Stress, Trauma, Adjustment, and Resilience Across Time

START Lab @ Queens College

START Lab @ Queens College examines the etiology, risk factors, and developmental consequences of growing up in adverse childhood environments from an ecological perspective. This approach takes into consideration: 1) the environment in which maltreatment is occurring, and 2) the individual factors (e.g., gender, race, and genes) that may influence outcomes for children exposed to adversity. To that aim, we investigate how developmental changes resulting from adverse environments contribute to antisocial behavior, mental illness, and substance abuse, among other outcomes. We apply longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches to the study of these research problems.

We are also interested in disclosure of sexual victimization. This line of inquiry serves as the second main area of investigation in the laboratory. We work to understand why survivors choose to talk to others about their experiences of sexual trauma or keep these to themselves. We want to know how to best help the disclosing and non-disclosing survivors.

The overarching goal of our work is to contribute to the development of more effective interventions for trauma survivors.