Dr. Carreira's research journey began during her doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Her initial interest was in furthering the reach of child abuse awareness and education. Her hope was to reach schools and families through in-school and in-home education and advocacy. Unfortunately due to the timing of her program being at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, doing in-person research was not feasible, therefore Dr. Carreira had to shift her focus.

While remaining true to her passion for helping children, Dr. Carreira decided to focus on an area that has not been examined previously and that is how childhood abuse impacts parenting in adulthood, specifically parenting behaviors and attitudes. This is something that directly impacts children, however can be assessed through evaluating parents. The amazing part here also is that change for children can be affected through change in the parents. 

Dr. Carreira's initial research (which you can read below if you are interested) resulted in a small (although adequate) and homogenous sample. Her hope is to extend this research in many ways including diversifying the demographics, educational levels, socioeconomic status', localities, and also utilizing a mixed methods approach rather than just quantitative. Dr. Carreira would also like to initiate a longitudinal study that will allow her to implement and follow children and families for many years to test theories and develop programs that will lead to better outcomes for children and stronger, more resilient families.