Julie Poehlmann
PhD, Syracuse University
Professor, HDFS

Contact Information:
Waisman Center
UW-Madison
1500 Highland Avenue
Madison, WI 53705
Phone: (608) 263-4839
E-mail: poehlmann@waisman.wisc.edu
Web: Infant-Parent Interaction Lab

Research Statement

Dr. Poehlmann's research focuses on the role of family relationships in the development of resilience in high risk infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. She is interested in how emerging relationships interact with biological and environmental vulnerabilities in shaping the cognitive and social emotional development of children who experience a range of risks. Dr. Poehlmann's research emphasizes how children and parents make contributions to their relationships with each other, rather than emphasizing parental characteristics like much of the existing attachment research. Her findings bridge attachment theory with ecologically-based transactional developmental theories.

Dr. Poehlmann is studying two very different examples of children's development in the context of risk: 1) preterm infants and 2) young children whose parents are incarcerated. Her research with preterm infants is funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and follows preterm or low birthweight infants from their hospital discharge until 3 years of age. Her research with children of incarcerated parents is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Both lines of research focus on how young children's developing cognitive abilities, self-regulation, attachment relationships, and behavior problems relate to child, parental, and extended family characteristics. Variables of interest include maternal depression, infant temperament, quality of the home environment, contact with grandparents, and quality of affect and reciprocity during parent-child play, feeding, and problem solving interactions. Dr. Poehlmann also has a strong interest in the provision and effects of early intervention.

Representative Publications

Poehlmann, J., Schwichtenberg, A. J. M., Bolt, D., Hane, A., Burnson, C., & Winters, J. (2010). Infant physiological regulation and maternal risks as predictors of dyadic interaction trajectories in families with a preterm infant. In press, Developmental Psychology.

Poehlmann, J., Dallaire, D., Loper, A. B., & Shear, L. D. (2010). Children's contact with their incarcerated parents: Research findings and recommendations. American Psychologist, 65(6):575-98. PMID: 20822198

Poehlmann, J., Schwichtenberg, A. J. M., Shah, P., Shlafer, R., Hahn, E., & Maleck, S. J. (2010). The development of effortful control in children born preterm. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 39 (4), 522-536. PMID: 20589563

Poehlmann, J., Schwichtenberg, A. J. M., Shlafer, R. J., Hahn, E., Bianchi, J.-P., & Warner, R. L. (2010). Emerging self-regulation in toddlers born preterm or low birthweight: Differential susceptibility to early parenting? In press, Development and Psychopathology.

Shlafer, R. J., & Poehlmann, J. (2010). Attachment and caregiving relationships in families affected by parental incarceration. Attachment and Human Development, 12 (4), 395-415. PMID: 20582847

Poehlmann, J. (2009). Children of incarcerated mothers and fathers. Wisconsin Journal of Law, Gender, and Society, 24 (2), 331-340.

Shlafer, R. J., Poehlmann, J., Coffino, B., & Hanneman, A. (2009). Mentoring children with incarcerated parents: Implications for research, practice, and policy. Family Relations, 58, 507-519.

Poehlmann, J., Schwichtenberg, A. J. M., Bolt, D., & Dilworth-Bart, J. (2009). Predictors of depressive symptom trajectories in mothers of infants born preterm or low birthweight. Journal of Family Psychology, 23(5), 690-704. PMID: 19803605

Poehlmann, J. (2005). Childrens family environments and intellectual outcomes during maternal incarceration. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 1275-1285.

Poehlmann, J. (2005). Representations of attachment relationships in children of incarcerated mothers. Child Development, 76, 679-696.