Karen Rosen

Karen Rosen is an Associate Professor in Boston College's Psychology Department, where she directs the Family and Child Development Project investigating parent-child attachment and sibling relationships. She joined Boston College in 1984 after completing her PhD at Harvard University.

Education:

• PhD in Psychology, Harvard University
• BA in Psychology, Brandeis University (summa cum laude)

Her research examines social and emotional development during infancy and early childhood, focusing on attachment relationships and sibling dynamics. She employs longitudinal designs to study how early relational patterns influence later behavioral outcomes and emotional regulation.

Publications demonstrate consistent focus on attachment measurement, parental acceptance frameworks, and developmental trajectories of self-knowledge. Recent work explores connections between early attachment patterns and adolescent relationship behaviors.

Awards & Honors:

• Boston College Illumination Award (2021)
• Marion Cabot Putnam Fellowship, Radcliffe College (1997-1998)
• National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship

As Director of the Clinical Concentration and Psychology Honors Program, she mentors undergraduate researchers and supervises clinical fieldwork placements in Boston-area institutions. She maintains clinical practice as Senior Staff Psychologist at Brookline Psychological Services.

Her Family and Child Development Lab investigates multiple attachment relationships within family systems and their impact on children's socioemotional development.