Michelle Enlow

Dr. Bosquet Enlow’s research program examines the diverse routes by which intergenerational effects influence mental health risk, integrating genetics and epigenetics, neuroscience, biological psychology, and socio-emotional processes. Her studies focus on the impact of maternal and child stress and trauma exposures and maternal psychopathology (depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) on child development. She has conducted research examining the ways that mothers’ trauma histories may disrupt development in pregnancy, infancy, and the preschool period and the ways that such disruptions may increase vulnerability to mental health problems in later life. Dr. Bosquet Enlow has a particularly keen interest in understanding risk factors for anxiety disorders. She has also extended her research program to include how early processes may impact child physical health and neurocognitive development. In addition, Dr. Bosquet Enlow has contributed to the development of clinical measures for assessing traumatic stress responses in children, including the Traumatic Events Screening Inventory-Parent Report Revised, the Child Stress Disorders Checklist-Short Form, and an acute stress disorder module adapted from the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA).

Research Background

Dr. Bosquet Enlow is a developmental and clinical psychologist with specialized training in infant mental health (birth to age 5), the assessment and treatment of traumatic stress in children and adults, the development of child stress regulation, and the etiology and maintenance of anxiety. She received a B.A. in Psychology from Yale University (mentor Dr. Alice Carter) and a Ph.D. from the Developmental Psychopathology and Clinical Science program at the University of Minnesota (mentor Dr. Byron Egeland); she completed an internship in Clinical Psychology and a fellowship in Infant Mental Health at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (mentor Dr. Joy Osofsky) and an APA-accredited postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Psychology through the Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology (mentor Dr. Glenn Saxe). Dr. Bosquet Enlow is particularly interested in understanding how risk for mental health difficulties throughout life are established in early development. Ultimately, she aims to design interventions that support healthy development and prevent the occurrence of mental health problems, particularly in highly vulnerable populations.