Center for Families

Empowering all families to thrive in nurturing environments that meet their essential needs, reduce their exposures to risk, and enhance their individual and collective strength and resilience.

September 28, 2022

Gig Work and the Pandemic: Looking for Good Pay from Bad Jobs During the COVID-19 Crisis

COVID-19 led to work hour reductions and layoffs for many Americans with wage/salary jobs. Some gig work, however, which is usually considered precarious, remained available. We examine whether people doing gig microtasks right before the pandemic increased their microtask hours...

September 26, 2022

Purdue Center for Families shapes policy, discovery to improve family outcomes

“The idea of family and the work that families do becomes more and more important,” said Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, professor of human development and family studies and director of the Center for Families. “If families are not able to do...

September 21, 2022

Not coping well with stress? It could be affecting your partner’s health

Headaches, insomnia, nausea, restlessness — high levels of stress can take a toll on the body. But what if the consequences of stress affect more than just your own health? A new study in the Purdue University College of Health...

September 16, 2022

Military Family Research Institute explores well-being of military, veteran families in 2022 report

From the global COVID-19 pandemic to a new White House administration, many significant events over the past two years have played a role in shaping the overall health and well-being of military and veteran families throughout the United States.

September 13, 2022

Intergenerational transmission of psychopathology: An examination of symptom severity and directionality

The present study examined the intergenerational transmission of internalizing and externalizing symptom severity, which indexes comorbidity, and symptom directionality, which indicates differentiation toward externalizing versus internalizing problems.

August 23, 2022

Predictors of preschool language environments and their relations to children’s vocabulary

Despite support for the importance of early language environments, little is known about the naturally occurring experiences children have in preschool settings.

August 16, 2022

Examining longitudinal associations between internalizing problems, body mass index, and language during childhood

The current study examines the extent to which associations between internalizing problems, body mass index (BMI), and language skills from early to late childhood are due to relatively stable between-child differences, time-specific correlations, or cross-lagged paths. Data from the NICHD...

August 15, 2022

A Qualitative Investigation of Individual, Interpersonal, and Institutional Contributions to Postpartum Work-Family Balance

Managing personal and professional responsibilities may be challenging during the postpartum period, as employees navigate new roles, responsibilities, and family dynamics. The purpose of this paper was to understand the work/life balance experiences of diverse stakeholders and identify opportunities to...

August 6, 2022

Flexible fast-mapping: Deaf children dynamically allocate visual attention to learn novel words in American Sign Language

his study provides first evidence for fast-mapping in sign language, and contributes to theoretical accounts of how word learning develops when all input occurs in the visual modality.

August 2, 2022

Trends in overall and micronutrient-containing dietary supplement use among U.S. adults and children, NHANES 2007-2018

Dietary supplement (DS) use is widespread in the U.S. and contributes large amounts of micronutrients to users. Most studies have relied on data from one assessment method to characterize the prevalence of DS use. Combining multiple methods enhances the ability...

Center for Families

Follow Us