LEE  RABY, PH.D.

Research Interests

My research focuses on longstanding questions regarding the long-term significance of early experiences with parents and other caregivers for individuals’ socioemotional, cognitive, and neurobiological development. My research addresses the following broad questions:

1. Which dimensions of early experience help shape key aspects of behavioral adaptation, such as emotion regulation, psychopathology symptoms, executive functions, and language skills? My research has examined the unique contributions of children’s direct experiences with caregivers as well as how these early parent-child relationship experiences interact with more distal forms of contextual stress, such as financial hardship and parents’ mental health challenges.
2. What are the mechanisms by which early experiences can have enduring impacts on individuals’ development? My research has focused on the role of individuals’ attachment-related mental representations as well as alterations to stress neurobiology systems, such as autonomic nervous system components and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity.
3. How is development shaped by the interplay between these early environmental experiences and children’s inherited characteristics? I have leveraged a number of research approaches to answer this question, including examining specific genetic variations and markers of temperament along with studies with adoptive families.

The two-fold goal of this work is to both advance our basic understanding of the long-term significance of early experiences while also providing practical guidance for how to most effectively promote the healthy development of children.

Education

Post-doc, University of Delaware, 2014-2016
Ph.D., University of Minnesota (Child Psychology), 2014
M.S., University of Minnesota (Child Psychology), 2011
B.S. Truman State University (Psychology), 2009

Opportunities for Students

As the Director of the Early Experiences Lab, I highly value mentoring individuals of various levels of training (undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, doctoral students, and post-doc researchers). I strive to provide a range of research and professional development experiences for the individuals I mentor, and I work with mentees to develop individualized plans to help them identify and accomplish their professional goals.

Graduate students: I will be accepting graduate student applications for the 2024-2025 cycle (i.e., to begin the fall of 2025). Students interested in applying are strongly encouraged to review the Early Experiences Lab website and to contact me to learn more about training opportunities for future graduate students.

Undergraduate students: Undergraduate research assistants are critical component to our research activities. There are several opportunities for undergraduate students to assist with current research projects in the lab. If you are interested in joining our team, please go to the Early Experiences Lab website. On the 'Students' tab, you will find a newsletter outlining the lab’s current activities, information on being a research assistant, and an application to apply as a Research Assistant.

Current Graduate Students

Jenn Isenhour, M.S.
Bailey Speck, M.S.
Tracey Tacana, M.S.

Selected Publications

(* Involves a graduate student as lead author)

*Isenhour, J., Speck, B., Conradt, E., Crowell, S. E., & Raby, K. L. (2024). Contextual stress moderates the association between maternal sensitivity and infants’ cortisol responses to the Still-Face Paradigm. Psychoneuroendocrinology,166, 107059.

*Speck, B., Isenhour, J., Gao, M. M., Conradt, E., Crowell, S. E., & Raby, K. L. (2023). Pregnant women’s autonomic responses to an infant cry predict young infants’ behavioral avoidance during the Still-Face Paradigm. Developmental Psychology, 95, 2237-2247.

*Shakiba, N. & Raby, K. L. (2023). Attachment dimensions and cortisol reactivity during the Strange Situation among children adopted internationally. Attachment and Human Development, 25, 89-103.

Raby, K. L., Verhage, M. L., Fearon, R. M. P., Fraley, R. C., Roisman, G. I., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., … The Collaboration on Attachment Transmission Synthesis. (2022). The latent structure of the Adult Attachment Interview: Large sample evidence from the Collaboration on Attachment Transmission Synthesis. Development and Psychopathology, 34, 307-319.

Raby, K. L., Waters, T. E. A., Tabachnick, A. R., Zajac, L., & Dozier, M. (2021). Increasing secure base script knowledge of high-risk mothers with an attachment-based parenting intervention. Development and Psychopathology, 33, 554-564.

*Isenhour, J., Raby, K. L., & Dozier, M. (2021). The persistent associations between early institutional care and diurnal cortisol among children adopted internationally. Developmental Psychobiology, 63, 1156-11664.