Faculty Directory

Kenneth H. Rubin (B.A., McGill University, 1968; Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 1971) is Professor of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology and Founding Director, Center for Children, Relationships, and Culture at the University of Maryland.  Rubin’s research interests are focused on such topics as social, emotional, and personality development; social competence; social cognition; play; aggression; social withdrawal/behavioral inhibition/shyness; peer relationships and friendship; parenting and parent-child relationships; and cross-cultural studies. Many of his over 300 peer-reviewed publications have been co-authored by colleagues on five continents.  

As Director, International Consortium on the Study of Children, Relationships, and Culture (research sites include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Italy, Korea, Oman, Portugal, and the USA), he and his colleagues have studied social and emotional development from cultural and cross-cultural perspectives. Rubin’s current projects include a National Institute of Mental Health funded 12-year longitudinal research project entitled ‘Friendship and psychosocial adjustment in middle childhood and adolescence;’ a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development funded project ‘Social outcomes in pediatric traumatic brain injury;’ and a National Institute of Mental Health funded project (with Professor Andrea Chronis-Tuscano, Psychology Department), “A Multi-Component Early Intervention for Socially Inhibited Preschool Children.

Rubin was the elected President of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development (1998-2002), an elected member of the Society for Research in Child Development Governing Council (2009-2015), and an elected member of the American Psychological Association, Developmental Psychology Division Executive Board (1987-1990).  He has served as Associate Editor of Child Development (1981-1984; 1998-2001). In addition, he has been a member of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development study section on Human Development and Aging as well as the National Institute of Mental Health’s study section on Risk and Prevention.

Rubin is a Fellow of the American and Canadian Psychological Associations, the Association of Psychological Science, and the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development.  Among his honors are the Society for Research in Child Development Award for distinguished Contributions to Understanding International, Cultural and Contextual Diversity in Child Development; the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Research and Theory in Behavioral Development; the Developmental Psychology Mentor Award of the American Psychological Association; the Pickering Award for Outstanding Contribution to Developmental Psychology in Canada; and the Killam Research Fellowship (Canada Council). 

• Pediatric traumatic brain injury
• Social development 
• Developmental psychopathology
• Peer relationships
• Parenting and parent-child relationships
• Culture

Research examples

Investigating a Proposed Model of Social Competence in Children With Traumatic Brain Injuries