Research
The primary focus of the ACT Lab is to study childhood adversities and their effects throughout the lifespan. Different aspects of childhood trauma, such as physical and sexual abuse, neglect, and witnessing domestic violence, are research topics investigated by the ACT lab for the purposes of prevention, intervention, and treatment.
Does exposure to multiple types of childhood adversities or poly-victimization lead to greater psychological problems?
A plethora of research studies indicate that exposure to childhood adversity (e.g., physical abuse or neglect) can have a detrimental effect on the wellbeing of children, adolescents, and adults. Most studies assess one or two types of maltreatment when different types of maltreatment often co-occur (e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect) and have a cumulative effect on psychological problems.
Accordingly, a primary aim of the ACT lab is to examine different patterns of maltreatment and other childhood adversities or poly-victimization and how they differentially relate to short- and long-term psychological problems (e.g., personality pathology, suicidal behavior, poly-substance use). In doing so we use statistical analyses, namely, latent class/profile analysis to understand different patterns of maltreatment, how one pattern of exposure differs from others in terms of psychological problems. To date we have assessed such patterns among adolescents from India, Netherlands, United States, and Burundi and among young adults from the United States. More recently we have started to focus on risk and protective factors that play a role between patterns of maltreatment and mental health outcomes.
Through our work, we hope to reveal patterns of maltreatment that makes some individuals more at-risk than others. Our work aims at proposing preventative strategies and treatments to alleviate victim-survivors of any distress.
Why is Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) comorbid with other mental disorders, such as, substance use and sleep disorders?
PTSD was introduced in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1980, and in the three decades of its existence it has under changes in nosology largely because of its comorbidity with other existing mental disorders. Examining such comorbidity between mental disorders is essential as it leads to functional and chronic impairment, delayed response to treatment outcomes, and generally greater illness burden.
Related, an aim of the ACT lab is to examine the comorbidity (or co-occurrence) of PTSD with other mental disorders, such as, substance use, mood disorders, persistent complex bereavement disorder, etc. We conduct statistical analyses, such as latent variable modeling to assess the association between PTSD and other disorders.
Through our research work, we hope to provide insights into the underlying symptoms that co-occur across different mental disorders. Findings would help with diagnostic specificity, symptom reliability, and differential diagnosis.
Can the quality of sibling relationship act as a risk or protective factor under adversity?
One important familial relationship often neglected in the study of family systems is between siblings. A relationship between siblings is enduring, important, and usually the longest of all relationships across an individual’s lifespan. It is also one of the first relationships between contemporaries and nurtures future relationships with peer and with an intimate partner. Emerging research suggests that sibling aggression has a detrimental effect on the psychological wellbeing of a child (e.g., Duncan, 1999; Tucker et al., 2014).
Our goal is to assess the prevalence of sibling aggression among children and adolescents and how it can lead to problem behavior. Related, an aim of the ACT lab is to examine the role of sibling relationship quality as a support mechanism is attenuating the effect of exposure to adversity among children and adolescents.