Research Interests 
Early parent-child relationships; the development of psychological understanding; developmental science and public policy.

Selected Publications 

Thompson, R.: Attachment: The Fundamental Questions (2021). Guilford.

Thompson, R. A., Simpson, J., & Berlin, L. (Eds.) (in press).  Attachment: The Fundamental Questions.  New York: Guilford.

Thompson, R. A. (2019).  Emotion dysregulation: A theme in search of definition.  Development and Psychopathology, in press.  doi:10.1017/S0954579419000282.

Thompson, R. A. (2019).  Early moral development and attachment theory.  In D. Laible, L. M. Padilla-Walker, & G. Carlo (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of parenting and moral development (pp. 21-39).  New York: Oxford University Press.

Schachner, A. C. W., Newton, E. K., Thompson, R. A., & Goodman, M. (2018).  Becoming prosocial: The consistency of individual differences in early prosocial behavior.  Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 43, 42-51.  doi: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.01.001.

Newton, E. K., Thompson, R. A., & Goodman, M. (2016).  Individual differences in toddlers’ prosociality: Experiences in early relationships explain variability in prosocial behavior.  Child Development, 87(6), 1715-1726.  doi: 10.1111/cdev.12631.

Waters, S. F., & Thompson, R. A. (2016).  Children’s perceptions of emotion regulation strategy effectiveness: Links with attachment security.  Attachment & Human Development, 18(4), 354-372.  doi: 10.1080/14616734.2016.1170051.

Thompson, R. A. (2015).  Social support and child protection: Lessons learned and learning.  Child Abuse & Neglect, 41(1), 19-29. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.06.011.

Thompson, R. A. & Newton, E. K. (2013).  Baby altruists?  Examining the complexity of prosocial motivation in young children.  Infancy 18(1), 120-133. 

Raikes, H. A., Virmani, E. A., Thompson, R. A., & Hatton, H. (2013).  Declines in peer conflict from preschool through first grade: Influences from early attachment and social information processing.  Attachment & Human Development, 15(1), 65-82. 

Thompson, R. A. (2012).  Wither the preconventional child?  Toward a life-span moral development theory.  Child Development Perspectives, 6(4), 423-429. 

Thompson, R. A. (2011).  Emotion and emotion regulation: Two sides of the developing coin.  Emotion Review, 3(1), 53-61. 

Waters, S., Virmani, E., Thompson, R. A., Meyer, S., Raikes, A., & Jochem, R. (2010).  Emotion regulation and attachment: Unpacking two constructs and their association.  Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment (Special section on The Assessment of Emotion Regulation: Improving Construct Validity in Research on Psychopathology in Youth), 32(1), 37-47.

Raikes, H. A., & Thompson, R. A. (2008).  Attachment security and parenting quality predict children's problem-solving, attributions, and loneliness with peers.  Attachment & Human Development, 10(3), 1-26.