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Our researchers address critical issues facing families and communities while promoting healthy human development and productive relationships. This work touches all of our lives. These discoveries are made possible through public and private investments, legislator support, multi-institutional partnerships, and the dedication of faculty and student scholars.
Below, we showcase recent examples of our most impactful research in the area of family and communities. You can also view and download a pdf version and subscribe to one of our ACES e-newsletters to stay abreast of new developments in ACES research.
Discover Our Family & Communities Research
Expressing Gratitude Benefits Families
Feeling your partner and children are grateful for your efforts can make a big difference for relationship satisfaction and parenting stress, according to recent ACES research. Having already established that gratitude from partners is important for couple dynamics, the researchers looked at the broader family context. They found parenting stress was lower when children, especially those between 13 and 18, expressed gratitude for their parents, but gratitude from romantic partners did not affect parenting stress. Similarly, gratitude from partners increased relationship satisfaction but did not impact parenting stress. Women reported less gratitude from male partners and older children, but when adolescents did express gratitude to women, it had a greater impact than for men. The researchers encourage a culture of gratitude across the entire family to support mental health and well-being for all.
ACES investigators:
Allen Barton, Human Development and Family Studies & Illinois Extension
Qiujie Gong, Human Development and Family Studies
Related news stories:
A ‘thank you’ goes a long way in family relationships
Don’t feel appreciated by your partner? Relationship interventions can help
When Discrimination Hits Home
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Black Americans experience racial discrimination on a regular basis, but most studies have focused on the impact of that discrimination on individuals. Recent ACES research examined how discrimination impacts relationships between Black parents and their adolescent children in Chicago. Adolescents who experienced discrimination reported less family support when their parent also dealt with marginalization. According to the researchers, this pattern could indicate that parents struggle to support their children when they face the stress of discrimination. Another possibility is that adolescents may not share their experiences with the parent. The findings highlight the importance of developing interventions to address the psychological effects of discrimination in a family context, particularly focusing on how to help adolescents receive the support they need.
ACES/Illinois investigators:
Shardé Smith, Human Development and Family Studies
Robyn Gobin, Health and Kinesiology
Related news stories:
Study explores effects of racial discrimination on Black parents and children
How discrimination, class, and gender intersect to affect Black Americans’ well-being
Mindfulness programs help minoritized youth develop healthy coping skills, study shows
Preschoolers' Emotional Overeating Predicted From Infancy
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Emotional overeating, which can contribute to obesity, can start early in life. A new study from ACES researchers suggests preschoolers’ emotional overeating habits could be predicted by how well they regulated their emotions — and how caregivers responded — as early as 3 months of age. The researchers found children’s eating behaviors were predicted by their abilities to adapt to external stimuli and self-regulate their emotions. But the likelihood of consuming food as a coping mechanism was also significantly affected by caregivers’ supportive (e.g., coaching on problem-solving) or non-supportive (e.g., punishment) responses. The findings highlight the need to implement dietary and behavioral interventions at multiple developmental milestones. The study was part of the STRONG Kids 2 project, which documents relationships among genetic, child, and family factors predicting BMI and dietary habits.
Funding: The umbrella project, STRONG Kids 2, is funded by grants from the National Dairy Council, the Gerber Foundation; the Christopher Family Foundation, Hatch from the US Department of Agriculture (ILLU 793–330 and ILLU 793–380), and the National Institutes of Health (R01 DK107561).
ACES investigators:
Kelly Bost, Human Development and Family Studies
Sehyun Ju, Human Development and Family Studies
Samantha Iwinski, Human Development and Family Studies
Related news stories:
Emotional overeating fed by temperament, caregivers’ reactions to children’s emotions
Study: How home food availability affects young children’s nutrient intake
Campus Resource For Child Development Research, Training
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The Child Development Laboratory, part of ACES for over 80 years, is at the epicenter of early childhood development research for the entire university campus. The daycare and preschool serves over 160 children from infancy through age 5 who reflect the diversity of the overall community. Researchers from across campus take advantage of specially designed observation booths and one-on-one interviews and games to make discoveries about childhood nutrition, language development, stress management, response to advertising, and much more. As one example, ACES researchers recruited CDL infants to wear tiny monitors at home to track their stress regulation and physiological responses, allowing researchers to better understand how family dynamics affect babies. A new capital campaign is underway to support CDL’s research impact into the future.
Funding: To give to the capital campaign, contact acesadvancement@illinois.edu
ACES contact:
Ramona Oswald, Human Development and Family Studies
Related news stories:
Campus treasure supports children, teaching, research, and human thriving
Wearable tech offers up-close look at infant development
Child Development Lab at Illinois provides child care, guides careers