Research Focus
Our research focuses on the intersection of emotion, neurodiversity, and families, with an emphasis on emotion regulation, autism, and parent-child relationships.
We utilize a developmental psychopathology perspective and a multi-method approach, integrating report data (e.g., questionnaires, interviews), observational coding of lab tasks, and direct testing (e.g., psychophysiological measurement, neuropsychological testing, clinical assessment).
We are also interested in developing ecologically-valid, population-specific measures for families of neurodivergent youth.
Emotion Regulation
How do children learn to regulate their emotions? What can we do to help youth who are at increased risk for emotion dysregulation and related emotional and behavioral disorders?
Relevant key findings to date:
Parental co-regulation of children with autism proves beneficial in the moment, but internalization may be delayed until early adolescence (Baker et al., 2019). However, independent regulation of younger autistic children may benefit from general parent involvement (Baker et al., 2025).
Certain psychophysiological processes that are adaptive in neurotypical populations may index risk for dysregulation in autistic youth (Baker et al., 2022).
Multiple pathways to dysregulation appear to exist for children with autism, with one physiological profile consistent with neurotypical populations and a second that may index autistic “meltdowns” (i,e., complete loss of regulatory control; Fenning, Erath, Baker et al., 2019).
Parent-Child Relationships
What parenting and family factors contribute to risk and resilience for neurodivergent children? How are these processes similar or different from those observed in neurotypical populations?
Relevant key findings to date:
Parental co-regulatory support may buffer behavioral outcomes from certain types of physiological risk in children with autism (Baker et al., 2017).
Autistic children who exhibit higher sympathetic (Baker et al., 2018) and lower parasympathetic nervous system reactivity (Baker et al., 2020) appear particularly sensitive to parenting environments higher in negativity.
Parent emotion-socialization behaviors appear linked to certain physiological arousal tendencies in their autistic children, suggesting either consistent patterns of parental response or parental influence over these biological processes (Moffitt, Baker et al., 2021).
Family Coping & Well-Being
How does parenting stress operate in the families of neurodivergent children and what processes promote well-being? How does stress affect the parenting that the children receive?
Relevant key findings to date:
Parents of autistic children exhibit increased stress and mental health issues which, in turn, may spill over into increased negative parenting; however, these parents appear better able to protect their positive parenting behaviors from this distress, as compared to families of neurotypical children (Baker et al., 2024).
Parents of autistic youth appear to be able to buffer the effects of their children’s externalizing behavior problems from affecting their emotion-related parenting through active coping methods such as problem-solving and planning (Alostaz, Baker et al., 2022).