Dr. Jenalee Doom, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Denver, using an MRI grant, is the first to examine whether siblings may buffer stress responses across both childhood and adolescence. She is trying to understand whether sibling relationships may be effective buffers of stress responses. Dr. Doom hypothesizes that siblings may be effective buffers because, unlike peers, there is less pressure to feel accepted and liked by them. As a result, siblings may be more comforting in adolescence than either parents or peers during stressful situations.

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Research has shown that psychosis is not only detrimental to the individual, but it is also highly disruptive to the family system. Early comprehensive and evidence-based interventions for psychosis, that target both the individual and their support system, increase the likelihood of long-term positive outcomes.

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With an MRI grant Dr. Hardy and his team are comparing how systemic interventions perform against traditional behavioral interventions in couple relationship education. They hypothesize that systemic interventions will more strongly benefit couples around their common conflictual issues to a greater degree than skills training.

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Gregory M. Fosco, PhD is using an MRI grant to develop a mobile application for the delivery of empirically supported family strengthening modules, which may be a critical break-through in universal family-based prevention efforts.

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Dr. Huey is using an MRI grant to further validate his PCT intervention with middle-school youth referred for school discipline problems. PCT deemphasizes the youth’s existing problems and focuses instead on teaching positive skills to youth and encouraging them to influence their peers. The goal is to facilitate the development of new “helper” identities by having target youths serve as coaches for other youths.

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The MRI grant is allowing Dr. Stone to analyze audio recordings of interactions between 110 medical residents and 700 Hispanic patients. The research questions are: 1. Does implicit bias predict physician verbal, nonverbal and paraverbal communication patterns? And 2. Do these communication behaviors mediate the relationship between physician implicit bias and patient satisfaction with the clinical care they receive?

This research will provide evidence of how these processes operate in a larger sample of providers, and especially with Hispanic patients who are the fastest growing group of ethnic minorities in the US. Additionally, the results of this research will inform new training and education in medicine.

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Dr. Brian Cole, Assistant Professor and Director of Training in the Department of Educational Psychology, is using an MRI grant to examine this 2020 data to assess the effectiveness of the Hope Through Strengths intervention.

Dr. Cole aims to answer the following questions: Does HTS promote enhanced subjective, social, and psychological well-being? Does HTS relieve psychological symptom distress such as reduced anxiety and depression? Which positive psychological interventions best predict improvements to symptom distress, well-being, and therapeutic alliance? Does HTS promote strengths-based competency, empathy, hope, and reduced burnout of student clinicians?

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The CCET-SMS is an innovative relationship education program that focuses explicitly on teaching same-gender couples about sources of sexual minority stress, its impact on individual and relational well-being, while allowing for participants to learn and practice dyadic coping skills found to be beneficial in reducing the deleterious effects of stress.

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Hannah Volpert-Esmond, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at The University of Texas at El Paso, is using an MRI grant to better understand the relationship between family support and resilience in the face of discrimination related stress. It is unclear whether and how strong family relationships attenuate the negative effects of discrimination on mental and physical health. This study is addressing this gap…

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India is estimated to have more than 57 million people are affected by depression, making it a major public health concern. The prevalence of depression is especially high among young adults and urban dwellers. Despite its prevalence, there is limited literature examining the factors that contribute to depression in this population, resulting in Indian scholars and practitioners to heavily depend on research conducted in high-income countries. And Pankhuri Aggarwal, a PhD Candidate at Miami University in Ohio, is using an MRI grant to address this gap and to promote culturally informed practices associated with conceptualizing and treating depression.

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There are several strategies for improving the quality of mental health services including disseminating information on evidence-based treatments and monitoring patient progress. However, neither of these strategies recognizes that the most important factor in mental health delivery is the therapist delivering the treatment…

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Dr. Deater-Deckard, developmental psychologist, hopes to identify patterns that promote or impede cohesion that may influence mental and behavioral health. The findings will inform future research that seeks to improve the efficacy of interventions for family functioning. And by quantifying parent-child similarity and stability practitioners can develop more holistic understanding of family relationships and of each individual’s family health and functioning.

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IPV negatively affects infant regulation and it disrupts the mother-infant relationship. For these reasons, it is crucial to develop effective interventions for pregnant women experiencing IPV. Dr. Laura Miller-Graff, Associate Professor of Psychology and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, leads this project in partnership with Dr. Kathryn Howell, Associate Professor of Psychology at The University of Memphis.

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Motherwise is a program offered during pregnancy and postpartum and it strives to empower women and their families. In the current project Dr. Rhodes is testing whether Motherwise is equally effective when delivered virtually as compared to in-person presentation. Specific goals include assessing whether the program presented virtually improves individual well-being and whether it is effective in improving relationship satisfaction and communication…

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The goal of the project is to examine the long-term effects of a brief online intervention Drs. Doom and Rozek have adapted to the current COVID-19 context, to improve youth social relationships, social well-being, and mental health.

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Stress experienced by sexual minorities (i.e., those who identify as LGB) negatively impacts their individual and relational well-being. Because of these stressors, same gender couples face challenges leading to higher rates of dissolution and increased difficulties with coping.

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The Couples in Everyday Life Study at the University of Rochester, led by Principal investigator Dr. Harry Reis, examines partner emotional regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic, that is, how partners help each other cope with the high levels of stress, anxiety and loneliness engendered by the difficult social restrictions necessary for safety during the pandemic.

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Bullying is a significant problem for youth with at least 24% of middle school students being bullied at school…

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After six months Acknowledge Resilience has reported very positive results for the 2020 school year and has high hopes for 2021.

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Dr. Brett J. Peters, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Ohio University submitted a research proposal to examine the prospective association between COVID-19 stressors, intimate partner violence (IPV), and health behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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