Center for Families

Harnessing the power of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends to improve our quality of life.

December 22, 2023

Stress is contagious in relationships – here’s what you can do to support your partner and boost your own health during the holidays and beyond

Rosie Shrout

With the flurry of shopping, spending money and traveling to see family, stress can feel inevitable during the holidays. You might already know stress can affect your own health, but what you may not realize is that your stress –...

December 21, 2023

Parental Accuracy of Reporting Child Sleep Duration: Examining Sleep and Childhood Obesity in Midwestern Latinx Youth

Zoe Taylor

This study examined the relationship between the accuracy of parental reporting of children’s sleep duration compared to objectively measured child sleep and tested whether any discrepancies were related to childhood obesity prevalence in a sample of Latinx families

December 18, 2023

The association between personality, relationship satisfaction, and psychopathology in a three-wave, longitudinal study

Susan South

Personality is an important determinant of many life outcomes including relationship satisfaction and psychopathology. Previous work has demonstrated that broad domains of normal personality have low-to-moderate associations with various forms of psychopathology.

December 14, 2023

General and math vocabulary contributions to early numeracy skills in a large population-representative sample

David Purpura

There are well-documented associations between numeracy development in preschool age children and general and math vocabulary, literacy, and executive functions. However, the studies have largely included small samples of children with parents with either predominantly low or higher socioeconomic background...

December 14, 2023

Dietary intakes of community-dwelling adults in the United States across older adulthood: NHANES 2015-March 2020

Heather Eicher-Miller

Dietary guidance is set based on age and life stage and defines older adults as ≥ 60 years. Yet, little is known about if and/or how diet quality differs beyond age 60.

December 12, 2023

4 subtle signs you’re in the wrong relationship, even if you love your partner

Susan South

Love is a powerful force. But even the most fiery passion can't hold a relationship together that just isn't working. Susan South, a professor of clinical psychology at Purdue University, previously told Business Insider that couples usually spot their differences...

December 2, 2023

Testing Longitudinal Relations among Preschool Sport and Kindergarten Executive Function and Academic Outcomes

Rob Duncan, David Purpura, Jorge Banda, Jim Elicker

Is sport participation in preschool related to executive functioning (EF) and academic outcomes in the fall and spring of kindergarten, and does EF in the fall of kindergarten mediated the relation between sport participation in preschool and academic outcomes in...

December 1, 2023

Parenting doctoral students: Who are they, and how are they doing?

Xiang Zhou

The experiences of parenting doctoral students have been marginally understood, despite the developmental normalcy of parenthood coinciding with the time in pursuing a doctoral education.

December 1, 2023

Veterinary oncologists and pet owners differ in their perceptions of chemotherapy-related adverse events in cancer-bearing dogs

Cleveland Shields

Chemotherapy is widely used in veterinary oncology but carries real and perceived risks of adverse events (AEs). Human cancer patients perceive AEs from chemotherapy as more severe than do their attending physicians. It is currently unknown whether this discrepancy exists...

December 1, 2023

Understanding how peers respond to online child maltreatment disclosures: A qualitative content analysis of family violence discussions on social media

Laura Schwab-Reese

Positive, supportive responses to child maltreatment disclosure are critical for victims to receive appropriate resources and support for healing. Young people often prefer to disclose to their peers, frequently on social media platforms.