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Fernanda L. Cross

Assistant Professor of Social Work

Fernanda L. Cross

Cross received her MSW from the School of Social Work and a PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Michigan. Her research program utilizes a strength-based approach to examining family and cultural factors that promote healthy development and mitigate the risk of poor psychological and/or educational outcomes for Latinx adolescents and families. She is particularly interested in examining the role undocumented status plays in family processes and adolescents’ outcomes, as well as the protective effects of ethnic-racial socialization and identity development. To inform her research, Cross utilizes qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methodologies, and she draws on not only her personal experience as a Latinx immigrant but also her dozen years of involvement in the Latinx immigrant community of southeast Michigan as both an advocate and a Portuguese/Spanish interpreter.

Research Interests/Focus

Latinx mixed-status families, undocumented immigrants, ethnic-racial socialization, discrimination experiences, adolescent mental health and academic outcomes

Contact Information

PhoneEmailRoomAddress
(734) 647-1265[email protected]2743 SSWBUniversity of Michigan
School of Social Work
1080 S. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Education

Year Degree   School
2019 PhD Developmental Psychology University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
2010 MSW Interpersonal Practice/Children & Youth University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

News

See all Fernanda L. Cross SSW news posts »

Year Description
2025 Cross, F. L., Lucio, J., Blanco, S., Canino, J., Shapiro, L. F., González, E., Stupple, K.,Linares, R. Leveraging a Community-based Partnership to Support the Mental Health ofLatinx Immigrant-origin Youth. Oral presentation accepted to the 2025 Society for SocialWork and Research Annual Conference in Seattle, WA.
2024 Cross, F. L., Hunt, R., Buyuktur, A., Platt, J., Reyes, A., Ledon, C., Israel, B., Marsh, E.,Woolford, S. Facilitating and Hindering Factors for Effective Public HealthCommunication with Michigan's Latinx Population in the Context of COVID-19. Posterpresented at the American Public Health Association and Annual Expo.
2024 Cross, F., Esqueda, A. P., Hunt, R., Ku, C.P., Lucio, J., Williams. C., Marsh, E., Resnicow,K. Incentivizing Immunity: Black and Latinx Individuals’ Attitudes about COVID-19Vaccine Incentives. Paper submitted to the American Public Health Association andAnnual Expo.
2024 Cross, F. L., Aramburu, J., Blanco, S., Lucio, J. Parental Involvement in GrassrootsCommunity. Poster presented at the 2024 Society for Social Work and Research AnnualConference in Washington, DC.
2023 McCullum, J., McCoy, B., Motem, EG., Rowe, Z., Valbuena, F., Velasco, M., Williamson,SM., Piechowski, T., Ramakrishnan, A., Damm, MB., Buyuktur, A., Cross, F.,Morenoff, J., Woolford, S., Coombe, C., Sand, S., Platt, J., Israel, B. (2023,November). Community engaged research at its best: An educational campaign to buildvaccine confidence and uptake in Michigan. Paper presented at the American PublicHealth Association and Annual Expo. Atlanta, GA.
2023 Woolford S, Zhao Z, Cross, F., Williamson S, Israel B, Marsh E. (2023, November). “Stop withAlgorithms:” COVID-19 Misinformation and Communication through the lens of youngBlack and Latinx Michiganders. Poster presented at the American Public HealthAssociation and Annual Expo. Atlanta, GA.
2023 Platt, J., Carmona, G., Sawant, K., Hamasha, R., Zhao, Z., Woolford. S., Cross, F., Buyuktur,A., Marsh, E., Israel, B. (2023, November). Use of the socio-ecological model to exploretrusted sources of COVID-19 information in Black American and Latinx communities inMichigan. Oral paper presented at the American Public Health Association and AnnualExpo. Atlanta, GA.
2023 Cross, F., Zhao, Z., Ku, C.P., Resnicow, K., Marsh, E. (2023, November). “Life as we knew it”:Continued challenges in getting up-to-date COVID vaccinations amongst Black andLatinx Michigan residents. Oral paper presented at the American Public HealthAssociation and Annual Expo. Atlanta, GA
2023 Cureton, A., Tonui, B., Cross, F., & Gonzalez Benson, O. “What’s at Stake?” Anexploration on the merits and drawbacks of the Welcome Corps Program. (2023,August). Paper presented at the Switchboard Conference in in Phoenix, AZ.
2023 Cross, F., Wileden, L., Buyuktur, A., Platt, J., Morenoff, J., Valbuena, F., Bailey, S., WilliamsII, C., Israel, B., Marsh, E., Aramburu, J., Militzer, M., Esqueda, A., Woolford, S. (2023, April). Black and Latinx Perspectives on COVID-19 Vaccination: A Mixedmethods examination. Poster presented at the Translational Science conference inWashington, DC.
2023 Buyuktur, Cross, F., A., Woolford, S., Williamson, S., Bailey, S., Ledon, C., Ramakrishnan, A.,Marsh, E., Israel, B., Aramburu, J., Militzer, M., Cornwall, T., Esqueda, A. P., Platt, J.(2023, April). Bearing a higher burden: Black and Latinx community perspectives on theImpact of COVID-19. Poster presented at the Translational Science conference inWashington, DC.
2023 Blanco, S., Aramburu, J., Grimes, E., Lucio, J., Cross, F. L. (2023, January). Sharing theBurden: Latinx Immigrant Parents and Teens' Sociopolitical Discussions and theirImpact on Youth Mental Health. Paper presented at the Society for Social Work andResearch Annual Conference in Phoenix, AZ.
2022 Marchand, A., Cross, F. L., Rowley, S., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2022, May). Raising children tonavigate a racialized society: Ethnic-racial socialization practices in Latinx and Blackfamilies. Paper presented at the Special Topics Meeting Construction of the ‘Other’:Development, Consequences, and Applied Implications of Prejudice and Discriminationof the Society for Research on Child Development, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, USA
2022 Pinetta, B., Martinez, S. B., Cross, F. L., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2022, May). Inherently political?Associations of parent ethnic-racial socialization and sociopolitical discussions withLatinx youth's emergent civic engagement. Paper presented at the Special Topics MeetingConstruction of the ‘Other’: Development, Consequences, and Applied Implications of Prejudice and Discrimination of the Society for Research on Child Development, RioGrande, Puerto Rico, USA.
2022 Constante, K., Cross, F. L., Piceno, V., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2022, May). Latinxadolescent ethnic-racial discrimination and expected future barriers over time.Poster presented at the Special Topics Meeting Construction of the ‘Other’:Development, Consequences, and Applied Implications of Prejudice and Discriminationof the Society for Research on Child Development, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, USA.
2022 Cross, F. L., Bares, C., Chartier, K. (2022, January). Adverse Childhood Experiences andTobacco Use Among Latinx Parents in the United States. Poster presented at the Societyfor Social Work and Research Annual Conference in Washington, DC.
2021 Platt, J., Buyuktur, A., Woolford, S., Cross, F., Ramakrishnan, A., Aliste, G., Aramburu, J.,Gonzalez, E., Brewer, S., McCollum, J., Reyes, A., Williams II, C., Marsh, E., Israel, B.(2021, October). Communities conquering COVID: African American and Latinxperspectives on COVID-19 in regions of Michigan hardest hit by the pandemic. Paperpresented at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association.
2021 Gerber, E., Morenoff, J., Wileden, L., Goold, S., Israel, B., Marsh, E., McCollum, J., Ledon, C.,Reyes, A., Tariq, M., Williams II, C., Brewer, S., Platt, J., Buyuktur, A., Woolford, S.,Cross, F., Egan, C. (2021, October). Trust in sources of information about COVID-19.Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association.
2021 Cross, F. L., Blanco, S., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2021, April). Documentation Status Socialization among Latinx Immigrant parents. Paper accepted to the Virtual Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development.
2021 Montoro, J., Miller, S., Cross, F. L., Rivas-Drake, D. (2021, April). Parent-adolescent dissimilarity in ethnic-racial identity exploration: Implications for adolescent family cohesion and depressive symptom. Paper accepted to the Virtual Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development.
2021 Aramburu, J., Cross, F. L., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2021, January). Latinx immigrants raising children in the land of the free: Parenting in the context of persecution and fear. Poster accepted to the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Virtual Conference.
2020 Cross, F. L., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2020, Jan). Socialization Practices Latinx Immigrant Parents Utilize to Prepare Their Children for Anti-Immigrant Discrimination. Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference in Washington, DC.
2019 Medina, M., Constante, K., Cross, F. L., Mendez, L., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2019, March). What’s Relationship Quality Got to Do With it? Ethnic Socialization within Latinx Families. Poster submitted to the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Baltimore, MD.
2019 Cross, F. L., Medina, A., Montoro, J., Medina, M., Pinetta, B., Miller, S., Tran, M., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2019, March). Illuminating ethnic-racial socialization among undocumented Latinx parents and its implications for adolescent psychosocial functioning. Paper submitted to the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research on Child Development, Baltimore, MD.
2019 Cross, F. L., & Rivas-Drake, D. (2019, March). Methodological issues and effective strategies for working with different Latinx populations in the U.S. Paper submitted to the International Convention of Psychological Science, Paris, France.
2019 Cross, F. L., Hoffman A. J., Constante, K., & Rivas-Drake D. (2019, March). The role of ethnic-racial identity on the development of depression among Latino adolescents. Poster accepted to the International Convention of Psychological Science, Paris, France.

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