Current Research Projects
COVID-19: Pregnancy and Early Child Development
Study title: Examining how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts parents and children: A longitudinal study spanning from pregnancy to the preschool years
Description: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on pregnant people and young families. The goal of this research study is to understand how the pandemic has impacted families, beginning in pregnancy and spanning until children are 3 years old. This study specifically focuses on the impact of the pandemic on psychological wellbeing, stress, and early child development. This longitudinal study began in June 2020, with 304 pregnant people. The study included assessments throughout pregnancy, 6 weeks postpartum, 6 months postpartum and 15 months postpartum. Soon, we will be completing assessments when children are 24- and 36-months-old.
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Study Methods
Caregiver mental health
Social functioning
Biological stress markers
Parent-Child Interactions
Child Development
Maternal Childhood Experiences and Perinatal Health
Study title: Understanding the Impact of Maternal Childhood Experiences on Perinatal Biopsychosocial Risk and Resilience.
Description: Early childhood experiences, including childhood adversity, can have lifelong implications on physical and mental health. The present study aims to understand how a parent’s experiences of childhood adversity impact their health during pregnancy and their infant’s early development. This longitudinal study includes assessments during the third trimester of pregnancy, shortly after birth, and at 6-months postpartum. Assessments include interviews, questionnaires, parent-child behavioural observation, and collection of biological markers of stress. The findings of this study will help to understand the intergenerational biopsychosocial effects of early adversity on perinatal health and development.
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Study Methods
Early life experiences
Caregiver mental health
Social functioning
Biological stress markers
Parent-Child Interactions
Child Emotion Regulation
Study title: A multi-method and multi-caregiver study on child emotion-regulation
Description: Emotion regulation is the ability to initiate, maintain and modulate the experience and expression of emotions. Emotion regulation abilities begin to develop early in life, often within the context of caregiver-child relationships. This study aims to understand how children develop emotion regulation skills, in both family and early education contexts. This study includes behavioural observations of parents, early childhood educators (ECEs) and children, as well as neuroimaging techniques to assess child emotion regulation. The findings of this research will inform how caregivers and ECEs help shape different aspects of child emotion regulation.
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Study Methods
Parent-Child Interactions
Early childhood educators
Child and Caregiver wellbeing
Brain imaging (EEG)
Stress in Adolescence
Study title: Comparing parents and friends as social buffers for adolescents: understanding behavioural and physiological aspects of stress.
Description: Social relationships are crucial for brain development and functioning, particularly in managing stress. Parents act as "social buffers," helping children regulate their stress responses, while friends take on a similar role in later childhood, adolescence and adulthood. This multi-part study explores how these relationships influence hormonal, brain, and behavioral responses to stress across childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. We investigate differences between parents and friends as stress buffers, the impact of relationship quality, and the integration of brain and hormonal processes to stress.
The study examines the role of relationships in shaping multiple aspects of the stress response using brain imaging, saliva and hair collection, and relationship assessments. Its findings will enhance our understanding of how important relationships, at different stages of development, help support healthy stress regulation and brain functioning.
Study Methods
Brain imaging (fNIRS)
Social relationships
Biological stress markers
Child and Caregiver wellbeing
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