HEART Lab: Healthy Relationships
The Healthy Relationships lab focuses on understanding how relationships during childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood shape and impact our behavior. Our research program focuses specifically on the areas of aggression and victimization and trauma, and their impact on mental health using developmental psychopathology framework.
Research
Dr. Goncy's program of research focuses on the importance of romantic, peer, and parent-child relationships on adolescent and young adulthood outcomes like dating abuse, violence, victimization, sexual behavior, and substance use.
Aggression
The HEART Lab aims to investigate the etiology of aggression in adolescence and young adulthood including the identification of risk and protective factors and consequences such as victimization and adjustment difficulties.
Externalizing Behaviors
We also examine the development of other externalizing behaviors (e.g., substance use, delinquency), how these factors result in victimization, and their relation to risk and protective factors.
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Trauma
Using an trauma-informed lens, we also seek to understand the impact of trauma on subsequent behavior, with emphasis on post-traumatic stress symptoms and adverse childhood experiences.
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Prevention and Intervention
Our work uses both person-centered and variable-centered approaches to measurement, treatment implementation and fidelity, and development and evaluation of prevention and intervention programs in these areas.
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Statistical and Methodological Foci
The HEART lab applies innovative methods and statistical techniques to promote science on issues such as measurement, longitudinal modeling, and use of multi-method, cross-informant, and mixed method data.
HEART Lab members attending MPA, Spring 2024
Back Row L-R: Drew, Kathy, Breanna, Morgan, Nishka
Front Row: L-R: Lily, Amanda, Katie
Some of our former Master's students, left to right
Top row: Carter, Maddie, Emma, Sophia
Bottom row: Marissa, Sara, Ishita