My research examines how (1) biases in societal-level messaging and (2) individual reactions to challenge affects ability to adapt (i.e., health and well-being) during times of transition. I take a social ecological approach, grounding people in their local environments, to address this critical issue for human flourishing.
I ground my research in intersectionality theory. Life transitions tend to be harder for those belonging to oppressed social identities. Differences in societal messaging driven by systemic bias may make navigating transitional experiences more distressing, contributing to greater inequity in health and well-being. Societal messaging (e.g., from literature, television, social media) and individual reactions (e.g., attributions, internalizing) can either ameliorate or compound feelings of uncertainty or anxiety during life transitions.
Feel free to email me if there is any project listed here that you would like to know more about.
Recent Publications
Koch, M.K., Bluck, S., Maggiore, S.*, Chochinov, H. M., Cogdill-Richardson, K.R., & Bylund, C. L. (2024). Facing off-time mortality: Leaving a legacy. Psychology and Aging. [Link] [PDF]
Koch, M. K., Burd, K. A. & Mendle, J. (2023). Same crime, same time? Differences in visual maturity affect opinion of adolescent culpability. Applied Cognitive Psychology. [Link] [PDF]
Porcelli, S., Koch, M. K., & Mendle, J. (2023). Impulsivity and adolescent relationships: Negative urgency predicts interpersonal problems in youth. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. [Link] [PDF]
Koch, M. K., Burd, K. A. & Mendle, J. (2023). Same crime, same time? Differences in visual maturity affect opinion of adolescent culpability. Applied Cognitive Psychology. [Link] [PDF]
Garavito, D. M. N., & Koch, M. K. (2023). Coming of age in the eyes of the law: The conflict between Miranda, J.D.B., and puberty. American Criminal Law Review. [Link] [PDF]
Koch, M. K., & Wang, Q. (2022) Autobiographical memory. In Levesque (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer. [Link] [PDF]
Koch, M. K., & Mendle, J. (2022). In their own words: Finding meaning in girls’ experiences of puberty. Child Development. [Link] [PDF]
Koch, M. K., & Mendle, J. (2021). Real world skills in a virtual world: An innovative activity for teaching developmental psychopathology. Teaching of Psychology. [Link] [PDF]
Koch, M. K., Mendle, J., & Beam, C. R. (2020) Psychological distress amid change: Role disruption in girls during the adolescent transition. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 48, 1211-1222. [Link] [PDF]
Mendle, J., Beam, C. R., McKone, K. M. P., & Koch, M. K. (2020). Puberty and transdiagnostic risks for mental health. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 30, 687 705. [Link]
Mendle, J., & Koch, M. K. (2019). The psychology of puberty: What aren’t we studying that we should? Child Development Perspectives, 13, 166-172. [Link]
McGuire, T. G., McCormick, K. C., Koch, M. K., & Mendle, J. (2019). Pubertal maturation and longitudinal trajectories of depression during early adolescence. Frontiers in Psychology. [Link]
Koch, M. K., Bluck, S., Bylund, C., Wilkie, D., & Chochinov, H. M. (2023, August). Having cancer and acknowledging severity: Relation to narrating a positive legacy. Paper presented at the Society for Research on Applied Memory and Cognition Biennial Meeting. Nagoya, Japan.
Koch, M. K. (2023, April). Gender stereotypes in coming-of-age novels: Implications for identity development. Paper presented at the Society for Research on Adolescence Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA.
Koch, M. K., & Mendle, J. (2021. April). Text analysis of puberty experiences from retrospective and concurrent perspectives. Paper presented at the 2021 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Virtual.