CAARD Lab: Child, Adolescent, and Adult Research on Development

Carolyn is studying how children with mental health and behavior problems' (CMBPs) externalizing symptoms correlate with siblings of CMBPs' internalizing and externalizing symptoms, sibling bullying, parental stress and attachment security within the family. Additionally, she is studying how many of these variables interact to lead to increased internalizing or externalizing symptoms in siblings of CMBPs.

Noam is researching gender transition and reproductive care. He is particularly interested in the experiences of transmasculine individuals during pregnancy and postpartum. His research aims to document perinatal mental health, as well as identify risk factors (like unplanned pregnancy) and protective factors (social support and gender congruency).

Cindy’s master’s thesis examines how early adversity (threat and deprivation) shapes college students’ perceptions of and engagement with campus support resources, and whether learned helplessness helps explain these patterns.

Ellie’s master’s thesis examines how socioeconomic disadvantage shapes adolescents’ academic outcomes through its effects on mental health, teacher support and school motivation. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), she will conduct a path analysis to test whether motivation serves as the key mechanism linking these relational and emotional factors to academic achievement. Ultimately, the goal of this project is to better understand modifiable pathways that can inform school-based interventions aimed at promoting educational equity.

Zara’s master’s thesis investigates whether interoception (the ability to perceive and interpret internal bodily signals) functions as a mechanistic pathway linking adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) to depression in adulthood. Using a combination of self-report measures, behavioral tasks and mood induction, the study tests mediation and moderation models to examine whether interoceptive disruption helps explain how early adversity becomes biologically embedded and contributes to depressive outcomes. The project also explores whether these effects are state-dependent, specifically, whether interoceptive accuracy degrades under negative mood, and whether sex moderates these pathways.

Elsie Yu’s master’s thesis examines adverse childhood experiences related to interpersonal interactions in adulthood (and measurement issues).

Khimaya’s senior honors thesis examines how decision fatigue affects financial risk-taking in young adults, with a focus on inhibitory control as the underlying cognitive mechanism and gender as a key moderator. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a high fatigue condition (completing 50 sequential binary consumer choices) or a control condition (passive image viewing). Inhibitory control will be measured before and after the manipulation using a Go/No-Go task, and financial risk-taking will be assessed using the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART). Khimaya expects that decision fatigue will deplete inhibitory control, leading to greater financial risk-taking, and that this effect will be stronger in men than women due to baseline gender differences in inhibitory control resilience.

Joshua’s senior honors thesis examines whether the potential anxiety reducing effects of a brief mindfulness intervention occur via improvements in executive attention.

Ella’s senior honors thesis examines the effects of burnout on attentional control and professional well-being among adults who provide mental health support to adolescents across diverse professional roles and work settings. Given the high levels of stress in adolescent-serving roles, the project investigates whether burnout is associated with differences in cognitive functioning and overall well-being that may affect care quality. Participants complete brief online surveys and a computerized behavioral task. Findings aim to inform strategies that support provider well-being and strengthen adolescent mental health services.

Isaac Lambert’s senior honors thesis examines how masculinity and group identity influence male undergraduate students’ engagement and comprehension of sexual violence bystander intervention trainings.