Our lab focuses on advancing understanding of the heart-mind-body connection through innovative research, clinical initiatives and health policies. Here are some of the research projects currently underway in our lab. To learn more about any of these projects or our team, please feel very welcome to contact us.
A study exploring the effects of a new psychological intervention for parents after prenatal diagnosis of single-ventricle congenital heart disease
Babies with single-ventricle congenital heart disease (CHD) are often diagnosed during pregnancy. For parents, learning about their baby’s heart condition during pregnancy is often unexpected and stressful, and many families express a need for support. Yet there is a remarkable lack of prenatal therapies available to support parent mental health and infant neurodevelopment after fetal diagnosis.
This study is taking an unprecedented look at how psychological care during pregnancy can improve parent mental health and wellbeing, and support neurodevelopment for babies with single-ventricle CHD. Our team of researchers from psychology, cardiology, neonatology, computational neuroscience, radiology, genetics, and nursing are working in partnership with families to test a new prenatally-delivered psychological intervention, called HeartGPS. Fetal heart centers across the United States and Australia have joined forces to compare the effects of the HeartGPS program to standard fetal cardiac care. The HeartGPS program includes eight sessions with a trained, licensed psychologist, a suite of tailored educational resources, and a personalized care plan to support longer-term parent, child, and family wellbeing. The focus is on increasing family support and wellbeing, and helping parents bond with their baby in ways that feel right for them. We are examining how HeartGPS affects parent mental health and adjustment to parenthood across the perinatal period, as well as fetal and infant brain development, mother-baby bonding, and infant neurodevelopment and behavior. We are also examining potential changes in the ways moms and babies respond physically to stress. This study capitalizes on a critical window of opportunity, when reducing the impact of parental stress during pregnancy could have enormous lifelong benefits for parents and their baby with CHD.
Learn more about this study here.
A virtually-delivered, group-based, psychological intervention for parents to improve emotional and behavioral wellbeing among children with congenital heart disease
Parents have shared with us the joys and challenges of caring for a child with congenital heart disease (CHD). Many have expressed a need for greater support and have also wanted a way to connect with other parents of children with CHD.
Tuning in to Kids is an emotion-focused group program designed to teach parents and caregivers skills in recognizing, understanding, and managing their own and their children’s emotions. We have adapted the program to meet the needs of parents of children with CHD and are offering it virtually, via telehealth. Tuning in to Kids includes six weekly group sessions and two optional follow-up (‘booster’) sessions, coupled with educational resources and home practice activities to enhance parent and child emotional wellbeing. Each group is facilitated by two licensed health professionals, who are trained to deliver the Tuning in to Kids program.
In this pilot randomized controlled trial, we are interested to learn how parents experience the program, including what they like and dislike about it. We are enrolling parents and caregivers of children aged between 3 and 6 years with CHD who underwent surgical intervention in infancy. The primary aim of this study is to assess intervention acceptability and feasibility, and the results generated will directly inform the design of, and provide data for, a multicenter efficacy trial to examine short- and longer-term intervention effects.
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