What degree are you pursuing?
– Third year PhD student in Human Development and Family Sciences. My Advisor is Dr. Linda Halgunseth

What have you learned from working at UConn HDFS?
– The HDFS graduate program has helped me become familiar with family and consumer sciences theories and methodologies, and the experience working with my advisor at UConn has expanded my understanding of developmental science and research across cultural contexts. I am committed to applying this knowledge and research skills to promote a better understanding of immigrant and ethnic minority family functioning.

What are your future goals and research interests?
– I am passionate about spreading my research findings to improve public awareness of the Asian population. My long-term goal is to work in a university as a professor and researcher. My research interests are broadly on Asian parent-child relationships, acculturation, and identity development. Specifically, I am interested in a) understanding parenting in immigrant families as it relates to the development and well-being of both parents and adolescents and b) understanding the Asian international students’ acculturation experiences and the impacts significant others have on the process

What is your current research project?
– Currently my advisor and I are working on a collaborative project to build knowledge on the role gender plays in parent-adolescent relationships within the cultural context of China. We will use an adolescent self-report dataset collected from over 3000 Chinese adolescents to examine how fathers’ and mothers’ parental behaviors (e.g. parental psychological control and parental communication) differentially affect adolescents’ mental health (e.g. depression and self-esteem) depending on their gender. Our research goals are building knowledge on the gender difference of adolescents’ psychological issues, as well as expending the understanding on how fathering influence daughters’ and sons’ psychological adjustment. We also want to inform preventive intervention programs geared toward strengthening parenting skills and parent-adolescent relationships in China.

What is your favorite activity to do at home?
– As a new mom of a one-year old, my favorite activity is to enjoy the time playing and reading with my daughter. I also love to cook traditional Chinese cuisines.

Which lab are you representing?
– UConn KIDS (Kids in Developmental Science)

What is your position in the Lab?
– Undergraduate Research Assistant

What are your future goals and how does research fit into those?
– I’m studying to be a counseling therapist, and applied to do research to broaden my horizons. I want to go to graduate school, so research felt like a step in the right direction! I’m from Massachusetts, so I’m a little far from home at UConn, but it’s helped me meet some wonderful people and have lots of great new experiences.

Can you tell us a little more about yourself?
– In addition to being a student, I’m also an artist, writer, animal lover, frequent candy eater, and I spend lots of time with my friends and family! Here’s a picture of my best friend and I at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania!

What is your favorite movie?
– I love the movie Tangled! I think Rapunzel is so fun and brave, and she has super long blonde hair just like me!

Link to UConn KIDS website: kids.uconn.edu

Which lab are you representing?
– UConn Child Language Lab

What is your position in the Lab?
– Lab Coordinator UConn Child Language Lab

Can you tell us more about the study you’re currently involved with?
– The current study I’m involved with is titled, “Early Predictors to School Age Language: Individual and Interactional Child and Parent Factors” (IRB H18-208, PI Dr. Letitia Naigles). This study is a multi-pronged approach to the study of language-learning in ASD that includes individual child, individual parent, and parent-child interactional measures to predict variability in school-age language. We’ll be looking at the child’s narratives and category knowledge and parent-child join attention among other things. This project is being funded through a 5-year R01 grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). https://cll.research.uconn.edu/

Where did you study & what degree were you awarded?
– I graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2018 with my bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in Women’s Studies.

What are your future goals and how has research fit into those?
– While I was at UNH, I was a McNair Scholar and completed an undergraduate research project that looked at cultural variations in narrative discourse style between U.S. and Colombian children. I’m interested in language development of children on the autism spectrum and their families within bilingual contexts, with a particular focus on how children tell narratives. In the future I hope to get my PhD and continue to research underrepresented populations.

What do you like to do in your free time?
– During my free time, I enjoy hiking or going to the beach and whenever I’m home, one of my favorite activities to do is paint. Painting landscapes is my favorite.

Link to UConn Child Language Lab website: https://cll.research.uconn.edu/

Which lab are you representing and what is your position in the Lab?
– I’m a graduate student in the Behavioral and Affective Dysregulation: Course and Outcomes (BADCO) Lab, working with Dr. Jeffrey Burke.

Can you tell us more about the study you’re currently involved with?
– My dissertation project is called the “UConn Feelings in Families Study” (IRB # H18-180). We are trying to understand how children and parents cope with and talk about their emotions. In our study, we ask parents and kids to play computer games and answer questions that help us learn about frustration, anger, and irritability. Now we are learning how these families are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, with support from the UCONN Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP)!

At what stage are you in your current degree & what degree were you awarded previously?
– I’m a 6th year doctoral candidate in Child Clinical Psychology at UConn, and I got my Bachelor’s degree in psychology at SUNY Geneseo near Rochester, NY. I’m spending this year working at NewYork- Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center for my predoctoral internship.

What is your favorite topic to study?
– My favorite topic to study is how kids’ and parents’ emotions and behaviors impact each other. Since I am also a mental health clinician for kids and families, I conduct research to understand how to better help children and parents struggling with anger and irritability.

What do you like to do in your free time?
– I love to cook (and eat)! My favorite at-home activity this spring has been taking long walks at dusk and photographing all the flowers and trees in my neighborhood.

Link to the Behavioral and Affective Dysregulation: Course and Outcomes (BADCO) Lab website:
https://badco.uconn.edu

Which lab are you representing?
– The NIDL lab working on the Family Brain Program with Dr. Hancock.

What is your position in the Lab?
– Research Assistant

What degree are you pursuing?
– Sophomore undergraduate pursuing a major in Allied Health Sciences

Can you tell us more about yourself?
– My name is Lucy Stone and I am from Fairfield, CT. I am a second-year undergraduate at the University of Connecticut majoring in Allied Health Sciences and minoring in Psychology. After getting my degree, I hope to get into a graduate program and eventually pursue a career in healthcare. I am interested in research because it allows me to explore and make contributions to topics I’m passionate about.

What is your favorite movie?
– My favorite movie is Elf because I love Will Ferrell and Christmas.

Link to the NIDL lab, Family Brain Program: http://nidl-lab.org/family/

Which lab are you representing?
– UConn KIDS (Kids in Developmental Science)

What is your position in the Lab?
– Undergraduate Research Assistant

What degree are you pursuing?
– Sophomore undergraduate student // Psychological Sciences BA and Human Development and Family Studies Minor

What interests you about research?
– I think that research is an interesting way to find answers to complex questions. I always find myself analyzing how to handle specific problems or situations. Additionally, I enjoy research as it is always interesting and I’m always doing something new that takes me out of my comfort zone.

What are your future goals?
– Looking at my career path in the future, I might find myself doing some type of research within psychology or addressing clinical cases, maybe a combination of both (only time will tell).

Can you tell us a little more about yourself?
– I’m from San Juan, Puerto Rico. As for hobbies I enjoy playing sports (basketball and the gym overall), taking pictures and photography, listening to music (any genre to be honest) and watching movies (action movies are my favorites).

What is your favorite activity to do at home?
– Taking the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration, I would say that I have tried to diversified my at home activities. I enjoy watching series on Netflix, Hulu, and Disney +. My top three movies from Disney+ are: Cars 1, Coco, and Aladdin (2019). I also enjoy an occasional book as it adds to my knowledge and diversity.

Link to UConn KIDS website: kids.uconn.edu

Which lab are you representing?
– The NIDL lab working on the Family Brain Program with Dr. Hancock.

What is your position in the Lab?
– Research Assistant

What degree are you pursuing?
– Third year undergraduate student // Sociology
and Human Development and Family Studies – double major

What have you learned from working in the lab?
– In the lab I was excited to get to work with
students and faculty in a research lab that I wouldn’t normally have access to. It’s been a great chance for me to grow as a student. I’ve also been learning about how much work is put into organizing and creating these experiments for adults and kids. People in the lab have also taught us how MRI and EEG testing works which is very fun and interesting.

What are your future goals?
– I’m interested in working with children and adolescents and how public policies affect them in educational settings. Specifically I want to study educational development and possibly mental health later on when I pursue a masters degree.

What is your favorite activity to do at home?
– As of late I’ve been playing piano, drawing, and in addition, learning how to cook.

Link to the Family Brain Program: http://nidl-lab.org/family/