Schedule will be updated regularly.
| Wednesday, June 4, 2025 | |
| 9am – 5pm | Preconference Workshops (separate registration required) |
| 5pm – 7pm | Poster presentation and welcome reception |
| Thursday, June 5, 2025 | |
| 9am – 5pm | Conference program |
| 7pm – 9pm | Special dinner (separate ticket required) |
| Friday, June 6, 2025 | |
| 9am – 5pm | Conference program |
Invited Presidential Roundtable and SSEA-SRA Joint Session: Supporting Vulnerable Youth in a Post-Pandemic World
Directly following the Presidential Address, a roundtable discussion will occur to converse about the role that COVID-19 pandemic has played on adolescents and emerging adults. Four scholars coming from one or both professional societies (Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood and the Society for Research on Adolescence) will share their research and clinical experience from around the globe on adolescents and emerging adults who are most vulnerable by virtue or one or more factors. They will discuss both the challenges and opportunities that have emerged for these youth in a post-pandemic world. Further, they will provide recommendations for practitioners in their work with such youth. Lastly, we will discuss policies, programs, and systems that have or should be implemented coming out of COVID-19 to best support these youth in support of their thriving in complexity.
Roundtable Panelists:
Carolyn McNamara Barry, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and Professor of Psychology, University of Scranton, United States (Moderator)
Carolyn Barry earned her B.S. in Psychology from Ursinus College and her Ph.D. in Human Development from University of Maryland-College Park. From 2001-2024, she was a faculty member of psychology at Loyola University Maryland. In 2019 she transitioned to be the Associate Dean for Social Sciences and Graduate Programs. Since July 2024, she became the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology at the University of Scranton. Her scholarship focuses on emerging adults’ close relationships and adjustment, as well as their meaning-making. She serves on the editorial board for Emerging Adulthood and Journal of Youth and Adolescence. She is the 2023 recipient of Ursinus College Alumni Professional Achievement Award, and the 2011 Faculty Award for Excellence in Service-Learning and Engaged Scholarship.
Adebunmi Oyekola, Ph.D., Counseling and Human Development Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Dr. Adebunmi Oyekola holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the Department of Counseling and Human Development Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, where she is also a faculty member. Her research focuses on the impact of adverse childhood experiences on developmental milestones, identifying both risk and protective factors to guide preventive and psychotherapeutic interventions aimed at safeguarding the dignity, mental health, and well-being of vulnerable children and youths. She also explores the effects of character strength-based interventions on cognitive development and learning strategies, particularly how they enhance social-emotional competencies among children and adolescents.
Currently, she is studying how maternal adverse childhood experiences and intimate partner violence (intergenerational transmission of violence) influence parenting competencies and shape children’s and adolescents’ brain development, particularly their executive functioning, including inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. She is actively involved in expanding cognitive science in Nigeria, advocating for interdisciplinary approaches within education and developmental psychology. Her research integrates policy, practice, and intervention, ensuring that educational and developmental frameworks are both evidence-based and culturally relevant.
Filomena Sabatella, Ph.D., Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, ZHAW Zurich, Switzerland
She is a clinical psychologist specializing in both research and psychotherapy for children and adolescents. Her research interests focus on emerging adults who struggle with the transition from school to the workforce due to psychological distress. Through her work, she aims to develop evidence-based interventions that support young individuals in overcoming mental health challenges and achieving vocational integration.
Mette Ranta, Ph.D., Department of Education, University of Helsinki, Finland
Mette Ranta, PhD, holds a Title of Docent (Associate Professor) in educational psychology and is a University Researcher at the Department of Education, University of Helsinki, Finland. Dr. Ranta’s recent studies have focused on youth financial capability and financial education at schools and in families, financial vulnerability and resilience, as well as COVID-19 effects on general and financial well-being. She is an Assistant Editor for Emerging Adulthood and the Chair of the Finances Topic Network. In the Strategic Research Council funded DigiConsumers research project (2019-2025), her research has gained societal interest among stakeholders in the field. Currently, Dr. Ranta works as a Senior Specialist at the National Legal Services Authority under the Ministry of Justice, Finland, in implementing a national financial literacy strategy for Finland.
Ann Skinner, Ph.D., Center for Child and Family Policy, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, United States
Ann T. Skinner is a Research Scientist at the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy. Her research focuses on the ways in which stressful community, familial, and interpersonal events impact parent-child relationships and youth adjustment. She is the Principal Investigator for a study examining the effects of the war on young people and their families in Ukraine and is an affiliate with Duke’s Center for Global Mental Health and the NIDA-funded Center for the Study of Addictive Risk and Resilience.
Ann has been part of an ongoing 9-country study of parenting, child development, and young adult competence since its inception in 2008, which included several studies of the impact of COVID-19 on families around the world. With extensive experience in multiple cross-national collaborations, data management, and supervision of multisite projects, Skinner was named a 2022-23 fellow with the ICDSS COVID-19 Global Scholars Program.
She has a Ph.D in developmental psychology from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, a Master of Education in special education, and B.A. in psychology, both from the College of William and Mary, Virginia, USA. Before working in academia, she worked as a special education teacher, trainer, and supervisor in the public school system and at residential facilities for youth who had been adjudicated or were at-risk in Rhode Island and North Carolina
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