Current Research
Our current research studies include:​
  • Kinship Caregiver Project: This project examines the experiences, challenges, and resiliency of adult family members caring for children when parents are unable.
  • Language Brokering Project: This project looks at adolescents’ experiences in translating for
    their immigrant parents when seeking mental health services for themselves.    ​
  • Internet-based Coparenting Adolescents Together (iCAT): A Coparenting Intervention for Navigating the Transition to Adolescence - This project is adapting Family Foundations to support diverse family structures (including kinship caregivers, co-parents, and other non‑traditional caregiving arrangements) as their children transition into adolescence. The Internet-based Coparenting Adolescents Together (iCAT) is currently being developed as and will be delivered in a hybrid format, combining facilitator-led sessions with asynchronous practice activities to enable flexible participation by coparents. We will pilot iCAT to gather participant feedback and assess feasibility, acceptability, and barriers to participation. Results from this development and pilot phase will guide future efficacy testing, tailoring for different family types, and broader dissemination to better support diverse caregivers and their children. 
  • ​Strong Healthy Families/Teens (SHiFT): A Coparenting Intervention to Prevent Adolescent Alcohol and Other Substance Use -This project will adapt the Family Foundations program into a brief, scalable intervention called SHiFT (Strong Healthy Families/Teens) designed to strengthen coparenting coordination around alcohol- and substance-related parenting (expectations, monitoring, and limits) for parents of early adolescents. By improving coparental communication and alignment, the intervention aims to reduce triangulation and clarify parental expectations, thereby lowering early adolescent alcohol initiation and related risky behaviors. The team will develop and pilot SHiFT with input from families and community partners, then conduct a randomized pilot to assess feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary impacts on coparenting and alcohol-specific parenting. The ultimate goal is a family-focused prevention approach that can be delivered across diverse family structures and settings. 

Our completed research studies include:
  • The Black Parenting Power Project: This qualitative study examines how Black co-parents collaborate to determine how to prepare their children for racism. Black parents of children ages 13 to 16 will participate in an one hour interview to better understand how they navigate discussions about race with their child's coparent, as well as the factors that influence the timing and content of these discussions. For the purposes of this study, a "co parent" can be the child's other biological parent or another adult with whom they share caretaking duties. For more information and eligibility, please scroll to the bottom of this page.
  • Returning to Campus (RTC) Study: A study examining the social and emotional wellbeing among college undergraduates following the COVID-19 Pandemic. The study has 4 main objectives: (1) Expand the literature surrounding the transition period for undergraduate college students returning to or starting in-person learning after the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) Explore the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent return to in-person learning and undergraduate college student mental health; (3) Study the impact and burden of COVID-19 on college mental health resources; (4) Examine how social/familial support and mental health resources available to undergraduate college students changed over the course of the 2021-2022 academic year. Data were collected during Fall 2021 (two time points) and Spring 2022 (two time points). Data analysis and manuscript writing are ongoing.
  • Co-parenting and COVID:  A study that seeks to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected co-parenting relationships in families. Participants completed questionnaires assessing quality of the co-parenting relationship, parental stress, and the impact of COVID-19 on family relationships, social support, financial distress, and child adjustment. Data were collected during October 2021. Data analysis and manuscript writing are ongoing.
  • Unified Parenting Project: A study of co-parenting processes in non-cohabiting parents. This study is also piloting the Coparenting Check-up, which is a free two-session assessment of how parents work together to support each other in raising their child. This study is currently recruiting participants now!
  • Asian American Help-Seeking Study: A study examining family influences on Asian, Asian American, and Caucasian emerging adults' attitudes towards help-seeking. This study has been completed.
  • Young Parents Study: A 2-year study of adolescent mothers and their children's fathers across the transition to parenthood. This study has been completed. 
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Upcoming Research

Online Co-parenting Intervention

The Diverse Family Relationships Lab is currently developing the internet-based Coparenting Adolescents Together (iCAT) intervention, a synchronous and asychronous virtual intervention designed for diverse coparents of children transitioning to adolescence. The iCAT is being adapted from the evidence-based Family Foundations parenting intervention and the lab’s previous research on challenges to effective coparenting in low-income, Black and Latinx coparents.

​The iCAT will fill a gap in existing research on coparenting interventions for underserved low-income and ethnic minority communities. We will be conducting a pilot study to assesses iCAT’s feasibility and acceptability among coparents, and barriers/facilitators of intervention participation. We anticipate future studies on the efficacy of the iCAT and customization of the iCAT for other non-traditional parents (e.g., kinship caregivers). The lab’s goal is to disseminate the iCAT as a low-cost, accessible resource to help diverse parents navigate coparenting challenges during the transition to adolescence.
Adolescent Substance Abuse
​This project will adapt the Family Foundations program into a brief, scalable intervention called SHiFT (Strong Healthy Families/Teens) designed to strengthen coparenting coordination around alcohol- and substance-related parenting (expectations, monitoring, and limits) for parents of early adolescents. By improving coparental communication and alignment, the intervention aims to reduce triangulation and clarify parental expectations, thereby lowering early adolescent alcohol initiation and related risky behaviors. The team will develop and pilot SHiFT with input from families and community partners, then conduct a randomized pilot to assess feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary impacts on coparenting and alcohol-specific parenting. The ultimate goal is a family-focused prevention approach that can be delivered across diverse family structures and settings. 

Current Research Recruitment Flyers

Kinship Caregiver Project

​Kinship caregivers are defined as adult family members or close, family-like adults who take over the care of children when parents are unable. The purpose of this study is to understand how kinship caregivers in Washington D.C. perceive and navigate their roles and responsibilities. This study will utilize focus groups to facilitate conversations among caregivers about their experiences, challenges, and strengths in providing care. We expect that these findings will inform policy changes, guide service workers in supporting KCs, and contribute to national conversations about kinship care.

Language Brokering Project

This study aims to understand the experiences of immigrant-origin adolescents who language broker for their parents during the process of seeking mental health services for themselves. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study will explore cultural and familial factors related to language brokering, as well as how language brokering impacts immigrant-origin adolescents’ mental health service utilization and satisfaction with their provider.
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Graduate students at the 2025 Association for Psychological Science annual conference. L to R: Andi Zhu, Sarah Cimini, Vicky Ho