Marion Underwood

Areas of Expertise

• Peer relations in childhood and adolescence, digital communication, social and physical aggression

HHS Signature Research Area(s)

• Developmental Health and Wellness

Department of Psychological Sciences Research Area(s)

• Clinical Psychological Sciences

Biography

Marion K. Underwood began her professional career in 1991 as an assistant professor of psychology at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where she earned tenure before moving to the University of Texas at Dallas in 1998. She was associate dean of programs and administration in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences from 2013-15 before becoming dean of graduate studies and associate provost. She also was the Ashbel Smith Professor of Psychological Sciences at UT Dallas. Dr. Underwood is a graduate of Wellesley College with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and she holds a master’s degree and doctoral degree, both in clinical psychology, from Duke University.​

Dr. Underwood is one of the foremost researchers in the developmental origins and outcomes of social aggression and how adolescents’ digital communication relates to adjustment. Her work appears in numerous scientific journals, and the National Institutes of Health has supported her research program since 1995. In 2003, she authored the book, Social Aggression among Girls, and in 2015, she was featured in the CNN special report “#Being13: Inside the Secret World of Teens.” Since 2003, Dr. Underwood and her research group have been conducting a longitudinal study on the origins and outcomes of social aggression and how adolescents use digital communication. Underwood, an Association of Psychological Sciences Fellow, is a recipient of the National Institute of Mental Health’s FIRST Award as well as the NIMH Independent Scientist Career Award.

Education

• Ph.D., 1991, Duke University

Websites

• Teens and Technology Lab
• Google Scholar
• Meet the Dean