Our next cohort of students in our National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates program site have begun their year-long experience with us. We look forward to introducing all 12 of them over the next few months!

The Language in Motion Lab at The University of Texas at Dallas is recruiting children ages 4 - 8 years old. English-speaking children with speech and/or language difficulties and those with typical speech and language skills are invited to attend. The goal is to better understand motor and language learning. The studies have from 1 to 10 sessions, each lasting about one hour. Children will receive a free speech, language, and hearing evaluation (for research, not diagnostic or clinical purposes). Children will also receive a toy and parents will be paid $20 for each session. See here for more information.

CCF is partnering with the Plano Public Library to put on a virtual parenting conversations discussion group. The group meets virtually every month this Fall to discuss parenting challenges and successes. Conversations center around concepts from the book How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber. The next group meets on Wednesday October 4th at 1:30pm. Register to attend here.

The Sleep and Health in Everyday Life Lab at the University of North Texas is recruiting parents of children ages 2-16 for a study on parents' access to inclusive resources for sleep. Eligible participants will complete online surveys about the characteristics of their neighborhood, experiences of discrimination, their child's sleep, and interactions with the healthcare system. Click here if interested in participating.

The Laboratory for Healthy Social-Emotional Development is looking for adolescents ages 10-17 years old to study how their brain works when interacting with friends and peers. Children will answer questions online before visiting the lab with their close friend to play some computer games while their brain activity is recorded. Children can earn up to $70 for participation. Click here if interested.

Faculty affiliates of the Center are highly productive scholars whose research crosses the fields of human development ranging from parent-child relationships to social-emotional health. Recent publications include:

Alper, R. M., Luo, R., Mogul, M., Pace, A., Chen, Y., Masek, L., Paterson, S., Adamson, L. B., Bakeman, R., Golinkoff, R. M., Owen, M. T., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2023). Duet: An exploratory language intervention for toddlers in low-income households. Infants and Young Children, 36(4), 296-313. doi: 10.1097/IYC.0000000000000248

Nelson, J.A., Hafiz, M., Compton, C.L., & Villarreal, D.L. (2023). Household chaos and mother-adolescent communication. Journal of Family Psychology, 37(4), 547-553. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0001074.

Owen, M. T., Dyer, N., Pacheco, D., Barnes, J. C., Von Hatten, L., & Caughy, M. O. (2023). Stability of parenting profiles in early childhood among African American mothers experiencing poverty. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 65, 295-305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2023.07.006

Warner-Czyz, A.D., Nelson, J.A., Kumar, R., Crow, S. (2022). Parent-reported quality of life in children with cochlear implants differs across countries. Frontiers in Psychology, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.966401.

The Fall semester is in full-swing and we are busy welcoming families at our Play With Me programs (held in 4 locations this Fall), conducting developmental screenings, and training students. Our new REU student cohort is fabulous and we're already engaging in in-depth discussions with them about developmental topics and working alongside them in our Play With Me programs. We've also started a new "Works in Development" series with faculty and students at UTD to discuss upcoming research projects and ideas for collaborations. These projects will engage researchers and students in many ways and have important impacts on the children and families we serve. We look forward to sharing more.

-Margaret T. Owen, PhD, Robinson Family Professor, Director, Center for Children and Families, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences