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About
Fall Open House
Join us for one of our Fall Open Houses and experience our beautiful, riverfront campus firsthand. Learn more about Marist’s academic experience, the admissions process, and get an inside look at life as a Red Fox! You'll have the opportunity to hear directly from students, faculty, and staff about what makes the Marist Community so special. Register Below:
About
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Academics
Fall Open House
Join us for one of our Fall Open Houses and experience our beautiful, riverfront campus firsthand. Learn more about Marist’s academic experience, the admissions process, and get an inside look at life as a Red Fox! You'll have the opportunity to hear directly from students, faculty, and staff about what makes the Marist Community so special. Register Below:
Academics
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Admission & Financial Aid
Fall Open House
Join us for one of our Fall Open Houses and experience our beautiful, riverfront campus firsthand. Learn more about Marist’s academic experience, the admissions process, and get an inside look at life as a Red Fox! You'll have the opportunity to hear directly from students, faculty, and staff about what makes the Marist Community so special. Register Below:
Admission & Financial Aid
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Student Life
Fall Open House
Join us for one of our Fall Open Houses and experience our beautiful, riverfront campus firsthand. Learn more about Marist’s academic experience, the admissions process, and get an inside look at life as a Red Fox! You'll have the opportunity to hear directly from students, faculty, and staff about what makes the Marist Community so special. Register Below:
Student Life
- Athletics
The BLOSSOM Lab
Psychology Department
BLOSSOM – Behavioral Lab On Social Skills and Outcomes in Mental Health
The BLOSSOM Lab examines children's socioemotional behaviors and how they relate to mental health issues. The Lab also investigates how caregivers support and promote the development of socioemotional skills.
These socioemotional skills include:
- Self-Regulation Skills (emotion regulation, delayed gratification)
- Social Awareness (empathy, perspective-taking)
- Relationship Skills (communication, cooperation)
- Self-Awareness Skills (emotional understanding)
When children lack strong socioemotional skills or have caregivers who don't support their emotional development, they can be more vulnerable to a range of mental health challenges. These issues often show up early and can impact long-term well-being and relationships.
These mental health issues include:
- Internalizing Problems (anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, shame/guilt)
- Externalizing Problems (aggression, oppositional defiance, impulsivity, poor frustration tolerance)
- Interpersonal Challenges (peer rejection, difficulty forming secure attachments, overdependence on adults)
- Adjustment Problems (perfectionism, challenge avoidance, risk-taking, poor emotion vocabulary, poor social problem-solving)
To investigate these important questions, the BLOSSOM Lab uses a multi-method approach that captures the complexity of real-world development. The Lab combines behavioral observations, in-person child assessments, and caregiver-report measures to explore how children's socioemotional skills emerge and function in context. The BLOSSOM lab research focuses on the dynamic interplay between child characteristics (such as temperament and age) and caregiver factors (including personality traits and parenting style). By examining these interactive processes, the Lab aims to better understand how individual differences shape the development of socioemotional skills—and how those skills, in turn, influence children's risk for or resilience against mental health challenges.
Meet the BLOSSOM Lab Director
Dr. Kris Dovgan is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Marist University and the Director of the BLOSSOM Lab. She holds a PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology and has over a decade of experience investigating socioemotional development and mental health in children, particularly those with developmental disabilities. Her research integrates behavioral observation, psychometric assessment, and caregiver perspectives to explore how child characteristics like temperament and age interact with parent traits such as personality and parenting style.
Get Involved with the BLOSSOM Lab
The BLOSSOM Lab is currently seeking children between ages 2-6 to participate in a one-hour session in our lab with their caregiver. During the study, you and your child will:
- Play together in a comfortable research setting
- Interact with a trained undergraduate research assistant
- Wear a small wristband to measure physiological responses
- Complete brief caregiver questionnaires
If you are interested, please complete the form below. If you are interested in being a research assistant, email Kristen.Dovgan@marist.edu for more information.