Larissa G. DuncanElizabeth C. Davies Chair in Child and Family Well-Being | Professor of Human Development & Family Studies

Over the past 20 years, my work has evolved from a focus on prevention science and medical clinical trial models to research that is community-participatory in nature. I take an interdisciplinary approach to promoting well-being and health equity through applied research in community, educational, and healthcare settings. Much of this work has involved testing the application of contemplative practices such as mindfulness and compassion when integrated into existing models for behavioral/mental health skills-building, prenatal primary care, and community health worker (CHW) care. A major premise of this work is that during times of change, people experience greater plasticity and openness to learning new perspectives and skills that can promote thriving for children, youth, and families. Thus, I have been particularly interested in intervening during key developmental transitions in the lifespan, such as the transition to parenthood and the transition to adolescence.

Further, I integrate systems-thinking and social change perspectives in the service of impact at the community and societal levels, with acknowledgement of the ever-evolving socio-political-historical context. My intention is to be, as the Black scholar-activist Alexis Pauline Gumbs identifies, “a community-accountable scholar.” This has meant a slower, relational, trust-building process in emergent work that is not yet well-represented in my scholarly publications. It has also meant a shift toward intended outcomes that extend beyond well-being and social/racial justice, seeking a liberatory way of being. Throughout, healthy relationships are at the heart of this work: mind-body relationships, family relationships, community relationships, and a recognition of the interdependence of humans with the natural world.

I welcome mentorship inquiries from students, postdocs, and junior faculty who are motivated by these principles. While I am open to mentoring people with interests aligned with my prior work on mindful parenting and mindfulness-based intervention research, as well as more general prevention science and integrative health research, those who take a community-participatory and liberatory approach will have the greatest alignment. Active current projects center the reclamation of cultural strengths and include investigating: a) family-focused CHW models with Indigenous/Native American/First Nation, Latino/a/x and Indigenous immigrant, and Hmong and Afghan refugee communities, in several projects with Dr. Mariela Quesada-Centeno (HDFS PhD 2022) and Raíces para el Cambio/Roots4Change; the UW Rural Partnerships Institute & Division of Extension Health & Well-Being Institute; and Prof. Zoua Vang and her Maternal Child Health Equity & Safety Lab; b) an Antiracist Parenting program for families of young children with Prof. Maggie Kerr and Inés Botto; c) a parent training to promote children’s prosocial, helping behaviors grounded in ethnographic research with Indigenous-heritage families of the Americas developed by Dr. Lucretia Fairchild (HDFS PhD 2023); and d) applied research and outreach on nature and well-being across the lifespan, including a collaboration with the Division of Extension Master Naturalist volunteer training program.

As a white settler living and working on the lands of the Ho-Chunk people, my commitment throughout this work is to remain grounded in cultural humility, with the desire for all to experience a sense of cultural safety.

Courses that I regularly teach include graduate seminars on Mindfulness for Social Change (HDFS 766) and Bridging the Gap Between Research and Action (HDFS 872).

Selected Publications

Duncan, L. G., Zhang, N., Santana, T., Cook, J. G., Castro-Smyth, L., Hutchison, M. S., Huynh, T., Mallareddy, D., Jurkiewicz, L., & Bardacke, N. (2023). Enhancing prenatal group medical visits with mindfulness skills: A pragmatic trial with Latina and BIPOC pregnant women experiencing multiple forms of structural inequity. Mindfulness, 15, 2975–2994.

Kerr, M. L., Botto, I., Byer, K., & Duncan, L. G. (2025). Critical socialization in white families: Lessons learned from an antiracist parenting program. Family Relations, 74(4), 1654–1676.

Fairchild, L. L., & Duncan, L. G. (2025). “I now see my toddler as a helper, not just somebody in need of help”: A pilot trial of Raising Helpful Toddlers parent training. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 70, 1–18.

For a complete list of publications, see Duncan’s Google Scholar profile. CV available upon request.