Human Development and Family Science

The Child and Adolescent Trajectories (CAT) research group, led by Dr. Carol Johnston includes multiple ongoing projects that focus on the types of and number of changes in family structure, ecological context, and sociocultural factors that shape the health and well-being trajectories of children and adolescents. Current projects in this area include:

• Identifying healthy and unhealthy patterns of family-of-origin experiences. There are several current projects that focus on father involvement, outcomes across multiple countries, and trajectories of adolescent romantic relationships.
• Several projects examine how we measure family context and explore different causal models using secondary datasets such as Future Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCW), the National Longitudinal Studies of Youth, Growing up Ireland, and Growing up Australia.

The mitigating effect of sense of community for youth with childhood trauma and resilience in adolescence.

Research Faculty: Dr. Carol Johnston

For More Information: Please email Dr. Carol Johnston

The CPR-C lab is studying how the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact children and their parents, with long-reaching implications for relationships and development. We are specifically interested in:

• Relationship satisfaction, family functioning, and parenting during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
• Resiliency and a sense of community in the face of chronic burnout, loneliness, and overload during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
• Development across early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence, particularly the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children as they transition into adolescence
• How the COVID-19 pandemic differentially impacted parents with childhood trauma

Research Faculty: Dr. Carol Johnston, Dr. Alisha Hardman, and Dr. Anthony Ferraro

For More Information: Please email Dr. Johnston

The FIT research group, led by Dr. Anthony Ferraro features a variety of ongoing projects aimed at better understanding the intersection of process and context, exploring the roles of various family-level factors during periods of developmental and structural transition. Some current projects in this area include:

• Exploring the experiences of divorced and separated parents as they navigate the transitions and stressful circumstances that intrinsically exist within these contexts. A number of ongoing subprojects are currently underway, with a focus on fathering, parental identity, involvement in child-rearing, child support and in-kind contributions, coparenting quality, social support systems, and mental health in the time recently following divorce.
• Development and continued validation of a series of psychosocial instruments or use in basic and applied research, including measures of coparenting quality, relational sacrifice, psychological adjustment to divorce/separation, and resilience in military families.
• Examining the impact of prior trauma (childhood trauma; combat-related trauma) on later life processes for veterans and active duty service members.There is a subproject currently underway that considers the psychological impacts of infidelity on divorced, active duty service members.
• Applied efforts to engage researchers, educators, and policymakers on topics related to family policy, and specifically illuminating areas where current local, state, and federal policies fail to meet the needs of 21st century families.

Research Faculty: Dr. Anthony Ferraro

For More Information: Please email Dr. Ferraro or connect with him on Twitter.

The #RelationshipGoals Team is committed to developing, implementing, and evaluating research-based programs that support healthy personal and interpersonal relationships for teens and young adults.

Unlike many relationship education courses, #RelationshipGoals was developed by researchers exploring the keys to supporting healthy youth development, mental health practitioners working to address the mental and relationship health issues they see as in their communities, and educators hoping to support the students they see daily. Our program covers topics such as:

• Healthy & Unhealthy Relationship Characteristics
• Relationship Expectations & Values
• Healthy Stress Management
• Communication & Conflict Resolution Skills
• Developmental Changes
• Decision Making & Goal Setting
• Sexual Health & Safety

Research Faculty: Dr. Michelle Toews and Dr. Amber Vennum

For More Information: Please email Dr. Toews.

The HAARRT Lab is studying ways to promote healthy relationships in adolescence and beyond. We are specifically interested in:

• Examining healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviors in adolescence and young adulthood
• Developing and implementing healthy relationship education programs
• Ending dating violence and sexual assault
• Empowering youth and young adults to reach their full potential

Research Faculty: Dr. Michelle Toews

For More Information: Please email Dr. Toews.

The Divorce Education Assessment Collaborative is using a standardized evaluation tool to assess divorce education programs across the nation and learn more about program effectiveness to benefit divorce education program facilitators and divorcing and separating coparents. Some current projects include:

• Assessing data from multiple divorce education programs across the United States (multi-site, multi-program evaluation efforts)
• Ongoing work as independent evaluators and consultants for various divorce education programs across (see list of partner programs on our website)
• Examining the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has affected how coparents communicate and parent from separate households
• Identifying trends and new innovation in divorce education programming and connecting with educators, lawyers, judges, and policy makers about best practices and emerging knowledge about what elements of programming are most effective in impacting targeted change over time.

Research Faculty: Dr. Anthony Ferraro & Dr. Mindy Markham

For More Information: Please email DEAC or connect with them on Twitter.

The SHARE Team conducts research related to holistic sexual development and well-being during adolescence and young adulthood, including topics related to how we measure sexuality, how we communicate about sexual health, sexual identity development, and improving sexual education across the lifespan. Some of the current projects we are interested in focus on:

• Understanding sexual well-being and identify development following major life transitions
• Examining how we talk about and measure sexual development during adolescence and emerging adulthood
• Studying sexual education of care providers (e.g., parents, doctors, and early educators) and their experiences communicating about sexuality and sexual development with teens and emerging adults
• Taking an applied approach by using this research to inform sexual education programming

Research Faculty: Dr. Kristin Anders

For More Information: Please email Dr. Anders.