Alp Aytuglu

Education

Research

I study parenting with a specific focus on fatherhood—first-time fathers' readiness for parenting, fathers' experiences of their transition to fatherhood, neurobiological aspects of fathering, and fathers' influence on their young children's social-emotional and cognitive development. I am also interested in formation of narrative identity in familial context and its link to positive development among emerging adults. 

Teaching

Co-Instructor: HDFS 4860/6860 Parenting and Child Guidance (2021), under the supervision of Dr. Geoffrey L. Brown.

Prior Professional Positions

Awards

Advisory Committee

Dr. Geoffrey L. Brown

Dr. Kalsea Koss

Dr. Niyantri Ravindran

Areas of Expertise

Parenting (father focus), father-child relationships (intrapersonal characteristics, co-parental interaction), and neural and hormonal correlates of fatherhood

Current Research

1. I am currently working on the PACT (Parents and Children Together) project at UGA (PI, Dr. Geoffrey L. Brown), an NIH-funded study examining contextual factors affecting the transition to parenthood, and fathers' contributions to infant development among unmarried, African American men in rural Georgia.
2. I am also working on the FIP (Family Interaction Project) at UGA (PI, Dr. Drew Abney), a study using neuroimaging and stress reactivity data to examine neural synchrony between mother-child dyads and early self-regulation. 

Journal Articles

Aytuglu, A., Dost-Gözkan, A., Şengül-Tığ, P., Buğan-Kısır, B., & Brown, G. L. (2023). Narrative identity and positive youth development in Turkish emerging adults: The moderating role of cultural self-construals. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075231170899

Thomas C., Collins C., Aytuglu A., & Brown G. L. (accepted). Life Stress and Unmarried, African American Fathers’ Attitudes Toward Attachment: The Moderating Role of Shift-and-Persist. Psychology of Men & Masculinities. 

Aytuglu, A., & Brown, G. L. (2022). Pleasure in parenting as a mediator between fathers’ attachment representations and paternal sensitivity. Journal of Family Psychology, 36(3), 427–437. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000905

Brown, G. L., Mangelsdorf, S. C., Neff, C., Shigeto, A., Aytuglu, A., & Thomas, C. R. (2022). Infant attachment configurations with mothers and fathers: Implications for triadic interaction quality and children’s parental preferences. Early Childhood Research Quarterly 58, 155-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2021.09.004

Publications

Brown G. L., & Aytuglu H. A. (2020). Father-child attachment relationships. In H. E. Fitzgerald, K. von Klitzing, N. J. Cabrera, J. Scarano de Mendonça, & T. Skjøthaug (Eds.), Handbook of fathers and child development (pp. 273-290). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51027-5_18

Working Papers

Manuscripts Under Review/Revision

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Manuscripts in Preparation (analyses completed)

Aytuglu, A., Freeman J. Y., Thomas, C. R., Howard, C. J., & Brown, G. L. (in preparation). Predictors of unmarried, African American fathers' prenatal parenting self-efficacy: A moderated mediation model.

Aytuglu, A., Brown, G. L., &  Kogan, S. (in preparation). Health Problems Mediate Associations between Low SES African American Fathers’ Socio-Ecological Risk and Parental Engagement.