Current Research Activities: 

• 28-year Assessment of Psychopathology. We are currently conducting interviews with our participants as they turn 28 years old.  The focus of this interview is on mental health issues.  We ask the participants about past and current mental health problems, including depression, psychosis, substance use disorders, anxiety disorders, and eating disorders, using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I).  SCID-II is also given to gather information about personality disorders.  Participants are also questioned about their use of mental health services in the past 5 years.  Additionally, we are gathering information about our participants’ level of stress, social support, and current work situation, level of education, and romantic relationships.
• Assessment of the Quality of Romantic Relationships.  All participants involved in an intimate relationship of 4-months or longer are asked if they would like to participate in the romantic relationship assessment.  We either bring couples into the laboratory or see them in their home.  Couples are given the Current Relationship Interview, a series of questionnaires that assess relationship quality and satisfaction, and couples are observed in a series of interaction tasks.
• Second Generation Assessment.  We ask our participants who have children between the ages of 12-months to 42-months if they would like to participate in a series of tasks with their children.  These tasks are the same as those that we did with them and their mothers.  At 12-months we assess the quality of the parent-infant attachment using the Strange Situation.  At 24-monthes we observed the parent and child in a problem-solving situation.  Finally, at 42-months we observe the parent and child interacting in a series of teaching tasks.

Conference Activities:

• April, 2007: The biennial meeting for the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) was held in Boston, MA.  Click here for a list of Project presentations.

• March, 2006: The biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA) was held in San Francisco, CA.  Click here for a list of Project presentations.

Recent Doctoral Dissertations from the Project:

            Appleyard, K. (2005). The role of social support relationships in the lives of young high risk children. Doctoral dissertation. University of Minnesota.

O’Brien, L. (2004). Continuity and discontinuity in criminal behavior from adolescence to adulthood: The importance of adult life events. Doctoral dissertation. University of Minnesota.

Sampson, M. (2004). Continuity and change in patterns of attachment between infancy, adolescence, and early adulthood in a high risk sample. Doctoral dissertation. University of Minnesota.

Yates, T. (2004). A longitudinal study of self-injurious behavior in a community sample. Doctoral dissertation. University of Minnesota.

Siebenbruner, J. (2005). The influence of adolescent and young adult substance use and developmental competence on work performance in young adulthood. Doctoral dissertation. University of Minnesota.

Burt, K. (2006). Structure and continuity of psychopathology dimensions in a high risk sample. Doctoral dissertation. University of Minnesota.

Coffey, T. B. (2006). Putting relationships back into the school milieu: The role of peers and friends in engaging students in the classroom. Doctoral dissertation. University of Minnesota.

back to top