The proposed study aims to develop and pilot a brief, firefighter-specific, peer-led psychoeducation program to address hazardous drinking within the context of occupational stress and trauma exposure. The program consists of a single, in-person, group-based session that provides practical, evidence-informed education on the relationships among trauma, stress, alcohol use, resilience, and behavioral health resources. The […]
The proposed study seeks to develop and pilot the first trauma-informed, firefighter-specific personalized feedback intervention (PFI) to reduce hazardous drinking by integrating qualitative methods, user-centered design, and implementation science. The intervention will be developed iteratively with firefighters and evaluated using a pilot randomized controlled trial. This work will establish the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy […]
One in ten fathers experience severe mental health challenges due to the stressors of parenting. Fathers’ mental health plays a pivotal role in early child social-emotional development with impact throughout a child’s lifespan. Parenting interventions that support effective parenting knowledge, skills, and behaviors improve parent-child mental health outcomes, including in low- and middle-income settings. Yet […]
The Brief Intervention for School Clinicians (BRISC) has been the subject of two research studies funded by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES). In the most recent study, 48 high schools in three states (WA, MD, MN) were recruited and assigned to BRISC (n=23) or school-based services as usual (SAU; n=25). Clinicians working in schools […]
Empower Through Health (ETH) is a healthcare, research, and education 501c3 organization operating in rural eastern Uganda. ETH runs a health center that provides general medical care for surrounding communities and delivers psychiatric and neurological services across Buyende District (population >400,000). ETH’s research focuses on reducing demand-side barriers to care and partnering with existing community […]
Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) commonly experience sleep disturbance. Such disturbances can have a birdrectional effect in those with PTSD –interrupted sleep due to hypervigilance and nightmares are common symptoms of PTSD, and poor sleep is associated with a worse course of PTSD. Sleep disturbance can potentially be a prognostic factor in overall outcome […]
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is linked to altered physiologic functioning, including increased blood pressure and heart rate, especially in response to stressors. Increased cardiovascular reactivity to trauma-related stressors may link PTSD to poorer cardiovascular health and thus an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Prior work by our lab suggests that these effects of trauma may […]
This project aims to understand how concerns about pregnancy, whether planning for a child or trying to avoid an unintended one, affect women’s sexual well-being. Despite public health goals to reduce unintended pregnancies and STDs (Higgins et al., 2009), and the importance of sexual health to overall quality of life (Flynn et al., 2016), little […]
Children with comorbid mental health and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) often require more intensive and coordinated care than those with mental health disorders alone. These two categories of disorders often present with comorbidity and engagement disparities in integrated behavioral health programs among this population remain poorly understood. This study examines differences in service utilization and attrition […]
Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common in veteran and civilian populations. Meanwhile, observationally estimated half of people cared for at UW autonomic nervous system (ANS) disorder clinic have a history of trauma. Increasingly, research explains this observation through an evolving understanding of the complex interplay of peripheral and central catecholamine signaling that appear […]
