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A child gets treated for asthma. Or diabetes. Or chronic constipation. So where does a psychologist fit in? The connection is more logical than you might think, says Astrida Kaugars, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology, who studies children with health problems.
“It’s become increasingly popular to have psychologists as part of teams at hospitals,” says Kaugars. “I like the challenge of considering the medical and psychological perspectives about what life is like for children with health problems. There are many real-world applications, thinking about how psychological factors affect medical conditions and the interplay of your mind and body.”
Kaugars specializes in emotional development in at-risk children and studied children who were prenatally exposed to cocaine for her dissertation. Her work has been published in the Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and other publications. Her latest research has focused on children with asthma, diabetes or chronic constipation.
She started researching asthma while at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and National Jewish Medical and Research Center, and she continues that research with principal investigator Mary D. Klinnert, Ph.D., at NJMRC. The study followed wheezing babies through age 7 and tracked the development and progression of asthma. Kaugars examined the influence of emotional and family factors on illness characteristics, and part of the project involved observing mothers and children interacting in stressful situations.
“We think that how well you handle your child’s emotions is probably related to how effective you are in managing your child’s asthma,” Kaugars says.
Early data seems to suggest that a mother’s psychological resources — which include intellectual functioning, mental health and belief in her ability to handle difficult situations — play a significant role in how she copes with her child’s negative behavior even years later.
Kaugars expects to present preliminary results at the Society for Research in Child Development Conference in April.
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Quick Facts About Marquette
| Identity: | Catholic, Jesuit, private |
| Established: | 1881 |
| Location: | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Undergraduate: | 8,048 |
| Postgraduate: | 3,500 |
| Campus: | Urban, 80 acres |
| Athletics: | 11 NCAA Division I teams (Big East Conference) |
| Colors: | Blue and Gold |
