Department of Applied Psychology Research Teams

Goals of the Research Team

To promote research and training in the area of adolescent risk prevention. Students on this research team are actively involved in multiple research projects. They are involved in the design of new studies, the implementation of active projects, and the dissemination of findings. Participants are encouraged to generate their own research ideas though team discussions and their own exploration of the research literature.

Upcoming Projects for this Year:

• Emma D and Lisa L each recently submitted poster abstracts to the Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA) conference to be held in Baltimore, MD.
• Victoria L received a Provost Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors Award in the Spring, 2015 and is currently conducting a research study funded by this award regarding the relationship between various forms of affect regulation and partner violence perpetration.
• Team members are assisting with various aspects of grant-funded research related to dating violence or sexual assault prevention among adolescents.

Principal Investigator

Christie J. Rizzo

Goals of the Research Team

The main objective of our research lab is to develop and evaluate evidence-based interventions that successfully promote positive body image and healthy eating patterns. As such, our work focuses on the identification of risk factors for body image and eating that may serve as targets in interventions. In addition, we aim to develop and evaluate the efficacy of interventions aiming to improve body image and support healthy eating patterns, in particular through Internet and mobile technology. Our overall approach emphasized the importance of health as opposed to weight, and our work aims to be translational in that its focus ranges from the individual to the social and policy level.

Upcoming Projects for this Year:

• The development and evaluation of interventions aiming to decrease body image and eating disorders capitalizing on technology
• The development of sociocultural models of body image and eating concerns
• Psychological and behavioral correlates of adherence to medically necessary dietary regimens in pediatric populations, such as children with gastrointestinal disorders and food allergies
• The role of cognitive processing in body image and eating disorders.

Principal Investigators

Jessica Edwards George

Debra Franko

Rachel Rodgers

Goals of the Research Team

Our goal is to support the social and academic functioning of students with (or at-risk for) emotional and behavior disorders in school settings by designing effective and sustainable assessment and intervention methods. We also aim to provide members of the research team with (a) an understanding of applied psychological research in school settings and (b) opportunities to provide service to children, families, and school systems.

Upcoming Projects for this Year:

• Initiating 4-year IES-funded project, in which we will develop a web-based system for monitoring student behavior, which can be used to inform decision-making in school-based problem solving models
• Examining state-level priorities with regard to school-based behavior, and launching a survey to understand the current state of approaches to meeting the behavioral needs of students nationally
• Working closely with our district partners to simplify the process of identifying at-risk students and tailoring classroom supports for them in order to maximize sustainability and effectiveness.
• Dr. Volpe continues his work on computerized academic interventions to prevent reading failure

Principal Investigators

Rob Volpe & Amy Briesch

Goals of the Research Team

To develop and test school and community based interventions that engage families to promote healthy eating and physical activity.

Upcoming Projects for this Year:

• Family Gym research project
• Stay and Play research project

Principal Investigator

Jessica Hoffman

Goals of the Research Team

The purpose of our research is to unravel the mystery of why some individuals give up after a failure and others persevere and eventually succeed. More specifically, we are investigating the internal and external risk and protective factors that lead to either success or failure in academics among youth from low-income urban communities and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Upcoming Projects for this Year:

• Our current study is exploring former high school students’ perspectives on (a) why they failed their state’s mandated high stakes test, (b) the psychological effects of failing a high stakes test, (c) the psychological and ecological factors that contributed to their resilience after this failure, and (d) culturally responsive intervention strategies.

Principal Investigators

Louis J. Kruger

Chieh Li

Goals of the Research Team

To explore bio-psycho-social determinants and processes of behavioral change. Specific aims of the research team include (a) creating and disseminating empirically validated knowledge, (b) training and educating students as the next generation of scholars and practitioners, and (c) fund raising to establish a sustainable program of research.

Upcoming Projects for this Year:

• Investigating the link between autistic traits and emotion regulation
• The impact of personality on positive group work experience

Principal Investigator

Changiz Mohiyeddini

Goals of the Research Team

Minimize health disparities among underserved urban populations using evidence-based practices.

Upcoming Projects for this Year:

• Motivational interviewing to reduce hazardous drinking in the community
• MITI Bi-lingual and Bi-cultural coding lab
• Promoting adherence to treatment among HIV positive substance abusing individuals
• Practice-based research at a community primary care center: Measuring Patient Satisfaction in Integrated Care
• Practice based research at a community primary care center: Developing a screening inventory in integrated care
• Promoting physical activity among a community primary care population
• Disseminating evidence-based treatments for opioid dependence to real-life settings

Principal Investigators

Christina S. Lee

Tonya Tavares

Goals of the Research Team

• To validate the Developmental Play Assessment (DPA)
• To finalize and implement our:
  • online training program
  • user-friendly version (DPA-P)
• To analyze the sequence of play for:
  • Children who are typically developing
  • Children who are developing with delays/risks
• To complete the data collection (goal of 500 children, half developing with delays), from 8 months to 5 years of age.

Upcoming Projects for this Year:

• To finalize the developmental sequence of categories of play, and validate the DPA
• To evaluate whether different groups of toys influence what children do
• To examine how different categories of play emerge and develop, which we will extend to a curriculum
• To examine how developments in play relate to developments in language and social engagement

Principal Investigators

Karin Lifter

Emanuel Mason

with Takuya Minami, U.Mass-Boston

Goals of the Research Team

Promoting academic wellbeing through nurturing the whole student by Bilingual Guided Meditation for 2nd language learners.

Upcoming Projects for this Year:

Experiments in the Foreign Language Classrooms in the U.S. and China.

Principal Investigators

Chieh Li

Qinghong (Ann) Cai

Goals of the Research Team

Test psychological theories using structured representative samples.

Upcoming Projects for this Year:

• Temperament and autism
• Resources for autism and the economic status of school districts
• Differences in success between males and females in STEM

Principal Investigator

Emanuel Mason