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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In this MRI-sponsored project, Dr. Leslie D. Frazier and Dr. Jill T. Shelton of Florida International University investigated how people with disabilities develop a sense of identity through their internal experiences, social relationships, and perceptions of stigma. Drawing on data from 500 participants, their team identified important patterns in how individuals imagine their future selves and how these visions relate to well-being and resilience. Early findings reveal that disability is not always directly incorporated into participants’ hoped-for or feared futures, raising important questions about identity development. The project has already generated multiple national conference presentations and manuscripts now in preparation for peer-review publication. Through this work, Drs. Frazier and Shelton provide new insights that can help strengthen models of resilience and thriving within the disability community.

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This project, led by Dr. Yaryna Andrushko of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State, explores how Ukrainian refugees rebuild their lives, identities, and well-being after forced migration. Through a mixed-method approach combining surveys, interviews, and a targeted psychosocial intervention, the study highlights resilience as a dynamic process shaped by relationships and cultural connection. Participants described the challenges of displacement alongside the strengths they discovered through community, spirituality, and personal coping strategies. Findings reveal significant reductions in psychological distress after a DBT-based support program designed specifically for this population. The work sheds light on how emotional regulation, belonging, and meaning-making contribute to adaptation in a new sociocultural environment. These insights offer valuable guidance for clinicians and organizations supporting displaced communities. The project was supported by a grant from the Mental Research Institute, helping advance systemic and culturally responsive approaches to healing.

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A study supported by the Mental Research Institute and led by Laura Glynn, PhD, at Chapman University, explores how the predictability of parental interactions shapes children’s emotional and behavioral development. Findings suggest that consistent, predictable caregiving in infancy supports better self-regulation and may buffer the effects of poverty and parental depression. These insights highlight predictable parenting as a practical, low-cost strategy to promote resilience and healthy development in young children.

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An MRI-funded study by Drs. Chrystyna Kouros and Naomi Ekas investigated how relationship dynamics influence depression in couples raising autistic versus non-autistic children. Preliminary results show few differences across groups, except in power dynamics, where mothers—particularly those of autistic children—reported higher perceived power. The research also validated the Lewis Scales, a new tool for assessing couple interactions, offering valuable guidance for clinicians working to improve relationship quality and mental health outcomes.

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Anti-Black racism remains a persistent issue in the United States, yet structured opportunities for cross-racial dialogue are limited. Using the STOREY digital storytelling and group dialogue intervention, Brian TaeHyuk Keum, PhD, and colleagues, supported by an MRI grant, examined its effects on racial/ethnic identity exploration, empathy toward anti-Black racism, and engagement in anti-racist solidarity among 50 Asian American college students. Results indicated increases in empathic responses and willingness to participate in anti-racist actions, while qualitative findings highlighted both barriers—such as limited prior discussion of race and community-based anti-Black attitudes—and motivators, including empowerment, collective solidarity, and supportive group interaction. These findings suggest that storytelling-based dialogue may facilitate critical reflection on racial attitudes and support engagement in anti-racist solidarity.

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Depression is a growing public health concern among young adults in urban India, yet little research has examined the role of family relationships in shaping psychological well-being. Supported by an MRI grant, Dr. Pankhuri Aggarwal (University of Cincinnati) studied 548 college-aged participants and found that poor quality relations with parents and extended family were consistently linked to higher depressive symptoms, while family cohesion and the inclusion of parents in one’s sense of self offered protection. The findings underscore the importance of considering cultural and interpersonal dynamics when conceptualizing and treating depression in India.

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