Gilbert Parra

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Gilbert Parra

Professor

Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Contact

Address
CPEH 390
Lincoln, NE 68588-0236
Phone
402-472-2957 On-campus 2-2957
Email
gparra2@unl.edu

Pronouns: He/Him

I received my B.A. in Psychology from New Mexico State University and my M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. I completed a clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, PA. I have held faculty positions at the University of Memphis and the University of Southern Mississippi and was a Research Scientist at Boys Town in Omaha, NE.

My current research is designed to increase understanding of the impact that the parent-adult child relationship has on psychosocial outcomes of multiple generations. The aims of this work are enhancing knowledge of (1) the pattens of stability and change in the parent-adult child relationship over time, (2) the influence of transgressions on the parent-adult child relationship, and (3) factors that contribute to healing from transgressions in the parent-adult child relationship. The latter two aims focus on family circumstances in which a supportive, collaborative parent-adult child relationship is critical to positive adjustment. These include adult children caring for their aging parents, parents and adult-children coparenting grandchildren, and parents supporting the health behaviors of their adult children (e.g., reducing harm related to substance misuse).

I’m currently serving as an Associate Editor for Family Relations: Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Science.

Dr. Parra currently supervises student research in the following program areas:

Education

Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Missouri-Columbia
M.A., Clinical Psychology, University of Missouri-Columbia
B.A., Psychology, New Mexico State University

Representative Publications

  • Xu, W., Ren, L., Parra, G. R., Han, Z. R., & Lyu, J. (in press). How grandparental involvement predicts preschoolers’ social-emotional development in Chinese families. Developmental Psychology.
  • Wang, D., Xia, Y. R., de Guzman, M. R. T., Choi, J.-K., Parra, G. R., & Bovaird, J. A. (2026). Latent classes of adverse and positive childhood experiences and associations with depression among racially/ethnically minoritized adolescents. Child & Family Social Work, 31(3), 1485–1499. https://doi.org/10.1111/cfs.70063
  • Xu, W., Parra, G. R., Wickrama, T., & Merten, M. (2025). Parent–adolescent relationship quality and parenting stress across more than two decades: The mediating role of depressive symptoms. Family Process, 64(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.70043
  • Xu, W., Parra, G. R., & Carter, M. (2024). Intergenerational coparenting and child development: A systematic review. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 16(4), 834–856. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12594
  • Hatton-Bowers, H., Clark, C., Parra, G., Calvi, J., Bird, M. Y., Avari, P., ... & Smith, J. (2023). Promising findings that the cultivating healthy intentional mindful educators’ program strengthens early childhood teachers’ emotional resources: An iterative study. Early Childhood Education Journal, 51, 1291–1304. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-022-01386-3
  • Parra, G. R., Smith, J. P., & Mason, W. A. (2022). Investigation of the bidirectional relations between adolescents’ anger at their parents and symptoms of depression. Family Relations, 71(2), 602-610. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12617
  • Parra, G. R., Patwardhan, I., Mason, W. A., Chmelka, M. B., Savolainen, J., Miettunen, J., & Järvelin, M. R. (2020). Parental alcohol use and the alcohol misuse of their offspring in a Finnish birth cohort: Investigation of developmental timing. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(8), 1702–1715. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01239-5
  • Williams, D. T., & Parra, G. R. (2019). The longitudinal and bidirectional association between parenting stress and couples’ relationship quality. Personal Relationships, 26(4), 713–732. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12301
  • Parra, G. R., Smith, G., Mason, W. A., Savolaninen, J., Chmelka, M. B., Miettunen, J., Järvelin, M., Moilanen, I., & Veijola, J. (2018). Profiles of prenatal contextual risk and adolescent substance use. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(3), 717–724. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0935-x
  • Mason, W. A., January, S. A., Fleming, C. B., Thompson, R. W., Parra, G. R., Haggerty, K. P., & Snyder, J. J. (2016). Parent training to reduce problem behaviors over the transition to high school: Indirect effects through improved emotion regulation skills. Children and Youth Services Review, 61, 176–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.12.022
  • Buckholdt, K. E., Parra, G. R., Anestis, M. D., Lavender, J. M., Jobe-Shields, L., Tull, M. T., & Gratz, K. L. (2015). Emotion regulation difficulties and maladaptive behaviors: Examination of deliberate self-harm, disordered eating, and substance misuse in two samples. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 39(2), 140–152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-014-9655-3
  • Lewis, J. T., Parra, G. R., & Cohen, R. (2015). Apologies in close relationships: A review of theory and research. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 7(1), 47–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12060

Grants

  • 2022 – 2026 Co-I (PI, Hatton-Bowers). Cultivating Healthy Intentional Mindful Educators (CHIME): Evaluating the Use of Mindfulness and Compassion to Promote Early Head Start/Head Start Education Staffs’ Well-Being. Administration for Children and Families-OPRE, Head Start University Partnerships: Building the Evidence Base for ECE Workforce Well-Being. $1,998,710.
  • 2024 – 2025 Faculty Mentor (PI, Xu). Intergenerational Coparenting and Children’s Social-Emotional Development in China: The Moderating Role of Intergenerational Relationship Quality (Dissertation Award). Buffett Early Childhood Institute Graduate Scholars Program: $25,000.
  • 2019 – 2024 Evaluator (PI, Choi). Nebraska Sustainable Community Project–Youth Civic Engagement. The National Institute of Food and Agriculture; Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Sustainable Community Projects: No. 2019-41520-29983, $640,000.
  • 2020 – 2022 Co-I (PI, Clark). Evaluating Psychophysiological Mechanisms of Early Childhood Teachers’ Stress Resilience and their Relevance for Preschoolers’ Self-Regulation. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: R21 HD098447-01A1, $225,869.
  • 2019 – 2021 Co-PI (PI, Hatton-Bowers). A Resource Toolkit to Support the Wellness of Extension Employees Following A Natural Disaster. USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture; Smith-Lever Special Needs Competitive Grant Program: $137,618.
  • 2014 – 2017 Co-I (8/1/14 – 8/31/15); Consultant (9/1/15 – 7/31/17; PI, Mason). Role of Childhood Cumulative Risk in Substance Misuse and Co-Occurring Problems. National Institute on Drug Abuse: R01 DA038450-01, $743,669.