Beata M. Gomulak-Cavicchio

Research Interests

In general, I’m interested in relationships within the family and how they shape the course of children’s development.  Working from the family systems perspective and the emotional security theory, my research has focused on the interplay of interparental conflict and mother-child interactions (e.g., post-conflict communication) in influencing children’s psychosocial adjustment.  Currently, my dissertation is exploring the developmental course of maternal post-conflict communications to children over a two-year span.  In addition to describing changes in how mothers communicate with their children about interparental conflict over time, I’m interested in identifying predictors of individual differences within these communication patterns (e.g., parental psychological resources, child characteristics, contextual sources of stress and support). 

Publications/Manuscripts

• Gomulak-Cavicchio, B. M., Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (2006). The role of maternal communication patterns about interparental disputes in associations between interparental conflict and child psychological maladjustment. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(6), 757-771.
• Gomulak-Cavicchio, B. M. (2004).  "Don't worry, we're going to work it out."  The role of maternal communication in the pathway between interparental conflict and child psychosocial adjustment.  Two-year project.

Presentations

• Biswas, A., Gomulak-Cavicchio, B. M., Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (March, 2007). Elucidating the link between interparental conflict, parent-child relations, and children's information processing: A multivariate approach. Poster submitted for the Society for Research in Child Development Conference, Boston, MA.
• Gomulak-Cavicchio, B. M., Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (April, 2005). Post-conflict communication and child psychosocial adjustment: Examining parent, child, and transactional effects. Poster presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Conference, Atlanta, GA.
• Gomulak-Cavicchio, B. M., Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (April, 2005). Predicting children’s reactivity to interparental conflict: The role of maternal communication about interparental difficulties. Poster presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Conference, Atlanta, GA.
• Gomulak-Cavicchio, B. M., Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (April, 2004). The role of mother-child communication about interparental difficulties in pathways between interparental conflict and child psychosocial adjustment. Poster presented at the Conference on Human Development in Washington, DC.

Additional Information

In my first three years at the university I worked and lived on campus as a Graduate Head Resident in Susan B. Anthony Halls.  I’ve served as a Teaching Assistant for Introductory Statistics, Biopsychology of Social and Clinical Behaviors, Social and Emotional Development, and Abnormal Psychology. I’ve also worked as a Research Assistant for the Me and My Family Project at UR and Project FUTURE at Mt. Hope.  Last year I taught Child and Adolescent Development at St. John Fisher College and hope to do so again in the future.

In my “spare time,” I serve as a mother to my tenacious baby boy, Davin.