Welcome to the Emotion Development Lab (EDL) at Penn State!
Our research aims to understand the complex systems involved in the development of emotion, emotion regulation, temperament, and adjustment from infancy to early adolescence. We are particularly interested in understanding early emerging individual differences in social-emotional behaviors and the consequent developmental trajectories for different types of children.
We’re recruiting!
We are looking for teens 14-16 years old to participate in a project about emotions and digital media (social media, texting, online gaming, and more). Teens will not be consented to begin until after they turn 15 years old. A parent will participate with their teen by completing questionnaires and a structured interview. Participation involves online questionnaires, interviews, remote tasks, and (if interested) 2 in-person visits in our lab at Penn State University Park campus. There are also options for remote only participation. If your teen is interested in being a participant, please complete the interest form here: interest form.
We’re recruiting!
This study will test the efficacy of a guided drawing activity for reducing anxiety in teens who are 13-17 years old. This activity consists of a pre-recorded video during which participants are instructed to draw elements of nature from exemplar photographs (e.g., leaves, twigs). The activity incorporates drawing with aspects of mindfulness meditation (i.e., being non-judgmental of thoughts and behaviors, focusing on breathing, embodiment). If your child is interested in being a participant, please sign up at https://tinyurl.com/pennstate-drawing.
We’re recruiting
We are looking for adults 18-25 years old to participate in a project about mindfulness. Participation involves completing 2 in-person visits at the Penn State University Park campus Moore building. Participants brain and heart rate activity will be monitored while completing mindfulness activities, separated by 4 weeks of at-home activities with online questionnaires.
If you are interested in being a participant, please complete the interest form here: interest form
Research
Publications
Meet the Lab
Lab News
First-Gen College Students Have Higher Levels of Depression
Bridget Cahill (project coordinator) and Stacey LeVan (lab manager) discuss First-generation college student (FGCS) barriers-- including...
Beyond the Ivory Tower: Can Research Change the World?
Third-year graduate student Maddie Politte-Corn, M.Ed., discusses critical topics in our most recent blog post: Improving child well-being...
Teens’ Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors and Their Effects
Our incredible postdoc Michelle Ramos, PhD discusses how patterns of symptoms shape teens' social skills and problem behaviors in our new...
What Does Physiology Have to Do With Emotional Development?
What matters most in the study of emotion? Principal investigator and lab director, Dr. Kristin Buss, discusses our favorite research...