Canterbury Child Development Research Group

The Canterbury Child Development Research Group (CCDRG) is a multidisciplinary research team based at UC. The group investigates critical child development issues concerned with early developmental risks, brain development, parenting, and family functioning. 

ABOUT US

The Canterbury Child Development Research Group was established in 2003. This was achieved with the generous support of the University of Canterbury Foundation who worked with us in creating the child developmental research facility on Creyke Road known as the Canterbury Child Development Research House.

Our interdisciplinary research seeks to better understand how early life experiences affect an individual’s brain and behavioural development over the life course. We study different groups of children who have experienced early adversity, including children born preterm (or before <37 weeks gestational age), children exposed prenatally to drugs, children exposed to poverty and psychosocial stress, as well as typically developing children.

Many of our studies employ prospective longitudinal designs to understand differences in children’s developmental trajectories, and to identify risk and resilience processes that shape child development. We use diverse methods including interviews with parents and children, behavioural observation, neuropsychological, neuroimaging and psychobiological approaches. Through our collaborative research, we aim to generate new information that will positively impact the lives of children and their whānau in Aotearoa New Zealand.