Naomi Andrews

Dr. Naomi Andrews is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies at Brock University and a founding member of the BRAVE Group: Brock Research on Aggression and Victimization Experiences. She holds a Ph.D. in Family and Human Development from the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at Arizona State University. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Mothercraft’s Breaking the Cycle program – a prevention and early intervention program for mothers with substance use issues and their young children – and the LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research at York University.

Broadly, her research focuses on healthy and unhealthy relationships, applying a relational perspective to support children’s social, emotional, and behavioural adjustment. Her first line of research centers on understanding problematic social behavior (e.g., aggression, victimization, bullying, teasing) through a relational lens, conceptualizing these behaviors as complex social phenomena. She is interested in understanding how nuances in peer relationships (e.g., friendship factors) and the broader social context (e.g., social network structure) contribute to and are impacted by children and youth’s involvement in problem behaviors. Her second line of research broadens this focus on peer aggression/victimization to consider aggression and violence within family and other contexts. In this realm, she has focused on evaluating relationship-focused and trauma-informed interventions, disseminating an intervention for those experiencing violence in relationships, and understanding the developmental trajectories of children exposed to early adversity. Please visit Dr. Andrews’ lab website (brocku.ca/andrews-lab/) or the BRAVE group website (brocku.ca/brave/) for more info on current projects.