Investigators

Principal Investigator

Brian Willoughby

Brian J. Willoughby, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. Dr. Willoughby is considered an international expert in the field of couple and marital relationships, sexuality, and emerging adult development. His research generally focuses on how adolescents, young adults, and adults move toward and form long-term committed relationships. Dr. Willoughby has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on young adult development, couple dynamics, marriage, and sexuality in the leading family science, psychological and sociological journals. He is the author of the recently published book, The Marriage Paradox: Why Emerging Adults Love Marriage Yet Push it Aside, published by Oxford University Press. His research has been widely cited in the media, appearing in such outlets as USA Today, MSNBC, Men's Health, the Washington Post, ABC News, Psychology Today, and Prevention Magazine.

Co-Investigators

Dean Busby

Dean M. Busby, Ph.D. is the director of the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. He received his Ph.D. in Family Therapy from Brigham Young University. Following his schooling he taught at Syracuse University and Texas Tech University, where he was the department chair, before returning to Brigham Young University. He is a published author of books, book chapters, and research articles in the area of marriage relationships, sexuality, relationship education and intervention, assessment of couples, and relationship trauma. His research has garnered university and national awards and been funded by federal and state grants. Dr. Busby has taught at the university level for more than twenty years, primarily in the area of dating and marriage relationships, family violence, and research methods.

Larry Nelson

Larry J. Nelson earned his Ph.D. (2000) in Human Development from the University of Maryland, College Park. He examines factors that contribute to flourishing or floundering during emerging adulthood. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on topics including conceptions of adulthood, social withdrawal, and the role of parents and culture in the transition to adulthood. He is the editor of a series of books on emerging adulthood published by Oxford University Press and recently co-edited a book on positive development as part of the series.

Spencer James

Spencer L. James is assistant professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. Dr. James employs quantitative and qualitative methods to examine contemporary trends in marriage and cohabitation, with a focus on how people form, maintain, and dissolve long-term romantic relationships. He also maintains an active research agenda on how family relationships at the micro and macro levels shape national and international child outcomes. Additionally, he examines how shifting patterns of marital beliefs (marital paradigms) influence marriage and family outcomes.

Jason Carroll

Jason S. Carroll, Ph.D. is a Professor of Marriage and Family Studies in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University and a Fellow of the Wheatley Institution. He received his Ph.D. in Family Social Science from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Carroll is an internationally-recognized researcher and educator in the areas of marriage fragmentation, sexual intimacy, marriage readiness among young adults, the effectiveness of marriage education, and modern threats to marriage. Dr. Carroll's work has been featured in the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the LA Times, Newsweek, USA Today, Psychology Today Magazine, National Public Radio, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and other popular media and news outlets. In 2014, Dr. Carroll received the Berscheid-Hatfield Award for Distinguished Mid-Career Achievement, an annual award given for distinguished scientific achievement by the International Association for Relationship Research.