HDFS

Plashan “Cocoa” Waits McCune is a force of nature. She’s visionary, passionate, and fiercely dedicated to improving the lives of Black youth.

When a baby begins to cry, do you expect its caregiver to soothe it? Most infants do, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The study also found an association between the mental health of mothers and infants’ expectations about comforting behavior. 

Black parents who experienced higher levels of appropriated racial oppression — defined as shaping one’s behavior and self-concept around dominant cultural norms of whiteness — were less likely to transmit positive, culturally protective messages that affirmed racial pride and self-worth to their adolescent children, a recent study found.

Every year, Deborah Katz-Downie honors her sister's memory the same way.

She gives.

For more than three decades, Deborah and her husband, Stephen R. Downie, have made annual gifts to the Child Development Laboratory (CDL) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in memory of Deborah's younger sister, Lauren Beth Katz, who died in 1989 at the age of 27 after a long illness.

On Friday, the Child Development Laboratory (CDL) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign hosted a Touch-a-Truck event for more than 160 children and their families, providing a fun, hands-on learning experience. 

On the evening of Tuesday, June 30, the Family Resiliency Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and collaborators from local chapters or sections of “Divine Nine” organizations—the nickname for the coalition of nine historically Black sororities and fraternities—as well as affiliated organizations like the National Council of Negro Women and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hosted a video premiere event titled “Out of the Basement.” Attendees f

Changes to Illinois divorce laws in 2016 that were expected to speed up cases; discourage adversarial, lengthy litigation; and more evenly distribute parents’ time with their children had little impact on these factors, a new study published in the journal Family Relations reports. However, the amended statutes did encourage more divorcing couples to jointly share major decision-making responsibilities for their children, the researchers say.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Professor Brian Ogolsky, part of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, was recently one of three people to earn the prestigious Fellow status from the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR).

Mobile apps that allow people to share their location with others have become increasingly popular. But how and why do we use these apps, and what are the implications for interpersonal communication? That’s the topic of a new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Couples who spend more time savoring the pleasurable moments they share are happier together, argue less and are more confident their relationship will last, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers say in a new study.

“Savoring involves slowing down to become aware of and focus on positive experiences,” said first author Noah Larsen, a graduate student at Illinois. “Savoring can occur when we reminisce on a past experience, focus on the present moment or look ahead to a future experience.”