Dr. Stephanie Irby Coard at the University of North Carolina Greensboro is leading an MRI-funded project, Centering Youth Voices: Humanizing Mental Health Through Lived Experience Storytelling, that asks a powerful question: what changes when adolescents learn about mental health not through statistics, but through peers’ real stories. Grounded in contact-based anti-stigma theory and adapted for youth ages 14–17, the project trains 10 youth storytellers in trauma-informed practices that prioritize boundaries, emotional safety, and agency—not just disclosure. Their stories are shared through moderated school- and community-based sessions designed to do more than build awareness; they aim to shift peer norms around what is “sayable,” survivable, and help-worthy. Using a mixed-methods evaluation with about 200 youth audience members, the team pairs pre–post surveys (stigma, empathy, mental health literacy, and help-seeking intentions) with focus groups, observations, and interviews that examine how conversations unfold and how disclosure impacts storytellers themselves. With intentional attention to elevating voices that are often marginalized in mainstream mental health narratives—and in collaboration with partners like NAMI Wake County—the project is working toward a replicable, sustainable model that schools and youth organizations can carry forward to make support feel less risky and connection more possible.

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Adolescence is shaped by peer relationships, belonging, and identity—yet many teens are reporting increasing loneliness and psychological distress. In this MRI-funded project, Dr. Blake Colaianne (The Pennsylvania State University) is piloting Relate, a student-informed mindfulness and compassion curriculum that treats well-being as something built within relationships and broader social contexts. The study included 52 high school students from 13 Pennsylvania school districts in an eight-week virtual program. Researchers are examining feasibility and perceived relevance, along with changes in perceived interconnection, compassion, and inclusive behavior. Early interest from schools also suggests promising potential for Relate to expand into a semester-long elective.

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Social support is one of the most cited protective factors for postpartum mental health—but “support” is often treated as a vague catch-all rather than a relationship with specific functions and conditions. Dr. Sarah Curci at the University of Denver is leading an MRI-funded project that brings a sharper lens to a frequently overlooked figure in perinatal care: the maternal grandmother. Embedded within an ongoing study of approximately 900 pregnant individuals receiving prenatal care at Denver Health, this mixed-methods research examines how different kinds of grandmother support—emotional, practical, informational, and culturally grounded—relate to postpartum adjustment. The study also considers key context, including relationship quality, proximity, and frequency of contact, to understand when support is protective and when it may be psychologically costly. By combining survey data with in-depth interviews, the project aims to translate family-systems insight into more precise, real-world strategies for perinatal prevention and care.

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Busy families make dozens of small decisions each day—especially around snacks, screen time, and how to handle big emotions in little kids. Dr. Anita Fuglestad at the University of North Florida is leading an MRI-funded project examining how everyday parenting practices with food and screens relate to parent–child interactions and children’s emotional development. Using a mobile, real-time method called Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), parents will complete brief check-ins across two weeks to capture what’s happening in the moment—rather than relying only on memory. The study explores whether using food or screens to manage emotions (for example, calming, distracting, or rewarding) may sometimes replace opportunities for children to build emotion regulation skills through supportive parent–child connection. By identifying patterns in daily life, this research aims to inform practical, family-centered strategies that strengthen relationships and support healthy emotional development in early childhood.

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Romantic relationships can be a powerful source of stability—but when communication and conflict become difficult, the impact on mental health can be significant. Dr. Naomi Ekas at Texas Christian University is leading an MRI-funded project examining how romantic relationship functioning and mental health influence one another for autistic adults. Using a multi-method design with 225 couples recruited through SPARK, the study combines surveys on relationship quality, conflict, intimacy, and depressive symptoms with a recorded Zoom session where couples discuss both challenging and positive topics. These conversations are then coded using established observational systems to capture how partners actually interact in real time. By following couples over six months, the team aims to identify which relationship patterns support well-being—and which may increase risk. This work will help inform more tailored, evidence-based relationship supports for neurodiverse couples.

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Becoming a mother can feel like gaining a new identity—and losing parts of an old one at the same time. Chelsea Cortright (Lehigh University) is leading an MRI-funded study, Lost and Found, to better understand how new mothers navigate this shift and how it relates to the developing mother–infant relationship. Using a mixed-methods approach, the project follows first-time mothers from pregnancy into the postpartum period to examine how different “identity processing styles” shape confidence, self-concept, and well-being after birth. The study also explores whether social pressures—like intensive expectations about what “good motherhood” should look like—make identity changes easier to integrate or harder to cope with. Alongside surveys, in-depth interviews will capture mothers’ lived experiences of change, including moments of growth, loss, and adjustment. Ultimately, this work aims to identify insights that can inform supportive, evidence-based ways to help families thrive during the transition to parenthood.

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When families are living under persistent stress and instability, relationships at home can become both a refuge—and a pressure point. Dr. Laura Miller-Graff at the University of Notre Dame is leading an MRI-funded project to evaluate Promoting Positive Family Futures (PPFF), a structured family support program designed for parents and adolescents in the West Bank and Gaza. PPFF is grounded in well-established theory about emotional security in families and resilience in adversity, pairing that foundation with practical, skills-based strategies to help families communicate, manage stress, and navigate conflict more safely. The program includes eight 90-minute sessions, delivered largely in multi-family groups, plus in-home sessions that focus on strengthening key family relationships. To test PPFF’s impact, the team is conducting a rigorous randomized study with follow-ups to understand whether the program improves youth mental health, parent well-being, and day-to-day family functioning over time. By centering the family as a system—and intentionally including fathers—this work aims to identify scalable, culturally responsive supports for families facing ongoing sociopolitical violence.

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Body image concerns and disordered eating are often overlooked among men, even as many college men face intense pressure to appear muscular, lean, and emotionally “unbothered.” In the MRI-funded project M-Body: A Novel Intervention to Redefine Masculinity Through Positive Body Image, Dr. Mary Pritchard (Boise State University) is developing and testing a program designed specifically for college men. M-Body takes a preventative, strengths-based approach—helping participants build healthier relationships with food, fitness, and self-worth while also challenging narrow cultural expectations of masculinity. The intervention uses a small-group format to create connection and reduce stigma around discussing body image and mental health. By pairing skill-building with reflection on identity and social norms, the program aims to support well-being in ways that are both practical and sustainable. This MRI-funded work also explores how changes may hold over time, offering insight into what helps men maintain healthier body image and coping strategies beyond the classroom.

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Your body can be shouting “danger” even when your mind knows you’re safe and that mismatch can make social life feel impossible. In the MRI-funded project “Physiological Anxiety and Social Safety in Psychosis,” Dr. Poppy Brown at Stanford University’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (INSPIRE Psychosis Clinic) is exploring how physiological anxiety (like racing heart or breathlessness) shapes feelings of social safeness and connection for people experiencing psychosis. Using surveys and in-depth interviews, the study examines how people interpret these body cues, how they interact with experiences like paranoia or voices, and what support feels most helpful. The team then pilot-tests brief compassion-focused practices, such as soothing rhythm breathing and compassionate imagery, to see whether they can reduce arousal and increase felt safety in the moment. By pairing lived experience with physiological measures like heart rate variability, this work aims to identify practical, low-burden tools that could help people feel safer in relationships and more supported in recovery.

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Dr. Angela Narayan (University of Denver) is leading an MRI-funded project that flips a familiar question on its head: instead of focusing only on childhood adversity, it asks how positive childhood experiences can shape healthier relationships and parenting across generations. In a study of 150 multi-generational families, the team is examining whether moments like having a trusted adult, feeling safe at home, or having steady routines can buffer long-term mental health risks and strengthen family bonds. Using surveys alongside in-depth narrative interviews with parents and grandparents, the project traces how early “protective” experiences may ripple forward—supporting warmer partnerships, more responsive parenting, and fewer trauma exposures for children. The goal is to identify what helps families thrive even when their histories include hardship. If these positive experiences prove powerful, they offer a hopeful, practical target for prevention and intervention: not just reducing risk, but actively building the relational supports that last. In short, this research highlights how the best parts of childhood can echo forward—and help rewrite what’s passed down.

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In New York City, teens can have free, secure tele-therapy available—and still not use it if the path to care feels “locked” by stigma, consent hurdles, or weak family–school trust. Dr. Crystal Martin, PhD, at the New York University Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity & School Transformation, is leading Trust in Action: Strengthening Parent–Teen–School Relationships to Increase Adolescent Mental-Health Access, an MRI-funded project focused on turning availability into real access. The study pilots Family–School Trust Circles—structured, healing-centered gatherings where parents/caregivers, teens, and school staff share stories, surface barriers, and co-design practical solutions. Using a mixed-methods approach, the team tracks changes in trust, communication, stigma, school connectedness, and help-seeking, alongside real-world indicators of engagement with school-linked tele-therapy supports. The project also prioritizes equity through community partnership, parent and youth co-facilitation, and participation supports like translation and childcare. Ultimately, Trust in Action tests a simple but powerful idea: when relationships strengthen, more teens may feel safe enough to reach for care.

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Breaking intergenerational cycles often begins in the smallest moments between a caregiver and child. Dr. Adi Rosenthal, based at the University of Denver, Department of Psychology, is leading “Parent-infant group therapy for interrupting intergenerational patterns of abuse: A randomized controlled trial of Resilient Roots,” an MRI-funded project, alongside key collaborator Dr. Maria-Ernestina at the University of Denver. The study evaluates Resilient Roots, a manualized 10-session parent–infant group intervention delivered through Thriving Families, a community-based nonprofit serving high-needs pregnant individuals and families with young children. Grounded in trauma-informed and attachment-oriented principles, the program pairs psychoeducation with guided discussion and skills practice to reduce parenting stress and trauma-related distress while strengthening caregiving capacity and child safety. Using a randomized waitlist-controlled design, the project assesses changes from baseline to post-program in domains including abuse risk and harsh parenting potential, parent–child relationship quality, and caregiver well-being. Qualitative feedback and focus groups complement survey outcomes to examine acceptability, feasibility, and implementation factors in a real-world community setting.

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The way a parent responds in the smallest moments—during play, at the dinner table, in the pause before a reaction—can quietly shape a child’s sense of safety and connection. This MRI-funded project asks whether reducing depression during pregnancy can translate into more sensitive, responsive parenting years later. Led by Dr. Emily Melnick at the University of Denver, the work builds on data from the Care Project randomized trial comparing interpersonal psychotherapy with enhanced usual care during pregnancy. It moves beyond self-report by using observational coding of parent–child interactions at age three across both play and mealtime routines. By linking prenatal symptom change to real-world caregiving behavior, the study aims to clarify how perinatal mental health support may ripple into everyday family relationships.

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Systemic racism shapes relational experiences in ways that are insufficiently captured by prevailing theories of couple functioning. Research on relational coping has historically relied on methodologies and samples that overlook the experiences of Black couples. Supported by an MRI Doctoral Dissertation Grant, this study examines how Black couples experience racism-related stress and the relational processes they use to cope. The findings illuminate culturally specific forms of resilience rooted in identity, shared meaning, and relational safety. These insights contribute to the development of more culturally responsive therapeutic frameworks.

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How to Feel Loved explores a powerful and often-overlooked idea: being loved and feeling loved are not the same thing. In this upcoming book, Sonja Lyubomirsky and Harry Reis synthesize decades of research to show how emotional connection is shaped less by performance or self-monitoring and more by openness, responsiveness, and meaningful interpersonal exchange.

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Researchers Casey J. Totenhagen, Ashley K. Randall, Gabriel A. León, and Mackenzie Carroll have developed and validated a new research tool to better understand how lesbian, gay, and bi+ individuals cope with stress in their romantic relationships. Supported by the Mental Research Institute, this project focuses on dyadic coping in the context of sexual minority stress. The resulting measure, the Dyadic Coping Inventory–Sexual Minority Stress (DCI-SMS), offers a validated way to assess how partners communicate and support one another when facing stress related to sexual orientation. This work contributes to more precise and inclusive research on relationship processes and well-being.

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What does kindness look like in a women’s recovery community—and how can it support healing?
That question, posed by Dr. Jeannette Maré at the University of Arizona, became the foundation of the State of Kindness project, an MRI-funded collaboration between the Science of Kindness Community Collective and The Haven, a Tucson-based recovery center for women. By combining behavioral science with community voice, the project explored how everyday acts of prosocial communication shape recovery. What emerged was a powerful insight: kindness is not peripheral to healing—it is central to it.

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In one of Lima’s most underserved districts, mothers are finding new ways to breathe, connect, and care—often in the midst of ongoing adversity. Led by Dr. Laura Miller-Graff (University of Notre Dame), this MRI-funded pilot study explored how an evidence-based mental health intervention could be adapted to meet women where they are. What emerged was more than symptom relief. As mothers gained tools for calm and coping, relationships with their children began to shift in quiet but powerful ways.

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As we welcome the new year, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude for the vibrant community that surrounds the Mental Research Institute.

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What really happens inside families when smartphones become constant companions? Supported by MRI, Dr. Miriam Brinberg of The Ohio State University followed 142 parent–teen pairs for 28 days, uncovering surprising ways technology can both deepen connection and quietly erode it. From texts that make teens feel cared for to the subtle tensions sparked by a phone at the dinner table, the Parents and Teens Technology and Relationships (PATTER) Study reveals a digital double-edge few families notice in daily life. And when parents turn to surveillance apps, the effects on teens’ autonomy are not what many expect. Dr. Brinberg’s work opens a window into the micro-moments where modern relationships are made—and strained—inviting readers to rethink how technology is shaping the bonds they value most.

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