Past projects

  • A smiling woman with glasses embraces a happy man with Down syndrome. An older man smiles at them.

    Communication and Family Relations Project

    Launched in 2014, the Communication and Family Relations (CFR) Project evaluated a support program for families of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities, promoting constructive interparental and parent-child conflict resolution.

  • Five Asian people lie on sunny green grass, smiling and making various funny faces with hands under chins.

    Family Communication Project

    The Family Communication Project is an ongoing prevention program that fosters better interpersonal relations, especially around matters of everyday sources of conflict, between the parents and their adolescent.

  • A woman in red with closed eyes tenderly kisses the foot of a laughing baby in pink polka-dot pants.

    Prenatal Care Experiences Study

    This study was for people who are pregnant or had a baby in the past two years. This study focused on patient - provider communication during prenatal care. We're interested in understanding how trust between patients and providers is built.

  • Four people, two adults and two children, roast marshmallows over a fire pit in a pine forest; the man smiles.

    Project LEAP

    This 1-year longitudinal study examined a diverse sample of 6- to 8-year-olds and their mothers to evaluate how maternal emotion regulation (ER) and socialization behaviors (ERSBs) influence child ER and how maternal ER shapes ERSBs over time.

  • Four children excitedly climb on and around two weary adults on a gray sofa. One girl shouts, another pulls hair.

    Reducing the Effects of Stress on Family Life (Project RESTFuL)

    This pilot study examines daily stress, parenting, mental health, and relationship quality among 75 couples with young children (ages 2–6) in Indiana. Using a 2-week daily diary, it aims to clarify stress impacts and protective buffering processes.

  • A collage features two smiling families outdoors and a red banner reading "Seguimos Avanzando".

    Seguimos Avanzando

    This study examines how discrimination and family support affect Mexican-origin youth mental health. It aims to identify underlying mechanisms and multi-level protective factors to mitigate the harmful impacts of racism and improve youth well-being.

  • Four diverse individuals smiling and jogging together under a bright blue sky. They wear casual clothes, including a striped dress.

    The Happy Family Project

    The Happy Families Project is an RCT evaluating a family intervention for 600 diverse 3-person families across three Indiana cities. It aims to improve communication and mental health while evaluating implementation and scalability in community settings.

  • A smiling young boy in a striped polo stands next to a woman with glasses and dark wavy hair, her arm around him outdoors.

    The Heart to Heart project

    This RCT evaluates Reminiscing and Emotion Training (RET)—a brief dyadic intervention for 240 mothers and maltreated preschoolers. It tests RET's efficacy and physiological mechanisms (cortisol) to improve child development and parenting over 1 year.

  • A hand in darkness, palm open, is illuminated by a shower of bright blue-white sparks.

    The SPARC Project (Supporting Parent-Adolescent Relationships and Communication)

    The SPARC project evaluates a 4-week psycho-educational communication program for 150 families of children with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD). It tests efficacy for parents, siblings, and children with IDD up to 1 year follow-up.

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