- About Off
-
Undergraduate
- Major in Human Development and Family Studies
- Associate Degree in Human Development and Family Studies
- Minor in Human Development and Family Studies
- Honors Study in Human Development and Family Studies
- Courses
- Campuses
- Advising
- Student Profiles
- Student Organizations
- Study Abroad
- Research and Teaching Opportunities
- Internships
- Career Opportunities
- Financial Aid and Scholarships
- Visit and Apply
- Contact Off
- Graduate Off
- Alumni Off
-
Research
- Current Research
-
Research Expertise
- Areas of Specialization
-
Cross Cutting Themes of Research
- Adolescence and Young Adulthood
- Child Maltreatment
- Cognitive Health
- Computational Methods for Developmental Systems Models
- Determinants and Promotion of Well-Being
- Development and Family Processes in International Contexts
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Family Systems and Processes
- Gender and Development
- Health and Family Processes
- Healthy Aging
- Influences of Stress on Development and Aging
- Longitudinal Methodologies/Designs for Studying Change and Variability
- Parenting, Parent-Child Relations, and Child Outcomes
- Socio-Cultural and Economic Diversity
- Substance Use
- Work and Family
- Opportunities for Students
-
Research Labs and Initiatives
- Facilities
- Methodology Consulting Center
- Quantitative Developmental Systems
- Study of Healthy Aging and Applied Research Programs
- Child Brain Development Lab
- Infant and Child Temperament Lab
- PA Twin Registry
- Project SIESTA
- Family Relationships Project
- Daily Stress and Health Study
- University Life Study
- Contact
Health and Family Processes
HDFS faculty conduct research on reciprocal connections between family relationships and health across the lifespan. Some faculty focus on socio-emotional development in early childhood including infant emotional reactivity, parenting competence and parenting at risk, and how parenting affects infant and child functioning. Other faculty examine family processes that affect child and adolescent development, including whole-family, parent-child, sibling, and interparental dynamics. Another active area of research focuses on the ways in which intimate relationships in adulthood affect, and are affected by, the presence of mental or physical health problems in one member of a dyad or family system. Faculty in this area are also interested in the economics of investing in healthy development, including strengthening economic evaluations of preventive interventions.
HDFS faculty who study Health and Family Processes include: