Projects

2026

The Intersection of Language and Emotion Across Early Development

Chapter Contribution, Handbook of Emotion Development

This chapter examines how early language environments shape children’s conceptualization and regulation of emotion. We synthesize developmental and affective science research to argue that linguistic input scaffolds emotional category formation and regulatory strategies. My contribution involved integrating empirical findings across developmental and affective literatures to integrate latest researcg into how language influences emotional understanding.

2026

Emotion Malleability Beliefs as a Buffer of Early Life Maltreatment Effects on Sleep

Poster in Preparation for the Society for Affective Science

This ongoing project examines whether beliefs about the malleability of emotion moderate associations between childhood maltreatment and adult sleep outcomes. Using both subjective sleep measures and affective assessments, we test whether meta beliefs about emotion function as protective factors. This work extends prior narrative focused research into affective belief systems and regulatory processes.

2026

Manuscript in Review: Latent Profiles of Life Stress and Resilience

Applied Cognitive Psychology

This manuscript applies latent profile analysis to identify distinct patterns of life stress exposure and meaning making within a Dignity Therapy sample. Using person centered modeling approaches, we examined how profiles of early and adult stress relate to psychological outcomes. The study advances beyond cumulative stress indices by identifying heterogeneity in stress exposure and narrative integration. The manuscript is currently under review.

2025

Invited Talk: Dignity Therapy and Narrative Mechanisms

Clinical and Health Psychology Seminar, University of Florida

Delivered a 1-hour invited seminar synthesizing theoretical foundations, clinical applications, and ongoing research related to Dignity Therapy. The presentation integrated developmental, narrative, and affective perspectives on how individuals construct meaning around serious illness and life stress. I also discussed emerging quantitative findings and future directions examining narrative integration as a mechanism linking adversity to psychological outcomes.

2025

Dignity Therapy for Older Adults: Revisiting Early Life Stressors

Institute for Learning in Retirement, Poster Presentation

This follow up project examined how individuals with varying levels of early life adversity differed in the types of stressors they discussed during Dignity Therapy and how they constructed meaning around those events. Rather than focusing solely on exposure, we analyzed patterns in the content of narratives, including whether stressors were self initiated or emerged in response to provider prompts. Using structured content coding and quantitative comparisons, we investigated how cumulative early adversity related to narrative emphasis, thematic focus, and meaning making processes. This work extends prior analyses by exploring not just whether stress is mentioned, but how it is framed and integrated within therapeutic storytelling.

2024

Dignity Therapy for Older Cancer Patients: The Role of Early Life Stressors

UF Cancer Insitute, Poster Presentation

Building on prior coding work, this project examined how early life adversity is incorporated into narrative meaning in terminally ill cancer patients undergoing Dignity Therapy. Using a dataset of over 200 participants, I independently double coded transcripts and conducted quantitative analyses in R. We investigated whether the presence and severity of childhood stressors predicted differences in how individuals construct and interpret their life stories. Findings highlighted important role of provider prompting in eliciting meaning making.

2024

Stressful Life Events in Dignity Therapy

Life Story Lab

I qualitatively analyzed over 140 Dignity Therapy transcripts to identify and classify stressful life events described by older adults with cancer. We developed a modified Social Readjustment Rating Scale to support systematic biographical coding, and I achieved strong interrater reliability (κ = .81). This project examined how individuals reference and contextualize life stressors within structured narrative interventions. The work laid the foundation for examining how early adversity is integrated into later life meaning making.

2023

Eye Tracking Decision Making

Cognition and Decision Modeling Lab

This project examined decision making and reward processes using behavioral paradigms and eye tracking methodology. I assisted in participant coordination, experimental administration, and quantitative analysis in R. The study investigated how multiple weighted choices alter cognitive processing and choice behavior. This experience provided formal training in experimental design, behavioral data analysis, and computational modeling.