Category: Faculty

June 8, 2023

Touch to learn: Multisensory input supports word learning and processing

Infants experience language in rich multisensory environments. For example, they may first be exposed to the word applesauce while touching, tasting, smelling, and seeing applesauce. In three experiments using different methods we asked whether the number of distinct senses linked...

June 7, 2023

Use them or lose them: Are manipulatives needed to assess numeracy and geometry performance in preschool?

In two studies, we investigated whether using three-dimensional (3D) manipulatives during assessment aided performance on a variety of preschool mathematics tasks compared to pictorial representations.

May 29, 2023

Bedtime Routine Stability in the Context of Developmental Risk

Consistent bedtime routines are an important promoter of child sleep health. This is particularly true for children developing at elevated risk for sleep and developmental challenges. Consistent and calming bedtime routines are associated with fewer parent-reported night wakings, shorter sleep...

May 13, 2023

A Scoping Review of Household Factors Contributing to Dietary Quality and Food Security in Low Income Households with School-Age Children in the U.S.

The aim of this scoping review is to identify the contributing household factors to dietary quality and food security in U.S. households of school-aged children 5 to 19 years and synthesize the evidence around emergent themes for application to future...

May 1, 2023

The Role of Peers’ Executive Function and Classroom Quality in Preschoolers’ School Readiness

The present study examined associations between peers' EF and gains in individual children's EF, language, mathematics, and literacy skills across the preschool year, and whether these associations are moderated by classroom quality. Participants included three cohorts of children, their parents,...

May 1, 2023

The relations between teacher-child relationships in preschool and children’s outcomes in kindergarten

This study examined relations between closeness and conflict in the teacher-child relationship in preschool and children's problem behaviors, social skills, and executive function (EF) in kindergarten, and examined if these relations are moderated by parental education.

April 27, 2023

Center for Families announces 2023 Funding Recipients

Center for Families announces the 2023 Funding Recipients – Congratulations faculty and students focused on research about families!

April 24, 2023

Your suffering is my stressor: Proinflammatory gene expression rises with spousal distress in middle-aged and older couples

Marital quality shares ties to inflammation-related conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Lab-based studies implicate hostility during marital conflict as a mechanism via inflammatory reactivity, but little attention has been paid to the inflammatory aftermath of other marital exchanges.

April 24, 2023

479 Insomnia and Depression Trajectories in Women with and without Breast Cancer: Protective Effects of Satisfying Relationships

Breast cancer survivors have a high risk for chronic disease and early mortality, especially if their psychological and physical symptoms persist beyond treatment.

April 18, 2023

Dysfunctional communication patterns can affect immune system function in married couples, study suggests

Research published in Psychoneuroendocrinology has confirmed that negative communication patterns in heterosexual marriages are associated with decreased immune system functioning along with less positive and more negative emotions. The research highlights the physical and emotional consequences for those in marriages...