Research & Initiatives
Our research program examines how stress and social relationships influence 1) positive and negative emotions, emotion regulation processes, and depression; 2) engagement in health behaviours, including sleep, physical activity, and diet; 3) stress-related physiological processes, such as chronic inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and low parasympathetic functioning, and 4) the interactions among these different processes, in particular the bidirectional and reciprocal associations between psychosocial stress and inflammation. We are particularly interested in how spouses influence each other in terms of emotional responses, health behaviours, and physiology.
We are looking for couples in which at least one partner is trying to change their diet and/or physical activity habits.  
The main goal of this study is to investigate the associations among different types of couples’ behaviours, eating, resting, and physical activity behaviours, and risk for chronic diseases.