People

Jodi Dworkin

Pronouns: she, her, hers
Professor and Extension Specialist

My research and outreach focuses on promoting positive family development, parenting adolescents and college students, and the role of technology in these relationships.

DEGREES

DEGREES

AREAS OF INTEREST

AREAS OF INTEREST

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

My research and outreach focuses on promoting positive family development, parenting adolescents and college students, and the role of technology in these relationships. A critical piece of my work is developing research-based outreach services to promote positive family development. To learn more, visit the Dworkin TECH Lab.

Families and Technology

My focus has been on exploring how technology is used for family communication and in support of family relationships, specifically in families with adolescents. This project includes data from parents and adolescents, as well as from college students. Data are both qualitative and quantitative, and provide unique opportunities to understand the complexities of technology and family life.

College Parents Speak Out

The Parenting College Students website includes study findings along with extensive resources for families of college students. A national study of parents of college students designed to understand the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the family’s role in their students’ college experiences. Specifically, we examined the effect of COVID-19 on students’ ability to continue their education; what challenges and barriers students and families experienced; what supports students and families needed; how family stress impacted students. Parents were surveyed during summer and fall 2020 and again during fall 2021.

Disrupting the narrative: Creating healthy developmental trajectories through family school partnerships

This project is a partnership with University of Minnesota Extension. It has included a community based participatory action research project in partnership with a diverse school district and the district equity specialists. Youth were trained as researchers to interview their peers about how COVID-19 impacted family and school. A key component of this project has been a 4-H leadership series. Interview data from youth are currently being analyzed, and process documents are being developed to document this YPAR approach.

PUBLICATIONS

PUBLICATIONS

*Keyzers, A., & Dworkin, J. (in press). Parental approval, active mediation, and adolescent online social behavior: Differences by parent-child gender pairs. Journal of Comparative Family Studies.
*Dworkin, J., Sun, X., LeBouef, S., & Keyzers, A. (2023). Associations among parent technology use, locus of control, and child problem behaviors. Family Relations, 72(2), 443-457. Read the full article.
*Dworkin, J., Cai, Q., LeBouef, S., & Hruska, E. (2023). College family coping and disruptions during COVID-19: A consideration of the ABC-X model of family stress. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 53(4), 502-522. Read the full article.
*Lee, S-K., & Dworkin, J. (2022). Multiple channels of communication: Association of emerging adults’ communication patterns, well-being, and parenting. Emerging Adulthood. Read the full article.
*Cai, Q., LeBouef, S., Savage, M., & Dworkin, J. (2022). What happened when COVID-19 shut down in-person higher education? Parents speak out. About Campus: Enriching the Student Learning Experience, 26(6), 26–34. Read the full article.
*LeBouef, S., & Dworkin, J. (2021). First-generation college students and family support: A critical review of empirical research literature. Educational Sciences, 11, 294-314. Read the full article.
*Dworkin, J., Hessel, H., & LeBouef, S. (2019). The use of communication technology in the context of adolescent and family development: An integration of family and media theories. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 11(4), 510-523. Read the full article.
*Dworkin, J., Rudi, J., & Hessel, H. (2018). The state of family research and social media. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 10(4), 796-813. [1.837] Read the full article.
*Rudi, J., He, Y., Dworkin, J., & Doty, J. (2018). How useful is it? Differences in parents’ perceptions of parenting information sources. Journal of Human Sciences and Extension, 6(3), 180-199.
Rudi, J. H., & Dworkin, J. (2018). Parents’ and youths’ solicitation and disclosure of information in today’s digital age. Journal of Youth Development, 13(4), 5-28.
*Hessel, H., He, Y., & Dworkin, J. (2017). Paternal monitoring: The relationship between online and in-person solicitation and youth outcomes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(2), 288- 299. [3.562]

* student co-author

I am not accepting new graduate advisees for fall 2026 in the PhD and MA/PhD programs.

I am accepting undergraduate research advisees for the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters. Please visit the Dworkin Tech Lab to learn more and apply.
612-624-3732
jdworkin@umn.edu

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What Students Can Expect from Me

Students can expect to be actively engaged in research as a collaborator through all phases of the research process—literature review, IRB, data collection, data analysis, manuscript preparation, and conference presentations. Students interested in outreach and engagement have opportunities to do the work of translating research into practice both to develop resources for parents and research updates for professionals who work with youth and families.

Students meet with me weekly and have the opportunity to build relationships and collaborations with other graduate students. Students should expect to be independent, creative, and thinking critically about our work together.

Honors and Awards

2022 National Council on Family Relations Fellow

2013 Council of Graduate Students Outstanding Faculty Award, University of Minnesota

2008 National Extension Association of Family & Consumer Sciences Florence Hall Award, First Place, Central Region & State Winner, MN Affiliate

2007 National Extension Association of Family & Consumer Sciences Internet Education Technology Award, Second Place, National & First Place, Central Region

2006 National Family Life Extension Specialists Early Achievement Award

2006 Innovations in Student Development Award, Minnesota College Personnel Association

2006 College of Human Ecology Award for Innovation and Mission Advancement, University of Minnesota

2005 New Career Excellence Award, College of Human Ecology