Faculty Directory
Rebekah Levine Coley
Director, Center for Child and 麻豆社区 Policy
Professor
Florencia and Marc Gabelli 麻豆社区 Faculty Fellow
Rebekah Levine Coley
Ph.D.
Contact
Campion 239A聽
Telephone: 617-552-6018
Email: coleyre@bc.edu
ORCID
Education
- Ph.D., University of Michigan
- Postdoctoral Training, University of Chicago
- Management Development Program, Harvard University
Courses
Education and Social Issues and Policy
Research Interests
Professor Coley's research focuses on delineating, evaluating, and counteracting economic, social, and racial inequities in mental and behavioral health and educational and economic attainment.聽 Her research employs quantitative, qualitative, and evaluation methodologies to delineate key environmental forces driving these arenas of wellbeing, and to assess and inform social and educational policies and practices which seek to disrupt the transmission of inequities聽 and improve opportunities for children, families, and communities.聽
Expertise
- Cognitive and Social Development
- Health and Well Being
- Social & Emotional Development
Professor Coley is seeking new doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars to participate in a multi-methods project evaluating the effects of housing and community redevelopment on children's and adults' health (mental, behavioral, and physical) and educational success. Candidates with native fluency in Spanish or Cantonese and experience working in minoritized and underserved communities are particularly welcomed.
Department
Profile
Rebekah Levine Coley, Ph.D. is Professor of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology and Director of the Center for Child and 麻豆社区 Policy at 麻豆社区 College. She received her doctorate in Developmental Psychology from the University of Michigan and postdoctoral training in Demography and Public Policy at the University of Chicago. Professor Coley鈥檚 expertise lies in assessing and counteracting economic, social, and racial inequities in mental and behavioral health and educational and economic attainment. Her research employs quantitative, qualitative, and evaluation methodologies to assess and inform social and educational policies and practices at the federal, state, and local level which seek to disrupt the transmission of inequities to children, families, and communities. Professor Coley鈥檚 research has been published in dozens of leading journals and edited volumes, and has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Australian Research Council, and numerous private foundations. She is the founding Editor of the Child Evidence Brief series published by the Society for Research in Child Development which seeks to translate developmental science to federal and state policy makers, and has held leadership positions in the Society for Research in Child Development, the Society for Research on Adolescence, the Child Care and Early Education Policy Research Consortium, and the University-based Child and 麻豆社区 Policy Consortium. Her research excellence has been recognized through receipt of a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, a Social Policy Award from the Society for Research in Adolescence, and the inaugural Mavis Hetherington Award in Applied Developmental Science from the American Psychological Association.
GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT
Investigator, Centre for Children and Families Over the Lifecourse, University of Queensland, Australia
Current Research Grants
2024-2026听Supporting Marginalized Youths' Educational Success: A Mixed-Methods Natural Experiment.聽(Brady Education Foundation). Coley, Principal Investigator. $368,032. Multi-methods natural experiment to assess how public housing and community redevelopment bolster minoritized and economically disadvantaged children鈥檚 educational opportunities and success using a strengths-based perspective.聽
2021-2026听Targeting Health Disparities through Housing Redevelopment: A Natural Experiment of Housing聽聽Quality,聽Stability,聽and Economic聽Integration. (NIH/NIMHD 1R01MD015729). Coley & Teixeira, Principal Investigators.聽$3,030,584. Diversity Supplement (with Lacee Satcher). $250,000. Multi-method natural experiment of public housing redevelopment to address whether improving聽housing quality, limiting external displacement, and creating mixed-income communities improves聽physical, mental,聽and聽behavioral聽health.
2021-2025听听麻豆社区 College Institute of Early Childhood Policy聽(Buffett Early Childhood fund). Coley, Principal Investigator.聽 $322,707. Cross-disciplinary institute to increase training, research, and interdisciplinary collaboration in the realm of early childhood development, education, and policy.
2021-2023听Strengths, Assets, and Receipt of Social Services as Protective Factors in the Relationship between Racial Bias and Maternal and Child Health and Developmental Outcomes.聽(Annie E Casey Foundation). Sims, Principal Investigator. $175,000. Multi-methods, participatory study to assess how environmental racial bias is linked with maternal and child mental, behavioral, and physical health among Black families.
2021-2023听Impact Analysis of Flavor Restrictions and Tobacco 21 Policies on Youth Tobacco Use. (NIH/NCI R21CA268199). Hawkins, Principal Investigator. $430,375. Examine the impact of state flavor restrictions and state and federal age 21 tobacco restriction policies on disparities in tobacco use among 14-24 year-old youth.
2023-2025听听Evaluating Rental Relief During the COVID-19 Pandemic聽(NIH R21HD111746). Fusaro,聽Principal Investigator. $430,375. Create, make publicly available, and analyze a dataset聽 documenting the nature and timing of Emergency Rental Assistance Program implementation policy choices and their effects on eviction, material hardship, and mental health.
2023-2025听听Early Childhood Policy and Leadership Fellowship Program聽(Bezos 麻豆社区 Foundation). Coley, Principal Investigator. $177,475. Funds provision of fellowships to underrepresented graduate students participating in the Early Childhood Policy and Leadership graduate certificate program.
2022-2026听The MetroWest Evidence-based Trauma-Informed Referral & Treatment Initiative for Children聽(METRIC) (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration聽SM84966). Franks, Principal Investigator.聽$1,599,070. Collaborative initiative to expand and evaluate trauma-focused, evidence-based mental health services for children aged 2 to 18 and their families.
2021-2027听ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course聽(Australian Research Council CE200100025). Baxter, Principal Investigator. $32,500,000AU.聽 Collaborative research centre seeking to聽use evidence-based research to develop new knowledge, technology and practices to benefit people living in disadvantage.
Recent Publications
- Coley, R. L., McCoy, D., Hatch, S. (2025). How poverty shapes children鈥檚 structural and social environments: An integrative conceptual framework and review. American Psychologist.聽
- Coley, R. L., Leer, J., & Lanteri, L. (2025). Trends in mental and behavioral health risks in adolescents: 1999鈥�2021. Pediatrics, 155 (4), e2024068774. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2024-068774聽
- Fusaro, V., Collier, K. M., Baidoo, C., & Coley, R. L. (2025). Rental arrears and perceived risk of eviction among U.S. renter households by household composition, race, and ethnicity 2020-2024. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 11, 23780231241309788.聽
- Hawkins, S. S., Coley, R. L., Lanteri, L., & Baum, C. F. (2025). How adolescent tobacco use has responded to state tobacco 21 laws and flavor restrictions. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 51(3), 360鈥�371. https://doi.org/10.1080/00952990.2024.2444567聽
- Lanteri, L., Miller, P., Votruba-Drzal, E., & Coley, R. L. (2025). Neighborhood resources and stressors associated with parental inputs for children鈥檚 learning and development. American Journal of Community Psychology, 75, 117鈥�129. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12770聽
- Wang, Y., Lo, B. K., Park, I., Bauer, K. W., Davison, K. K., Haines, J., & Coley, R. L. (2025). Racial and ethnic disparities in fathers鈥� food parenting practices and children鈥檚 diets. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.70001聽
- Carey, N., Coley, R. L., Hawkins, S. S., & Baum, C. F. (2024). Emerging adult mental health during COVID: Exploring relationships between discrete and cumulative individual and contextual stressors and well-being. Journal of Adolescent Health, 71, 26-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.01.031聽
- Coley, R. L., Carey, N., Hwang, D., Spielvogel, B., & Henry, D. (2024). Racial inequities in educational opportunity: Variation across socioeconomic strata. Race and Social Problems, 16, 414-432. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-024-09415-z聽
- Coley, R. L., Carey, N., Kruzik, C., Hawkins, S. S., & Baum, K. (2024). Recreational cannabis legalization, retail sales, and adolescent substance use through 2021. JAMA Pediatrics, 178(6), 622-625. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.0555聽
- Hwang, D. & Coley, R. L. (2024). Examining how school resources contribute to income achievement disparities across race and ethnicity. Urban Education, 1-38. DOI: 10.1177/00420859241244770
Select Honors & Leadership Positions
Mavis Hetherington Award for Excellence in Applied Developmental Science, American Psychological Association聽
Fulbright Senior Scholar Award Recipient
Social Policy Award, Society for Research in Adolescence聽
Editor,
Co-Chair, Science and Social Policy Committee, Society for Research in Child Development
Steering Committee Member, University-Based Child and 麻豆社区 Policy Consortium
Steering Committee Member, Child Care and Early Education Policy Research Consortium
Consulting Editor, Child Development
Advisory Board Member, Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy