How did it all get started?

The main purpose of the Family Pathways Project is to better understand families and how they grow. Dr. Karlen Lyons-Ruth, a child psychologist at Cambridge Health Alliance, started the project more than 25 years ago with 75 pairs of new mothers and their babies from the Somerville and Cambridge, MA, area.

It was known then as the Family Support Project. At that time, the focus was on the earliest years of the parent-child relationship. Staff made home visits and families came into the office too. According to Karlen, "Lots of research studies don't spend this much time with their participants, but we wanted to make sure we really got to know all the people we were going to be working with. We wanted a sense of their history. We asked to hear their stories. Everyone has stresses, and starting a family can add to those stresses. The study asked new parents how they dealt with the stresses of everyday life. Then, when the children were 4-5 years old and again when they were 7-9, families shared their personal experiences and stories about the elementary school years. Now, we are following up to see what life has been like since then."

Karlen adds, "The information you've shared with us has been extremely valuable. Your participation has helped psychologists understand more about early child development. But we're not done yet! These are your stories, and no one is more important in this study than you."

What have we learned so far?

It is because of you that the Family Pathways Project has learned about child development that has helped psychologists throughout the world. One thing we have learned is that a strong parent-child bond early in life is very meaningful for later development. We have also learned that families have many different styles of communication. Also, as families and children have grown, there are a number of ways that they have coped with life's challenges. This knowledge can be very helpful for other families in the future dealing with similar stressors.

What did we find in the last phase?

The most recent phase of the study was almost 4 years ago! This phase also contained an MR scan. We learned that people who experienced adversity as a child may process reward in a unique way. This finding can now help psychologists to understand why some young people feel less motivated by future rewards and to develop ways to provide early support to prevent this effect on the brain's reward centers.

What is this stage of the study about?

Since we were fortunate to be introduced to you when you were an infant, we are excited for the opportunity to reconnect with you and learned about your well-being since the last time we saw you.

This time we will invite you:

• for one study session at McLean Hospital that will last 2.5 hours.
• To complete questionnaires and talk with us about your current wellbeing.
• To complete an MR scan (the scan will take less than 1 hour).
• For completing this phase, you will receive $100.

We appreciate this opportunity to see you again and learn about what has happened since the last time we saw you.