Heidi J. Kellam

I wrote a literature review on the role that the DRD4 7 VNTR (variable number tandem repeat) plays in parenting and childhood adversity. For this, I won the University of Oregon’s Women in Graduate Science Award.

In the Fall of 2020, Spring of 2021, and Fall of 2021, first-year college students were found to feel more emotionally deregulated when they felt isolated from their peers. Unfortunately, mindfulness did not moderate this relationship.

Children who are constantly monitored may exhibit higher anxiety, less self-confidence, and may have less confidence in their own problem solving abilities

I proposed a dyadic study to determine if parents who increased their mindfulness could help their adolescents emotionally self-regulate

Using Experience Sampling Methods (ESM), I tracked momentary mindfulness to see if participants felt more or less mindful when they were in the presence of close others. Both mindfulness and being in the presence of close others predicted positive affect, and there was a significant interaction effect. People felt the most mindful when in the presence of close others, slightly less when alone, and less when with non-close others.

The relationship between mindfulness, sleep, and emotion regulation suggests that increased sleep as well as increased mindfulness can benefit emotion regulation in adolescents.

If older women were in a partnership in which their partner didn’t share their emotions with them (affective solidarity), then they were less satisfied with their lives. But feeling more in control of their lives attenuated this relationship.

Parents reported and demonstrated increased frequency and intensity of feelings of fear and anxiety, but also gratitude.

I am currently collecting and analyzing data from parents who have been investigated by Child Protective Services to understand what their experience is like.