Student Mentee(s): Molly Guerra

The Developmental Psychopathology Lab conducts research to understand how children develop behavior problems as well as positive adjustment. We have been particularly interested in externalizing behavior problems, such as aggressive, disruptive, and noncompliant behavior. We focus on the development of individual differences in self-regulation skills and the consequences of children's self-regulation skills for their school readiness. The goal of our lab is to improve understanding of how children develop behavior problems and positive adjustment from a very early age. We place special emphasis on the early development of behavior problems before later, more sever, and more stable behavior problems develop, which may lead to improved intervention and prevention approaches.

To study the development of self-regulation and behavior problems, we follow children and families longitudinally over time and examine multiple levels of analysis, including how biological, psychological, and social-contextual processes relate to the development of behavior problems. For instance, we examine brain development (as measured by EEG/ERP), sleep, stress, parenting, temperament, and language skills in relation to the development of behavior problems.