Current Areas of Research:

The Emotion Regulation Lab focuses on one fundamental question: How do emotions organize development and adjustment? Emotions permeate and influence every aspect of our lives. Indeed, even moderate fluctuations in emotion systematically change, and are changed by, biological states, cognitions, goals, behaviors, and social interactions. Emotion regulation refers to the flexibility and control of these changes. Emotion regulation thus has a profound influence on our daily actions and on our responses to conflict and challenge. We are interested in using the concept of emotion regulation to explain how emotions promote both competence and psychopathology, particularly in childhood. To this end, we examine how emotion regulation is linked to: the interplay between emotion and cognition, interactions between approach and avoidance motivation and cognitive control, socialization, and neurophysiological processes.

Selected Publications:

• Dennis, T.A., Cole, P.M., Zahn-Waxler, C, & Mizuta, I. (2002). Self in context: Autonomy and relatedness in Japanese and U.S. mother-preschooler dyads. Child Development, 73, 1803-1817.
  
• Dennis, T.A., & Miller-Brotman, L.S. (2003). Effortful control, attention, and aggressive behavior in preschoolers at risk for conduct problems. In J.A. King, C.F. Ferris, and I.I. Lederhendler (Eds.), Annals of the New York Academy of Science: Roots of Mental Illness in Children, 1008, 252-255.
  
• Dennis, T.A. (in press). Self regulation in preschoolers: The interplay of temperamental approach reactivity, control capacities, and parenting. Developmental Psychology.