Dr. Dix specializes in parenting and parent-child interaction. To understand why some parents are effective and others destructive, he examines the anger, anxiety, joy, and other emotions parents activate with children; beliefs parents have about what children are thinking and feeling at each moment; and the goals parents are attempting to promote when interacting with their children. His research centers on how these psychological aspects of parents influence the behaviors that parents and children display and the course of their interactions. In 1998 Dr. Dix was elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association. He has received research grants from the National Science Foundation, The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, and the Foundation for Child Development. Currently he is on the Editorial Boards of Developmental Psychology and Parenting: Science and Practice. In 1996 he was awarded the George A. Miller Award from the American Psychological Association (Div. 1) for outstanding paper in general psychology.

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