Research and News from the Center for Families at Purdue University

June 19, 2023

Worry and Mindfulness Differentially Impact Symptom Burden Following Treatment Among Breast Cancer Survivors: Findings From a Randomized Crossover Trial

M. Rosie Shrout

Breast cancer survivors often experience many somatic and cognitive side effects resulting from their cancer diagnosis and treatment, including higher rates of pain, fatigue, and memory/concentration problems. Emotion regulation offers opportunities to either enhance or dampen physical health.

June 15, 2023

Longitudinal Associations of Adolescent Stress and Cortisol, Testosterone, and DHEA during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kristine Marceau

The COVID-19 pandemic is a prolonged, chronic stressor. We examined longitudinal associations of adolescent-reported pandemic-related stressors and cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and testosterone, during the second and third waves of US case counts.

June 15, 2023

Associations of Relative Pubertal Timing and Pubertal Tempo with Body Mass Index in a Sample of Youth Adopted at Birth

Kristine Marceau

Most research on puberty has focused on pubertal timing and its correlates. Less research has examined how timing and tempo relate to each other despite how both relate to health outcomes. We examined timing (relative to same-age/sex-peers) and tempo with...

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

Kanter Award nominees and finalists determined for 2023

The Center for Families and Center for Work and Family at Boston College announced this year's Kanter Award nominated articles, with six in the running for the top honor, to be announced in the coming months.

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 25, 2023

Purdue receives $5 million Lilly Endowment grant to support Military Family Research Institute

A $5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. will provide continued support during the next three years for the work Purdue University’s Military Family Research Institute (MFRI) does to improve the lives of military families and veterans.

May 24, 2023

Purdue Focus Forward Fellowship helps women veterans take giant leaps in higher education

s the first nationwide program designed specifically for women student veterans, the Focus Forward Fellowship, established in 2016, has helped 130 women veterans who are working toward a college degree find connection, build career skills and set their sights on...

May 18, 2023

Two pathways in vocabulary development: Large-scale differences in noun and verb semantic structure

Do noun and verb semantic knowledge in 16–30-month-old children tend to be semantically isolated from one another or semantically interacting from the onset of vocabulary development? In children, evidence suggests that nouns and verbs also have semantic interrelationships, though the...