CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

Our Current Focus

ACTIVE WOMEN’S EXPERIENCE (AWE) PROJECT

Our most recent project aims to examine how social support, cultural identity, stress, and mood influence physical activity in female college students (ages 18-24).

META-ANALYSIS PROJECT

This project aims to explore stress measurement in obesity, physical activity, and eating habits.

THE ACTIVE PROJECT (TAP) FOR KIDS

In this project, we examined role of video games in physical activity in ethnically diverse youth (ages 10-14). Two secondary projects included a physical activity intervention and a focus group/cooking class intervention pilot to understand cultural factors that influence health-related behaviors in African American families.

STRESS AND LEARNING PROJECT

In collaboration with Dr. Kathy Grant’s CITIES program, this project aims to explore the effects of stressful life experiences in youth from lower SES backgrounds.

CURRENT THESIS PROJECTS

The current research projects of graduate students in our lab

DANA MANSFIELD

Dana is examining how racial discrimination and prolonged activation of stress responses influence the mental and physical health outcomes in youth of color. She will also be exploring the role of family support as a buffer for more adaptive health outcomes in diverse adolescent populations.

MADELINE CURZON

Madeline is comparing efficacy of engagement and disengagement coping techniques. Specifically, she is interested in which coping techniques best reduce cortisol reactivity in response to stress among urban adolescents. She will also be looking at the role of sex and stress history in the relationship between coping and cortisol reactivity. 

EMMA KRUIS

Emma is examining the effects of  parental  health efficacy  along with  child temperament on  child health behavior outcomes.

GABRIEL MCNAIR

Context-Dependent Benefits of Sports Participation on Internalizing and Externalizing in Youth: The Moderating Effect of Systemic Stress