Current Projects
The Early Life Stress and Self-Regulation Study
The Early Life Stress and Self-Regulation (ELSSR) Study is an NIH-funded project examining the emergence of children's capacity to control their behavior, attention, and emotions and how this ability impacts socio-emotional health. We recruited families with 3- to 4-year-old children from Ypsilanti and surrounding areas and are following them longitudinally. We invite them to campus and observe how they interact, measure the child's budding self-regulation, and ask parents to complete a number of questionnaires. Dr. Angela Staples, co-investigator on the study, leads a team to examine how sleep affects these behaviors. We hope to learn what factors promote resilience and socio-emotional wellbeing in children so we can inform interventions.
Students in the lab are involved in collecting data from families at study visits, entering data, and coding video recordings. Students who have contributed to the lab for at least one semester also have the opportunity to use the data to submit to a conference or contribute to a manuscript.
Infant Mental Health Home Visiting Evaluation Project
The Infant Mental Health Home Visiting Evaluation Project is a multi-site collaboration led by Zero to Thrive at the University of Michigan that aims to examine the effectiveness of Michigan's Infant Mental Health Home Visiting Program. In our lab (along with Dr. Holly Brophy-Herb's lab at Michigan State) we are using speech samples and videotaped interactions of parents and children to code parental mind-mindedness, or the capacity for a parent to ascribe thoughts, desires, and emotions to their children that may be different from their own. We are interested to see how parental mind-mindedness is related to other parenting factors and child outcomes, as well as how mind-mindedness might change overtime as a result of the intervention. We are also examining how social support plays a protective role for parents under stress, how the intervention improves child outcomes in the context of parental trauma, and how the intervention may protect against bio-markers of stress (e.g. methylation).
Students in the lab have been involved in transcribing and coding videotapes, and have the opportunity to analyze data from the study.
Early Childhood Mental Health Project
The Early Childhood Mental Health Project is a combined clinical and research project using multiple methods to implement, evaluate, and improve school-based early childhood mental health services. In partnership with the EMU Community Behavioral Health Clinic, with funding from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund and the Flinn Foundation, six Early Childhood Satellite Clinics have been established in local early learning centers and community centers. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, we are evaluating teacher and parent feedback about the program and examining improvements in behavioral health in children who have taken part in services.
Graduate students have the opportunity to provide direct service to families as part of their practicum at the Community Behavioral Health Clinic, as well as participate in evaluation projects and analyze and present data.
Past Studies
Predictors of Child Psychopathology and Resilience Study
In collaboration with Kate Fitzgerald, Kate Rosenblum, and Maria Muzik at University of Michigan, the Predictors of Child Psychopathology and Resilience Study worked to determine the early antecedents of children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Families with preschool-aged children visited the lab and completed a number of tasks looking at their development, including their self-regulation. We also measured their brain activity using EEG and assessed their stress reactivity by collecting cortisol. We then followed up with the families 1–2 years later. Parents and children reported on the child's symptoms and functioning, and children completed a number of behavioral tasks. We found that a brain marker of self-regulation (the error-related negativity) predicts positive outcomes in young children. We also found that various aspects of early self-regulation are related to both externalizing and internalizing symptoms (see publications). We continue to analyze data from this study to learn more about what predicts which children will go on to have behavioral and emotional problems so we can ultimately prevent such problems before they occur.
A Randomized-Controlled Trial of Mindfulness and Executive Function Interventions to Promote Self-Regulation in Internationally-Adopted Children
In collaboration with Megan Gunnar and others at the University of Minnesota, this study examined the efficacy of two different interventions, a mindfulness-based intervention and an executive function skills training in improving self-regulation in internationally adopted school-aged children. We found differential effects of the two interventions (see publications) and continue to analyze data from this project. Dr. Lawler has recently combined these training interventions into one resilience-building intervention called SMART Skills for Kids: Self-regulation, Mindfunless, And Resilience Training, which she plans to evaluate in the coming years.