Elizabeth Harvey studies the development of children with ADHD. The primary goal of her research is to examine the developmental trajectories of emotion regulation and associated aspects of emotion processing from age 3 to age 6 in children with clinically significant levels of ADHD symptomatology.
In her year as a Family Research Scholar, she will develop a grant proposal for a project entitled, “A Longitudinal Study of Emotion Regulation in Preschool Children with Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.” In her study, 3 year old children with and without significant ADHD symptomatology will take part in extensive child and family assessments annually until age 6. Her work examines how emotion regulation develops in preschoolers with ADHD symptoms compared to their typically developing counterparts, using both behavioral and physiologically measures of emotion regulation. She will also examine whether different emotion regulation systems (e.g., behavioral, cognitive, affective, and physiological) change together over time, and will examine the role of child characteristics (e.g., neurocognitive functioning) and family, school, and peer interactions in the development of emotion regulation in preschool children with or at risk for ADHD.
Dr. Harvey was also a Family Research Scholar in 2005-06 where she followed 200 children who exhibited elevated levels of hyperactivity or aggression at age 3 as well as a control group of children. This study aimed to examine child and family variables that may predict which children develop ADHD, ADHD/ODD, and which children do not develop either disorder.