Adversity and Adaptation

In an effort to gain a better understanding of the effects of early adversity, I use quantitative and qualitative measures to investigate the exposure to childhood adversities and later adjustments. In particular, I focus on person (i.e., intrapersonal characteristics) x environment (e.g., family interactions, traumatic life stress) interaction as well as within-personal interactions between emotional characteristics and social-cognitive characteristics. My next research goal is to understand the mediating and moderating role of environmental sensitivity in the link between adversity and social-emotional adjustment outcomes, and to examine whether there are differentially effective emotion regulation strategies for highly sensitive versus less sensitive individuals in coping with high stress.