Exploring Parent-Adolescent Relationship Dynamics among Youth of Color
This event is in the past.
Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute Research Colloquium Series
Meeting ID: 952 1059 8827
Passcode: 144227
Adolescent Biobehavioral Health: Exploring Parent-Adolescent Relationship Dynamics that Impact Mental Health among Youth of Color
Presenter: Evelyn Mercado, PhD, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Close relationships have profound effects on one’s physical and mental health across the lifespan. For example, social connections are associated with decreased odds of mortality risk at a magnitude that exceeds lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking and obesity. In this talk, Dr. Mercado will discuss a series of studies aimed at understanding one specific close relationship, the parent-adolescent dyad, and the positive and negative impact relationship dynamics have on mental and physical health outcomes. She will specifically explore the role of synchronous behavioral interactions, daily emotions, and stress physiology broadly defined as ‘emotional coregulation’, with attention to how these relationship processes mediate the impact of stressors such as racial-ethnic discrimination on youth mental health. The study findings discussed employ a range of methodological approaches including experimental laboratory designs and daily diary study designs.