URBANA, Ill. – Does relationship quality continue to worsen, stabilize, or improve for distressed, help-seeking couples before they receive assistance? A team of researchers sought to answer that question in a new study examining what happens to couples who seek online help for their relationship, but have to wait six months before beginning an intervention program.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been stressful for many families — and that stress can affect a child’s development, including their language and social skills.

Side Effects Public Media recently received questions from audience members through our texting group, the Midwest Checkup, about how the changes wrought by the pandemic may affect child development.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Consistent bedtime routines and activities such as reading books and cuddling with caregivers beginning when infants are 3 months old promote better sleep habits through age 2, a recent study suggests.

URBANA, Ill. ­– Opioid use has dramatically increased in the 21^st century, especially among young adults. A new study from the University of Illinois provides insights on usage patterns among Illinois high school students to help inform prevention and treatment strategies.

Undergraduates from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) will soon have the opportunity to work with other students around the world to support children’s health and design water projects. Thanks to the new Global Classrooms initiative and our faculty’s commitment to create such courses, these invaluable “international” experiences will be available from Illinois-based classrooms.

URBANA, Ill. ­– Mealtimes are a central aspect of family life, affecting the health and wellbeing of both children and adults. Although the benefits of healthy mealtimes are straightforward, helping all families realize those benefits is quite complicated, new research from University of Illinois shows.

URBANA, Ill. – For individuals looking to improve their health in 2021, strengthening your couple relationship may be part of the answer, according to findings from a recent University of Illinois study.

The study examined long-term changes in partners’ health after participating in a new program for two-parent African American families.

URBANA, Ill. - Illinois 4-H and the University of Illinois have been a part of Nann Armstrong’s heritage for multiple generations. With a recent gift of farmland, Armstrong ensured her family’s legacy will continue to impact current and future generations of 4-H members and students in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) Department of Human Development and Family Studies. 

URBANA, Ill. – Stressors in life, including the challenges of the current COVID-19 pandemic, can take a toll on marriages and other close, intimate relationships. Family studies researchers at the University of Illinois, in partnership with University of Illinois Extension, are addressing this issue by launching a new online program for Illinois couples seeking help for their relationship.

URBANA, Ill. ­­­– Rituals such as those centered around holidays and other celebrations play an important part in human relationships. When dating couples engage in rituals together, they learn more about each other. And those experiences can serve as diagnostic tools of where the relationship is going, a University of Illinois study shows.