Postdoctoral fellow
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Dr. Miriam Chasson is a clinical social worker and researcher specializing in early caregiving and child development. Her doctoral research at Bar Ilan University, under the mentorship of Professor Orit Taubman-Ben-Ari, focused on the long-term impact of maternal childhood trauma on caregiving experiences. Central to this work was the development of the Maternal Disintegrative Responses Scale (MDRS), a novel self-report tool designed to assess maternal intrusive thoughts and dissociative experiences during caregiving. The MDRS provides a unique lens to study the internal struggles mothers face, including feelings of alienation, emotional disconnection, and overwhelming fears of harm to their infant. The scale has proven valuable in capturing these experiences across various maternal populations, offering insights into how these disruptions may affect the parent-child relationship. Currently, Dr. Chasson is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Medical School, working under the guidance of Professor Karlen Lyons-Ruth. Her research bridges multiple disciplines to investigate how disrupted maternal behaviors, such as disorientation and during interactions, affect infant stress responses, emotional regulation, and brain development. A key aspect of her work involves examining biomarkers, including cortisol levels, and their associations with structural changes in stress-sensitive brain regions like the amygdala and hippocampus in both mothers and infants. Dr. Chasson’s studies also extend to understanding how maternal trauma impacts the caregiver-infant relationship within high-stress environments, such as those affected by war or systemic instability. By integrating psychological, biological, and social factors, she investigates how external stressors shape maternal caregiving and, in turn, influence infant developmental trajectories. Through longitudinal studies and collaborative projects, Dr. Chasson aims to advance understanding of how caregiving behaviors are shaped by both individual histories and broader environmental contexts. Her work not only deepens knowledge in developmental psychology but also informs interventions to support vulnerable families, particularly those exposed to trauma and adversity.
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Maternal Disintegrative Responses Scale (MDRS) and Its Links to Childhood Trauma
Saturday, March 15, 2025
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM US Eastern Time
