Carol Johnston

Family functioning and well-being across the lifespan including how families develop, adapt, and maintain healthy relationships over time.

• The measurement of family structure transitions and how early family context impacts trajectories across the life course. 
• Family stress, coping, and resilience with attention to how families draw on internal strengths and external supports during periods of challenge or transition. 
• Equity and inclusion in family experiences examining how systemic, cultural, and socioeconomic factors shape opportunities, stressors, and outcomes for diverse and historically marginalized individuals and families. 
• Relational processes within family systems such as communication, emotion regulation, conflict, and supportive interactions.
• Contextual influences on families including policy environments, community resources, and broader social structures that affect family functioning.
• Applied and translational family science generating research that informs programs, interventions, and policies designed to strengthen families and communities.
• Interdisciplinary approaches to understanding families integrating theory, empirical methods, and collaborative perspectives to address complex family issues.