Projects

Better parenting can promote healthy youth adjustment, but we know far less about how and why than is commonly understood. We believe new ideas, methods, and evidence are needed to yield breakthroughs. Some avenues we are exploring include developing explicit and falsifiable causal theories, new systems for measuring parenting in vivo, and new techniques for estimating the effects of parenting in non-experimental designs

Some of our papers on this topic:

Theory for how parental monitoring changes youth behavior

How does parental monitoring reduce adolescent substance use? preliminary tests of two potential mechanisms

Digital location tracking of children and adolescents: a review and theoretical model

Heavy, high-risk drinking drug use during adolescence conveys short-term risks and long-term consequences. We are exploring the extent to which substance use outcomes can be predicted in existing national, longitudinal datasets. Our central goal is to develop brief, practical screening instruments that can be completed by youth who have never tried alcohol or drugs yet will accurately predict their long-term risk of escalation to heavy, high-risk substance use patterns. If successful, these instruments could be used for targeted prevention programs and triage.

Some of our papers on this topic:

Validating a brief screening measure for early-onset substance use during adolescence in a diverse, nationwide birth cohort

Our research explores the developmental pathways to youth externalizing through the lens of affective (i.e., emotional) traits or problems. In particular, we explore the underlying causes of affective problems specific to callous-unemotional (CU) traits and irritability and their roles in the development of serious conduct problems, including juvenile delinquency and substance misuse. This research integrates aspects of parenting, trauma exposure, and neural processing to understand how such clinical profiles come about.  

Some of our papers on this topic:

Can callous-unemotional (CU) traits be acquired? Tests in a longitudinal sample spanning late childhood through adolescence

Aberrant resting state functional connectivity associated with callous-unemotional traits from late childhood through late adolescence

Multilevel meta-analyses of emotional processing deficits associated with callous-unemotional (CU) traits: Do they differ by age and sex? 

Lying is common during adolescence and typically declines with age, but for some individuals, it persists and is associated with difficulties across multiple areas of life. Our research examines how lying develops over time, the influence of parenting and social relationships, and its connections to substance use and other problem behaviors. We are also developing interventions to promote honesty, strengthen trust between adolescents and caregivers, and improve treatment outcomes.

Some of our papers on this topic:

Chronicle of deceit: Navigating the developmental cognitive landscape from childhood fabrications to prolific adulthood artistry

Pathways to honesty: Exploring the ecological desistance of atypical lying features

Pants on fire: Risks for and outcomes of atypical lying

Our research takes a developmental approach to understand (1) what factors shape parent substance use and (2) how parent substance use affects child development from infancy through adolescence. In particular, we explore associations between parent substance use and parent mental health, and how these, in turn, impact child self-regulation and externalizing behavior through parenting. This research utilizes multimethod measurement of substance use, parenting behavior, and child outcomes to these associations across development.

Some of our papers on this topic: 

Prenatal substance exposure and early childhood adversity: implications for child autonomic functioning at early school-age 

Prenatal tobacco and tobacco-Cannabis co-exposure and unpredictability in maternal anger/hostility: Implications for toddler reactivity

Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Tobacco and Cannabis and Child Aggression at Early School Age: Role of Early Maternal Sensitivity