Projects

Current Projects

Differentiation and Regulation (DAR) (Amy Carolus, Lead Researcher)

DAR examines how a clear understanding of how one is and isn’t feeling (emotion differentiation) supports how well people can implement emotion regulation strategies.This project is supported by a Graduate Research Fellowship awarded to Amy Carolus. 

Regulating Emotions and Affect in Life (REAL) (Riley-Maher Spihlman, Lead Researcher)

REAL examines how people engage in regulating the emotions of other people in daily life and how it relates to mood.

Study on Interpersonal Differentiation of Emotion (SIDE) (Gwyneth DeLap, Lead Researcher)

SIDE examines the ability to discretely label one’s own and others’ internal emotion states, and how skill in each of these domains corresponds to internalizing symptoms, interpersonal functioning and indicators of well-being. This project is supported by a Graduate Research Fellowship awarded to Gwyneth DeLap.

Past Projects

 

Study on Experiences & Emotional Development (SEED)
SEED is a longitudinal study examining predictors of adolescent emotional health. For this project, we are examining multilevel predictors of emotional well-being (including interpersonal processes, implicit cognitions, reward processing, environmental stress assessed using gold-standard interviews, neuroendocrine functioning, and genetic risk, among other variables) in a sample of 14-17 year-olds and their parents, recruited from the Rochester community. Participants were assessed using interviews, questionnaires, computer-based lab paradigms, biological samples, and ecological momentary assessment. Participants were invited to complete an 18-month follow-up. We recently received funding for a third wave of data collection, which we are currently conducting.  If you are interested in learning more about this project, or if you or your child are participants and need study-related information, see our website.  This project was funded by a University Research Award from the University of Rochester. SEED is closed for recruitment.

The Gender and Social Connections Survey (GSC) (Katy Chang, Lead Researcher)

The GSC Survey was created with the purpose of understanding how environmental context influences the social and emotional health of gender minority young adults. 500+ gender minority young adults were recruited from nearly every U.S. state. This project was supported by an award from the Council on Graduate Programs Departments of Psychology (COGDOP) and by a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, awarded to Katy Chang.  To read more about this project, click here!

Chatting with Friends (Meghan Huang, P.I., collaborator Ron Rogge, Ph.D.)
This longitudinal project sought to design and validate a novel measure of co-rumination that more intentionally differentiates between depressogenic elements (co-brooding) and potentially adaptive elements (co-reflection), and that is appropriate for applications with wide developmental ranges. 2300+ adults were recruited from online sources.

Sleep Habits and Emotional Experiences Project (SHEEP) (Y. Irina Li, P.I.)
SHEEP examines the interplay between reward processing, actigraph-assessed sleep parameters, and well-being in college students. SHEEP is funded by an F31 National Research Service Award awarded to Y. Irina Li by the National Institute of Mental Health.

Hassles & Uplifts in Daily Life
This project examined predictors of affective responses to naturalistically occurring hassles and uplifts in an undergraduate sample over-selected for depressive symptoms. Daily experiences and mood were sampled using two temporally overlapping techniques: ecological momentary assessment (using telephone-based surveys administered at semi-random intervals) and end-of-the-day daily diary. HUDL data collection was completed in 2014. We conducted this study in collaboration with Dr. Rachel Hershenberg (formerly Philadelphia VA and University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, currently Emory University Department of Psychiatry), who simultaneously conducted a similar study in a veteran sample.