About

Stephanie Parade is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University. She also serves as the Director of Early Childhood Research at E. P. Bradley Hospital and is the Associate Director of the Initiative on Stress, Trauma, and Resilience. Her research focuses on the biological and behavioral mechanisms through which childhood stress and trauma impact mental and physical health outcomes across the lifespan. She emphasizes understanding the effects of childhood adversity on mental health and close relationships in adulthood, particularly during the transition to parenthood, as well as factors contributing to risk and resilience among infants and young children exposed to adversity, including maltreatment and maternal postpartum depression. Her work aims to inform the development of effective interventions to support children and families, with a specific focus on community-based prevention strategies. Dr. Parade is also Co-Director of the T32 in Childhood Stress, Trauma, and Resilience, mentoring postdoctoral fellows in this field. Her research spans basic science to applied clinical studies, often collaborating with local community partners and state agencies, and includes longitudinal studies on maltreated children, transgenerational effects of maternal adversity, and interventions to prevent child maltreatment and promote health in early childhood.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Genetics
• Biology
• Medicine
• Internal medicine
• Engineering ethics
• Developmental psychology
• Environmental health

Selected publications

• Biological Indicators of Cardiovascular Health by Foster Care History in Adults

  American Journal of Preventive Medicine · 2025-09-12

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  INTRODUCTION: Childhood adversity contributes to adult cardiovascular health disparities, but the cardiovascular health of foster care alumni, who experience unique compounded stressors such as attachment disruption and environmental upheaval, is understudied. In this study, biological cardiovascular health indicators were described among U.S. adults with and without a foster care placement history. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from 4,625 adults (representing 17,226,361 U.S. adults) approaching and in early midlife (2016-2018) from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health were used. Biological indicators of cardiovascular health included BMI, blood lipids, blood glucose, and blood pressure, which were each scored on a standardized scale of 0-100, with higher scores indicating better cardiovascular health. An unweighted average of these standardized scores was also computed. Incorporating sampling weights, nationally representative estimates of cardiovascular health by foster care history were generated in 2024-2025. RESULTS: There were 113 participants who reported a foster care placement history (1.8% [weighted]), representing 313,604 adults. Foster care alumni had poorer overall cardiovascular health scores (mean=61.8, 95% CI=56.6, 66.9) and blood pressure health scores (mean=48.7 [indicates hypertension], 95% CI=39.8, 57.5) than those without a foster care history (cardiovascular health: mean=70.2, 95% CI=69.1, 71.4; blood pressure: mean=61.6, 95% CI=59.9, 63.2). Notably, common protective factors (e.g., female sex, higher income) did not mitigate cardiovascular health risk in the foster care group. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood foster care placement is associated with poorer cardiovascular health, particularly hypertension, even in groups generally at lower risk. Research and clinical initiatives are needed to better understand and address cardiovascular health inequities and promote cardiovascular wellness in this population.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 0194 Associations Between Parent-Child Relationship Quality During Adolescence and Sleep into Adulthood Among Individuals with a History of Foster Care

  SLEEP · 2025-05-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Introduction Children in foster care (FC) face caregiver attachment disruptions, leading to hyperarousal and poor sleep that may persist even after achieving permanency. Caregiver-child relationship quality may protect against poor sleep by down-regulating hypervigilance and fostering a sense of safety, but this is understudied in this population. We examined associations between resident parent-child relationship quality (PCRQ) in adolescence and sleep from adolescence into adulthood in individuals with a FC history. Methods Participants were 178 individuals from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health who reported a FC placement history at Wave III (W3) of the study. Participants were in grades 7-12 during W1 (mean age=15.34 years, SE±0.21) and were 60% female, 60% White, 17% Black, 11% Hispanic, and 29% reported a resident parent receiving public assistance. At W1, participants rated PCRQ for their resident parent(s). For overall PCRQ, mother and father scores were averaged for two-parent households and the single score was used in single parent households. Insomnia symptoms and insufficient sleep duration were measured at W1, W3 (ages 18-26 [duration only]), W4 (ages 24-32), and W5 (33-43). Design-based analyses were conducted, including use of sampling weights. We used Poisson regression with robust variance, adjusting for demographic characteristics and wave. Results Neither overall PCRQ or maternal PCRQ in adolescence were associated with insomnia symptoms or insufficient sleep duration. However, each 1-point increase in paternal PCRQ during adolescence was associated with a 6% reduced risk for insomnia symptoms from adolescence into adulthood (Risk Ratio=0.94, SE=.03, p=0.025). Associations between PCRQ and sleep did not differ by wave. Conclusion Among individuals with FC histories, higher PCRQ with a resident father in adolescence was associated with reduced risk of insomnia symptoms over time. Lack of associations with overall PCRQ and maternal PCRQ highlights the need for additional research into the unique roles of fathers and other contextual factors on lifelong sleep health in people who experienced FC. This work will inform the tailoring of sleep interventions for this population. Support (if any) Add Health: NICHD P01HD31921, NIA U01AG071448 and U01AG071450. DMR: The Sleep Research Society Foundation and NHLBI 1K01HL169495. DMR & SP: NIGMS P20GM139767.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Multilevel and multimodal biobehavioral methods in the study of stress, trauma, and resilience: a systems approach

  Journal of Neural Transmission · 2025-06-09

  reviewOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Brief Report: Antecedents of Relationship Dynamics Among Primary Caregivers and Preschool-Aged Children Who Have Experienced Adversity

  Journal of Family Violence · 2025-02-18

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Examining the moderating role of adverse childhood experiences on the link between executive functioning and depressive/anger rumination among adolescents

  Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology · 2025-09-02 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  INTRODUCTION: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are theorized to amplify the effects of poor executive functioning (EF) leading to rumination. Though, few studies test this hypothesis among adolescents. Rumination is a transdiagnostic risk factor linked to mental health problems. We tested the moderating effect of ACEs (across informants) on the association between EF (measured using neutral and negative stimuli) and depressive and anger rumination. METHOD: = 14.86, SD = .50) who completed self-reports of lifetime ACEs, depressive and anger rumination, and the affective interference resolution task (a measure of EF). Additionally, a caregiver provided lifetime report of youth ACEs, and early childhood ACEs (3-5 years of age) were assessed using child protective records and caregiver interviews. RESULTS: = .046) after controlling for gender and current mental health problems; however, these effects were no longer significant when mental health problems were removed as a covariate. Furthermore, the interaction utilizing early childhood ACEs was not significant. Lastly, the interactions between ACEs and EF assessed with neutral information on depressive rumination and brooding were null. CONCLUSIONS: There is some support for the interactive relationship between EF and ACEs on rumination. However, statistical significance varies based on model specification and assessment of constructs. It is important to utilize multi-informants to assess ACEs, EF measured across valenced stimuli, and broad conceptualizations of rumination.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 4.48 Predictors of Parenting Efficacy Over the First Year Postpartum and the Role of Adverse Childhood Experiences

  Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry · 2025-10-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Early life stress, psychiatric conditions, and mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) in medically healthy young adults

  Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025-06-05 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• One state's journey with a reflective supervision professional development series: Development, implementation, and adaptation

  Infant Mental Health Journal · 2025-01-28 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Reflective supervision (RS) has been viewed as best practice and is therefore incorporated-and often mandated-as a key feature of many relationship-based infant and early childhood serving programs. To promote the implementation of high-quality RS for infant and early childhood professionals, it is critical that a focus is placed on how infant and early childhood professionals are trained to build RS capacities. To this end, we describe Rhode Island, United States's journey developing, implementing, and iteratively adapting an RS professional development series. We describe the structure of the curricula as well as the content and learning objectives, which strive to bridge the gap between the theoretical concepts foundational to RS, process-oriented self-reflection, and the practical application of RS skills and strategies. We also outline the development and process of iterative adaptation that has refined the curricula over the past decade. Finally, we chronicle the history of coordination and collaboration that promoted the development and implementation of this series, which has been disseminated within home visiting and early care and education settings. This narrative can serve as a model for organizations, systems, and states that are undertaking efforts to provide professional development focused on RS.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• How can we build structural resilience? Integration of social-ecological and minority stress models.

  American Psychologist · 2024-11-01 · 16 citations

  articleOpen access

  As the United States contends with racism and a social justice reckoning, the need to advance our understanding of how to build structural resilience continues to be pressing. This article proposes a culturally and structurally informed model of resilience for individuals with minoritized identities that integrates social-ecological and minority stress models. First, common stressors and traumas experienced by minoritized individuals at multiple levels of proximal/distal influence are reviewed: microsystem (e.g., family rejection), mesosystem (e.g., community-based discrimination), exosystem (e.g., barriers to health care), macrosystem (e.g., harmful legal policies), and chronosystem (e.g., historical legacy). Next, how these exposures have cascading effects on minority stress processes (e.g., discriminatory policies in the macrosystem affect how a child is socialized in the microsystem) are considered. Then, modifiable factors (e.g., community cohesion) that promote resiliency in the face of ongoing exposures are discussed. To conclude, guidelines are offered for advancing the psychological science of resilience in minoritized groups including mixed methods to reflect participants' experiences, ecological approaches to assess resilience, and multilevel modeling to understand the interplay between the social-ecological context and individual factors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• The role of sleep disturbances in associations between early life adversity and subsequent brain and language development during childhood

  Frontiers in Sleep · 2024-12-04

  articleOpen access

  Sleep disturbances are posited to play a key role in the development of poor mental and physical health outcomes related to early life adversity (ELA), in part through effects on brain development. Language development is critically important for health and developmental outcomes across the lifespan, including academic achievement and emotion regulation. Yet, very little research has focused on the dynamic contributions of ELA, sleep, and brain development on language outcomes. In this mini review, we summarize the current pediatric literature independently connecting ELA and sleep to language development, as well as the effects of ELA and sleep on language-relevant aspects of brain structure and function. We then propose a framework suggesting that sleep disturbances and subsequent effects on brain structure and function may act as key mechanisms linking ELA and language development. Future research investigating the associations among ELA, sleep, brain, and language development will refine our proposed framework and identify whether sleep should be included as an intervention target to mitigate the effects of early life adversity on language development.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Longitudinal examination of DNA methylation in maltreated children

  NIH · $2.8M · 2018–2025

• Research Training in Childhood Stress, Trauma, and Resilience

  NIH · $1.7M · 2020–2026

• Core C: Community Collaborative Core

  NIH · $20.2M · 2021–2026

Frequent coauthors

• Ronald Seifer

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  186 shared

• Lindsay Huffhines

  Miriam Hospital

  165 shared

• Audrey R. Tyrka

  Brown University

  141 shared

• Jesse L. Coe

  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  117 shared

• Lawrence H. Price

  66 shared

• Darlynn M. Rojo‐Wissar

  University of Arizona

  61 shared

• Hung‐Teh Kao

  Brown University

  53 shared

• Kathryn K. Ridout

  Kaiser Permanente

  48 shared

Labs

• Parade, StephaniePI

Awards & honors

• COBRE for Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) (NIGMS P20 G…
• Healthy Hearts/Corazones Saludables: Partnership to promote…
• Embedding Mental Health Consultation Within Prenatal Home Vi…
• HPA Mechanisms Underlying Links Between Inter-Parental Viole…
• Addressing Toxic Stress in Early Childhood (Health Resources…