Over the past few decades, the social world of teens has been transformed by digital media, including social media and messaging apps that are commonly used in daily life. Many adolescents also experience increases in difficult emotions, particularly anxiety. The BOLT project examines associations among digital media use, social connections, emotions and anxiety in adolescents. We would like to answer questions about how teens use digital media in ways that support or get in the way of social connections, how online behaviors relate to how teens think and feel in their daily lives, and why digital media use may be helpful or harmful for some teens.
Myruski, PI
The BRAVE project is a community-based participatory research project designed to (1) determine the factors associated with increases in anxiety symptoms for preschool and young school-aged children in Harrisburg; and (2) to develop and test a preventive intervention to reduce these symptoms and positive outcomes as children transition to school.
Buss, Teti, Woodhouse, Witherspoon & Bierman, PIs
Funder: Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute
Building a Strong Identity and Coping Skills (BaSICS) is a new coping and empowerment intervention for preadolescent children who face significant chronic stress. A virtual version (vBaSICS) is now offered.
Wadsworth, PI
Funder: National Institute of Mental Health
This investigation is being done to fill gaps in our understanding of how childbirth preparation—especially prenatal mindfulness training—impacts mothers’ and babies’ well-being through the maternal brain and the mother-baby relationship.
Laurent, PI
Funder: Mind & Life Institute
The Hands and Hearts Together team is partnering with Capital Area Head Start/Early Head Start to support parents of young children participating in Early Head Start. The study focuses on understanding how a new 8-session home visiting parenting support program works. The parenting support program is offered in either English or Spanish.
Woodhouse & Cassidy, PIs
Funder:
The purpose of HelpFUL is to develop an innovative assessment process for children who are struggling with language and reading. Research and anecdotal evidence suggests that traditional methods for assessing language abilities do not capture the full picture for many children. There is a growing body of research suggesting that the ways children process language in the moment are very important for understanding their long-term difficulties. Our assessment draws on this research. We will seek input from parents and educators on how to report the results in a way that is easy for parents and teachers to understand and use.
Williams & Miller, PIs
Funder: N/A
The PARADE projects explore African American and Latino families’ daily experiences in Harrisburg and surrounding areas in order to understand more about how teens and parents interact with their environment, how they feel about the places they go, and how environment and culture shape parenting and youth behaviors.
Witherspoon, PI
Funder: Penn State College of the Liberal Arts, Department of Psychology, and McCourtney Family Early Career Professorship Funds
The goal of this project is to further develop and test a parenting program that targets culturally-specific parenting practices in Latine families. The goal is to support Latine parents in developing skills to help their child manage racial stressors and develop a positive racial-ethnic identity, while also improving family relationships and promoting youth’s positive social and emotional development.
Galán, PI
The TEENS project is a longitudinal study aiming to understand the complex systems involved in the development of social anxiety in adolescents.
Buss, PI
Funder: National Institute of Mental Health
This project aims to expand our understanding of how early childhood experiences—especially the mothers’ stress and psychological well-being during pregnancy and the first few years of the child’s life—shape the biological systems (such as hormones and inflammation) that form the basis for lifelong stress regulation and associated health outcomes.
Laurent, PI
Funder: National Institute of Health and Human Development