Research Scientist

Ley’s research interests center on the understanding of risk and protective factors that influence the initiation, trajectory of, and desistance from, substance use in adolescence and the transition to adulthood, with a special interest in explaining the ethnic group variations in each of these processes. Recent papers have focused on the role of peers and social groups in influencing adolescents’ individual and group norms and subsequent substance use and aggressive behavior.

Education:

• Ph.D. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey - 1999
• M.S. Syracuse University - 1994
• B.A., Magna cum laude Queens College (CUNY), New York City - 1992

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Killeya-Jones, L. A., Costanzo, P., Malone, P., Polanichka Quinlan, N., & Miller-Johnson, S. (2007). Norm-narrowing and self- and other-perceived aggression in early-adolescent same-sex and mixed-sex cliques. Journal of School Psychology, 45, 549-565.


2. L.A. Killeya-Jones, R. Nakajima and P. Costanzo (2006). Peer standing and substance use in early-adolescent grade-level networks: A short-term longitudinal study.. Prevention Science. [m60514386v454538]


3. K. W. Chen and L.A. Killeya-Jones (2006). Understanding differences in marijuana use among urban and suburban high school students in two community samples in the U.S.. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 5(2), 51-74.


4. J. C. Merrill, I. Pinsky, L. A. Killeya-Jones, Z. Sloboda and T. Dilascio (2006). Substance Abuse Prevention Infrastructure: A survey-based study of the organizational structure and function of the D.A.R.E. program.. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention and Policy, 1(25). [25]


5. K. W. Chen, L.A. Killeya-Jones, and W. Vega (2005). Estimates of twelve-month prevalence of approximate mental disorders by DISC predictive scale among US adolescents: demographic comparisons. Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, 1(22).

1. School-based peer relationships and alcohol use among African-American and European-American early adolescents, Society for Research on Adolescence, San Francisco, CA, March 2006
2. Paper Symposium: The Social Dynamics of Deviant Behavior among Early Adolescents: From Attributions to Social Structures, Society for Prevention Research. San Antonio, TX., June, 2006

Grant Support

• Individual National Research Service Award "Life-paths, Substance Use and Transition to Adulthood", Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (F32 HD48029-01), 07/01/2005 - 07/01/2008.      

Curriculum Vitae