Ongoing Studies
Teen Screen Time, Emotional Experiences and Neuroscience (SCREEN) Study
The Teen SCREEN study will recruit adolescent girls (ages 13-17) to participate in a research study to better understand how adolescents’ social media experiences, other social interactions, and the brain influence emotional health. The study will involve interviews and questionnaires to measure thoughts, feelings and behaviors, an fMRI scan, an in-person discussion between the adolescent and their parent/guardian, smartphone-based assessment of mood, and social media de-identified aggregate data.
Digital Assessment of Young Adults & Detection of Suicidality (DYADS) Study
The DYADS study will recruit young adults (18-30) to participate in a research study to investigate emotions and experiences in young adults who have experienced suicidality within the past 6 months. The study involves an fMRI scan, smartphone-based assessment of emotions, experiences, and behavior, wrist-actigraph assessment of sleep, and interviews and questionnaires.
Augmented Reality Exposure Therapy for Treatment of Needle Phobia
A pilot study evaluating an augmented reality (AR) game to help children ages 3-6 to change their perceptions of needles and vaccination through embedded exposure therapy.
Completed Studies
Smartphone-Enhanced Child Anxiety Treatment (SmartCAT) in the Community Project
We are currently collaborating with different schools in the Pittsburgh area to test the feasibility of delivering Brief CBT anxiety treatment along with the SmartCAT app in community settings. The app consists of skill-building games and a series of questions about recent real-life emotional situations.
Mobile Emotion of Assessment in Adolescents (MEAA) Study
The MEAA Study recruited participants from the GIRLS: Brain Study to understand how self-reported spikes in emotions (i.e., anxiety, anger, sadness) in daily life are associated with various physiological markers (ie., heart rate, electrodermal activity, movement, and voice quality), with the goal of using machine learning techniques to use these markers to predict discrete experiences of salient emotions. By integrating the physiological data with EMA data on emotions, behaviors, activities and social media use in daily life, we will have a fuller picture of what might be going on in an adolescent girl’s life when she experiences increases in anxiety and sadness.
Girls’ Interactions in Real Life: Study of Brain Development (GIRLS Brain Study)
The GIRLS Brain Study recruited girls ages 11-13 who are shy and/or fearful in order to examine how their brains respond to emotion. Participation involved a parent and their child visiting our lab up to three times over the course of three years. The parent and child completed several questionnaires, interviews, and activities. Children received a series of telephone calls on research study-provided cell phones for up to three weekends and provided salivary samples. Children also had an fMRI scan where their brain activity was measured while they complete computerized tasks.
Smartphone-Enhanced Child Anxiety Treatment (SmartCAT) Study
The SmartCAT Study involved children ages 9-14 who have difficulty with anxiety. The study provided 8 weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy in conjunction with a smartphone app designed to enhance treatment. The app consists of skill-building games and a series of questions about recent real-life emotional situations. In addition, parents and children were administered questionnaires and interviews. This study is currently closed for recruitment.
Girl Talk Study
The Girl Talk Study recruited healthy 11 to 16 year old girls to better understand emotions during social interactions in teenage girls. Participation involved a single lab visit where girls were asked to participate in interaction tasks with a close female friend and their mom while physiological responses (such as heart rate and eye movement) were measured. In addition, girls completed computer tasks while pupil dilation and eye movements were monitored. Finally, girls, their friends, and their moms completed a series of questionnaires. This study is currently closed for recruitment.
Child Anxiety Treatment Study (CATS):
The Child Anxiety Treatment Study (CATS) examined how talk therapy may help children and adolescents (aged 9-13) with anxiety disorders. Participation involved visiting our lab for 16 weeks of “one-on-one” talk therapy sessions designed to work with children and adolescents who had difficulty with anxiety. In addition to these visits, children and their parents completed questionnaires, interviews, and interaction tasks. Children were also asked to complete computer tasks while we monitored brain waves, obtained physiological measurements of emotions, and captured brain images using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) at separate visits. Finally, children received brief phone calls to monitor their emotions and activities in real life. This study is currently closed for recruitment.
Youth Emotional and Social Development Study (YES-D):
This study examined how the brains of depressed and healthy adolescents (aged 9 to 17) react to emotional and social information. Participation involved the completion of questionnaires, an fMRI scan, and the measurement of pupil dilation and eye-tracking during computerized tasks. Participants also completed phone calls throughout 3 weeks on a study-provided cell phone that assessed emotion in a real-world context. The study did not involve treatment or medication. This study is currently closed for recruitment.
Risk for Adolescent Depression Study (RAD):
Children with a family history of depression have a higher risk of becoming depressed themselves during the teenage years. The FEND lab conducted a study of factors that may prevent depression in children and teenagers (aged 9 to 14) whose parents (aged 25 to 55) had a history of depression. The study included interviews, questionnaires, and noninvasive psychophysiological measures conducted with parents and children over 18 months. This study did not involve any medications or treatments. This study is currently closed for recruitment.