Bio


Devin McCauley earned his PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University in 2021, where his research applied intensive longitudinal methods and time-varying effect modeling to investigate family, school, and peer influences on adolescent mental health and well-being. A second focus of his research applies a developmental framework in study of adolescent e-cigarette use. He is particularly interested in identifying sociodemographic (e.g., race/ethnicity, sexual identity) disparities in risk factors for e-cigarette use. His long-term goal is to inform, develop, and evaluate family and school-based prevention programs which support healthy adolescent development and address health disparities related to e-cigarette use.

Stanford Advisors


Lab Affiliations


All Publications


  • Adolescents, Young Adults, and Adults Continue to Use E-Cigarette Devices and Flavors Two Years after FDA Discretionary Enforcement. International journal of environmental research and public health McCauley, D. M., Gaiha, S. M., Lempert, L. K., Halpern-Felsher, B. 2022; 19 (14)

    Abstract

    This study assesses the use of e-cigarette devices and flavors using a large, cross-sectional survey of adolescents, young adults, and adults (N = 6131; ages 13-40 years old; Mage = 21.9) conducted from November to December 2021, 22 months after the FDA announced its prioritized enforcement policy against some flavored pod/cartridge-based e-cigarettes. We analyzed the patterns of use by age group: adolescents and young adults (AYAs) under 21 (minimum age of e-cigarette sales), young adults (21-24 years old), and adults (25-40 years old). The participants reported using e-cigarettes ever (44.2% < 21; 67.1% 21-24; 58.0% > 24), in the past 30 days (29.8% < 21; 52.6% 21-24; 43.3% > 24), and in the past 7 days (24.5% < 21; 43.9% 21-24; 36.5% > 24). Disposables were the most used e-cigarette device type across age groups (39.1% < 21; 36.9% 21-24; 34.5% > 24). Fruit, sweet, mint, and menthol flavors were popular across age groups; however, chi-squared tests for trends in proportions revealed age-related trends in past 30-day flavor use by device type. Findings suggest current AYA e-cigarette use may be higher than recorded by the NYTS 2021. The FDA, states, and localities should adopt more comprehensive restrictions on flavored e-cigarette products in order to reduce adolescent and young adult e-cigarette use.

    View details for DOI 10.3390/ijerph19148747

    View details for PubMedID 35886599

  • Distal and Proximal Family Contextual Effects on Adolescents' Interparental Conflict Appraisals: A Daily Diary Study JOURNAL OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY Fosco, G. M., McCauley, D. M., Sloan, C. J. 2021; 35 (7): 927-938

    Abstract

    Adolescent appraisals of interparental conflict (IPC)-perceiving IPC as threatening to their well-being or that of the family, and self-blaming attributions-are well-established processes through which IPC confers risk for developmental disruptions and psychopathology. Recent work documents intraindividual change in IPC and appraisals that occur on a daily timescale. However, considerably less is known about how the broader family context may temper appraisals of IPC. This study provides a novel examination of the implications of distal (global ratings of family relationships in general) and proximal (fluctuations in daily family relationships) family context (family cohesion, parent-adolescent closeness, and parent-adolescent conflict) for adolescents' propensity to form negative appraisals of daily IPC. This sample included 144 adolescents (63% female) in two-parent families, who participated in a 21-day daily diary study. Findings indicate that intraindividual variability in adolescents' perception of family cohesion, parent-adolescent closeness, and parent-adolescent conflict all correspond to adolescent appraisals of IPC through direct relations and moderating effects. Unique patterns emerged for boys and girls, suggesting gender differences in how adolescents incorporate the family context into their appraisals of IPC. This study expands our awareness of the importance of daily fluctuations in family relationships for adolescent risk during exposure to IPC. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

    View details for DOI 10.1037/fam0000703

    View details for Web of Science ID 000701321500007

    View details for PubMedID 33983756

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8719458

  • Family and individual risk factors for triangulation: Evaluating evidence for emotion coaching buffering effectsPalabras clave(sic)(sic)(sic) FAMILY PROCESS McCauley, D. M., Fosco, G. M. 2022; 61 (2): 841-857

    Abstract

    Adolescents who are triangulated into interparental conflict are at increased risk for psychological maladjustment. However, little is known about factors that may predict family risk for triangulating adolescents, or protective factors that can off-set this risk. In this study, we conducted longitudinal tests of family, parent, and adolescent factors that might predict increases in triangulation over time. The sample included 174 adolescents and their mother figures from two-parent families (58% female; Mage  = 14.75 years) who provided data on two occasions, six months apart. Hierarchical linear regression models evaluated family, parent, and adolescent risk factors for triangulation into interparental conflict, and subsequently parent's emotion coaching and adolescent gender as potential moderators of risk for triangulation. Findings revealed that low family cohesion, parent depression, and adolescent difficulties with emotion regulation represented risks for triangulation. Parent emotion coaching moderated the association between low interparental love and triangulation differentially based on adolescent gender.

    View details for DOI 10.1111/famp.12703

    View details for Web of Science ID 000681549300001

    View details for PubMedID 34355393

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8816974

  • Same Family, Divergent Realities: How Triangulation Preserves Parents' Illusory Harmony While Adolescents Navigate Interparental Conflicts JOURNAL OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY McCauley, D. M., Sloan, C. J., Xia, M., Fosco, G. M. 2021; 35 (2): 128-137

    View details for DOI 10.1037/fam0000785

    View details for Web of Science ID 000641179600002

  • Evaluating school and peer protective factors in the effects of interparental conflict on adolescent threat appraisals and self-efficacy JOURNAL OF ADOLESCENCE McCauley, D. M., Weymouth, B. B., Feinberg, M. E., Fosco, G. M. 2019; 71: 28-37

    Abstract

    Recent work has sought to understand how family-specific risk, such as exposure to interparental conflict, may generalize to developmentally-salient processes in adolescence. A cascade model has been identified in which conflict-specific threat appraisals may erode adolescents' self-efficacy over time, and in turn, undermine their psychological well-being. The goal of this study was to integrate success in the school and peer contexts as potential contextual protective factors that may mitigate the effects of interparental conflict on self-efficacy.We tested the additive and interactive effects of success in school and peer contexts on adolescent self-efficacy to better understand these ecological contextual factors for a family risk model. Analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling with a sample of 768 two-parent U.S. families across three measurement occasions. Interparental conflict, threat appraisals, self-efficacy, and school success and peer support were measured using multiple, established scales.Results supported the additive effects model, in that school success and peer support significantly contributed to general self-efficacy above and beyond the effects of threat appraisals of interparental conflict, but did not moderate the association between threat appraisals and self-efficacy.Findings indicate that strengths in school and peer contexts have potential to compensate for, but do not appear to buffer, the negative effects of threat appraisals of interparental conflict and underscore the importance of these contexts for understanding multifinality in outcomes of adolescents exposed to interparental conflict.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.adolescence.2018.12.005

    View details for Web of Science ID 000460081800004

    View details for PubMedID 30593989

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC6541003