Stress and Health Laboratory

The Stress and Health Lab focuses on conducting stress reactivity, stress-management intervention, and psychophysiology studies where students can be involved in research. Several research topics are studied in the lab: 1) psychological and physiological responses to stressors; 2) resilience factors that help protect against the negative effects of stressors and enable people to adapt favorably to stressors; 3) roles of stressors and resilience factors in explaining racial/ethnic and socioeconomic health disparities; and 4) interventions to protect against the negative effects of stressors, enhance resilient responses to stressors, and reduce health disparities.

I am currently recruiting graduate and undergraduate students for involvement in the following projects:

Project 1: Evaluating the Feasibility of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Intervention to Enhance the Functioning of Maternal Caregivers of Chronically Ill Children

§ Purpose: This is a pilot study with the following specific aims: (1) to examine the feasibility of implementing an 8-week home-based mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention with maternal caregivers of chronically ill children; and (2) to obtain preliminary data concerning the effectiveness of the intervention on psychological and physiological functioning of the maternal caregiver.

§ Method: Women who are the primary caregiver of a child with a chronic illness will be recruited through the Center for Children with Complex and Chronic Conditions. Psychological and physiological data will be collected from the maternal caregiver at three time points: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at a 1 month follow-up.

§ Timeframe: The study will be conducted from Fall 2008 through Summer 2009.

Project 2: Community Child Health Research Network Project (in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Eastern North Carolina Baby Love Plus).

§ Purpose: This is a community-academic partnered, multi-site observational study with the following specific aims: (1) determine the factors associated with maternal allostatic load (a possible factor in poor pregnancy outcomes); and (2) explore the relationship between maternal allostatic load during the interconceptional period and birth outcomes in a subsequent pregnancy.

§ Method: At the North Carolina site, 480 African American and Caucasian families will be recruited from prenatal clinics or shortly after childbirth. Periodic assessment of mother and father stressors and resilience factors will occur across two years, and per trimester during subsequent pregnancy. Maternal biomarkers will be assessed periodically.

§ Timeframe: The study will be conducted from Fall 2008 through Summer 2012.

Student involvement:

§ Roles: Students have some or all of the following roles:

§ Study coordinator: help train research assistants and supervise the day-to-day operations of one or more studies being conducted in the lab.

§ Research assistant: help recruit and retain participants, run participants through the study protocol from informed consent to debriefing, and/or enter and analyze data.

§ Lab group member: attend weekly lab meetings in which we discuss relevant literature, research protocol issues, and study progress.

§ Library researcher: conduct literature reviews, write up summaries, and present synthesis to lab group.

§ Lab assistant: help set up and maintain the lab.

§ Advanced roles: opportunities for conference presentations, manuscript writing, and/or assisting in grant-writing are possible for the most ambitious students.

§ Other: students have the option of adding other skills they wish to learn that are within the scope of the project and its timeline.

§ Options for getting involved:

§ Apply to ECU’s Health Psychology Ph.D. program and indicate an interest in working with me in your Personal Statement.

§ Sign up for supervised research for credit:

§ For undergraduate students: PSCY 4501 Psychological Research I and PSYC 4502 Psychological Research II.

§ For graduate students: PSYC 6519 Directed Research I and PSYC 6520 Directed Research II.

§ Include your own research question to focus on for your thesis:

§ For undergraduate students:

§ Senior Thesis: PSYC 4401 Thesis Research (preparation of a senior thesis proposal) and PSYC 4402 Senior Thesis (conducting the project, analyzing the data, and finishing the senior thesis). To conduct a Senior Thesis, you must have a GPA above 3.00 overall and in Psychology.

§ Senior Honors Thesis: PSYC 4601 Honors Research (preparation of a senior honors thesis proposal) and PSYC 4602 Senior Honors Thesis (conducting the project, analyzing the data, and finishing the senior honors thesis). To conduct a Senior Honors Thesis, you must be admitted to the Psychology Honors Program, and have a GPA above 3.5 overall and in Psychology.

§ For graduate students: PSYC 7000 Thesis, coincides with conducting the thesis project, analyzing the data, and writing the thesis.

I am actively recruiting highly qualified students for ECU's new Health Psychology Ph.D. program!!

Undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in gaining research experience on any of these topics are welcome to contact me or submit a Research Assistant Application.

This page most recently revised on March 20, 2008.