Program in Neuroscience

About

My research, rooted in the field of developmental psychopathology, explores the causes and treatments of child and adolescent psychopathology through three main approaches: quasi-experimental designs, longitudinal analyses, and intervention studies.

First, we use several advanced designs that rigorously test alternative hypotheses when we examine how specific environmental risk and protective factors influence the psychopathology. In particular, we use within-individual comparisons (e.g., we examine the risks of ADHD medication use when the same individual is on and off medication), sibling-comparisons (e.g., we compare siblings who are differentially exposed to maternal smoking during pregnancy), cousin-comparisons (e.g., we study cousins who are differentially exposed to parental suicide), and offspring of twins (e.g., we study the offspring of identical twins who differed in their age at first childbearing).

Longitudinal analyses constitute the second major research program that we are using to study causal mechanisms. One of the main limitations of cross-sectional research is the inability to account for reciprocal influences. We, therefore, analyze longitudinal studies to examine the development of children's adjustment over time and how environmental factors influence and are influenced by individuals. Longitudinal analyses also provide the opportunity to whether there are sensitive periods of development.

Our third major research approach is the use of intervention studies. We are primarily focused on intervention studies for couples going through divorce/separation. Please note this research is conducted in collaboration with Dr. Amy Holtzworth-Munroe.