Rebecca M.B. White, Ph.D. Announced as Interim Editor of Child Development Perspectives

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) is pleased to announce the appointment of Rebecca M. B. White, Ph.D., M.P.H. as Interim Editor of Child Development Perspectives.

Dr. White (she/they) is Professor of Family and Human Development in the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University (ASU), an interdisciplinary unit that incorporates an expansive view of children, youth, and families.  She has served on several editorial boards, including Child Development, the Journal of Research on Adolescence, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, Adolescent Research Review, Developmental Psychology, and the Journal of Youth and Adolescence. Dr. White has a long history of serving SRCD, including as a twice-elected Secretary of the Latinx Caucus and as a member of the Ethnic and Racial Issues Committee. Dr. White has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles and made invited contributions to numerous edited volumes. She has an associate degree from New River Community College, a B.S. in Human Services Counseling from Old Dominion University, an M.P.H. in Community Health from the University of Arizona, and a Ph.D. in Family and Human Development from Arizona State University.

“Dr. White’s experience publishing both empirical and conceptual pieces demonstrate her value of theory, synthesis of information and evidence, and breadth of knowledge related to child development,” said Dawn Witherspoon, Ph.D., co-chair of SRCD’s publications committee and McCourtney Family Early Career Professor in Psychology Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Penn State University. “These attributes make her uniquely suited to lead Child Development Perspectives.”

“Dr. White is an amazing scholar and her commitment and experience engaging communities in the scientific process makes her an ideal person to lead Child Development Perspectives," said Nancy E. Hill, Ph.D. SRCD President and the Charles Bigelow Professor of Education, Harvard University. “I wish to thank Judi Smetana for her dedication to Child Development Perspectives for the last 3 years. CDP is stronger because of her vision and effort.”

Child Development Perspectives (CDP) is a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal that publishes brief articles on developmental science that are written in accessible language for a wide audience. CDP emphasizes brief, well synthesized reviews of research, but occasionally publishes essays on policy, statistics and methods, and other topics in developmental science.

“I know I’ve got big shoes to fill in terms of following in Judi Smetana’s footsteps and working with the impressive Editorial Board that she recruited,” said White. “It is an honor to have this opportunity to continue to serve SRCD as an organization and the developmental sciences more generally through this Interim Editorship. I believe in the value of an interdisciplinary science of child development and in the importance of communicating that science to a wide audience.”