Research Projects

Adolescence to Adulthood

Current Projects

Childhood, Adolescence, and Covid-Related Risk and Protective Factors in the Development of Adjustment in Early Adulthood Across Cultures

Building on the ongoing Parenting Across Cultures longitudinal study that began in 2008, this project will continue to follow participants in their early to mid-twenties.

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Developing and Evaluating Progressive Prosecution in Durham, NC

October 2020 - June 2024

The purpose of this project is to support the development and evaluation of new evidence-based plea bargaining policies and practices in the Durham District Attorney’s Office.

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Great Smoky Mountains Study of Rural Aging

April 2021 - January 2026

Project to augment the longitudinal Great Smoky Mountains Study (GSMS) to create a national data resource, the Great Smoky Mountains Study of Rural Aging (GSMS-RA), for the study of early determinants of the aging experience in a rural context. The GSMS began collecting data on children, now participants are entering their 40s.

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Child and Adolescent Predictors of Young Adults’ and Their Parents’ Primals in Nine Countries

July 2022 - June 2024

This study provides an unprecedented opportunity to understand whether and how primals in early adulthood are predicted by childhood and adolescent experiences and how parents’ primals are related to their young adult children’s primals in the most diverse long-term longitudinal study ever conducted.

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STEPS: Study of Teen Experiences that Promote Success

May 2023 - February 2028

This project aims to advance research on the relationship between economic well-being, wealth, adolescent functioning and mental health.

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Advancing Equity in Adolescent Health through Evidence-Based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs and Services

July 2023 - June 2028

This project expands reach, builds capacity, and scales up evidence-based programs offering positive youth development and sexuality education to address health disparities in the most vulnerable areas across rural Eastern North Carolina.

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Risk and Resilience in Ukraine: Individual, Family, and Community Predictors of Adolescent and Young Adult Adjustment

November 2023 - August 2024

This research project will collect data from youth enrolled in universities across Ukraine during the winter of 2023. Data will include changes in adjustment, wellbeing, and optimism, along with substance use. Data will provide insights into how best to support the mental health of young people during a global crisis.

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Past Projects

The Impact of Mental Health Therapy on Job Creation and Business Outcomes in Youth and Female-Led Enterprises

July 2022 - December 2023
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Parenting Across Cultures: COVID-19

July 2020 - June 2022
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Dimensions of Child Adversity and Health Risk Behaviors in Young Adulthood

September 2019 - August 2022
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The Role of Wealth in the Transition to Young Adulthood for Minority Youth

July 2019 - June 2020
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How Do State Social Assistance Policies and Practices Impact Utilization and Outcomes Among Hispanic Low-Income Youth?

July 2019 - April 2021
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Intergenerational Transmission of Resilience to ACEs

February 2019 - February 2021
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Diseases of Despair in Young Adulthood: Risk, Resilience, and Prevention

October 2018 - June 2022
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Intergenerational Persistence of Treatment Effects

September 2017 - August 2022
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Childhood Risk Factors and Young Adult Competence

July 2017 - June 2022
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Promoting Self-Regulation to Enhance Social, Behavioral, and Academic Adjustment in Middle School

July 2017 - June 2020
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The Intergeneration Effects of Criminal Justice Policies on Substance Use Crimes

July 2016 - May 2020
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Optimizing Prevention of Costly Adult Outcomes

July 2015 - March 2020
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Collaborative Proposal: A Data-Intensive Exploration of the Links between SES and STEM Learning Outcomes

September 2014 - August 2016
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The Effects of Local Job Destruction on Youth Mobility

June 2014 - January 2016
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Scientific Meetings for Advancing Economic Analyses of Substance Abuse Prevention

June 2014 - May 2016
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Epigenetic Mediation of Early Environmental Influences on Adolescent Neurobehavioral Development

November 2013 - October 2015
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Week in the Life Study

July 2013 - June 2016
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North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Summer Ventures Program Evaluation

June 2013 - March 2014
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Advancing the Study of Human Development with 21st Century Technologies

January 2013 - June 2014
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Durham Together for Resilient Youth (TRY)

December 2012 - April 2013
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Monitoring Substance Abuse in Durham County

December 2012 - April 2013
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Macro-to-Micro Contextual Triggers of Early Adolescent Substance Exposure

November 2012 - June 2014
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Evaluation of Bridgescape Academy

October 2012 - September 2013
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Collaborative Research: Leveraging Matched Administrative Datasets to Improve Educational Practice and Long Run Outcomes: Toward Building a National Interdisciplinary Network

September 2012 - August 2017
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Neuroscience-Based Health Curriculum to Promote Academic Success

July 2012 - June 2016
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Strengthening Benefit-Cost Analyses of Substance Abuse Project

July 2012 - August 2015
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Truancy Prevention Project

July 2012 - June 2016
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Preliminary Evaluation of the National STEM Career Platform

April 2012 - July 2012
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Effects of Drug Treatment Courts on Outcomes of Adults and Their Children

February 2012 - January 2015
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Decision-Making in Everyday Life

January 2012 - August 2014
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Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Adolescent Well-Being

January 2012 - December 2013
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Adolescent Adjustment: An Integrative Examination of Parenting, Emotion Regulation, and Social Information Processing

October 2011 - September 2013
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Child Mental Health Initiative (BECOMING)

October 2010 - September 2016
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Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Project

October 2010 - September 2012
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Economic and Social Determinants of the Educational, Occupational, and Residential Choices of Young Adults

July 2010 - June 2015
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Effects of Cognitive Control Training among Adolescent Offenders

February 2010 - February 2011
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Fast Track Data Center

September 2009 - August 2011
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Brain Imaging the Effects of High Sensation Value Anti-Drug PSAs

June 2009 - May 2011
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Beyond Test Scores: Schooling and Life-Course Outcomes in Early Adulthood

December 2008 - December 2011
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Transdisciplinary Prevention Research Center (TPRC)

September 2008 - June 2013
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Monitoring Substance Use Indicators for North Carolina Adolescents

December 2007 - July 2008
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America’s Promise Evaluation Project

November 2007 - December 2016
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Marriage and Parenthood in the Lives of Adolescents and Young Adults

July 2007 - June 2012
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Juvenile Justice Treatment Continuum

December 2006 - June 2009
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Research on High School Reform: Study of the Efficacy of North Carolina’s Learn and Earn Early College High School Model

July 2006 - June 2010
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Natural History of ADHD in a Population-based Sample

September 2005 - June 2010
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College Students’ Non-Medical Use and Misuse of ADHD Meds

August 2005 - April 2009
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Child Development Project- Optimizing Prevention of Costly Adult Outcomes

January 2004 - May 2021
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Development and Prevention of Substance Abuse Problems

September 2003 - May 2015
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Adolescent Drug Use: Development, Prevention, and Policy

September 2002 - February 2013
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Durham Family Initiative

July 2002 - December 2014
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Safe Schools/Healthy Students Program

June 2000 - June 2004
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GREAT Schools and Families Project – Evaluation Research Study in Area of Aggression/Interpersonal Youth

September 1999 - September 2007
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