Associate Professor, Psychological Sciences
- Dr. Molitor received her baccalaureate degree from the University of California at Riverside with a double major in psychology and human development. She earned her masters and doctorate, with a specialty in developmental psychology, from Duke University and completed post-doctoral research training at the Yale University Child Study Center.
Dr. Adriana Molitor has been a member of the faculty since 2001. Her teaching interests include general psychology and research methods courses as well as specialty courses addressing childhood, adolescence, aging, and social-emotional aspects of development. The topics of her research include the dynamics of mother-child interactions, the impact of these interactions on emotional and social development, the problems encountered by at-risk groups, and the factors that optimize mother-child exchanges and emerging social skills.
Scholarly Work
Dr. Molitor’s scholarly work revolves around children’s development. In addition to her interests in various at-risk populations and children across cultures, Dr. Molitor has long-standing interests in mother-child relations and how parenting practices can promote or undermine children’s optimal social and emotional functioning. For example, her recent research revealed that toddler cooperation (podcast )during conflict negotiations is strongly tied to maternal structuring and autonomy supportive strategies; moreover, poor relationship quality amplifies the connection between maternal autonomy support and toddler cooperation. Dr. Molitor’s scholarly work continues to focus on mother-child relations and her present research explores the interplay of factors that contribute to young children’s ability to handle challenging situations.
Areas of Interest
Professor Molitor enjoys teaching students about the science of psychology and regularly serves as an instructor for Introductory Psychology and the Advanced Research Methods Capstone. As a developmental psychologist, Dr. Molitor’s teaching interests include general courses in human development that address all ages including Infancy, Childhood and Adolescence, and Adulthood/Aging. She also enjoys teaching specialized courses in human development such as Social-Emotional Development, Play and Development, and Child Development Across Cultures. Dr. Molitor is a recipient of a Mortar Board Outstanding Faculty Award at the University of San Diego.