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Department of Psychology

Dr. Laura Finan

Associate Professor
Office
DEG Degarmo Hall 457
Office Hours
Tuesdays 2-3pm
Office Phone
(309) 438-7847office
phone
Email
ljfinan@ilstu.eduemail
Website
https://about.illinoisstate.edu/ljf... website
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Selected Research

Current Courses

PSY 390.009 Advanced Research Apprenticeship

PSY 599.009 Doctoral Research In Psychology

HON 395.002 Honors Thesis: Psychology

PSY 499.009 Independent Research For The Master's Thesis

PSY 491.009 Internship: Seminar In College Teaching Of Psychology

PSY 213.003 Lifespan Development

PSY 428.001 Professional Seminar In Developmental Psychology

PSY 290.009 Special Projects: Research Apprenticeship

PSY 291.009 Special Projects:Undergraduate Teaching

Teaching Interests & Areas

Adolescent development; research methods; lifespan development

Research Interests & Areas

My research addresses how psycho-social and contextual factors influence adolescents' and young adults' health risk behaviors. I am particularly interested in (a) family relationships as developmental contexts and (b) alcohol and other substance use and problems. Recently, I have begun to explore environmental factors (e.g., neighborhoods and schools) to better capture the range of salient factors which drive young peoples' behavior.

Research Interests: Adolescent health • Alcohol and other substance use and problems • Family relationships

Post-Doc

University of California, Berkeley; Prevention Research Center
Berkeley, California, USA

Ph D Human Development and Family Studies

University of Delaware
Newark, Delaware, USA

MA Psychological Science

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA

BA Psychology

Nazareth College
Rochester, New York, USA

Outstanding University Teaching Initiative Award

Illinois State University
2023

Research Initiative Award Winners

Illinois State University
2023

Interdisciplinary Civic Engagement Award

Center for Civic Engagement, Illinois State University
2022

Presentations

“There are some bad people out there”: A mixed methods analysis of children’s internet concerns
Travis Hicks, Alycia M Hund, Laura Finan.
Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN, May, 2025
History and contemporary studies of child development
Chang Su-Russell, Dan Lannin, Laura Finan, Maria Tudela.
National Council on Family Relations, Bellevue WA, November, 2024
Vaping and College Students’ Oral Microbiome
Susana Calderon, Laura Finan, Nathan Mortimer.
VIII Congresso Internacional do Conhecimento Científico (VIII CICC) ISECENSA, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janiro, Brasil, September 18, 2024
Vaping and Oral Health among College Students
Susana Calderon, Laura Finan, Jan Dahl.
2023 AADOCR/CADR Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, March 15, 2023
Trajectory classes of adolescents’ family relationship experiences and associations with later substance use
Laura Finan, N K Watkins, C M Ohannessian.
Society for Research on Adolescence, New Orleans, Louisiana., March, 2022
Collective action for school-wellness: An ecological example
Emily Jones, Andrew Eberline, Tyler Kybartas, Joseph Lee, Megan Weemer, John Christian Kostelnick, Susana Calderon, Laura Finan, Adena Meyers, Nicky Wu.
AIESEP World Congress, Gold Coast, Australia, February, 2022