Laura E. Sockol, Ph.D.

Davidson College Laboratory for Risk and Treatment Studies (LabRATS)

The Effects of Marital Quality on Parenting Attitudes and Behaviors

-Written by Katie Little ’18 In recent blog posts, we have discussed the effects of parental divorce on a child’s relationships and attachment style. Attachment style can be understood as a characteristic way an individual perceives and behaves in close relationships as a function of their previous experiences with close relationships. (For more information, please […]

Adolescent Girls in Cities and Posttraumatic Growth

Written By Alexis Mitchell UNCC ‘18 Stressful events can predict increased emotional distress during the teenage years. Experiencing trauma early  in life can affect cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physiological growth (Ickovics et al.,2006). Despite the increasing attention directed towards posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there is limited research on posttraumatic growth and adolescents. Posttraumatic growth (PTG) […]

Traumatized College Students

Written by Alexis Mitchell UNCC’18 College students are experiencing trauma and as a result are enduring negative psychological effects. In fact, certain events are causing college students to experience even greater symptoms of psychopathology (Vrana & Lauterbach, 1994). See College Students and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms for a previous blog post about the prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSD) in […]

Prenatal Attachment in Fathers

-Written by Katie Little ’18 Much of the research conducted on the transition to parenthood focuses on mothers specifically. However, even though fathers do not go through the same physiological changes as mothers do during pregnancy, the nine months prior to the birth of a child are still a time in which fathers can imagine […]

Childhood Trauma Exposure and Young Adult Outcomes

Written by Alexis Mitchell UNCC’18 Exposure to childhood trauma is associated with a host of negative outcomes, including, but not limited to, posttraumatic stress disorder (Ballard et al., 2015). For example, childhood adversity has been associated with adult outcomes like suicide, depression, alcohol and drug use, and physical consequences, like autoimmune disorders. Toxic stress that […]

Prenatal Attachment in Mothers

-Written by Katie Little ‘18 While there is a breadth of information about mother-infant attachment after a baby is born (For more information, please see any of the following: “What Creates Mother-Infant Bonds?”, “What Factors Affect the Attachment Security of Premature Babies?”, “Mary Ainsworth and the Strange Situation Procedure”, or “Does Attachment Classification Change from […]

Coping Strategies

Written by Alexis Mitchell UNCC’18 Coping strategies have been a  thought-provoking topic of psychological interest. A coping strategy is simply how an individual decides to react or handle a stressful or emotional situation. Situations and events may have different degrees of  emotional intensity or significance, depending on the event and the person, thus warranting whatever […]

How do the Effects of Death of a Parent Compare to the Effects of Parental Divorce?

-Written by Katie Little ‘18 Several previous blog posts examine the effects of parental divorce on children’s later relationship outcomes (For more information, see “How Does Parental Divorce Increase the Risk of Offspring Divorce?”, “How Does Knowledge of Parents’ Infidelity Impact Children Later in Life?”, and “Does Exposure to Parental Divorce and Separation Affect How […]

Effects of PTSD on Adolescents

Written By Alexis Mitchell UNCC’18 Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can affect overall health and mental and social functioning for adolescents (Giaconia et al., 1995). As children age there is more opportunity for exposure to trauma and thus increasing likelihood of temporary or lasting damage to mental and social functioning. A national study asked 4,023 adolescents about […]

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