Project Overview
This project is a research study examining family influences on children’s abilities to manage their emotions and children’s adjustment including peer relations at school transition points. With the help of the area school districts, we recruited a representative community sample of 244 families with same-sex siblings. At time 1 (2001-2003), the older siblings transitioned into middle school and younger siblings were in elementary school. At time 2 (2004-2005), older siblings transitioned into high school and the younger siblings were in middle school. Families participated in lab visits and the assessment battery included emotion interviews, dyadic interactions with family and friends, and questionnaires (parent, child, teacher). A dyadic psychophysiological lab was constructed for this project to collect physiological responses during the interactions and to integrate physiology and behavior.
Year Project Began: 2000Funder: National Institute of Mental Health
Principal Investigator
Joann Wu Shortt, Ph.D.
Oregon Social Learning Center
Primary Research and Clinical Interests
Dr. Shortt received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington. She researches how relationships and emotions shape our development across the life span. Her research has public health significance and the potential to decrease the impact of risk factors on the lives of young people and their families. She utilizes observational and physiological methodology to understand interactional processes at work in predicting child/adolescent/adult adjustment and relationship outcomes including intimate partner violence. She also has expertise in longitudinal design, developing measures and interventions, and multivariate analysis.