professional portrait

Syracuse University Falk College Human Development and Family Science
Suite 144I White Hall
Syracuse, New York  13244
gjmerrin@syr.edu

Joey Merrin

Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Gabriel “Joey” Merrin joined the Department of Human Development and Family Science in fall 2021 and is teaching courses in Child and Adolescent Development and Advanced Statistical Methods. Merrin was most recently an assistant professor in Human Development and Family Sciences at Texas Tech University from 2019-2021 and taught graduate-level statistic courses where he focused on reproducible research, programmatic programming, and transparent designs using open science frameworks and guidelines. Before Texas Tech University, he held two post-doctoral fellowships, one in the Department of Psychology at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and the other in the Department of Health Management and Informatics at the University of Central Florida. Trained as a developmental psychologist and applied methodologist, Merrin’s research seeks to clarify developmental processes through which adolescents’ experiences with their families, peers, teachers, and communities influence development of problem behaviors and experiences with identity-based harassment and victimization throughout adolescence and in the transition to young adulthood. He is particularly interested in the development of these behaviors among various minoritized and oppressed groups. His work focuses on translating and mobilizing knowledge to inform intervention and prevention efforts to improve the school experience for young people by using applied research designs, leveraging practical implications, and intentional school and community engagement. His research has been supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institute of Health, and most recently, Merrin and his colleagues at Boston University launched a three-year National Institute of Justice funded study to examine bias-based harassment among adolescents to identify risk and protective factors across multiple levels of the social ecology. Merrin was recently awarded the 2020-2021 New Faculty Award at Texas Tech University and selected into the Society of Prevention Research Early Career Prevention Scientists Training Program. Merrin currently serves on the editorial board for Prevention Science and Psychology of Violence.

Dr. Merrin will be accepting graduate students for fall 2025

Education

Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2017.

Ed.M. in Human Resource Development, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2011.

B.A. in Sociology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2009

Specialization

Adolescents’ experiences with families, peers, teachers, and communities that influence development of problem behaviors and experiences with identity-based harassment and victimization throughout adolescence and in the transition to young adulthood.

Recent Publications

  • Valido, A., Merrin, G. J., Espelage, D. L., Robinson, L. E., Nickodem, K., Ingram, K. M., El Sheikh, A. J., Torgal, C., & Fairclough, J. (2021). Social-Ecological Predictors of Homophobic Name-Calling Perpetration and Victimization Among Early Adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence.
  • Valido, A., Ingram, K., Espelage, D. L., Torgal, C., Merrin, G. J., & Davis, J. P. (2021). Intra-familial violence and peer aggression among early adolescents: Moderating role of school sense of belonging. Journal of family violence, 36(1), 87-98.
  • Greif Green, J., Holt, M. K., Oblath, R., Robinson, E., Storey, K., & Merrin, G. J. (2020). Engaging professional sports to reduce bullying: an evaluation of the Boston vs. Bullies Program. Journal of school violence, 19(3), 389-405.
  • Valido, A., Torgal, C., Ingram, K., Merrin, G., Davis, J. P., & Espelage, D. (2020). Intra-familial violence and bullying perpetration among early adolescence: Moderating role of school sense of belonging. Journal of Family Violence.
  • Forber-Pratt, A. J., Merrin, G. J., & Espelage, D. L. (2020). Exploring the intersections of disability, race, and gender on student outcomes in high school. Remedial and Special Education, 0741932520941201.
  • Merrin, G. J., Ames, M. E., Sturgess, C., & Leadbeater, B. J. (2020). Disruption of Transitions in High-Risk Substance Use from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: School, Employment, and Romantic Relationship Factors. Substance use & misuse, 55(7), 1129-1137.
  • Ingram, K. M., Espelage, D. L., Davis, J. P., & Merrin, G. J. (2020). Family violence, sibling, and peer aggression during adolescence: Associations with behavioral health outcomes. Frontiers in psychiatry, 11, 26.
  • Forber-Pratt, A. J., Merrin, G. J., Mueller, C. O., Price, L. R., & Kettrey, H. H. (2020). Initial factor exploration of disability identity. Rehabilitation psychology, 65(1), 1.
  • Ames, M. E., Leadbeater, B. J., Merrin, G. J., & Thompson, K. (2020). Patterns of marijuana use and physical health indicators among Canadian youth. International journal of psychology, 55(1), 1-12.
  • Davis, J. P., Ingram, K. M., Merrin, G. J., & Espelage, D. L. (2020). Exposure to parental and community violence and the relationship to bullying perpetration and victimization among early adolescents: A parallel process growth mixture latent transition analysis. Scandinavian journal of psychology, 61(1), 77-89.
  • Merrin, G., Ames, M., Sturgess, C., & Leadbeater, B. J. (2020). Can school, employment, and romantic relationship factors disrupt transitions in high-risk substance use classes from adolescence to young adulthood? Substance Use and Misuse, 1129-1137.
  • Merrin, G. J., Davis, J. P., Ingram, K. M., & Espelage, D. L. (2020). Examining social-ecological correlates of youth gang entry among serious juvenile offenders: A survival analysis. American journal of orthopsychiatry, 90(5), 623.