Description: You have likely heard about the research looking at the longer term imp0acts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) on later development and functioning as children grow into adulthood. In has supported and spurred on an ongoing push for early intervention with at-risk families in an effort to minimize the existence of or to mitigate… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Families and Peers
Emerging Adults and Parents’ Levels of Psychological Control
Description: There has been quite a bit of speculation about what is “wrong” with emerging adults (18- to 29-year-olds) these days. This typically occurs as part of reflections upon the significant rise (jump) in levels of anxiety among undergraduate student in general and first year students in particular. Putting aside non-useful hypotheses such as that… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: The Big Picture After
Description: Psychology tends to focus on the experience or behaviors of individual people. While social psychologists DO study people’s behavior in social situations and groups and developmental psychologists examine the effects of early social/relational experiences on later behavior the outcomes examined are those of individuals for the most part. So, if we are to speculate… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: Other “Pandemics” – Domestic Abuse
Description: Here is a rather disturbing thing to think about in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is very possible that once we get it under control we will then have to pivot quickly to deal with a number of related “pandemics” involving things like mental illness, anxiety, stress, un (or under) employment, debt, and… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: Pandemic Fatigue Meet Pandemic Anger
Description: What is the difference between shame and guilt (and what do they have to do with Covid-19)? Well, we could dive deeply into philosophy to try and sort that out but let’s start with how shame and guilt are viewed within Psychology. With roots in Psychodynamic (Freudian) theory, shame is the earlier arising feeling… Read more »
Psychology of Covid-19: Stunting Children’s Social Growth?
Description: Have you heard of social referencing? Even very young infants do this. Basically, it involves looking at and reading another person’s face (facial expression) in order to find out what something that is around you means. Imagine a toddler sitting in a stroller beside a park bench that one of their parents is sitting… Read more »
Baby’s Heart Rate and Mother’s Mental Health
Description: If you have even a passing interest in infant development you have likely previously run across concerns about post-partum depression. If so (or if not) consider this question. What is it about material anxiety and depression that potentially results in negative developmental outcomes for the infants of those mothers? Yes, of course it likely… Read more »
Psychology of COVID-19 — Looking Forward from Here
Description: I have posted several times (Link, Link, and Link) about the high degrees of uncertainty associated with the future as viewed from within the current Covid-19 pandemic. I cannot provide an antidote to such uncertainties at the individual level. I CAN, however, point you towards a few areas where there will soon be come… Read more »
Psychology and Covid-19: Young Teen Resets
Description: No doubt you have heard about the stresses being experienced by parents as they isolate at home with their children and try to manage, entertain, and perhaps educate them until schools and other places children can go re-open. Which parents would you predict are experiencing the hardest stress hit, based on the age of… Read more »
Psychology and Covid-19: There IS a Manual for This!
Description: Ask people how they are seeing the world around them these days as they deal with or do not deal so well with the social, isolation imposed due to the coronavirus and most will say something like weird, surreal, strange, or odd. These perspectives arise for the large extent to which usually or typical… Read more »
Books for Success!
