Current Project(s)
Phase: On-going recruitment
ERRICO – Ethnicity and response to racism : the influence of context of origin
How does internalized racism and perceived discriminations impact the health of Black individuals born in the US or recently migrated from an African or Caribbean country?
Ongoing recruitment until 2022
This study examines how the racial context in which someone was raised impact how discrimination and racism impact their health. This study is important because it highlights the need to examine diversity within Black individuals when studying health disparities and factors that influence their health. Black Americans and immigrants who recently moved to the US are highly encouraged to participate.
ESRA – Emotions and stress: the influence of response and actions
How do people manage their emotions and its potential effects on health?
Ongoing recruitment until 2022
This study examines the different ways that people manage their emotions and how these methods impact their health. This study is important because it is becoming increasingly evident that coping mechanisms can protect against some of the harmful effects of stress. College students are especially encouraged to participate.
Interested in participating? Go to the Active studies page.
Phase: Data analysis and manuscript/grant writing
How do perceptions and ways of handling emotions impact health after an emotionally stressful event? – Recruitment completed in Summer 2018
Stress and stressful events are a part of everyday life, however not much is known about how emotional stressors affect health. This study seeks to understand how incidence of emotional stressors (e.g., romantic breakups) and variability in individual differences influence psychological and physiological health.
Goal: To provide a greater understanding of the relationships among emotional stress, emotion regulation, and psychological and physiological health, as well as how individual differences in innate human characteristics, like emotional reactivity, affect these relationships.
Collaborators:
Amy Canevello, PhD
Individual differences in responses to emotional stimuli and caffeine administration – Recruitment completed in Spring 2018
Caffeine is the world’s most widely used psychoactive drugs. This study was designed to examine how caffeine influences emotional responses and what past experiences or innate individual characteristics might affect this relationship. This study involves 2 visits where participants are treated with caffeine or placebo.
Goal: To examine what current and past individual differences might explain how people respond to caffeine use and their combined effect on emotional responses.
Collaborators:
Sara Levens, PhD
Is being fluent in more than one language protective? – Recruitment completed in Fall 2016
Cognitive abilities such as executive function and fluid intelligence are required for many daily tasks. Reduced cognitive functioning can minimize one’s ability to function in society and to their expected capacity. Finding ways to bolster executive functioning may help reduce the severity of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and many other neurocognitive illnesses. Bilingualism may provide protection; however these benefits on executive functioning cognitive processes have not been reliably documented. Therefore, this study seeks to understand the effects of bilingualism on cognitive abilities and stress responses to the cognitive tasks.
Goal: To investigate if individuals who are bilingual deal with stress better and have greater cognitive abilities compared to their monolingual counterparts.
Collaborators:
Sara Levens, PhD
Examining Differences in Glucocorticoid Resistance Between Smokers and Nonsmokers – Recruitment completed in Fall 2015
Cortisol, one of the body’s anti-inflammatory agents, is elevated in smokers compared to nonsmokers. Smokers are also more likely to have higher systemic inflammation as well as more likely to develop chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease than nonsmokers. Glucocorticoid resistance (GCR) is a natural phenomenon that occurs due to chronically elevated cortisol levels; therefore, we are investigating the prevalence of GCR in smokers and nonsmokers.
Goal: To determine what characteristics influence the development of GCR and design interventions to reduce GCR development and speed up recovery.
Collaborators:
Maren J. Coffman, PhD, RN
Joseph Marino, PhD