-Current Projects-
Social Media Use, Sleep, and Suicidality in Adolescents
(Project Digital Relationships: Examining Adolescent Media and Sleep (DREAMS), PI Nugent, 2023-2028)
This research examines the ways that late night online social messaging contributes to delays in sleep onset. Over time, delays in sleep onset in combination with inability to phase shift the wake time for adolescents, contributes to impairments in cognitive and emotional capacity for managing daily stress, resulting in overall vulnerability throughout the day as well as a shift of vulnerability to the evenings when research has shown increases in adolescent suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The present research longitudinal research will examine these processes in the real world using a combination of text extraction of online social messaging during the intensive sampling period, ecological momentary assessment, and wearable technology in combination with predictive algorithms.
(Project ED CAT, MPIs Brick and Nugent, 2022-2027)
Project ED CAT will recruit young adults aged 18-25 from a local Emergency Department following a traumatic event like a motor vehicle collision, a recreational accident, or after experiencing interpersonal violence starting April 2023. We will follow these participants over the course of nine months and administer self-report surveys, clinical diagnostic interviews, psychophysiological tasks, and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to better understand the impact of cannabis use on the development of PTSD after hospitalization.
(Project Adversity, Emotions, and Behaviors in Teens, PI Brown, 2022-2027)
This project will recruit 100 adolescents aged 13-18 from the Ground Truth study (see below). Using methodology such as ecological momentary assessment (EMA), eye tracking, behavioral task performance, and traditional self-report data, this study will investigate the link between adolescent substance use and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
Mechanisms of mindfulness training to prevent hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
(The Mindfulness and Daily Experiences Study, PI Bublitz, 2022-2027)
The MDE Study will recruit 150 pregnant people at risk for Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy (HDP). We will follow participants over the course of 8 weeks and administer ecological momentary assessment (EMA), smartphone-app based ambient audio sampling called the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), and wearable wrist-worn biosensor monitoring (heart rate and heart rate variability). This study will provide insight into the effects of mindfulness training on cardiovascular parameters in pregnancy, pathophysiological mechanisms of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and new targets for prevention strategies.
Social Media, Violence, and Social Isolation Among At-Risk Adolescents: Exploring Ground Truth
(Project Ground Truth, MPIs Ranney and Nugent, 2020-2025)
Project Ground Truth will recruit adolescents aged 13-18 from local Emergency Departments following a hospitalization. We will follow these participants over the course of nine months and administer self-report surveys and ecological momentary assessment to better understand the dynamics between hospitalization and peer victimization.
-Completed Projects-
Biomarkers, social, and affective predictors of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adolescents
(Project BEAR, PI Nugent, 2015-2020)
Project BEAR recruited 193 participants from local inpatient adolescent psychiatric units. We followed these participants for six months and administered self-report surveys, clinical diagnostic interviews, ecological momentary assessment (EMA), genetic testing, psychophysiological tasks, and participant audio recording to better understand youth suicide risk after discharge from the hospital.
(Project ED EAR, PI Nugent, 2016-2022)
Project ED EAR recruited 192 participants from a local Emergency Department following a traumatic event like a car accident, recreational accident, or interpersonal violence. We followed these participants for nine months and administered self-report surveys, clinical diagnostic interviews, psychophysiological tasks, and participant audio recording to better understand the development of PTSD after hospitalization.