Family Studies
Welcome to the NC State Family Studies lab! Our primary interest is in understanding and improving relationships between parents and their young children. We are also committed to using research findings to inform social policy related to family well-being. Our lab typically includes several undergraduate and 3-5 graduate students who collaborate to conduct research under the supervision of Dr. Mary Haskett. Not only do we conduct research together, but we take pride in watching each other grow and succeed in our professional and personal lives. We encourage you to explore our website to learn more about our goals, recent projects, and those who work on our team.
Goals serving as the foundation for research conducted in this program are:
- To contribute to knowledge of the mechanisms that link together the family and school contexts in which young children develop.
- To understand the influences of structural (e.g., homelessness) and intrapersonal (e.g., mental health) influences on the quality of parenting provided to young children and, in turn, the contributions of parenting quality to children’s development and mental health functioning
- To identify the factors that support children’s successful transition from home to school environments by studying resilience among children at risk for social and academic difficulties.
- To promote social policies that support families of young children experiencing homelessness and associated risks to children’s well-being.