About
The Research Group on Attachment and Parenthood conducts studies within the framework of Developmental Psychopathology and attachment theory, based on an ecological approach. In this line of research, our studies are focused on the development of children aged 0 to 6 years in contexts of high bio-psychosocial risk, as well as the impact of parents' adverse experiences during their own childhood from an intergenerational perspective.
Among other topics, our team has investigated the etiopathogenesis of attachment disorders and emotional, sociocognitive, and behavioral problems in children with experiences of disruptions in parental care (e.g., effects of premature birth, effects of neglect and threat in the family) or deprivation of parental care (e.g., being in residential care), adopting a multi-level integrative perspective on the contributions of genes, brain functioning, and the quality of family, relational, and social contexts.
Methodologically, our studies have involved a multi-level approach and observational methodology focused on interactions between the parental figure and the child, and more recently, with a focus on the quality of affective touch between the parental figure and the child.