Karin Brocki

My research focuses on children’s development of self-regulation and how poor self-regulatory skills may relate to the development of common behavioral problems, such as ADHD and Autism. I would like to gain a better understanding of how early environmental factors such as attachment quality, parental sensitivity and scaffolding contribute to individual differences in the development of self-regulation and how such individual differences may contribute to later developmental problems. Of late, I am also studying genetic effects on self-regulation by examining children at risk (i.e., young siblings to children with a diagnosis) for developing ADHD and/ or Autism. My research projects are often longitudinal, which means that I follow the same children and their development in behaviors and psychological processes over time. Such design enables conclusions regarding direction of effects and how different factors interact over time to affect certain behaviors. It is my hope that my research will contribute to an enhanced understanding of early risk markers for later behavioral problems, and thus contribute to more efficient intervention methods perhaps targeting self-regulation skills.