Faculty Collective-Holli Tonyan
Holli Tonyan, assistant professor of Psychology, studies how culturally organized local contexts provide different opportunities for children’s early development. Current research examines family child care (FCC) as one of the first sites where many children learn health-related habits in eating, sleeping, physical activity, and media use –behaviors associated with maintaining healthy weight. Because FCC serves many children at-risk for obesity and has been associated with higher risk for obesity, it is a potential site for intervention. Interviews with FCC providers about how and why they organize care as they do help to identify the conditions under which providers’ daily routines include opportunities for children to learn healthy habits. As a first cohort Tiered Mentor Program (TMP) Scholar through the CSUN’s Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions, Dr. Tonyan is working with Dr. Thomas Weisner (UCLA) to adapt his Ecocultural Family Interview for use in FCC. She is a passionate advocate for community-based research and works with Child Care Resource Center, the resource and referral agency distributing government subsidies, providing technical assistance, and offering professional development to FCC in the region. Student lab members visit family child care sites, conduct and transcribe interviews, and assist in mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) data analysis.