Volume 1 | Issue 4
DISCOVER UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
WHAT WE DO + WHY IT MATTERS
Simply put, research from the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences is changing lives. With expertise in food and agriculture, environment and water, family and communities, health and wellness, and data and technology, our reach is both broad and deep. But uniting us is a commitment to solving real-world problems that affect people and places in Central Illinois, the United States, and the globe. Here, we showcase a fraction of our world-class research in the area of family and communities, demonstrating tangible solutions to childhood stress and scholastic performance, lifting women and families out of poverty, and promoting healthy infant brain development.
PARENTAL SOCIAL COACHING DURING ADOLESCENCE During early adolescence, kids face challenges such as peer rejection, bullying, and conflict with friends. Parents can act as social “coaches” during this time, but Illinois researchers are finding not all kids benefit from the same types of parental support and advice. Researchers tested the effects of parental coaching styles by measuring electrical activity in youth’s skin—part of the “fight or flight” stress response system—during conversations with their mothers about real peer problems. Kids who exhibited higher physiological arousal during the conversations benefitted from mothers who gave kids space, or encouragement to find their own solutions. For kids with less physiological arousal, offering specific solutions, or equipping them with coping skills, was more successful.
Fight vs. Flight: Some pre-teens benefit from parents who coach them through social situations, but others see greater benefit with a handsoff approach.
VITAMIN N(ATURE) Spending time in nature feels like a luxury, but University of Illinois researchers say exposure to greenery is much more essential than we think. In fact, they have shown nature directly and substantially improves family relationships, school performance, and physical and mental health. For example, Illinois scientists discovered that children who spend more time outdoors have reduced symptoms of ADHD, and are less stressed, more attentive, and less agitated in the classroom. That translates into better test scores, according to a large-scale study in low-income Chicago schools. All else being equal, kids attending schools with greener schoolyards did significantly better on standardized tests than kids in schools not surrounded by trees.
Want to improve test scores and reduce stress in kids? Get them outside!
DISCOVER: FAMILY & COMMUNITIES aces-research@illinois.edu
aces.illinois.edu/research/areas/family-communities
UNDERSTANDING INFANT NEURODEVELOPMENT In the first years of life, a child’s brain undergoes rapid neurodevelopment. Illinois researchers are looking at the factors that shape this early development. One such study examines how caregiving impacts brain development and social and emotional well-being, with a focus on infants’ repeated experiences with parents. The work involves observing interactions between infants and mothers at multiple times during the first year of life, and examining brain scans of the infants at 3 and 12 months of age to understand how large-scale networks in the brain become organized. The brain imaging is done at the Beckman Institute’s Biomedical Imaging Center and includes conducting functional and structural scans of infants during natural sleep.
Uncovering the link between caregiving, brain development, and social/emotional well-being
EMPOWERING WOMEN THROUGH AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY
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Researchers worked closely with women in those countries to understand specific barriers to technology use and adoption, and then recommended novel approaches to address the problems. In Burkina Faso, for example, an animal-drawn planter designed for oxen was modified to fit donkeys, which are easily accessible field animals for women. And in Ethiopia, solar-powered irrigation pumps allowed women to water vegetable gardens, providing an important source of supplemental income. These examples demonstrate how Illinois research is improving lives for women across the globe.
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University of Illinois researchers are working to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, and Ethiopia by improving access to relevant agricultural technologies. One component of the project aims to reach, benefit and empower women.
Empowering women strengthens families and communities
FUNDING SOURCES Parental Social Coaching: This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch funds. Kelly M. Tu, Human Development and Family Studies Contact: ktfrantz@illinois.edu Vitamin N(ature): This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation, the USDA Forest Service, and the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council. Ming Kuo, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences | Andrea Faber Taylor, Crop Sciences | Bill Sullivan, Landscape Architecture, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences Contact: fekuo@illinois.edu Infant Neurodevelopment: This research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health. Nancy McElwain, Human Development and Family Studies Contact: mcelwn@illinois.edu Empowering Women: The Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium was funded by the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Sustainable Intensification through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Alan Hansen, Agricultural and Biological Engineering | Prasanta Kalita, Agricultural and Biological Engineering | Alex Winter-Nelson, Agricultural and Consumer Economics | Maria Jones, ADM Institute for the Prevention of Post-harvest Loss Contact: mjones10@illinois.edu