PROJECTS
KIDS AND ADULTS TOGETHER (KAT) STUDY
Parents play an important role in helping their children learn how to navigate a complex world. Behavioral attunement, including matching affect, eye gaze, and vocalizations during discreet events, is associated with maternal sensitivity and quick repair of ruptures between mother and child, which in turn are associated with increased self-regulation, attachment security, and fewer behavioral problems in children. Previous research, however, has only begun to investigate how physiological attunement is related to behavioral attunement and child outcomes more broadly.
With funding from the American Psychological Foundation, we are conducting a study to measure both behavioral and physiological attunement in parent-child pairs. Furthermore, we are interested in how attunement may differ in mother-child and father-child relationships. We seek to understand how the parent-child relationship can influence children’s success and difficulties throughout childhood and adolescence.
We are seeking 8-12 year old children and their biological parents to participate in our study. Please see the “Interested Participants” tab if you or someone you know may be interested in participating!
ASSESSING COLLEGE STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES OF SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADVERSITY DUE TO EARLY STRESS (ACE OF SPADES)
Early experiences of adversity have lingering, long-term impacts on young adults' adjustment. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been used to assess individual experiences of early stress, but the impact of these stressors may depend on current experience of stress or other psychological factors. To investigate this, we are seeking college students in New Orleans participate in our online study at the beginning and end of the semester. All participants who complete the initial survey will be entered into a raffle to win one of 30 $10 gift cards. You may use this link to take the survey or find out more!
PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF LIVING IN COVID-19 AFFECTED NOLA (PELICAN)
The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects on youth and their families, and families in Southeastern Louisiana may be at particular risk due to their prior exposure to devastating hurricanes such as Katrina, Gustav, and Isaac. In response to this emergency, researchers in the BE-RAD Lab collected data on the psychological impact of COVID-19 related quarantine, disruption of routines, and financial hardships on Louisiana families.
Alongside the KAT and PELICAN studies, researchers in the BE-RAD lab are working on projects in collaboration with colleagues both within and outside of UNO:
· Longitudinal patterns of hormone coupling in middle childhood and early adolescence (Black)
· Characterizing patterns of pubertal development in youth at risk for bipolar disorder (Black)
· The role of temperament in predicting psychopathology following peer victimization (Evans)
· Irritability in the context of childhood stress reactivity and later psychopathology (Kaplan)
· The person-centered approach to modeling poverty and risk in families (Aaron)
· Environmental antecedents to biological attunement in low-income families (Aaron)
· The role of expressive suppression in response to parental irritability (Herbert)
