
Our Research
We study family, peer, and romantic relationships and their impact on child development, including emotional and behavioral health problems. Specific topics of interest include but are not limited to sleep, stress responses, personality, emotion regulation, problem drinking, and substance use. Our team is led by Dr. Peggy Keller and is comprised of graduate and undergraduate student researchers at the University of Kentucky. Ultimately, the lab seeks to understand the underlying mechanisms that contribute to child development and familial factors that can mitigate or exacerbate risk for developmental problems.

Couple Who Raised Me
A study exploring the long-term effects of exposure to marital conflict in childhood among college students. Specifically, exploring how exposure to marital conflict serves as a risk factor for adjustment problems in emerging adulthood (i.e., emotional insecurity, emotion dysregulation, and emotion recognition).
Extended Couple Who Raise Me
An in-person addition to the The Couple Who Raised Me Survey aimed to explore the impact of marital conflict on the sibling relationship.


Family Alcohol Survey
This project is funded by the Lipman Alcohol Research Grant. It seeks to provide data on the phenomenon of child sipping of alcohol, its correlates, and parents' influence.
Families and Feelings
An online survey of undergraduates aimed to identify key features of self-regulation that contribute to the intergenerational transmission of substance use. Based on the Dual Process Model of Substance Use (Wills et al., 2011, 2013).

