Northern Illinois University
Department of Psychology
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Research Interests

I am interested in children’s social development from childhood through adolescence. Primarily, I am interested in parent-child and peer relationships. Most recently, I have been examining linkages between parenting and peer relationships by exploring the ways in which parents manage the peer relationships of young adolescents. I also have an interest in peer influence processes during adolescence. I am especially interested in understanding these issues across ethnically diverse groups of adolescents.

Frequently Taught Classes

• Psyc 424 Adolescent Development
• Psyc 464 Developmental Laboratory
• Psyc 676 Social and Personality Development
• PSYC 466: Diversity and the Adolescent Experience

Representative Publications

• Mounts, N.S. (2022). Introduction to the Special Issue: Peer relationships across diverse ethnic, racial, and cultural contexts. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 183, 359-363.
• Salaam, B., Valentiner, D.P., & Mounts, N.S. (2022). Parental management of adolescents’ peer relationships in Ghana and the United States. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 183, 465-481.
• Low, N., & Mounts, N.S. (2022). Quantity and quality of maternal consulting: Associations with adolescents' loneliness and peer victimization. Journal of Adolescence, 94, 305-317.
• Low, N., & Mounts, N.S. (2022). Economic stress, parenting, and adolescents’ adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Family Relations, 71, 90-107.
• Mounts, N.S. & Valentiner, D.P. (2021). Do ask, do tell? Observations of mothers’ solicitation and adolescents’ disclosure. Journal of Family Psychology, 35, 160-171.
• Valentiner, D.P., & Mounts, N.S. (2017). Method variance in adolescents’, mothers, and observers’ reports of peer management: Nuisance or information? Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 46, 1038-1056.
• Salaam, B., & Mounts, N.S. (2016). Maternal warmth, behavioral control, and psychological control: Relations to adjustment of Ghanaian early adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 49, 99-104.
• Gerardy, H., Mounts, N.S., Luckner, A.E., & Valentiner, D.P. (2015). Mothers' management of peers and adolescents' aggressive, prosocial, and playful behavior. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 176, 1-16.
• Mounts, N.S., Karre, J., & Kim, H. (2013). Mothers’ attitudes and goals about early adolescents’ cross-ethnic peer relationships: A qualitative analysis. Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies, 62, 312-325.
• Mounts, N.S. (2011). Parental management of peers and early adolescents' social skills. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40, 416-427.
• Mounts, N.S. & Kim, H.S. (2009). Expectations for parental management of dating in an ethnically diverse sample of early adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 24, 531-560.
• Mounts, N.S. (2008). Linkages between parenting and peer relationships: A model for parental management of adolescents’ peer relationships. In M. Kerr, H. Stattin, & R. Engels, (Eds.), What can parents do: New insights into the role of parents in adolescent problem behaviour (pp. 163-189). West Sussex, UK: Wiley.
• Brown, B.B., & Mounts, N.S. (2007). The cultural context of family-peer linkages in adolescence. New Directions in Child and Adolescent Development, 116, 1-15.
• Mounts, N.S. & Kim, H.S. (2007). Parental goals regarding peer relationships and management of peers in a multiethnic sample. New Directions in Child and Adolescent Development, 116, 17-33.
• Mounts, N.S. (2007). Adolescents' and their mothers' perceptions of parental management of peer relationships. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17, 169-178.
• Mounts, N., Valentiner, D., Anderson, K., & Boswell, M. (2006). Shyness, sociability, and parental support for the college transition: Relations to adolescents' adjustment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35, 71-80.