Child Maltreatment Solutions Network at Penn State
project

The Parenting Young Children Project

The Parenting Young Children Project

The Parenting Young Children Project is an NICHD-funded K01 award of 150 families designed to understand how parents and preschoolers regulate their behaviors, emotions, and physiology with one another while tackling challenges, like solving a difficult problem or puzzle together. We examine how moment-to-moment patterns and coregulation of heart rate, expression of positive and negative emotions, and behaviors such as discipline and compliance act as risk and protective factors for child maltreatment and associated problems. This research is designed to identify malleable relationship targets for prevention and intervention for families at risk for child maltreatment.

Research Team

Profile photo for Erika Lunkenheimer, Ph.D.
Erika Lunkenheimer, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Psychology

Associate Director: Child Maltreatment Solutions Network