Expertise

Overarching Research Focus:

Intimate partners influence each other’s health and well-being, often acting as a source of both support and strain. Thus, for better or worse, individuals’ emotions, behaviors, and experiences are tied to those of their partner. Known as interdependence, this principle rooted in family systems theory is central to my research. I examine intimate partner influences on mental health and well-being across multiple stressors experienced throughout adulthood (e.g., chronic health stressors), and across multiple timescales (e.g., daily associations, longitudinal associations). Finally, my research takes a 24-hour perspective to the study of relational influences on mental health, thereby including a focus on relationship quality, emotion, and sleep.

Current Research Projects:

My current research projects focus on aging veterans. The effects of military service on mental health and well-being may be more pronounced later in life. Many veterans confront and rework their wartime memories later in life in an attempt to find meaning and coherence. Doing so may result in either positive (e.g., acceptance) or negative (e.g., psychological distress) outcomes. The presence of social/environmental resources, including socioemotional support, may aid veterans in successfully navigating this process. My research is therefore focused on delineating the role that aging veterans’ social network ties (including both spouses/intimate partners and other ties, such as comrades and friends) may play in helping veterans cope with past, and potentially traumatic, wartime memories, especially as they adjust to normative late-life stressors.

I will be launching a study focused on Relational Influences on Sleep and Emotion (RISE) among partnered Vietnam veterans. Students interested in working on RISE will gain experience collecting and analyzing objective measures of sleep quality collected via actigraphy, as well as daily-diary data. Students will also gain research experience working with veterans.

Areas of Interest and Expertise:

  • Couple Relationships | Stress and Coping | Sleep | Interpersonal Emotion Regulation
  • Adulthood and Aging | Psychosocial Determinants of Health | Caregiving | Social Support
  • Military and Veteran Families

Link

Organizational Affiliations

Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University

Adelphi University (United States, Garden City)

Education

Human Development and Family Studies
2017, Ph.D., Purdue University
Psychology
2011, BA, Adelphi University