Chris Daddis is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the Marion campus of The Ohio State University. He completed his undergraduate work at Cornell University and attended graduate school at the University of Rochester, earning his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology in 2004.

At The Ohio State University, Dr. Daddis teaches Adolescent Development, Research Methods in Psychology, Moral Development, Psychology of Childhood, Educational Psychology, Introduction to Data Analysis, and Lifespan Development. He also directs undergraduate independent studies and supervises Senior Honors Theses. In addition, Dr. Daddis is the director of the honors program at the Ohio State Marion Campus.

Dr. Daddis' research employs a social cognitive approach to the study of adolescent autonomy development that focuses on changes in adolescents' and parents' social reasoning about the boundaries delineating adolescent and parent authority. Dr. Daddis' work specifically examines the processes that are associated with individual differences in autonomy development. Two related lines of research examine these processes.

The first examines the influence of peers on adolescents' construction of boundaries between personal and parental authority. The second line examines differences in the ways that adolescents actively assert autonomy through active management of information about their lives.

Active Research Projects

Youth Disclosure Project examines voluntary disclosure processes of adolescents living in different family structures. Investigations will focus on adolescents' voluntary disclosure, strategies of nondisclosure, and reasoning that adolescents use to justify nondisclosure to their parents. These processes will be compared among single parent, stepparent, grandparent-custodial, and intact family households.

The Dating and Disclosure Project looks to examine how middle and late adolescents manage information about their romantic lives and to identify the variables that are associated with child disclosure (and nondisclosure) to parents. The goals of the present investigation are threefold: (1) identify the aspects of romantic relationships that adolescents choose to disclose and to not disclose to parents, (2) examine the variables associated with disclosure and nondisclosure including beliefs about legitimacy of parental authority, romantic history, and gender, and (3) examine the reasons adolescents use to justify nondisclosure to parents.

The purpose of the Adolescent Friendship and Decision Making Project is to examine how peers influence adolescents' beliefs regarding the boundaries of personal jurisdiction. One of the main goals of this project was to examine the association between adolescents' estimates of peer autonomy and the construction of personal autonomy beliefs. This longitudinal study continues to examine the processes by which adolescents use peers as metrics in constructing beliefs regarding the boundaries of authority.

Information Management during the First Year of College is a project being conducted on the Columbus Campus of the Ohio State University with colleague, Raymond Montemayor. Voluntary disclosure and nondisclosure processes will be examined in samples of first year college students across a range of college student concerns including drinking, academics, stress, and sex. A main focus of the project is to examine how these responses may differ among adolescents whose parents play varying roles in their life, once they leave home and live on a college campus.

The Youth Decision Making Project examines the ways that various crowds (e.g., Preps, Jocks, Goths, etc.) influence adolescents' construction of authority beliefs. The main goal is to identify and describe patterns of authority beliefs that are particular to each crowd found in middle and high schools. The study also investigates the association between adolescents' estimates of peer autonomy and the construction of personal autonomy beliefs.

Awards, Honors and Recognition

2024: Undergraduate Research Access Innovation Seed Grant ($9,945)
2016 – 2019: Professional Development Grant, The Ohio State University (about $1,300 each year)
2014: Professional Development Grant, The Ohio State University (about $1,300)
2004-2014: Professional Development Grants, The Ohio State University (about $1,300 each year)
2003: Helen and Vincent Nowlis Award for Excellence in Teaching
2001: Frederick Douglas Institute Travel Award
1997: William and Margaret Scandling Scholarship
1987: National Merit Scholar
1987: Cornell Society of Engineer's Excellence Award

Selected Publications

Daddis, C. (in press). Desire for Increased Autonomy and Adolescents' Perceptions of Peer Autonomy: "Everyone Else Can; Why Can't I?" Child Development

Daddis, C. (2010). Adolescent peer crowds and patterns of belief in the boundaries of personal authority. Journal of Adolescence, 33, 699-708.

Daddis, C., & Randolph, D. (2010). Dating and disclosure: Adolescent management of information regarding romantic involvement. Journal of Adolescence, 33, 309-320.

Daddis, C. (2008). Similarity between early and middle adolescent close friends' beliefs about personal jurisdiction. Social Development, 17, 1019-1038.

Daddis, C. (2008). Influence of close friends on the boundaries of adolescent personal authority. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 18, 75-98.

Horn, S. S., Daddis, C., & Killen, M. (2008). Peer relationships and social groups: Implications for moral education. In L. Nucci & D. Narvaez (Eds.), Handbook on moral and character Education (pp. 267-287). New York: Routledge.

Daddis, C., & Smetana, J. (2005). Middle-class African American families' expectations for adolescents' behavioural autonomy. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 29, 371-381.

Smetana, J., Campione-Barr, N., & Daddis, C. (2004). Longitudinal development of family decision making: Defining healthy behavioral autonomy for middle-class African American adolescents. Child Development, 75, 1418-1434.

Smetana, J., Daddis, C., & Chuang, S. (2003). Clean your room! A longitudinal investigation of adolescent-parent conflict and conflict resolution in middle class African American families. Journal of Adolescent Research, 18, 631-650.

Smetana, J. & Daddis, C. (2002). Domain specific antecedents of psychological control, Parental monitoring, and adolescent autonomy: The role of parenting beliefs and practices. Child Development, 73, 563-580.