Health, Emotion, and Relationships (HER)
Research Group

HER is an interdisciplinary group of faculty and students engaged in the scientific study of emotional and relationship processes contributing to physical and mental health.  The purpose of HER is to create a context for cross-disciplinary discussion and collaboration on topics relevant to health, emotion, and/or relationships. We currently have about 60 members, representing 5 academic disciplines and all stages of academic development (undergraduates, graduates, post-doctoral researchers, junior and senior faculty).

The current 5 research areas include:

1. the bidirectional influences of health/illness and relationship quality/dynamics,
2. emotion regulation, health habits, and relationship processes in families and couples,
3. the impact of early family experiences and socialization processes on later emotional, relationship, and family functioning,
4. emotional and physical stress reactivity in the context of relationships and families across the life-span, and
5. cultural influences on health, emotion, or relationships.

To accomplish our goal of increased cross-disciplinary collaboration HER will organize and host several activities, including:

• A one day meeting on Dec.6, 2008, of faculty affiliated with HER to develop grant and manuscript writing collaborations. This meeting will be structured to optimize getting to know each other, sharing current research ideas, and establishing collaborations based on shared interests and the trading of research skills and resources. Contacts made at this meeting could then be pursued through email, etc.

• A biweekly seminar in which faculty and students alternate in presenting their research in an informal setting. This seminar is already ongoing and has been very successful in creating a supportive, interdisciplinary forum for both experienced and emerging scholars to develop their ideas. These meetings have also attracted audience members from around campus, thereby providing exposure for the research of HER members.

 If you would like to become involved, please contact Emily Butler.

RECENT AND FUTURE RESEARCH ON Health, Emotion, and Relationships (HER)

Love, Anger, and Food: Marital Processes that Promote Obesity.   This study draws upon Family Systems Theory and a multi-method approach to investigate emotional and marital processes that promote obesity. Using physiological, observational, and self-report data from a laboratory experiment and daily diaries we will test the hypothesis that eating fulfills a different relationship function and is connected to different emotional patterns in couples where both partners are obese as compared to couples with only one obese partner. Emily A. Butler, Ph.D.; Val Young, Graduate Research Associate; Ashley Randall, Graduate Research Associate; Shannon Corkery, Graduate Research Associate

Daily Understanding of Caregiving Study: A Focus on Hispanic Caregivers.   This study draws upon stress theories and the reactivity hypothesis to investigate emotional and physical stress reactivity among Hispanic family caregivers. Using an 8-day daily diary method of data collection and multi-level modeling, the study will address two primary questions, among others:   (a) Are there differences between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White CGs in intensity of care-related daily stress reactivity? and   (b) Among Hispanic CGs, do those with higher levels of familism experience less intense care-related daily stress reactivity? Susan Silverberg Koerner, Ph.D. and Yumi Shirai, Graduate Research Associate