Consortium. Her research excellence has been recognized through receipt of a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, a Social Policy Award from the Society for Research in Adolescence, and the inaugural Mavis Hetherington Award in Applied Developmental Science from the American Psychological Association.
GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT
Investigator, Centre for Children and Families Over the Lifecourse, University of Queensland, Australia
Current Research Grants
2021-2027 ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (Australian Research Council CE200100025). Baxter, Principal Investigator. $32,500,000AU. Collaborative research centre seeking to use evidence-based research to develop new knowledge, technology and practices to benefit people living in disadvantage
2021-2026 Targeting Health Disparities through Housing Redevelopment: A Natural Experiment of Housing Quality, Stability, and Economic Integration. (NIH/NIMHD 1R01MD015729-01A1). Coley & Teixeira, Principal Investigators. $3,030,584. Multi-method natural experiment of public housing redevelopment to address whether improving housing quality, limiting external displacement, and creating mixed-income communities improves physical, mental, and behavioral health.
2021-2023 Boston College Institute of Early Childhood Policy (Buffett Early Childhood fund). Coley, Principal Investigator. $149,845. Cross-disciplinary institute to increase training, research, and interdisciplinary collaboration in the realm of early childhood development, education, and policy.
2021-2023 Strengths, Assets, and Receipt of Social Services as Protective Factors in the Relationship between Racial Bias and Maternal and Child Health and Developmental Outcomes. (Annie E Casey Foundation). Sims, Principal Investigator. $175,000. Multi-methods, participatory study to assess how environmental racial bias is linked with maternal and child mental, behavioral, and physical health among Black families.
2021-2023 Impact Analysis of Flavor Restrictions and Tobacco 21 Policies on Youth Tobacco Use. (NIH/NCI R21CA268199-01). Hawkins, Principal Investigator. $430,375. Examine the impact of state flavor restrictions and state and federal age 21 tobacco restriction policies on disparities in tobacco use among 14-24 year-old youth.
2019-2024 Paternal Influence on Children’s Weight Outcomes (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 1R01HD098421). Davison, Principal Investigator. $3,074,562. Uses longitudinal cohort data to examine predictors and consequences of fathers’ weight-related parenting behaviors.
Select Publications
- Carey, N. & Coley, R. L. (2022). Prevalence of adolescent handgun carriage: 2002-2019. Pediatrics, 149(5):e2021054472. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-054472
- Coley, R. L., Carey, N., Baum, C. F., & Hawkins, S. S. (2022). COVID-19 related stressors and mental health disorders among US adults. Public Health Reports, 137, 1217–1226. https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549221120451
- Coley, R. L., Spielvogel, B., Hwang, D., Lown, J., & Teixeira, S. (2022). Did HOPE VI move communities to opportunity? How public housing redevelopment affected neighborhood poverty, racial composition, and resources 1990-2016. Housing Policy Debate. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2022.2121614
- Sims, J. & Coley, R. L. (2022). Examining economic risks in adolescents’ families, neighborhoods, and schools: Implications for mental and behavioral health in early adulthood. Journal of Adolescent Health, 70, 774-780. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.11.020.
- Coley, R. L., Kruzik, C., Ghiani, M., Carey, N., Hawkins, S. S., & Baum, C. F. (2021). Recreational marijuana legalization and adolescent use of marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol. Journal of Adolescent Health, 69, 41-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.10.019
- Coley, R. L., Spielvogel, B., Kruzik, C., Miller, P., Betancur, L., & Votruba-Drzal, E. (2021). Explaining income disparities in young children’s development: The role of community contexts and family processes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 55, 295-311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2020.12.006
- Coley, R. L., Kruzik, C. & Votruba-Drzal, E. (2020). Do family investments explain growing socioeconomic disparities in children’s reading, math, and science achievement during school versus summer months? Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(6), 1183–1196. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000427
- Teixeira, S., Hwang, D., Spielvogel, B., Cole, K., Coley, R.L. (2020). Participatory Photo Mapping (PPM) to understand youths’ experiences in a public housing neighborhood preparing for redevelopment. Housing Policy Debate, 30:5, 766-782. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2020.1741422
- Votruba-Drzal, E. Miller, P., Betancur, L., Spielvogel, B., Kruzik, C., & Coley, R. L. (2020). Family and community resource and stress processes related to income disparities in school-aged children’s development. Journal of Educational Psychology. DOI 10.1037/edu0000589
- Coley, R. L., Sims, J., Votruba-Drzal, E., & Thomson, D. (2019). The intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic inequality through school and neighborhood processes. Journal of Children and Poverty, 25, 79-100. https://doi.org/10.1080/10796126.2019.1616165
- Coley, R. L., Spielvogel, B., & Kull, M. (2019). Concentrated poverty in preschools and children’s cognitive skills: The mediational role of peers and teachers. Journal of School Psychology, 76, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2019.05.008
Select Honors & Leadership Positions
Mavis Hetherington Award for Excellence in Applied Developmental Science, American Psychological Association
Fulbright Senior Scholar Award Recipient
Social Policy Award, Society for Research in Adolescence
Editor, Child Evidence Briefs
Co-Chair, Science and Social Policy Committee, Society for Research in Child Development
Steering Committee Member, University-Based Child and Family Policy Consortium
Steering Committee Member, Child Care and Early Education Policy Research Consortium
Consulting Editor, Child Development
Advisory Board Member, Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy