Mothers and Preschoolers Study Staff

Project Team Members

Dr. Laura Scaramella
MAPS Project Director

Dr. Laura Scaramella is the director of the Mothers and Preschoolers Study (MAPS). Dr. Scaramella received her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 1994. Dr. Scaramella came to the University of New Orleans in 2000 and is currently an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department.

In addition to MAPS, Dr. Scaramella is involved in two other research projects that consider how family relationships influences children’s adjustment. The Early Growth and Development study includes 350 adoptive parents, adopted children, and birth parents to consider how biology and environment affect children’s adjustment. The Critical Transitions Project has been following a group of 550 families each year for close to 20 years. This project considers how experiences during a parent’s adolescence influence their children’s adjustment.
Dr. Laura Scaramella's Vita

Nabila Ford, B.S.
MAPS Project Coordinator/Research Assistant

Nabila Ford completed her Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of New Orleans in spring of 2007. She is currently attending LSU part- time in pursuit of an MSW. She recruits, schedules, and manages interviews for the Mothers and Preschoolers Project.

Kristin Callahan, M.S.
4th Year Graduate Student

Kristin Callahan graduated from the University of Georgia in 2003 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology and a Bachelor’s of Arts in both Sociology and Criminal Justice. She received her Masters of Science in Applied Developmental Psychology in May of 2006. Her research interests include the contextual factors that promote maladaptive parenting that lead to problematic internalizing and externalizing behavior of children, as well as assessing the role of religion in the family and community in high-risk populations. One focus of her research is to follow the development of psychopathology in children from the perspective of their socialization in family, peer, and school environments. She is also interested in assessing children's adjustment into formal schooling and evaluating the functions of protective and risk factors associated with this milestone.

Lucy McGoron, B.S.
1st Year Graduate Student

Lucy McGoron is originally from Cincinnati, OH. She received her B.S. from Eastern Michigan University in 2006 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Philosophy.  During her undergraduate career she worked with children in a local Domestic Violence Shelter and Children in a Bereavement group. After graduating, she was employed as a Foster Care Worker in Detroit, Michigan. Lucy’s research interests include parenting practices in high risk population and child outcomes. In particular she is interested in looking at what parenting practices lead to good outcomes for high risk children, child exposure to violence and trauma, child maltreatment,  socialization of emotion regulation, and language, cognitive, and moral development in high risk children. In the future, she would like to develop effective parenting interventions for families involved in the child welfare system and those at risk for engaging in abusive and harsh parenting.

Nikole Dominique, B.S.
Research Assistant

Nikole Dominique completed her Bachelor of Science in Psychology in the Summer of 2008. She is the Parent Observational Coding Supervisor, training and supervising undergraduate coders in Dr. Scaramella's Mother and Preschoolers Study. She is also the Data Manager for MAPS and the Secondary Caregiver Study.