Brett Laursen, is Professor of Psychology at Florida Atlantic University,  Senior Researcher, Trygfondens Center for Child Research, Aarhus University, Denmark, and Docent Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Helsinki. Professor Laursen received his Ph.D. in Child Psychology from the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota and an Honorary Doctorate from Örebro University, Sweden. Professor Laursen’s research concerns the processes and consequences of influence within parent-child and peer relationships. In addition to his own longitudinal work conducted in the United States, he is currently involved in several longitudinal projects in Denmark and Lithuania. Professor Laursen is the Editor-in-Chief of the Merrill-Palmer Quarterly and of Cambridge Elements in Research Methods for Developmental Science. He is also the lead Editor of the Handbook of Developmental Research Methods and the Handbook of Peer Interactions, Relationships, and Groups.