I believe that a lot of what we learn during childhood, both in terms of how our parents parented us and how they acted toward one another as marital or romantic partners, affects us today in our roles of parents and partners. In my research, I explore these questions about early family experiences and relationship quality (e.g., relational sacrifices you’ll make for your romantic partner, satisfaction, commitment, etc).
Much of my research is guided by theory, including attachment, interdependence, symbolic interactionism, family systems and commitment. I have current projects about the transition to parenthood for pregnant, unmarried cohabitors; beliefs about relationships, mostly for young adults; and the experience of cancer, in terms of how family members of those who have cancer can be considered "co-survivors" as well as how support from the partner or spouse can help increase better health for women recently diagnosed with breast cancer.
I live in Tucson with my husband. My husband and I dated (mostly long distance) for seven years and have been married for 10 years. We also love pugs and adopted a senior pug named Sweet Pea.
- Romantic relationships
- Family relationships and health/well-being
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Social and emotional development in early childhood
I have three interrelated projects.
The first project is about the transition to parenthood for pregnant, unmarried cohabitors. I am very interested in understanding how these cohabitors talk about commitment (what it means to them, how they define it, how they envision their future commitment, etc). I hypothesize that early family experiences, both in terms of what individuals remember and how they talk about early experiences with parents, impact commitment and relationship quality between cohabiting partners. That is, even though individuals may remember very negative events from their early experiences, they may talk about these events in such a way that allows them to move past these experiences and break the intergenerational cycle of negative romantic interactions, parenting interactions, or both.
The second project is about beliefs about relationships, mostly for young adults. I am interested in how individuals talk about and define the meaning of marriage, what is important about marriage to them and what changes they see in marriage. I say the sample is mostly young adults, as we also have data from individuals who are referred by the young adults, but not necessarily college students themselves (e.g., parents, siblings, etc.).
The third project/area is with regard to studies of individuals with cancer. The first project in this area is how family members of those who have cancer can themselves be considered "co-survivors." These data are from my colleague Dr. Catherine Marshall. Many of the particpants from this project are lower income and/or Latina. The second project in this area is about how support from the partner or spouse can help increase better health for women recently diagnosed with breast cancer. These data have been collected by my colleague in Psychiatry/Medicine, Dr. Karen Weihs, in which women report data up to 9 times (up to 2 years). Here, we explore questions such as how first marriage versus other types of romantic relationships (remarriage, cohabitation, singlehood) impacts physical health over time, and how support from the partner or spouse impacts health over time.
- Principal Investigator, The transition to parenthood for unmarried, cohabiting couples. Office for the Vice President for Research (VPR) Small Grants, University of Arizona.
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Principal Investigator, A longitudinal examination of physical well-being for women with breast cancer: The impact of intensity of treatment, the spouse as a confidant and acceptance of emotion. American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grants.
- FSHD 487: Advanced Family Relations (or Interpesonal and Family Theories) (undergraduate)
- FSHD 237: Close Relationships (undergraduate)
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FSHD 546: Foundations of Family and Interpersonal Theory (graduate)