Dr. Gerstein’s research and teaching interests are in the areas of developmental psychopathology, family systems, and risk and resilient processes in children with early-identified risk factors. My work has primarily focused on families of children born preterm, children with developmental delays, and children experiencing socioeconomic adversity. Specifically, Dr. Gerstein is examining the following:
how early risk (such as prematurity) affects different aspects of the family, including parental stress and well-being, parenting processes, parent-child relationships, and family interactions
how early risk affects child social emotional processes and development of comorbid psychopathology
how the connections between familial processes and child social emotional development are affected by early risk
how measurements and conceptualizations of parenting and family processes may have different meaning across cultures, contexts, and abilities
She is particularly interested in using observational methods for examining family interactions, and her research spans from the transition to parenthood to the transition to elementary school.
Dr. Gerstein will not be accepting a graduate student for Fall 2026.
