professional portrait

Syracuse University Falk College Human Development and Family Science
174 White Hall
Syracuse, New York  13244

315.443.4586
jroopnar@syr.edu

CV available upon request

Jaipaul Lalla Roopnarine

Ph.D.
Professor
Pearl S. Falk Endowed Professor

Dr. Roopnarine is the Pearl S. Falk Professor of Human Development and Family Science. He is Professor Extraordinary of Developmental Psychology, Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago and also an Indo-U.S.-Subcommission Professor of Psychology at the University of Delhi, India, the Nehru Distinguished Visiting Professor at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujrat, India, minority scholar in residence at The Pennsylvania State University, and held visiting appointments at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Cornell University, The City University of New York, and The University of the West Indies in Jamaica. He is on the Board of the CCCN – The Caribbean Center for Child Neurodevelopment and is the Editor-in-Chief of Caribbean Journal of Psychology.

Education

Ph.D., Child Development, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Research Focus

Risk and protective factors and father-child relationships and cognitive and social outcomes in children across cultures, Caribbean family socialization patterns and childhood outcomes, early childhood education in international perspective, children’s play across cultures, immigrant families and schooling in the U.S.

Research Projects

Paternal investment and childhood development in Guyana, Jamaica, and Suriname.

This 3-nation study assesses the associations between different aspects of father involvement and engagement, depressive symptoms, and IPV and preschoolers’ cognitive and social skills and the mediating role of partner affection and social support and conflict resolution strategies on these associations among families in Guyana, Suriname, and Jamaica. This project is in collaboration with Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Shortwood Teachers’ College, Jamaica, and the University of Guyana. Funded by an Endowed Professorship.
Data collection completed in Guyana and Jamaica in 2023.

Adult Mental Health in Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago

(with Professors Ambika Krishnakumar, Department of Human Development and Family Science and Lutchmie Narine, Department of Public Health, Syracuse University). Funded by Syracuse University.

This project focuses on overall baseline patterns of mental health (depression, substance misuse, self-harm, risk-taking behaviors) in young adults (18-26-year-olds) in Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Data collection will be completed in Fall 2023.

Parental perceptions of climate change and concerns about children’s mental health in Caribbean cultural communities

This study begins to explore parental perceptions of climate change and concerns about young children’s mental health in Caribbean cultural communities. It will assess optimism, anxieties, and indifference toward climate change and concerns related to children’s socioemotional functioning and their future (Funding being sought).

Courses

CFS 467/667 - Child and Family in Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Recent Publications

  • Holmes, R. & Roopnarine, J. L. (2024). Culture, schooling, and children’s learning experiences. Oxford University Press.
  • Roopnarine, J. L., Ong’ayi, D. M. M., & Parella, M. (2024). Play and early schooling across cultural communities. In R. Holmes & J. L. Roopnarine (Eds.), Culture, schooling, and children’s learning experiences. Oxford University Press.
  • Roopnarine, J. L. & Trawick-Smith, J. (2024). The place of play. In N. File, N. Barbour, & A. J. Stremmel (Eds.), Seven crucial conversations in early childhood education: Where have we been and why does it matter. Teachers College Press, Columbia University.
  • Roopnarine, J. L., Ong’ayi, D. & Krishnakumar, A., Ali, A., & Primus, M. (2023). Maternal and Paternal Depressive Symptoms and Physical Intimate Partner Violence and Children’s Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors: Mediating Role of Constructive Conflict Behavior and Partner Support and Affection, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, DOI: 10.1037/ort0000671
  • Lape, M., Roopnarine, J. L., Krishnakumar, A., & Blake, C. (2023). Socioeconomic and home educational resource risk factors and Children's literacy and social skills in Guyanese families: Mediating role of parental cognitive engagement and parental guidance. International Journal of Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12931
  • Wongsosemito- Lie-A-Ling, Zuurbier, P., H., Roopnarine, J. L., & Lindauer, M. (2023). Cultural sensitivity: Guidelines for qualitative research. Pedagogische Studien. ttps://doi.org/10.59302/ps.v100i2.142252023 (100) 248-260https://doi.org/10.59302/ps.v100i2.14225
  • Roopnarine, J. L., Dede Yildirim, E., Millett, T., & Primus, M. (2023). Caribbean immigrants in the United States and Canada: A diverse mosaic. In G. Rich, D. Kaplin, J. Kuriansky, & U. Gielen (Eds.), Coming to America. Elsevier.
  • Jin, B. & Roopnarine, J. L. (in press). Maternal and paternal acceptance and child functioning through family satisfaction among Korean immigrants in the U.S. Asian American Journal of Psychology.
  • Jin, B. & Roopnarine, J. L. (2022). The beneficial role of family enmeshment among South Korean immigrants in the U.S. International Journal of Psychology. DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12843
  • Davidson, K. & Roopnarine, J. L. (2021): Ethnic-racial socialization in early childhood: effects of parent–teacher congruency on children’s social and emotional development, Early Child Development and Care, DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2021.1967948
  • Yildirim, E. & Roopnarine, J. L. (2021). Paternal and maternal Cognitive engagement and preschoolers’ literacy skills across six ethnic groups in Suriname. Journal of Black Psychology,1–27 DOI: 10.1177/00957984211007698
  • Roopnarine, J. L., Chadee, J. L., & Primus, M. (2021). Evolution of psychology in Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago (pp 259-270). In G. Rich & Ramkumar, N. (Ed.), Psychology in Oceania and the Caribbean. Springer/Verlag.
  • Roopnarine, J. L., Ong’ayi, D. M. M., & Dede Yildirim, E. (2021). Father involvement in different family systems across cultural communities: Links to childhood development. In. Shackelford, T. & Weekes-Shackelford (Eds.), Oxford handbook on evolutionary psychology and parenting, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
  • Roopnarine, J. L., Ong’ayi, D. M. M., & Dede Yildirim, E. (2021). Father involvement in different family systems across cultural communities: Links to childhood development. In. Shackelford, T. & Weekes-Shackelford (Eds.), Oxford handbook on evolutionary psychology and parenting, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
  • Yildirim, E., Roopnarine, J. L., & Abolhassani, A. (2020). Violent and non-violent forms of discipline and social and literacy skills in preschoolers: An analysis of 25 African countries. Child Abuse & Neglect, 106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104513
  • Roopnarine, J. L., & Yildirim, E. D. (2019). Fathers across cultures: Developmental and clinical issues. London: Routledge.
  • Smith, P. & Roopnarine, J. L. (Eds.). (2019). The Cambridge Handbook on play: Developmental and disciplinary perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • Roopnarine, J. L. & Yildirim, D. E. (2019). Fathers’ cognitive engagement and preschoolers’ literacy skills in three ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago. Journal of Black Psychology, 45, 494-517.
  • Roopnarine, J. L., Johnson, J. E., Quinn, S., & Patte, M. (Eds.). (2018). Handbook of international perspectives on early childhood education. New York: Routledge.