
Bárbara Fernandes Carvalho Figueiredo
- Associate Professor with AggregationInstitutionEscola de Psicologia. Universidade do MinhoStart date
- Others (Ex: Appointments)InstitutionEscola de Psicologia. Universidade do MinhoStart date
- Coordenador(a) de Grupo de InvestigaçãoInstitutionFamília e DesenvolvimentoStart date
Our research focuses normative and non-normative developmental processes and outcomes, namely in the family context (e.g., couple relationship, co-parenting, mother/father-infant interaction, divorce, child abuse and neglect). Psychological adjustment is studied across the life span, in adults, adolescents and infants, with special attention to family transitions (e.g., divorce, school readiness, transition to parenthood). Informed by a developmental psychopathology point of view, biological (e.g., hormones, psychophysiological responses) and psychological dimensions (e.g., attachment, identity, self-regulation) are studied and conceived as synergic processes, associated with psychological adjustment (outcomes) in adults, adolescents and infants, for example to family transitions. As more recent research examples, psychological and hormonal processes (e.g., associated with breastfeeding) are conceived and studied as supporting mother and infant¿ psychological adjustment, namely reducing the risk of mother¿s postpartum depression and infant¿s sleep problems, improving mother-infant interaction, and so facilitating women transition to parenthood and infant homeostasis regulation (developmental tasks). Co-parenting is conceived and studied in association with infant adjustment (self-regulation), and inter-individual variability to normative and non-normative co-parenting is explained by endophenotypic reactivity. An emphasis is also placed in producing relevant concepts and empirical results to inform applied clinical psychology. Applied in the development of empirically and conceptually validated programs to help parents and infants in the community context. Intervention programs were developed, for example to help reducing mother's and father's depression during pregnancy and the postpartum period, to improve coparenting in couples during the transition to parenthood and the transition to divorce, to reduce adverse effects of adversity (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic) in infants mental health. Models to implement these intervention programs are tested in different contexts.