Category: Faculty Partner Research

Chris Agnew – Some people are single despite desiring a committed romantic relationship. Past research has revealed relationship maintenance strategies—thoughts and behaviors that couple members enact to fuel overall relationship satisfaction and commitment—associated with relationship stability.

Leigha MacNeill – The scope of the pediatric mental health crisis in the United States, coupled with clinical manifestations prior to school age, necessitates a systematic approach to early detection of mental health problems in public health settings.

David Purpura – Negative associations between English Learners (EL) status and early skills were found on measures of cardinality, numeral identification, and broad numeracy, but not spatial skills. The negative relation between EL status and numeracy was moderated by indicators of Executive Function, such that the negative relation between EL status and early numeracy was present for children with higher EF, but not lower.

Heather Eicher-Miller; Cordelia Running; Amanda Veile – The marked individual variability in response to common dietary exposures necessitates tailoring of dietary guidance to individuals, or small groups of individuals with similar needs, to optimize health.

Maria Marshall – Food safety concerns associated with fresh produce have gained prominence due to recurring foodborne outbreaks and recalls. However, consumer awareness and perceptions regarding food safety in small and medium-sized farm (SMF) operations remain
underexplored.

Leanne Nieforth – “We’re advocating for the option of having service dogs as part of a treatment modality for PTSD and overcoming sexual assault trauma,” Senter said. “I interact with the people. I’ve conducted interviews with the participants just asking them about their experiences, the process of getting their service dog, how their service dog assists them in their day-to-day life and the changes that have come from that, and the advantages and disadvantages of having a service dog in 2025.”

Annabelle Atkin – A common racial stressor for Multiracial people is racial identity invalidation: the experience of having one’s racial identity denied by others. This preregistered, exploratory study investigated Biracial people’s experiences of identity invalidation within a family setting.

Ellen Ernst Kossek – “Women who pause their careers often underestimate the emotional adjustment their families will face when they return. Children, in particular, may interpret the change as a kind of loss—even if it ultimately strengthens the family in the long term.”

Sooyeon Jeong – As social robots get more deeply integrated into our everyday lives, they will be expected to engage in meaningful conversations and exhibit socio-emotionally intelligent listening behaviors when interacting with people. Active listening and backchanneling could be one way to enhance robots’ communicative capabilities and enhance their effectiveness in eliciting deeper self-disclosure, providing a sense of empathy,and forming positive rapport and relationships

Jorge Banda – Can a customized computer-driven 12-month short message service (SMS) counseling platform increase weekly walking minutes among adults to levels comparable with those receiving telephone counseling from a trained human advisor?