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[in chronological order beginning with most recent]


Brown, G., Gustafsson, H., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Cox, M. J., & The Family Life Project Key Investigators (in press). Associations between early caregiving and rural, low-SES, African American children’s representations of attachment relationships. Attachment and Human Development.


Groh, A. M., Propper, C., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Moore, G. A., Calkins, S., Cox, M. J. (in press). Mothers’ physiological and affective responding to infant distress: Unique antecedents of avoidant and resistant attachment. Child Development.


Haltigan, J. D., Madigan, S., Bronfman, E., Bailey, H., Borland-Kerr, C., Mills-Koonce, W. R., & Lyons-Ruth, K. (in press). Refining the assessment of disrupted maternal communication: Using item response models to identify central indicators of disrupted behavior.  Development and Psychopathology.


Holochwost, S. J., Volpe, V. V., Gueron-Sela, N., Propper, C. B., & Mills-Koonce, W. R. (in press). Sociodemographic risk, parenting, and inhibitory control in early childhood: The role of respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.


Jensen, T. M., Lippold, M. A., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Fosco, G. M. (in press).  Stepfamily relationship quality and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems.  Family Process. PMCID: PMC5705583


Wagner, N., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Willoughby, Cox, M. J., & The Family Life Project Key Investigators (in press). Parenting and cortisol in infancy interactively predict conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors in childhood. Child Development.


Zvara, B., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Cox, M. J. & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (in press).  Maternal childhood sexual trauma and Early Parenting: Prenatal and Postnatal Associations. Infant and Child Development.


Berry, D., Blair, C., Willoughby, M., Granger, D. A., Mills-Koonce, W. R., & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2017). Maternal sensitivity and adrenocortiocal functioning across infancy and toddlerhood: Physiological adaptation to context?. Development and Psychopathology, 29(1), 303-317.


Bedford. R., Wagner, N., Rehder, P. D., Propper, C. B., Willoughby, M. T., & Mills-Koonce, W. R. (2017).  The role of infants’ mother-directed gaze, maternal sensitivity and emotion recognition in childhood callous unemotional behaviors. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 947-956.


Gueron‐Sela, N., Wagner, N. J., Propper, C. B., Mills‐Koonce, W. R., Moore, G. A., & Cox, M. J. (2017). The interaction between child respiratory sinus arrhythmia and early sensitive parenting in the prediction of children’s executive functions. Infancy, 22(2), 171-189.     


Gustafsson, H. C., Brown, G. L., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Cox, M. J., & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2017). Intimate partner violence and children’s attachment representations during middle childhood. Journal of marriage and family, 79(3), 865-878.


Zvara, B., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Carmody, K. A., Cox, M. J. & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2017).  Maternal childhood sexual trauma and child conduct problems in offspring: Multiple pathways of influence. Journal of Family Violence, 32(2), 231-242.


Finegood, E., Blair, C., Granger, D. A., Hibel, L. C., Mills-Koonce, W. R. & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2016). Psychobiological influences on maternal sensitivity in the context of adversity.  Developmental Psychology, 52(7), 1073-1087.  PMCID: PMC4934602


Holochwost, S. J., Propper, C. B., Garner-Neblett, N., & Mills-Koonce, W. R. (2016). Risk, parenting, and executive functions in early childhood: Exploring the role of ethnicity. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 36, 537-549.


Mills-Koonce, W. R., Willoughby, M. W., Garrett-Peters, P., Wagner, N., Vernon-Feagans, L., & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2016). The interplay among socioeconomic status, household chaos, and parenting in the prediction of child conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors.  Development and Psychopathology, 28(3), 757-771.


Wagner, N., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Propper. C. B., Willoughby, M. T., Rehder, P., Moore, G., & Cox, M. J., (2016). Associations between infant behavior during the Face-to-Face Still Face Paradigm and conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits in early childhood. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44(8), 1439-1453.


Wagner, N., Propper. C. B., Gueron-Sela, N., & Mills-Koonce, W. R. (2016). Dimensions of early parenting and infants’ autonomic functioning interactively predict later internalizing behavior problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44(3), 4569-470.  PMCID: PMC4676742


Wang, F., Willoughby, M. T., Mills-Koonce, W. R., & Cox, M. J., (2016). Infant attachment disorganization and moderation pathways to level and change in externalizing behavior during preschool ages.  Attachment and Human Development, 18(6), 534-553.


Zvara, B., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Cox, M. J. & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2016).  Intimate partner violence, maternal gatekeeping and child conduct problems. Family Relations, 65(5), 647-660.


Blair, C., Sulik, M., Willoughby, M. T., Mills‐Koonce, W. R., Petrill, S., Bartlett, C., Greenberg, M., & The Family Life Project Key Investigators (2015). Catechol‐o‐methyltransferase val158met polymorphism interacts with early experience to predict executive functions in early childhood. Developmental Psychobiology, 57(7), 833-841. PMCID: PMC5241672


Blair, C., Ursache, A., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Stifter, C., Voegtline, K., Granger, D. A., & The Family Life Project Key Investigators (2015).  Emotional reactivity and parenting sensitivity interact to predict cortisol output in toddlers. Developmental Psychology, 51(9), 1271-1277.


Mills-Koonce, W. R., Willoughby, M. T., Zvara, B., Barnett, M., Gustafsson, H., Cox, M. J., & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2015).  Direct and indirect effects of mothers’ and fathers’ positive engagement on children’s early cognitive development.  Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 38, 1-10. PMCID: PMC4418032


Sulik, M. Blair, C., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Berry, D., Greenberg, M., & The Family Life Project Key Investigators (2015).  Early parenting and the development of externalizing behaviors problems: Longitudinal mediation through children’s executive functioning. Child Development, 86, 1588-1603. PMCID: PMC4567899


Wagner, N., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Willoughby, M. T., Zvara, B., Cox, M. J., & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2015). Parenting and children’s representations of family predictor disruptive behaviors and callous-unemotional traits. Developmental Psychology, 51(7). 935-948.


Wang, F., Cox, M. J., Mills-Koonce, W. R., & Patricia Snyder (2015). Parental behaviors and beliefs, child temperament, and attachment disorganization.  Family Relations: An International Journal of Applied Family Studies, 64(2), 191-204.


Zvara, B., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Carmody, K., Cox, M. J. & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2015).  Childhood sexual trauma and subsequent parenting beliefs and behaviors. Child Abuse and Neglect, 44, 87-97.


Zvara, B., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Clincy, A., Cox, M. J. & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2015).  The interdependence of adult relationship quality and parenting behaviors among African American and European American couples in rural, low-income communities. Infant and Child Development, 24(3), 343-363.


Holochwost, S. J., Gariepy, J.-L., Propper, C. B., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Calkins, S., Moore, G., & Wang, F. (2014). Parenting behaviors and vagal tone at six months predict attachment disorganization at twelve months.  Developmental Psychobiology, 56(6), 1423-1430.


Towe-Goodman, N., Willoughby, M., Blair, C., Gustafsson, H., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Cox, M., & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2014). Fathers’ parenting and the development of early executive functioning.  Journal of Family Psychology, 28(6), 867-876.


Zvara, B., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Garrett-Peters, P., Wagner, N., Vernon-Feagans, L., Cox, M. J. & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2014).  The mediating role of parenting in the associations between household chaos and children’s representations of family dysfunction.  Attachment and Human Development, 16(6), 633-655.


Clincy, A., Mills-Koonce, W. R., & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2013).  Trajectories of intrusive parenting during toddlerhood and school adjustment for low-income African American boys.  American Journal of Orthopsychiatry,83(2), 194-206.


Newland, R. P., Crnic, K. A., Cox, M. J, & Mills-Koonce, W. R. (2013). The family stress model and maternal psychological symptoms: Mediated pathways from economic hardship to parenting across the infancy to preschool period. Journal of Family Psychology, 27(1), 96-105.


Calkins, S. D., Propper, C.B., & Mills-Koonce, W. R. (2013).  A biopsychosocial perspective on parenting and psychopathology.  Development and Psychopathology, 25(4, pt 2), 1399-1414.


Wang, F., Christ, S., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Garrett-Peters, P., & Cox, M. J. (2013). Association between Maternal Sensitivity and Externalizing Behavior from Preschool to Preadolescence. Applied Developmental Psychology, 34(2). 89-100.


Willoughby, M. T., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Propper, C. B. & Waschbusch, D. A. (2013). Observed Parenting Behaviors Interact with a Polymorphism of the Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor Gene to Predict the Emergence of Oppositional Defiant and Callous Unemotional Behaviors at Age 3 Years. Development & Psychopathology, 25(4), 903-917.


Barnett, M.A., Gustaffson, H.C., Deng, M., Mills-Koonce, W.R., & Cox, M. (2012). Bidirectional associations among language development, social competence and parenting. Infant and Child Development, 21, 374-393.


Barnett, M., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Gustafsson, H., Cox, M. J., & the Family Life Key Investigators (2012). Mother-grandmother conflict, negative parenting and young children’s social development in multigenerational families. Family Relations, 61(5), 843-877.


Mills-Koonce, W. R., Propper, C. B., & Barnett, M. (2012).  Poor infant soothability and later insecure-ambivalent attachment: Developmental change in phenotypic markers of risk or two measures of the same construct?  Infant Behavior & Development, 35(2), 215-225.


Propper, C. B., Shanahan, M. J., Russo, R., & Mills-Koonce, W. R. (2012) Evocative gene-parenting correlations and academic performance at first grade: An exploratory study. Development and Psychopathology, 24(4), 1265-1282.


Vernon-Feagans, L., Garrett-Peters, P., Willoughby, W., Mills-Koonce, W. R., & Cox, M. (2012).  Chaos, poverty, and parenting: Predictors of early language development. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 27(3), 339-351.


Blair, C., Granger, D. A., Willoughby, M., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Cox, M. J., Greenberg, M. T., Kivlighan, K., Fortunato, C. & the Family Life Project Investigators (2011). Salivary cortisol mediates effects of poverty and parenting on executive functions in early childhood. Child Development, 82(6), 1970-1984.  PMCID: PMC3218241


Garrett-Peters, P., Mills-Koonce, W.R., Vernon-Feagans, L., & Cox, M.J. (2011). Fathers’ early emotion talk: Associations with income, ethnicity, and family factors. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73(2), 335-353.


Mills-Koonce, W. R., Appleyard, K., Barnett, M., Deng, M. Putallaz, M., & Cox, M. (2011).  Adult attachment style and stress as risk factors for early maternal sensitivity and negativity.  Infant Mental Health Journal, 32(3), 277-285. PMCID: PMC4026358


Mills-Koonce, W. R., Garrett-Peters, P., Barnett, M., Granger, D. A., Blair, C, Cox, M. J., & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2011). Father contributions to cortisol responses in infancy and toddlerhood. Developmental Psychology, 47(2), 388-395. PMCID: PMC4428321


Cox, M. J., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Propper, C. B., & Gariépy, J. L. (2010). Systems theories and cascades in developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 497-506.


Mills-Koonce, W. R., Propper, C. B., Barnett, M., Gariépy, J.-L., Moore, G., Calkins, S., Cox, M. (2009).  Psychophysiological Correlates of Parenting Behavior in Mothers of Young Children. Developmental Psychobiology, 51, 650-661.


Moore, G. A., Hill, A. L., Propper, C. B., Calkins, S. D., Mills-Koonce, W. R., & Cox, M. J. (2009). Mother-infant vagal regulation in the face-to-face still-face paradigm is moderated by maternal sensitivity. Child Development, 82(1), 209-223.


Pungello, E. P., Iruka, I. P., Dotterer, A. M., Mills-Koonce, W. R., & Reznick, J. S. (2009). The effects of income, race, and parenting practices on language development in early childhood.  Developmental Psychology, 45(2), 544-557.


Barnett, M., Deng, M., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Willoughby, M., & Cox, M. J. (2008). Interdependence of parenting of mothers and fathers of infants. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(4), 561-573.


Blair, C., Granger, D., Kivlighan, K., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Willoughby, M., Greenberg, M. T., Hibel, L., Fortunato, C., & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2008).  Maternal and Child Contributions to Cortisol Response to Emotional Arousal in Young Children from Low-Income, Rural Communities. Developmental Psychology, 44(4), 1095-1109.


Garrett-Peters, P., Mills-Koonce, W.R., Vernon-Feagans, L., Willoughby, M.W., Cox, M.J., & the Family Life Project Key Investigators (2008). Early environmental correlates of maternal emotion talk. Parenting: Science and Practice, 8(2), 117-152.


Hill-Soderlund, A. L., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Propper, C. B., Calkins, S. D., Granger, D., Moore, G., Gariepy, J.-L., & Cox, M. (2008). Parasympathetic and sympathetic response to the Strange Situation in infants and mothers from avoidant and securely attached dyads.  Developmental Psychobiology, 50, 361-376.


Mills-Koonce, W. R., Gariépy, J.-L., Sutton, K., Cox, M. (2008).  Changes in maternal sensitivity across the first three years: Are mothers from different attachment dyads differentially influenced by depressive symptomatology? Attachment and Human Development, 10(3), 299-318.


Propper, C., Moore, G.A., Mills-Koonce, W.R., Halpern, C.T., Hill-Soderlund, A.L., Calkins, S.D., Carbone, M., & Cox, M. (2008). Gene-environment contributions to the development of infant vagal reactivity: The interaction of dopamine and maternal sensitivity.  Child Development, 79, 1378-1395.


Mills-Koonce, W. R., Gariépy, J.-L., Propper, C. B., Sutton, K., Calkins, S., Moore, G., & Cox, M. J. (2007).  Infant and parent factors associated with early maternal sensitivity: A caregiver-attachment systems approach.  Infant Behavior and Development, 30, 114-126.


Mills-Koonce, W. R., Propper, C., Gariépy, J. L., Blair, C., Garrett-Peters, P., & Cox, M. J. (2007). Bi-Directional genetic and environmental influence on mother and child behavior: The family system as the unit of analyses. Development and Psychopathology, 19(4), 1073-87.