Falk College strives to achieve excellence in education not only through good teaching but also through participation in active research. Our students benefit by learning from researchers who are working at the cutting-edge of knowledge, within well-equipped laboratories, and in projects that are both domestic and abroad. We encourage both undergraduates and graduate engagement to achieve not only a rewarding educational experience but also enhanced career opportunities upon graduation. Learn more about the different types of research awards.
Extramural AwardThe Impact of Longitudinal Patterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Adolescent Reproductive Health: Examining Factors that Promote Resilience
Sara Vasilenko (HDFS) PI, Xiafei Wang (SWK) MPI, and Rachel Razza (HDFS) co-I, The Impact of Longitudinal Patterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Adolescent Reproductive Health: Examining Factors that Promote Resilience, NIH. 9/19/23-8/31/25 This…
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2023-2024 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardPatterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Drug Use, Abuse, and Dependence
Sara Vasilenko (HDFS) PI and Xiafei Wang (SWK) co-PI, Patterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Drug Use, Abuse, and Dependence Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with substance use, abuse, and dependence, making them an important…
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2022-2023 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardLongitudinal Patterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
Adverse childhood experiences (ACES) are associated with early onset of sexual intercourse, having more sexual partners, and contracting HIV, making them an important public health concern
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Extramural AwardDeveloping an Instrument to Assess Intergenerational Digital Communication by Older Adults: Expanding the Solidarity Model
The purpose of this project is to develop a reliable and valid instrument that measures the use and efficacy of various forms of intergenerational digital communication and integrate those measures within the intergenerational solidarity inventory, the gold standard for measuring intergenerational family relationships. The researchers incorporate these new forms of communication into the intergenerational solidarity paradigm and its measurement tool by conceptualizing and empirically developing a new dimension of solidarity labelled “digital solidarity.”
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Extramural AwardDo Children Displaying Different Profiles of Cognitive and Behavioral Self-Regulation Respond Differently to Early Education Programs?
This NICHD-funded study examines how profiles of cognitive and behavioral self-regulation influence the effectiveness of Head Start REDI, a preschool intervention program, in order to determine which version of the program works best for different types of students. Dr. Vasilenko’s role in the project includes expertise in person-centered and longitudinal research methods, and she will aid in creating latent profile models of self-regulation. Results can be used to inform intervention programs that are targeted to subgroups of children based on their risk profiles. Researchers have increasingly focused not only on whether a prevention program is effective, but for which types of people the program is most effective for. Then, researchers can examine how well a program works for people in these subgroups.
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Extramural AwardMultilevel Risk Profiles and Reproductive Health across Adolescence and Young Adulthood
In this United States, rates of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy are highest among adolescents and young adults, making prevention programs to this group particularly important. Vasilenko propose the use and integration of two innovative analytic methods, the time-varying effect modeling (TVEM) and latent class analysis (LCA). The first aim of this project will elucidate age trends in SRH outcomes (e.g., sexual risk behaviors, STIs) across adolescence through young adulthood at the population level, including differences among demographic subgroups. Vasilenko will also examine how profiles of multilevel early risk and age-varying individual factors predict sexual, reproductive, and SRH outcomes across adolescence through young adulthood. Results will allow prevention scientists to design interventions targeting the most relevant risk factors at particular ages for specific subgroups.
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Extramural AwardSpirituality and Prosocial Values in the Absence of Religion Among Millennials and Their Families
Approximately one-third of millennials and post-millennials—young adults born 1981 and later—profess to have no connection to religion, according to the Pew Research Center. Yet evidence points to their strengthened humanitarian values and prominent spirituality. The degree to which religion is decoupled from prosocial goals and spirituality in contemporary young adults is one of many research questions to be addressed in the project.
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