My research focuses on risk factors associated with the development of affective disorders and other forms of psychopathology, using a multidisciplinary approach aimed at understanding the complex interactions between biological and psychosocial factors during development. Key areas of interest include the study of stressful life events, hormones (i.e. hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis stress response), oxytocin (a peptide important in social behaviour), and cognitive-emotional mechanisms of self-regulation.