Rebecca L. Stelter, Ph.D.

Research Scientist II
She/Her/Hers

Rebecca Stelter

OVERVIEW

Rebecca Stelter is a translational scientist with an interest and passion in conducting research and developing tools to help children, adolescents, and families reach their full potential and live healthy lives. Her work has primarily focused on substance use and delinquency prevention through rigorous basic and applied research and the development of innovative products that aim to strengthen the underlying social, emotional, and cognitive capacities of individuals so they can respond in healthy and positive ways to everyday stress. 

In addition to her focus on individual development, Rebecca’s work tackles organizational and community-level change through the promotion of evidence-based practices and programs. As a lead author on the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring 3rd and 4th Editions, she has been thought leader in improving the quality of mentoring programs. She also has a deep knowledge of community-level approaches for the prevention of substance use. 

She has been a lead author on numerous evidence-based curricula, including the widely used Preparing for Mentoring online mentor training program and the Plan My Ride safe driving promotion program, which is currently being distributed throughout the U.S. through a marketing and sales agreement with Innocorp, a leading substance use and impaired driving prevention organization. 

Raised in Texas, Rebecca has become a real North Carolinian and prefers NC BBQ to Texas BBQ, but appreciates ice cream from all over the world.

BACKGROUND

Ph.D., 2010, Developmental Psychology, North Carolina State University
M.S., 2007, Developmental Psychology, North Carolina State University
B.A., 2003, Psychology, Southwestern University

PUBLICATIONS

Stelter, R. L., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Stump, K. N. (2020). Establishing effective STEM mentoring relationships through mentor training. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. doi:10.1111/nyas.14470

Kremer, K. P., Poon, C. Y. S., Jones, C. L., Hagler, M. A., Kupersmidt, J. B., Stelter, R. L., Stump, K. N., & Rhodes, J. E. (2020). Risk and resilience among children with incarcerated parents: Examining heterogeneity in delinquency and school outcomes. Journal of Child and Family Studies. doi:10.1007/s10826-020-01822-1.

Kupersmidt, J., Stelter, R., Karcher, M., Garringer, M., & Shane, J. (2020). Peer Mentoring: Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring. Boston, MA: MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership.

Kupersmidt, J., Stelter, R., Kuperminc, G., Garringer, M., & Shane, J. (2020). Group Mentoring: Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring. Boston, MA: MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership.

Garringer, M., Kaufman, M., Stelter, R., Shane, J., & Kupersmidt, J. (2019). E-mentoring: Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring. Boston, MA: MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership.

Kupersmidt, J., Stelter, R., Garringer, M., & Mayhew, J. (2019). Workplace Mentoring: Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring. Boston, MA: MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership.

Kupersmidt, J., Stelter, R. Garringer, M. & Bourgoin, J. (2018). STEM Mentoring: Supplement to the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring. Boston, MA: MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership.

Stelter, R. L., Kupersmidt, J. B., Brodar, K., & Eisensmith, S. (2019). The prevention of drugged driving: Needs, barriers, and self-efficacy of prevention professionals. Journal of Primary Prevention, (40) 4, 449-461. doi.org/10.1007/s10935-019-00555-2

Stump, K. N., Kupersmidt, J. B., Stelter, R. L., & Rhodes, J. E. (2018). Mentoring program enhancements supporting effective mentoring of children of incarcerated parents. American Journal of Community Psychology (1-2), 163-174. 

Stelter, R. L., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Stump, K. N. (2017). Supporting mentoring relationships of youth in foster care: Do program practices predict match length? American Journal of Community Psychology, 61, 398-410.

Kupersmidt, J. B., Stump, K. N., Stelter, R. L., & Rhodes, J. E. (2017). Predictors or premature match closure in youth mentoring relationships. American Journal of Community Psychology, 59, 25-35. 

Kupersmidt, J. B., Stump, K. N., Stelter, R. L., & Rhodes, J. E. (2017). Mentoring program practices as predictors of match longevity. Journal of Community Psychology, 45(5), 630-645.d

Kupersmidt, J. B., Stelter, R. L., Rhodes, J. E., Stump, K. (2017). Preparing pre-match adult volunteers for engaging in a youth mentoring relationship using a self-directed, web-based, multi-media mentor training program. Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership. 

Garringer, M., Kupersmidt, J., Rhodes, J., Stelter, R., & Tai, T. (2015). Elements of effective practice for mentoring. Boston: MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership.

Haskett, M., Stelter, R. L., Nice, R., McDaniel, K. (2012). Self-regulation mediates the relationship between parents’ emotional expressiveness and children’s outcomes in a high-risk sample. Child Abuse and Neglect, 36, 296-307. 

Her, P., Dunsmore, J. C., & Stelter, R. L. (2012). Pathways linking parents’ beliefs about emotions with children’s self-construals in African American, European American, and Lumbee American Indian children in middle childhood. Global Studies of Childhood, 129-143.

Stelter, R. L., & Halberstadt, A. G. (2011). The interplay between parents’ beliefs about children’s emotions and parents’ stress impacts children’s attachment security. Infant and Child Development, 20, 272-287.

Kupersmidt, J., Stelter, R. L., & Dodge, K. A. (2011). An innovative web-based measure of elementary aged boys’ social information processing skills. Psychological Assessment, 23, 834-847. 

MENTOR. (2009). Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring: Third Edition. Alexandria, VA: National Mentoring Partnership.

DeBord, K. & Stelter, R.L. (2008, February 15). Supporting pediatric care with parenting information. Forum for Family & Consumer Issues (FFCI) 12(2). Retrieved February 24, 2008, from http://ncsu.edu/ffci/publications/

PRESENTATIONS

Stelter, R. L. (2020, February). Preparing community leaders to prevent drug impaired driving. Invited presentation at the Drug Prevention Summit. Tampa, FL. 

Spangnolo, S., & Stelter, R. L. (2020, January). Enhanced practices for mentoring youth impacted by incarceration. Paper presented at the 2020 National Mentoring Summit. Washington, D.C.

Garringer, M., Kupersmidt, J. K., & Stelter, R. L. (2020, January). The devil is in the details- Going beyond global best practices to enhance mentoring program services. Paper presented at the 2020 National Mentoring Summit. Washington, D.C.

Stelter. R. L., & Rucker, T., (2019, January). Enduring relationships and thriving form mentees: Results and recommendations from a recent long-term follow-up study of former mentees. Paper presented at the 2019 National Mentoring Summit. Washington, D.C.

Stelter, R.L. (2019, September). STEM e-mentoring: Research-based recommendations for training and matching practices. Invited presentation at the Online Mentoring for STEM Talent Development International Expert Meeting. Regensburg, Germany. 

Stelter, R. L., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Schmidt, A. M. (2018). Using the strategic prevention framework to prevent drugged driving. Poster presented at the 2018 Society for Prevention Research. Washington, D.C.

Stelter, R. L., Stump, K. N., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Rhodes, J. B. (2018, April). Mentoring program enhancements supporting effective mentoring of children of incarcerated parents. Paper presented at the 2018 Society for Research on Adolescence. Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Stump, K. N., Kupersmidt, J. B., Rhodes, J. B., & Stelter, R. L. (2018, April). Exploring heterogeneity of caregiver incarceration and its association with youth outcomes. Paper presented at the 2018 Society for Research on Adolescence. Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Kupersmidt, J. B., Stump, K. N., Rhodes, J. B., & Stelter, R. L. (2018, April). Behavioral and emotional adjustment of children of incarcerated parents based upon exposure to risk and protective factors. Paper presented at the 2018 Society for Research on Adolescence. Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Stelter. R. L., Rucker, T., Burns, K. B., & Kupersmidt, J. B. (2018, January). Fostering big futures for high risk mentees. Paper presented at the 2018 National Mentoring Summit. Washington, D.C.

Stelter, R. L., Kupersmidt, J. B., & McNeil, S. (2016, October). What is a mentor? Building the foundation web-based training for mentees and their parents. Paper presented at the 2016 Society for Research in Child Development Technology and Media in Children’s Development Special Topics Meeting. Irvine, California. 

Stelter, R.L., McNeil, S., Kupersmidt, J., Cooper, J., Van Horn, R., & Burns, K. (2016, October). Addressing the connectivity challenge in data collection with children and families. Paper presented at the 2016 Society for Research in Child Development Technology and Media in Children’s Development Special Topics Meeting. Irvine, California. 

Kupersmidt, J. B., Stelter, R.L., & Parker, A. E. (2016, October). SIP-AP: Web-based assessment of social information processing in children and adolescents. Paper presented at the 2016 Society for Research in Child Development Technology and Media in Children’s Development Special Topics Meeting. Irvine, California. 

Kupersmidt, J. B. Stelter, R. L., & Parker, A. E. (2016, March) Social information processing, aggression, and executive functioning in adolescent boys. Paper presented at the 2016 Society for Research on Adolescence Biennial meeting. Baltimore, MD. 

Garringer, M., & Stelter, R. L., (2016, January). Making the best of “Best Practices”: Applying the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring to your program. Paper presented at the 2016 National Mentoring Summit: Connect Growth Opportunity. Washington DC.

Stelter, R. L., & Kupersmidt, J. B. (2015, January). The Young Men’s Initiative Mentoring programs: A model for public-private partnerships and improving mentoring program quality. Paper presented at the 2015 National Mentoring Summit: Expanding the Mentoring Effect, Washington DC.

Stelter, R.L., & Schwartz, S. (2015, January). Helping close the mentoring gap: Innovative approaches to training and engaging youth and their caregivers. Paper presented at the 2015 National Mentoring Summit: Expanding the Mentoring Effect, Washington DC.

Stelter, R. L., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Rabiner, S. (2014, September). Drugged driving research and prevention. Paper presented at the 2014 National Prevention Network Annual Conference: Seattle, WA.

Kupersmidt, J. B. & Stelter, R. L. (2013, October). Best practices in mentor training and program assessment. Training presented at the University Massachusetts Boston Center for Evidence-based Mentoring Short Course on Mentoring Youth in the Foster Care System. Boston, MA.

Kupersmidt, J. B., Rhodes, J. E., & Stelter, R. L. (2013, January). Mentor training: Cutting edge training tools and resources and innovations in collaborative partnerships. Paper presented at the 2013 National Mentoring Summit: Washington DC. 

Kupersmidt, J. B., Rhodes, J. E., & Stelter, R. L. (2012, January). MentoringCentral.net: Research-based mentor training and support. Paper presented at the 2012 National Mentoring Summit: Invest in the Future: Mentor a Child, Washington, DC. 

Stelter, R. L., & Halberstadt, A. G. (2011, March). Parental socialization of children’s anger and sadness. Poster presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Montreal, Canada. 

Stelter, R. L., Kupersmidt, J. B., & Dodge, K. A. (2011, March). Development of the SIP-AP: A web-based measure of social information processing patterns in elementary school-aged boys. Poster presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Montreal, Canada. 

Lozada, F. T., Dennis, P., Stelter, R. L., Craig, A. L., & Halberstadt, A. G. (January, 2010). Socialization of emotion: Discouraging and encouraging emotion conversations with children. Poster presented at annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Las Vegas, NV.

Craig, A. B., Stelter, R. L., Halberstadt, A. G. (2010, January). Gender differences in the relationship between parents’ distress and reactions towards children’s dominant and submissive negative emotions. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Las Vegas, NV.

Lozada, F.T., Dennis, P., Craig, A.B., Stelter, R.L., & Halberstadt, A.G. (July, 2009). Parental socialization and beliefs about emotion: An investigation of lay theory effects. Poster presented at 1st Annual AGEP and IMSD Graduate Student Summer Research Symposium.

Halberstadt, A. G., Dennis, P., Craig, A. B., Stelter, R. L., & McNeil, S. (2009, April). Parents’ beliefs: Relationships with parents’ and children’s emotional competence in the family. In B. Holmes & F. Jellesma (Chairs), Emotional Intelligence and the Parent-Child Relationship.  Symposium presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, CO.

Kupersmidt, J. B., Stelter, R. L., Parker, A. E., Parker, K. M., & Dodge, K. A. (2009, April). Elementary school age boys’ social information processing cognitions in ambiguous situations. Poster presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, CO.

Kupersmidt, J. B., Stelter, R. L., Parker, A. E., Parker, K. M. (2009, April). Cognitions associated with making the decision to use alcohol for the first time and future patterns of use. Poster presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, CO.

Parker, A. E., Barrett, T., Parker, J. G., Kupersmidt, J., Stelter, R. L., & Parker, K. (2008, March). Adolescent characteristics and parental protective behaviors surrounding alcohol use in high and low risk environments. Poster to be presented at the Society for Research on Adolescence, Chicago, IL.

Dennis, P.A., Halberstadt, A.G., Stelter, R. L., & Craig, A. B. (2008, February). How parents’ beliefs about children’s emotions are reflected in conversations with their children. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Albuquerque, NM. 

Stelter, R. L., & Halberstadt, A. G. (2008, February). Parental stress moderates the relationship between parents’ beliefs about children’s emotions and children’s feelings of security in the parent-child relationship. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Albuquerque, NM.

Craig, A. B., Stelter, R. L., & Halberstadt, A. G. (2008, February). Profiles of parents’ beliefs about children’s emotions: relations with parent characteristics and children’s feelings about their parents. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Albuquerque, NM. 

Craig, A. B., Stelter, R. L., & Halberstadt, A. G. (2007, March). Parents’ beliefs about children’s emotions clustered by gender, ethnicity, education, and age. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, MA.

Halberstadt, A. G., Beale, K., Parker, A. E., Stelter, R. L., Craig, A. B., & Bryant, A. Jr. (2006, July). Parents’ beliefs about children’s emotions: Development of a questionnaire. In A. G. Halberstadt & J. C. Dunsmore (Chairs). Parental socialization of emotion. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the International Society for Research on Emotion, Atlanta, GA.

Stelter, R. L., Beale, K. S., Craig, A. B., & Halberstadt, A. G. (2006, May).  Emotion regulation strategies, gender, and ethnicity predict parents’ values for children’s emotions. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY.

SPONSORED PROJECTS

Federal Grants and Contracts

Current

National Institute of Mental Health. HIV Research Social and Behavioral Instruments (SABI) Library and Project Management Software System. R41MH123287-01. (PI: Rebecca Stelter). 8/14/20-8/13/21. The goal of this project is to integrate the UNC HIV Research Social and Behavioral Instruments library with the eTrove project management software system. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Plan My Ride: A brief, immersive, skill-building impaired driving prevention program for young adult drivers. R44CE003131-2 (Co-PI: Rebecca Stelter). 9/30/20-9/29/22. The goal of this project is to complete the development of and evaluate the Plan My Ride program, an immersive virtual learning course to promote safe driving among teenagers and young adults.

National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Customizable web-based mentor training for STEM mentoring programs. 1R43GM137663 – 01A1 (Co-PI: Katie Stump; Co-PI: Rebecca Stelter) 8/15/2020 – 8/14/2021. The purpose of this project is to develop a customizable online training course for mentors who are volunteering to mentor youth in STEM mentoring programs.

University of Massachusetts-Boston Subcontract on parent award from the National Institutes of Justice. Evaluating program enhancements for mentors working with children of prisoners. 2014-JU-FX-004. (PI on parent award: Jean Rhodes; PI on subcontract: Janis Kupersmidt; Co-I on subcontract: Rebecca Stelter). 10/1/14 – 3/31/21. The purpose of this project is to conduct a long-term follow-up evaluation of program enhancements provided to mentoring programs serving children of incarcerated parents. 

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Mentoring research partners program: Evaluating impact, program practices, and implementation on high-risk youth. 2017-JU-FX-0014. (PI: Katie Stump; Co-I: Rebecca Stelter). 10/1/2017-9/30/2020. This project explores the adherence of mentoring programs to best practices and the relationship between practices and youth outcomes.

Completed

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preventing impaired and drugged driving among young drivers through a brief, immersive skill-building intervention. R43CE003171 (PI: Stelter) 10/1/2019-9/30/2020. This project resulted in the development of a prototype of a brief impaired driving prevention program for young drivers. 

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Long-Term Follow-up of the Quantum Opportunities Mentoring Program for High-Risk Youth. 2014-JU-FX-0002. (PI: Rebecca Stelter). 10/1/14-3/30/2020. The purpose of this project was to conduct a long-term follow-up evaluation of at-risk youth who did and did not complete participation in a mentoring program to determine if mentoring has a long-term impact on youth outcomes.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. The Drugged Driving Resources website for the prevention of drugged driving. 5R44DA038410-03. (PI: Stelter). 7/1/14-6/30/18. The purpose of this project was to complete the development of the drugged driving resources website and training and conduct an evaluation of these resources. 

National Institute on Child Health and Human Development. Mobile and Web-based training for mentees and their caregivers. 1R43HD077988-01. (PI: Stelter). 7/1/13-6/30/16. The purpose of this project was to develop a web-based training program for youth who participated in a mentoring relationship and their parents or caregivers in order to help prepare them for a successful mentoring relationship and promote child safety. The training courses were evaluated to assess the feasibility of implementing web-based training through a mentoring program with youth and their parents or caregivers.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. Drugged driving web-based system. N43DA-12-5574. (PI: Stelter). 9/14/2012-2/28/2013. The purpose of this project was to develop a prototype and test the feasibility of a web-based system that includes three main resources related to drugged driving including a resource library, data collection system, and training course. 

HONORS & AWARDS

Ad Hoc Reviewer

Journals: Annals of the New York Academies of Science; Journal of Primary Prevention; International Journal of STEM Education; Social Development; Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness

Advisory and Board of Director Memberships

2020                  National Mentoring Resource Center Research Advisory Board Member

2020                 MENTOR North Carolina Board of Directors Member