Dr. Kristen Foster Peairs
Research Associate

A common thread across Dr. Peairs’ research endeavors is an interest in examining the role peer relations play in the development of children and adolescents in an effort to better identify possible risk and protective factors that undermine or foster healthy adjustment. Dr. Peairs’ research examining the social world and related adjustment of gifted youth has earned her national recognition from the American Psychological Foundation (2009 recipient of Esther Katz Rosen Fellowship) and National Association of Gifted Children (2011 Research and Evaluation Dissertation Award).

Education

PhD, Clinical Psychology, Duke University
Master of Arts, Clinical Psychology, Duke University
Bachelor of Arts, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Selected Publications

Peairs, K.F., Putallaz, M., & Grimes, C.L. (manuscript under review). Sociometric and adjustment profiles of academically gifted adolescents.

Costanzo, P., Golonka, M., Peairs, K.F., Grimes, C.L., & Yang, C. (manuscript under review). The efficacy of using natural peer leaders as substance use prevention agents: A preliminary trial.

Peairs, K.F., Putallaz, M., Grimes, C.L.., & Costanzo, P. (manuscript in preparation). A whole new world of peers: Exploring instant messaging and adolescent peer relations.

Synder, K.F., Linnenbrink-Garcia, L., Putallaz, M. & Peairs, K.F. (manuscript in preparation). Academic disengagement and the underachievement of gifted students.

Peairs, K.F., Eichen, D., Putallaz, M., Grimes, C.L., & Costanzo, P. (2011). Academic giftedness and adolescent substance use. Gifted Child Quarterly, 55, 95-110. (Featured in Psychology Today blog “Finding in the Next Einstein” on April 26, 2011).

Putallaz, M., Grimes, C.L., Foster, K.J., Kupersmidt, J., & Coie, J.D. (2007). Overt and relational aggression and victimization: Multiple perspectives within the school setting. Journal of School Psychology 45, 459-586. (Honorable mention for Best Journal Article of 2007).