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Lisa Berlin

Lisa Berlin

Alison L. Richman Professor of Children and Families

lberlin@ssw.umaryland.edu(410) 706.6392
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About

Professor Berlin’s research focuses on early child-caregiver attachment as well as programs and policies to support early parenting and child development. Dr. Berlin has been conducting attachment and intervention research for over 20 years across multiple disciplines including human development, psychology, social work, and public health. A major thrust of Dr. Berlin’s research agenda concerns the extent to which attachment-based programs can add value to publicly funded services designed to support early parenting and child development. 

Currently, Dr. Berlin directs Compañeros en la Salud de los Niños/Partners in Children's Health (CSN) in collaboration with Drs. Natalie Slopen of the Harvard School of Public Health and Tania Caballero of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Centro SOL (Salud/Health and Opportunity for Latinos). Funded by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, the CSN study is a 5-year randomized trial testing the effects of an attachment-based parenting program on toddler’s emerging health outcomes in low-income Latino families in Baltimore. 

Dr. Berlin is the also editor of the Society for Research in Child Development Social Policy Report, a journal dedicated to leveraging child and family research to support evidence-based policy development. 

Dr. Berlin earned her MS and PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from the Pennsylvania State University, and her BA in Psychology from Barnard College. 

 

Expertise & Interests

  • Infant-parent attachment
  • Early parenting
  • Prevention of child maltreatment
  • Home visiting
  • Program evaluation
  • Research-policy partnerships
Education

MS, PhD; Pennsylvania State University

Recent Publications

Martoccio, T.L., Berlin, L.J., & Jones Harden, B. (2022). Neighborhood collective efficacy moderates the association between depressive symptoms and harsh parenting in low-income Latina mothers of infants. Infant Mental Health Journal, 43(6), 951-958. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/imhj.22019 

Thompson, R. A., Simpson, J. A., & Berlin, L.J. (2022). Taking perspective on attachment theory and research: Nine fundamental questions. Attachment & Human Development, 24, 543-560. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2022.2030132 

West, A., Berlin, L.J., Goodman, A., Endy, K., Manzon, C., & Jones Harden, B. (2022). Home-based Early Head Start plus Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up: A qualitative study of implementation outcomes. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 31, 1057-1068. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02189-7 

Berlin, L.J. (2021). The value added of attachment theory, research, and intervention for US child care and early childhood education: Reflecting and carrying forward the legacy of Edward Zigler. Development and Psychopathology, 33(2), 545-553. Special issue honoring the contributions and legacy of Edward Zigler. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0954579420001571 

Jones Harden, B., Martoccio, T.L., & Berlin, L.J. (2021). Maternal psychological risk moderates the impacts of attachment-based intervention on mother-toddler mutuality and toddler behavior problems: A randomized controlled trial. Prevention Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-021-01281-0 

Jones Harden, B., Martoccio, T.L., Berlin, L.J., & Cannon, E. (2021). Intimate partner violence, parenting, and toddler behavior among low-income Latinx families. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 30(7), 1675-1684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-01971-x 

Thompson, R. A., Simpson, J. A., & Berlin, L.J. (Eds.) (2021). Attachment: The fundamental questions. Guilford Press.

Hepworth, A. D., Berlin, L. J., Salas, A., Pardue-Kim, M., Martoccio, T. L., & Jones Harden, B. (2020). Increasing maternal sensitivity to infant distress through attachment-based intervention: A randomized controlled trial. Attachment and Human Development. 23, 75-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2020.1834592 

Berlin, L. J., Shdaimah, C. S., Goodman, A., & Slopen, N. (2020). “I'm literally drowning”: A mixed-methods exploration of infant-toddler child care providers’ wellbeing. Early Education and Development, 31(7), 1071-1088. Special issue on Early Care and Education Professionals’ Social and Emotional Well-being. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10409289.2020.1766915 

Hepworth, A. D., Berlin, L. J., Martoccio, T. L., Cannon, E. N., Berger, R. H., & Jones Harden, B. (2020). Supporting infant emotion regulation through attachment-based intervention: A randomized controlled trial. Prevention Science, 21, 702-713. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-020-01127-1 

Hepworth, A. D., Berlin, L.J., Martoccio, T.L., & Jones Harden, B. (2020). Maternal attachment style, sensitivity, and infant obesity risk in low-income, Latino families. Attachment and Human Development, 23, 75-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2020.1729214 

Martoccio, T. L., Berlin, L.J., Aparicio, E., Appleyard Carmody, K., & Dodge, K.A. (2020). Intergenerational continuity in child maltreatment: A follow-up analysis of underlying mechanisms. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(1–2), 973-986.  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0886260520914542 

Berlin, L.J., Martoccio, T.L., Bryce, C. & Jones Harden, B. (2019). Improving infants’ cortisol regulation through attachment-based intervention: A randomized controlled trial.

Berlin, L.J., Martoccio, T.L., & Jones Harden, B. (2018). Improving Early Head Start’s impacts on parenting through attachment-based intervention: A randomized controlled trial. Developmental Psychology, 54, 2316-2327. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0000592 

West, A. L., Berlin, L.J., & Jones Harden, B. (2018). Occupational stress and wellbeing among Early Head Start home visitors: A mixed methods study. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 44, 288-303.