His research focuses on personality development, personality assessment, close relationships, and the socioeconomic context of human development. Work by Brent has appeared in the Annual Review of Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Psychological Assessment, and Psychological Science. He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Personality Processes and Individual Differences) and Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Brent is the editor (along with Kali Trzesniewski and Richard Lucas) of the upcoming, Obtaining and Analyzing Archival Data: Methods and Illustrations.