WELCOME to the FLOWER LAB

The Families: Leveraging Opportunities for Wellbeing and Resilience (FLOWER) Lab is a clinical psychology research lab directed by Dr. Jennifer Somers in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Auburn University.

We are interested in how caregivers and children influence and are influenced by each other, and how these reciprocal influences contribute to wellbeing for all members of the family. We hope to leverage the interpersonal context of child mental health to promote resilience for children, adolescents, and their caregivers.

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KEY PILLARS OF OUR RESEARCH

Caregiver-Child Relationships

How do caregivers shape their children's understanding of their emotions and how to cope with them? How do parents adjust their caregiving in response to their child's needs and behavior? In the FLOWER Lab, we address questions like these by observing real-time changes in caregiver's and children's behavior during meaningful interactions.

Biobehavioral Perspectives

Our research is guided by a biobehavioral perspective that recognizes that relationships and experiences can "get under the skin" and affect our minds and bodies. We also use approaches that allow us to examine biobehavioral synchrony - that is, how moment-to-moment changes in caregiver's feelings, behavior, and physical functioning are linked to corresponding changes in their children.

Emotional Difficulties

Many people will develop a mental health problem in their lifetime. Problems with depression and anxiety are particularly common, especially for young people and caregivers. Our work addresses the interdependence between caregiver and child mental health, with the hope of helping to refine and innovate assessment and prevention strategies.

More About Our Research

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