People
James McHale
Professor
CONTACT
Office: DAV 121A
Phone: 727/873-4848
Email
LINKS
BIO
Dr. McHale was Founding Chair of the Department of Psychology at USF St. Petersburg. He directs the internationally recognized USF Family Study Center and is Executive Director for the Family Study Center's community clinic, the Infant-Family Center in St. Petersburg. His studies of coparenting and infant/child development have been sponsored since 1996 by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Child Health and Development, the Department of Health and Human Service's Administration for Children and Families (ACF), and a variety of different Foundations. He has authored more than 200 conference research reports and published over 100 articles, books, and other manuscripts on the topic of coparenting in diverse family systems. He annually serves as Principal Investigator for numerous grants and sponsored initiatives, including a current $3.75 million ACF-funded study examining interventions for healthy coparenting relationships among families in a child welfare diversion program.
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of California, Berkeley
SPECIALTY AREA
Clinical
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
McHale, J., Stover, C., Dube, C., Sirotkin, Y., Lewis, S. & McKay, K. (2022), Culturally grounded prenatal coparenting intervention: Results of a randomized controlled trial with unmarried Black parents, Journal of Family Psychology. 36(4), 479–489. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000965
McKay, K., Gaskin-Butler, V., Little, T., DePalma, K. & McHale, J. (2021). Starting the conversation: Common themes typifying expectant unmarried Black parents’ discussions about coparenting a first child together. The Journal of Black Psychology, 47(7) 542–577. doi:10.1177/00957984211016758
McHale, J. & Sirotkin, Y. (2019). Coparenting in diverse family systems. In M. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of Parenting (3rd. Ed.). New Jersey: Erlbaum
Coates, E. & McHale, J. (2018), Triangular interactions of unmarried African American mothers and fathers with their 3-month-old infants. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27, 1-11.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1082-8
Salman-Engin, S., Sümer, N., Sagel, E., & McHale, J. (2018). Coparenting in the context of mother–father–infant versus mother–grandmother–infant triangular interactions in Turkey. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1094-4
Tissot, H., Kuersten-Hogan, R., Frascarolo, F., Favez, N. & McHale, J. (2018). Parental perceptions of individual and dyadic adjustment as predictors of observed coparenting cohesion: A cross-national study. Family Process, 57, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12359
McHale, J. & Negrini, L. (2017). How the assumption of a coparenting frame will transform social work practice with men and fathers. Social Work Research, 42(1), 9-21.doi:10.1093/swr/svx024
McHale, J. (2015). Coparenting in Europe, 2015: Celebrations of advances and cautions about misdirection. Family Science, 5, 229-239. doi:10.1080/19424620.2015.1082053
McHale, J. & Phares, V. (2015). From dyads to family systems: A bold new direction for Infant Mental Health practice. ZERO TO THREE Journal, 35, 1-8.
McHale, J., Salman., S. & Coovert, M. (2015). Improvements in unmarried African American parents’ rapport, communication and problem-solving following a prenatal coparenting intervention. Family Process, 54, 619-629.