Where research and community meet for children
The Duet Center at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev was established out of a goal to create one inclusive space for research, education, and interventions focusing on children’s development and meaningful relationships. Our goal is to create knowledge about early childhood care methods for caregivers and integrate this into the community.
We believe that a reciprocal connection between research and clinical field interventions is vital for keeping them both up-to-date and relevant to the changing needs of parents and children.
Multidisciplinary action
for children.
Applied research
A variety of studies are conducted regularly to expand theoretical knowledge and therapeutic practice within the field of child development in normal populations, clinical populations, and stressful life situations.
Duet Groups
Developing reflectivity is a fundamental component in building a stable, secure and positive relationship. We work to spread knowledge in the community through Duet groups around the country. The groups are intended for parents, caregivers-educators, kindergarten teachers, teachers, nurses and more.
Professional training
We provide professionals with advanced training that deals with the development of reflectivity and the understanding of meaningful relationships between children and adults as a basis for healthy development. The advanced training is intended for various professionals who work with child care.
Access to research knowledge
We make the research knowledge accumulated accessible to the community through publications in journals, books, articles in the media, and through our podcast for parents and professionals: Duet - parents, children and everything in between.
Impact on public policy
Knowledge is power. We strive to influence the Israeli policy through the accessibility of research and therapeutic knowledge. The insights gathered can help public policy makers make better decisions for the welfare of children and families based on knowledge.
The Duet Center represents a unique model that deeply connects academia and the field, between research and therapy.
We believe that a reciprocal connection between research and clinical field interventions is vital for keeping them both up-to-date and relevant to the changing needs of parents and children. Our intervention programs have been developed based on research-based knowledge, while maintaining a close connection with the needs arising from clinical field work.
Our founders.
The Duet center was founded by Prof. Naama Atzaba-Poria, from the Department of Psychology, with the generous support of judge Leon Kaplan. Kaplan was born in Santiago, Chile. A member of a family of Jewish immigrants from Poland. He moved to the United States when he was only 15 years old. Was a Supreme Court justice until he retired in 2008.
Kaplan dreamed of “Duet” years ago, while working as a juvenile judge in Los Angeles. During his tenure he promoted community rehabilitation programs as an alternative to detention. He worked with delinquent youth, and experienced many difficulties in trying to help them rebuild their lives. He realized that the best way to help them was to develop programs that would help their families create a safer environment for them. He met Prof. Naama Atzaba-Poria, and the connection between them was immediate.
Our publications
- Assal-Zrike, S., Marks, K., & Atzaba-Poria, N. (2021).
Maternal Emotional Distress Following the Birth of a Preterm Baby: The Case of Bedouin Mothers Living in Southern Israel.
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 52(6), 553-566. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221211033991 - Menashe-Grinberg, A., Shneor, S., Meiri, G., & Atzaba-Poria, N. (2021).
Improving the parent–child relationship and child adjustment through parental reflective functioning group intervention.
Attachment & Human Development, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2021.1919159 - Assal‐Zrike, S., Marks, K., & Atzaba‐Poria, N. (2021).
Prematurity, maternal emotional distress, and infant social responsiveness among Arab‐Bedouin families: The role of social support as a resilience factor.
Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13705 - Levavi, K., Menashe-Grinberg, A., Barak-Levy, Y., & Atzaba-Poria, N. (2020).
The role of parental playfulness as a moderator reducing child behavioural problems among children with intellectual disability in Israel.
Research in Developmental Disabilities, 107, 103793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103793 - Yatziv, T., Gueron-Sela, N., Meiri, G., Marks, K., & Atzaba-Poria, N. (2020).
Prematurity and Maladaptive Mealtime Dynamics: the Roles of Maternal Emotional Distress, Eating-Related Cognitions, and Mind-Mindedness.
Journal of abnormal child psychology, 48(8), 1089- DOI:10.1007/s10802-020-00639-2 - Yatziv, T., Kessler, Y., & Atzaba-Poria, N. (2020).
When do mothers’ executive functions contribute to their representations of their child’s mind? A contextual view on parental reflective functioning and mind-mindedness.
Developmental psychology, 56(6), 1191. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000931 - Barak-Levy, Y., & Atzaba-Poria, N. A. (2020).
A mediation model of parental stress, parenting, and risk factors in families having children with mild intellectual disability.
Research in developmental disabilities, 98, 103577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2020.103577 - Egotubov, A., Atzaba-Poria, N., Meiri, G., Marks, K., & Gueron-Sela, N. (2020).
Neonatal Risk, Maternal Sensitive-Responsiveness and Infants’ Joint Attention: Moderation by Stressful Contexts.
Journal of abnormal child psychology, 48(3), 453-466. DOI:10.1007/s10802-019-00598-3 - Einziger, T., Zilberman‐Hayun, Y., Atzaba‐Poria, N., Auerbach, J. G., & Berger, A. (2019).
How important is early home environment in the prediction of attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder in adolescence? The protective role of early cognitive stimulation.
Infant and Child Development, 28(5), e2138. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.2138 - Auerbach, J. G., Zilberman-Hayun, Y., Berger, A., & Atzaba-Poria, N. (2019).
Longitudinal Pathways to Reading Achievement at Age 7 Years: Child and Environmental Influences.
Reading Psychology, 40(3), 269-292. DOI: 10.1080/02702711.2019.1614128 - Yatziv, T., Kessler, Y., & Atzaba-Poria, N. (2018).
What’s going on in my baby’s mind? Mothers’ executive functions contribute to individual differences in maternal mentalization during mother-infant interactions.
PloS one, 13(11), e0207869. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207869 - Yatziv, T., Gueron‐Sela, N., Meiri, G., Marks, K., & Atzaba‐Poria, N. (2018).
Maternal mentalization and behavior under stressful contexts: The moderating roles of prematurity and household chaos.
Infancy, 23(4), 591-615. DOI: 10.1111/infa.12233 - Menashe‐Grinberg, A., & Atzaba‐Poria, N. (2017).
Mother–child and father–child play interaction: The importance of parental playfulness as a moderator of the links between parental behavior and child negativity.
Infant mental health journal, 38(6), 772-784. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21678 - Atzaba‐Poria, N., Deater‐Deckard, K., & Bell, M. A. (2017).
Mother–child interaction: Links between mother and child frontal electroencephalograph asymmetry and negative behavior.
Child development, 88(2), 544-554. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12583 - Menashe, A., & Atzaba‐Poria, N. (2016).
Parent–child interaction: Does parental language matter?.
British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 34(4), 518-537. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12147
"We believe that every child needs an adult who will see him and recognize his feelings and thoughts"
CONTAct Us
- [email protected]
- Duet Center, Ben Gurion University of the Negev. David Ben Gurion Boulevard 1, Beer Sheva, Israel
