Ashley Groh
Professor
204B McAlester Hall
groha@missouri.edu
Faculty
Lab Information
Family and Child Development Lab
251 McReynolds Hall
About the Lab

Research conducted in my lab focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms of the intergenerational transmission of parent-child attachment relationships and the legacy of children's attachments to parents for social and emotional development across the life course.

Lab Flyer
Research Interests

Dr. Groh's research applies a biopsychosocial perspective to investigating the developmental origins and legacy of children’s early relationships with parents for socioemotional development across the lifespan. Dr. Groh pursues three primary lines of research, including examining the: (1) intergenerational transmission of parent-child attachment relationships, (2) developmental significance of early caregiving experiences for social and emotional development, and (3) construction of representations of attachment in infancy and adulthood. 

Dr. Groh's research interests lie at the intersection of social, emotional, and biological processes in development. As such, her research is multi-method in nature, including interview and self-report measures of representations of early experiences, observational assessments of family processes, and biological measures of autonomic physiological activity (e.g., electrodermal reactivity, heart rate) and brain activity (e.g., EEG/ERP). In addition, Dr. Groh uses a multi-faceted approach to addressing developmental research questions, leveraging meta-analytic, longitudinal, and experimental methods.

***I will be considering graduate student applications for the upcoming academic year. Students would primarily be involved in working on NSF and NIH funded studies examining women's neural adaptation to motherhood as a function of psychological risk (insecure attachment, depression) and in relation to mother-child outcomes among European American and African American families. Interested candidates may email me to discuss their research interests and graduate school goals. ***

Selected Publications

Relevant Journal Articles:

†Indicates graduate student co-author; ^Indicates undergraduate student co-author

Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment

  1. †Patrick, M. M., †Xu, N., Rutherford, H. J. V., & Groh, A. M. (in press). The significance of mothers’ neural responding to infant emotional cues for caregiving behaviors: The moderating role of infant negative emotionality. Developmental Psychology.
  2. †Xu, N., & Groh, A. M. (2023). The significance of mothers' attachment representations for vagal responding during interactions with infants. Attachment & Human Development, 25, 50-70. doi: 10.1080/14616734.2021.1876615
  3. Penner, F., Wall, K. M., Guan, K. W., Huang, H., Richardson, L., Dunbar, A. S., Groh, A. M., & Rutherford, H. J. V. (2023). Racial disparities in EEG research and their implications for our understanding of the maternal brain. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 23, 1-16. doi: 10.3758/s13415-022-01040-w
  4. Rutherford, H. J. V., Bunderson, M., Bartz, C., Haitsuka, H., Meins, E., Groh, A. M., & Milligan, K. (2021). Imagining the baby: Neural reactivity to infant distress and mind-mindedness in expectant parents. Biological Psychology, 161, 108057. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108057  
  5. Groh, A. M., Propper, C., Mills-Koonce, R., Moore, G., Calkins, S., & Cox, M. (2019). Mothers’ physiological and affective responding to infant distress: Unique antecedents of avoidant and resistant attachments. Child Development, 90, 489-505. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12912
  6. Martin, J., Anderson, J., Groh, A. M. … Roisman, G. I. (2018). Maternal sensitivity during the first 3½ years of life predicts electrophysiological responding to and causal attributions of infant crying at midlife. Developmental Psychology, 54, 1917-1927. doi: 10.1037/dev0000579
  7. Groh, A. M., & Haydon, K. C. (2018). Mothers’ neural and behavioral responses to their infants’ distress cues: The role of secure base script knowledge. Psychological Science, 29, 242-253. doi: 10.1177/0956797617730320
  8. Groh, A. M., Roisman, G. I., Haydon, K. C., Bost, K., McElwain, N., ^Garcia, L., & ^Hester, C., (2015). Mothers’ electrophysiological, subjective, and observed emotional responses to infant crying: The role of secure base script knowledge. Development and Psychopathology, 27, 1237-1250. doi: 10.1017/S0954579414000881
  9. Groh, A. M., & Roisman, G. I. (2009). Adults’ autonomic and subjective emotional responses to infant vocalizations: The role of secure base script knowledge. Developmental Psychology, 45, 889-893. doi: 10.1037/a0014943

Developmental Significance of Attachment

  1. Nivison, M. D., ^Caldo, P. D., Magro, S. W., Raby, K. L., Groh, A. M., Fraley, R. C., Carlson, E. A., Simpson, J. A., & Roisman, G. I. (2023). The predictive validity of the Strange Situation Procedure: Evidence from registered analyses of two landmark longitudinal studies. Development & Psychopathology. doi: 10.1017/S0954579423001487
  2. †Borowski, S., Groh, A. M., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Fearon, R. M. P., Roisman, G. I., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Vaughn, B. (2021). The significance of early temperamental reactivity for children’s social competence with peers: A meta-analytic review and comparison with the role of early attachment. Psychological Bulletin, 147, 1125-1158. doi: 10.1037/bul0000346
  3. Dagan, O., Groh, A. M., Madigan, S., & Bernard, K. (2021). A lifespan development theory of insecure attachment and internalizing symptoms: Integrating meta-analytic evidence via a testable evolutionary mis/match hypothesis. Brain Sciences, 11, 1226. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11091226
  4. Deneault, A., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M., Groh, A. M., Fearon, R. M. P., & Madigan, S. (2021). Child-father attachment in early childhood and behavior problems: A meta-analysis. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2021, 43-66. doi: 10.1002/cad.20434
  5. Groh, A. M., & Narayan, A. (2019). Infant attachment insecurity and baseline physiological activity and physiological reactivity to interpersonal stress: A meta-analytic review. Child Development, 90, 679-693. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13205
  6. Groh, A. M., Fearon, R. P., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Roisman, G. I. (2017). Attachment in the early life course: Meta-analytic evidence for its role in socioemotional development. Child Development Perspectives, 11, 70-76. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12213
  7. Groh, A. M., Narayan, A., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Roisman, G. I., Vaughn, B., Fearon, R. P., & Van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2017). Attachment and temperament in the early life course: A meta-analytic review. Child Development, 88, 770-795. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12677
  8. Groh, A. M., Fearon, R. P., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Steele, R. D., & Roisman, G. I. (2014). The significance of attachment security for children’s social competence with peers: A meta-analytic study. Attachment & Human Development, 16, 103-136. doi: 10.1080/14616734.2014.883636
  9. Groh, A. M., Roisman, G. I., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & Fearon, R. P. (2012). The significance of insecure and disorganized attachment for children’s internalizing symptoms: A meta-analytic study. Child Development, 83, 591-610. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01711.x

Construction of Attachment Representations

  1. Luo, Y., vanMarle, K., & Groh, A. M. (in press). The cognitive architecture of infant attachment. Perspectives on Psychological Sciences.
  2. Haydon, K. C., & Groh, A. M. (in press). The predictive significance of Attachment Script Assessment hyperactivation and deactivation: Evidence of distinct associations with romantic relationship functioning. Attachment & Human Development.
  3. Groh, A. M., †Xu, N., †Patrick, M. M., ^Robinson, R., ^Hoeferle, B., & Haydon, K. C. (in press). Attachment variation assessed in the Attachment Script Assessment: Stability over time and significance for parenting behavior and physiology. Attachment & Human Development.
  4. Groh, A. M., Haydon, K. C., & ^Caldo, P. (in press). Adult attachment assessed via the ASA and AAI: Empirical convergence and links with autonomic physiological responding during attachment assessments. Attachment & Human Development.
  5. Groh, A. M., & Haydon, K. C. (in press). The Attachment Script Assessment: Introduction of a coding system to evaluate deactivation, hyperactivation, and anomalous content. Attachment & Human Development.
  6. Waters, T. E. A., … Groh, A. M., … & Roisman, G. I. (2021). Early child care experiences and attachment representations at age 18 years: Evidence from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Developmental Psychology, 57, 548-556. doi: 10.1037/dev0001165
  7. Haltigan, J. D., Roisman, G. I., Booth-LaForce, C., Rogosch, F. A., Cicchetti, D., Groh, A. M., & Holland, A. H. (2019). Origins of attachment states of mind in caregiving within and outside of the normative range: Cross-racial and cross-sex generalizability in two longitudinal studies. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 60, 1309-1322. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13086
  8. †Jin, K., ^Houston, J. L., Baillargeon, R., Groh, A. M., & Roisman, G. I. (2018). Young infants expect an unfamiliar adult to comfort a crying baby: Evidence from a standard violation-of-expectation talk and a novel infant-triggered-video task. Cognitive Psychology, 102, 1-20. doi: 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2017.12.004
  9. Waters, T. E. A., Fraley, R. C., Groh, A. M., Steele, R. D., Vaughn, B. E., Bost, K. K., Veríssimo, M., Coppola, G., & Roisman, G. I. (2015). The latent structure of secure base script knowledge. Developmental Psychology, 51, 823-830. doi: 10.1037/dev0000012
  10. Groh, A. M., Roisman, G. I., Booth-LaForce, C., Fraley, R. C., Owen, M. T., Cox, M. J., & Burchinal, M. R. (2014). Stability of attachment security from infancy to late adolescence. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 79, 51-56. doi: 10.1111/mono.12113
  11. Booth-LaForce, C., Groh, A. M., Burchinal, M. R., Roisman, G. I., Owen, M. T., & Cox, M. (2014). Caregiving and contextual sources of continuity and change in attachment security from infancy to late adolescence. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 79, 67-84. doi: 10.1111/mono.12114
Lab Area
Developmental