Her work utilizes longitudinal, observational methodologies to reveal how romantic relationships develop as the individuals within them grow and change over the lifespan. She previously served as the director of the Marriage and Retirement Study (MARS), a longitudinal project funded by the Fetzer Institute to examine the role of compassionate love in older couples’ lives. More recently, she founded the Relationships & Development Lab to explore the role of developmental timing in determining the costs and benefits of romantic relationships, as the behaviors that promote couples’ adjustment and well-being earlier in the lifespan may in fact undermine it later in life.