About
Our research has been focusing on normative and non-normative developmental processes and outcomes, in particular within family context (e.g., marital relationship, coparental relationship, mother-father-infant interaction, child abuse and neglect). The psychological adjustment of adults, adolescents and children is studied throughout their life cycle, with a particular focus on family transitions (e.g., divorce, transition to school, transition to parenthood).
According to developmental psychopathology, biological (e.g., hormones, psychophysiological responses) and psychological (e.g., binding, identity, self-regulation) dimensions are studied and conceptualized as synergic processes, associated with the psychological adjustment (outcomes) of adults, adolescents and children to family transitions, for instance. Special attention is given to the production of empirical concepts and results with clinical applicability, which may be applied to the development of empirically and conceptually validated online programs to support parents who are part of the community.
In recent research projects, the psychological and hormonal processes related to breastfeeding are conceptualized and studied as synergic processes that benefit mother's and infant's psychological adjustment, in particular by reducing both mother's postpartum depression and infant's sleep problems risks, and by promoting a contingent mother-infant interaction, which eases woman's transition to parenthood and infant's self-regulation (developmental tasks).
Coparental relationship is conceptualized and studied in association with infant's adjustment (self-regulation), considering (endo)phenotypic reaction as a mechanism to explain interindividual variability in face of a normative and non-normative coparental relationship. Online programs were also developed to reduce depression during pregnancy and postpartum, as well as to promote a positive coparental relationship during transition to parenthood and transition to divorce.
