Sharlene is a professor in the Department of Psychology and co-director of the REACH Institute at Arizona State University. Wolchik completed her bachelor's at Vassar College and her master's and doctorate at Rutgers University.
Wolchik focuses on understanding the variablity in children's adjustment to the family transitions of parental divorce or parental death. She identifies malleable risk factors and protective resources for these children and develops preventive interventions for their parents. Randomized experimental trials of these programs have shown a wide array of mental health, physcial health and social benefits, many of which last up to 15 years after participation. Wolchik is currently focusing on making these programs available as a community-based services.
Professor Wolchik is interested in understanding the variability in children's response to two types of at-risk situations: parental divorce and parental death. She conducts research that identifies moderators and mediators of children's adjustment to these situations and designs and experimentally evaluates theory-based preventive interventions for children and parents who experience these stressors. She also conducts longitudinal studies of the long-term effects of preventive interventions for children of divorce.