Tracy Walters
Assistant Professor

Tracy Walters is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the Rock County campus. She earned her masters in Developmental Psychology at Northern Illinois University and then taught for several years at Western Illinois University before completing her doctorate in Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Tracy specializes in developmental and social psychology and particularly enjoys teaching classes in these areas, as well as Introductory Psychology. Her research focuses on sexuality development, including contextual influences on adolescents' and young adult's sexual development, as well as their sexual behavior and sex-related outcomes and experiences. Her current projects examine: 1) associations between parental messages about sex, young adults' sexual attitudes, and young adults' sex-related consequences, 2) LGBTQ+ adolescents' experiences with school sex education, and 3) how young adults define sex.

Selected Publications

Walters, T. L., Clark, A. N., & Lefkowitz, E. S. (2024). "They mostly preached abstinence which didn't work": Young adults' perception of sex-related messages from caregivers prior to initiation of sex. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 53(8), 3173-3186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-02916-3

Hanna-Walker, V., Walters, T. L., Wesche, R., Leavitt, C. E., & Lefkowitz, E. S. (2023). Religiosity, sexual behaviors, sexual motivations, and gender: A three year longitudinal study. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 33(3), 943-956. http://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12849 

Walters, T. L., Hanna-Walker, V., Clark, A. N., Farina, R. E., & Lefkowitz, E. S. (2023). LGBTQ+ college students’ relationship satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging Adulthood, 11(3), 804-810. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968231160305

Walters, T. L., & Lefkowitz, E. S. (2023). Does sex improve with experience?: A latent transition analysis of college students’ penile-vaginal sex-related consequences. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 52(3), 461-474. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-022-01728-9

Vasilenko, S. A., Walters, T. L., Clark, A. N., & Lefkowitz, E. S. (2022). Positive, negative, or mixed feelings? A person-centered approach to consequences of first penile-vaginal intercourse in college students. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 51(8), 3993-4006. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02379-4

Walters, T. L. (2022). Socialized sexual values and meanings ascribed to sex as predictors of one’s experience of sex: A theoretical mid-range model. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 14(2), 123-140. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12439

Courses
PSY 202: Introductory Psychology
PSY 208: Psychology of Gender
PSY 250: Life Span Developmental Psychology
PSY 307: Psychology of Personality
PSY 360: Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence