Over the past several years, the RAR lab has completed several studies investigating resilience and healthy functioning in children, adolescents, and families. We also have conducted studies on bystander intervention and the causes, impact, and measurement of interpersonal violence, and have collaborated with (or are currently collaborating with) researchers from Penn State University, Southern Methodist University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Rutgers University, and Sewanee, University of the South.
Below are brief descriptions and sample publications from a few recent projects.
Resilience in children exposed to severe trauma
Currently, we are expanding our work by examining processes that foster resilience in children exposed to severe trauma (“Criterion A” in DSM lingo). We are collaborating with the Milwaukee Trauma Outcomes Project (MTOP), a multi-institution effort focused on understanding the impact of traumatic events on adults and children. Youths are recruited through emergency departments at local hospitals and followed for a year, collecting self-report and physiological data at multiple time points.
Resilience in Latine youth
We worked with local churches, schools, and health care agencies to conduct a mixed-methods study of Latine adolescents whose parents had immigrated to the US. We sought to identify potential protective factors at the community and cultural levels to determine if they uniquely predicted resilient functioning after accounting for individual and family-level protective factors.
Sample products:
*Fredian, K., *Makasiar, M., & Grych, J. (under review). Fostering resilience in Latine Adolescents: The role of school context.
Grych, J., *Zimmerman, E., *Kuhlmann, E., *Fredian, K., *Makasiar, M. (July, 2026). Latine adolescent wellbeing & resilience in context: Family, community, & cultural processes. Paper presented at the European Conference on Positive Psychology, Dublin, IE
Kuhlman, E., Fredian, K., Zimmerman, E., & Grych, J.(July, 2026). Family, culture, and community predictors of prosocial behavior among Latiné youth. Poster presented at the European Conference on Positive Psychology, Dublin, IE
Zimmerman, E., Fredian, K., Kuhlman, E., & Grych, J. (July, 2026). Emotion regulation, self-esteem, and sense of purpose in Latine adolescents. Poster presented at the European Conference on Positive Psychology, Dublin, IE
Fredian, K., Makasiar, M., & Grych, J. (April, 2024). Multisystemic links to resilience in Latine adolescents. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence. Chicago
Reflective Functioning and Emotion Socialization in parents of preschoolers
This mixed-methods study focused on associations between caregivers’ capacity to reflect on their preschool-aged children’s thoughts and feelings and their engagement in emotion socialization behaviors during an emotionally-engaging interaction. For this project, we developed a procedure for evoking children’s emotions by modifying a popular game so that it led to both frustration and delight for the children, and recorded parent-child interaction during the game. Unfortunately, data collection for this study was cut short by the pandemic.
Sample products:
*Yule, K. & Grych, J. (2024). Reflective Functioning and Emotion Socialization Behaviors in Caregivers of Preschoolers. Family Relations, 73, 603-622. DOI.org/10.1111/fare.12887
Yule, K., & Grych, J. (2021). Reflective Functioning in Caregivers: Links to Adverse Childhood Experiences and Emotion Socialization Behaviors. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Virtual.
Resilience in high-risk preschoolers
In this study, we worked with local Head Start preschools to investigate caregiver behaviors associated with healthy development in preschool-aged children. We were particularly interested in identifying specific behaviors that could be viable targets for prevention and intervention. Children’s functioning was assessed in terms of age-related developmental tasks such as emotion regulation, social competence, and school readiness.
Sample Products:
*Caiozzo, C. N., Yule, K., & Grych, J. (2018). Caregiver behaviors associated with emotion regulation in high-risk preschoolers. Journal of Family Psychology, 32(5), 565-574. DOI: 10.1037/fam0000425
*Yule, K., *Caiozzo, C., & Grych, J. (2020). Adaptive Functioning in High-Risk Preschoolers: Caregiver Practices Beyond Parental Warmth. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29, 115-127. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01660-w
Yule, K., Caiozzo, C., & Grych, J. H. (2019, March). Preschoolers’ socioemotional adjustment: The role of emotion coaching and emotion regulation. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.
Yule, K., Makasiar, M., & Grych, J. H. (2019, March). Rethinking the ideal: Exploring emotion socialization in a cultural and relational context. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.
Grych, J., Yule, K., & Caiozzo, C. (2018, May). Parenting to promote resilience in high risk preschoolers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.
Caiozzo, C., Yule, K., & Grych, J. (2017, April). Affective processes and emotion regulation in the context of family violence. Paper delivered at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research onAdolescence Conference, Austin, TX.