The effects of early experience on development

One major line of research has focused on identifying the consequences of early adversity. I have used multiple approaches to examine the downstream effects of adverse experiences in early life. This work has documented increased rates of psychopathology following early adverse experiences, but also potential precursors of psychopathology (e.g., attentional biases) that help to track what changes in response to early adversity that may mediate increased risk for negative health outcomes. This line of research also includes examining biological responses to stress, including in our BABIES project at Stanford, and through cellular markers of aging (i.e., telomere length, mitochondrial DNA copy number, and methylation age). 

Mitigation of risks from early adversity via interventions

A second and related line of research has focused on examining how interventions mitigate the impact of early adversity. This work includes interventions following trauma and severe psychosocial deprivation. Among this work, we conducted the first ever demonstration of the prevention of callous-unemotional traits, a precursor to psychopathy. In another project from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, we found that children in stable high-quality foster-care placement fared better than those with disrupted placements in psychopathology outcomes in adolescence.

The development and course of ADHD

Another line of research has been examining the development and course of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its symptoms across toddlerhood, childhood, and adulthood. There is evidence for an early onset of ADHD, where an appropriate diagnosis can be made in children as young as age 36 months. Recently, I have become more interested in the role of the environment in the onset and course of ADHD, including the impact of severe neglect and childhood physical and sexual abuse in predicting ADHD symptoms. My work on ADHD has linked this form of psychopathology to social functioning difficulties, depression, and substance use problems.

​Study and assessment of decision-making

A related line of work stemmed from my dissertation project which aimed to disentangle maladaptive and adaptive risk-taking behavior. Along with my advisors, I created two computerized tasks to explore decision-making. On the Balloon Emotional Learning Task (BELT), one can examine how exploration results in learning opportunities and more successful outcomes. The BELT has been used to examine personality traits associated with adaptive risk taking, in relation to psychopathology, early adversity, and across development. The social decision-making task we created examines the ability to use facial cues to guide decision-making.

Thank you to the funders of this research!