I am a life-span developmental psychologist who takes a functional approach to studying emotion and motivational processes and their development. My current research projects are in three major areas: (1) The effect of emotional competence/mindfulness interventions on socioemotional competence and prevention of emotion regulation difficulties; (2) Assessment of school readiness and intervention to improve social, motivational, and emotional aspects of school readiness; and (3) the role of socialization and cultural beliefs in the development of social emotions, emotion regulation, and self-regulation during early childhood