FLOWER Lab

Though children who experience early life caregiving-related adversity are at greater risk for developing mental health problems later in life, many children will be resilient in the face of these adversities. Supportive post-adversity caregiving, such as positive relationships with adoptive or foster parents, is thought to be a particularly potent protective factor that may enhance youth resilience. Yet, most studies of caregiver-child relationships focus on the overall quality of the relationship, which can obscure information about the processes that unfold as caregivers and children interact. It is important to capture these interaction processes, which include the often-overlooked evocative effects that children can have on their caregivers.

 

In order to address this research gap, we developed and validated a novel microanalytic system (called microFIMS) for assessing second-by-second changes in caregiver's and children's behavior during interactions. This work was generously supported by a grant from the Mental Research Institute (Co-PIs: Jennifer Somers & Bridget Callaghan).

 

Future research studies will assess whether caregiver-child interaction processes can buffer against increases in depression and anxiety as adversity-exposed children transition to adolescence. Our future work will also assess the feasibility of using microanalytic coding systems in applied settings.