The Berger Institute at Claremont McKenna College provides the intellectual and experiential home for research and programming focused on contemporary social issues. The Berger Institute produces and disseminates high quality research with implications for policy, practical applications, and theory.
The central theme for our research and programming is How We Thrive. Our research focuses on understanding risk and resilience factors, while our programming emphasizes the development and cultivation of skills that are necessary for successful adaptation in a rapidly changing society. We focus on individual and social factors that impact how children develop, how families thrive, and how people navigate major transitions and milestones. Examples of our work include understanding how to nurture the well-being of individuals from a wide range of social-economic and demographic backgrounds (including gender, culture, race, age), the changing nature of gender and family roles, and understanding the demographic, technological, financial, and political changes impacting our society today.
Current Pandemic Research
Changes in Maternal Depression and Children’s Behavior Problems: Investigating the Role of COVID-19 Related Stressors, Hair Cortisol, and Dehydroepiandrosterone
In collaboration with Dr. Smiley (Pomona College) and Dr. Liu (Brigham and Women’s Hospital), researchers from the Berger Institute collected data on COVID-19-related life stressors, mothers’ depressive symptoms, children’s behavioral problems, hair cortisol (a measure of chronic stress exposure), and hair dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA, a hormone which can act as a stress regulator). Through hair samples and questionnaires one and a half years before the pandemic and online questionnaires during the first few months of the pandemic, the researchers found that pandemic-related stressors were linked to increases in mothers’ depression. They also found that chronic stress exposure prior to the pandemic (measured through hair cortisol) also predicted mothers’ depression in relation to the current chronic stress of the pandemic. This relationship between chronic stress and mothers’ depression also impacts children’s behavioral problems.
A Relational Savoring Intervention Predicts Higher Levels of Health Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Berger Institute researchers collaborated with Dr. Smiley (Pomona College), Dr. Kerr (University of Wisconsin-Madison), and Dr. Borelli (University of California-Irvine) to look at the effects of a pre-pandemic positive emotion intervention on health behaviors during the pandemic. 3-5 years before the pandemic, the researchers had mothers perform relational savoring, a type of positive emotion intervention in which the mother recalls times of positive connection with their child and expands on the memory by finding meaning in it. A control group of mothers recalled a positive memory that did not involve another person. The exercise was performed once per week for 4 weeks. During the later pandemic, many of these mothers volunteered to fill out an online questionnaire about their health behavior (such as how much they washed their hands), their anxiety, and the perceived threat they felt during the pandemic. The researchers found that those who had participated in the relational savoring intervention years earlier engaged in more health behavior during the pandemic, regardless of their education level, their perceived threat, and their anxiety.
News
The Pursuit of Happiness: What Science Can Tell Us
There’s a reason we’re all chasing happiness all the time. According to Dr. Todd Kashdan (George Mason University), happy people are more successful and creative, have more meaningful relationships, are more resilient, and even have stronger immune systems. In last...
From Diversity to Inclusion: Research & Practice
Despite being Friday the 13th, there was a large crowd of students, alumni, staff, and faculty that virtually joined an engaging panel discussion on diversity and inclusion this past week. Dr. Jennifer Feitosa, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Director of the...
Experts and Alumni Shed Light on Building Social Networks in the Age of COVID-19
Claremont Colleges alumni, faculty, and students came together virtually on October 9th, 2020, to discuss something that we’re all thinking about during this time of isolation – how do we build and maintain our connections with others, especially if we’re never...
Pandemic Stress: Expert Advice on How to Help You and Your Kids Cope
Individuals and families from every sector are feeling the effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic. From loss of jobs and finances to taking care of kids while trying to work at home to existential stress and worry about the health of loved ones, higher than average...