Skip to main content

Karen D Rudolph

Professor

Research Interests

developmental psychopathology; depression; stress and emotion; adolescent development; family and peer relationships

Research Description

The overall goal of Dr. Rudolph’s research is to identify risk and protective processes that amplify or attenuate vulnerability to psychopathology across development, with a focus on adolescence as a stage of particular sensitivity. Her research uses a multi-level, multi-method approach that considers how personal attributes of youth (e.g., gender, temperament, emotion regulation, social motivation, coping, neuroendocrine profiles, neural processing), development (e.g., pubertal timing, social transitions), and contexts (e.g., early adversity, stressors, family and peer relationships) intersect to contribute to the development of psychopathology, particularly depression and suicide. This research aims to understand both the origins and consequences of individual differences in risk. A variety of methodological approaches are used, including longitudinal survey-based research, interviews, behavior observations, experimental tasks, hormone assessments, and fMRI. Recent work also involves the development of a prevention program for adolescent depression.

Education

Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles

Additional Campus Affiliations

Professor, Psychology
Professor, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
Affiliate, Center for Social & Behavioral Science

Recent Publications

Davis, M. M., Modi, H. H., Skymba, H. V., Haigler, K., Finnegan, M. K., Telzer, E. H., & Rudolph, K. D. (2024). Neural Sensitivity to Peer Feedback and Depressive Symptoms: Moderation by Executive Function. Developmental psychobiology, 66(6), Article e22515. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22515

Gruhn, M., Miller, A. B., Eisenlohr-Moul, T. A., Martin, S., Clayton, M. G., Giletta, M., Hastings, P. D., Nock, M. K., Rudolph, K. D., Slavich, G. M., Prinstein, M. J., & Sheridan, M. A. (2024). Threat exposure moderates associations between neural and physiological indices of emotion reactivity in adolescent females. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 159, Article 106405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106405

Miller, A. B., Jenness, J. L., Elton, A. L., Pelletier-Baldelli, A., Patel, K., Bonar, A., Martin, S., Dichter, G., Giletta, M., Slavich, G. M., Rudolph, K. D., Hastings, P., Nock, M., Prinstein, M. J., & Sheridan, M. A. (2024). Neural Markers of Emotion Reactivity and Regulation Before and After a Targeted Social Rejection: Differences Among Girls With and Without Suicidal Ideation and Behavior Histories. Biological Psychiatry, 95(12), 1100-1109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.10.015

Pelletier-Baldelli, A., Sheridan, M. A., Rudolph, M. D., Eisenlohr-Moul, T., Martin, S., Srabani, E. M., Giletta, M., Hastings, P. D., Nock, M. K., Slavich, G. M., Rudolph, K. D., Prinstein, M. J., & Miller, A. B. (2024). Brain network connectivity during peer evaluation in adolescent females: Associations with age, pubertal hormones, timing, and status. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 66, Article 101357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101357

Rodriguez-Thompson, A. M., Miller, A. B., Wade, M., Meyer, K. N., Machlin, L., Bonar, A. S., Patel, K. K., Giletta, M., Hastings, P. D., Nock, M. K., Rudolph, K. D., Slavich, G. M., Prinstein, M. J., & Sheridan, M. A. (2024). Neural Correlates of the p Factor in Adolescence: Cognitive Control With and Without Enhanced Positive Affective Demands. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 9(1), 30-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2023.03.012

View all publications on Illinois Experts