Justin Jager, PhD
Co-Investigator, Monitoring the Future Main and Panel Studies
Research Associate Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research
Co-Investigator for Monitoring the Future Main and Panel studies. He received his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2007. The goal of his interdisciplinary research program is to map and dissect the transformation from dependent child to independent, productive citizen. Much of his current research focuses on how historical variation in the frequency and pattern of adolescent and young adult transitions has altered life-course norms differentially across gender and race, including the normative, developmental course of substance use, union formation, and the school to work transition. Focusing more directly on the more proximal family and peer contexts, another segment of his research documents how the family and peer contexts interact with one another to inform adolescent health and well-being. Finally, out of his substantive research, which relies heavily on novel and sophisticated analytical approaches, he also developed a line of research that focuses on advancing developmental quantitative methods.
Recent Publications
Jager, J., Xia Y., Putnick, D. L., & Bornstein, M. H. (2025). Improving generalizability of developmental research through increased use of homogeneous convenience samples: A Monte Carlo simulation. Developmental Psychology. Advance online publication https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001890
Jager, J., Staff, J., & Espinoza, P. (2024). Age 19-30 Union Formation Trajectories Across The Past 30 Years Within The US: Delineating Heterogeneity in Trajectories and Its Historical and Sociodemographic Variation. Research in Human Development, 21(1), 26-49. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2024.2366110
Jager, J., Keyes, K.M., Son, D., Patrick, M.E., Platt, J. & Schulenberg, J.E. (2023). Age 18-30 trajectories of binge drinking frequency and prevalence across the past 30 years for men and women: Delineating when and why historical trends reversed across age. Development and Psychopathology, 35(3), 1308-1322. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421001218
Jager, J., Rauer, A., Staff, J., Lansford, J.E., Pettit, G.S., & Schulenberg, J.E. (2022). The destabilization and destandardization of social roles across the adult life course: Considering aggregate social role instability and its variability from a historical-developmental perspective. Developmental Psychology. 58(3), 589–605. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001303
Jager, J., Putnick, D. L., & Bornstein, M. H. (2017). More than just convenient: The scientific merits of homogeneous convenience samples. In N. A. Card (Ed.), Developmental Methodology. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 82(2), 13-30. https://doi.org/10.1111/mono.12296
Jager, J., Mahler, A., An, D., Putnick, D. L., Bornstein, M. H., Lansford, J. E., Dodge, K. A., Skinner, A. T., & Deater-Deckard, K. (2016). Early adolescents’ unique perspectives of maternal and paternal rejection: Examining their across-dyad generalizability and relations with adjustment 1 year later. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(10), 2108-2124. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0509-z
Jager, J., Yuen, C. X., Putnick, D. L., Hendricks, C., & Bornstein, M. H. (2015). Adolescent peer relationships, separation and detachment from parents, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors: Linkages and interactions. Journal of Early Adolescence, 35(4), 511-537. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431614537116
Jager, J., Yuen, C. X., Bornstein, M. H., Putnick, D. L., & Hendricks, C. (2014). The relations of family members’ unique and shared perspectives of family dysfunction to dyad adjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 38(3), 407-414. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036809
