Collaborative Life Skills Digital Mental Health Project (CLS-D)

PI: Miguel Villodas

Project supported by funding from the Institute of Education Sciences

The Collaborative Life Skills Program’s (CLS) effectiveness is well established. However, barriers to its implementation in schools with limited resources that serve a high proportion of students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds persist. This four-year project aims to enhance the feasibility and usability of CLS in these school contexts by leveraging digital health technology. In collaboration with the Vista and Oakland Unified School Districts, we will develop a mobile health application to support CLS implementation.

Collaborative Life Skills Teams Project (CLS-T)

PI: Miguel Villodas, Linda Pfiffner, and Lauren Brookman-Frazee

Project supported by funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health

We will develop a team-enhanced adaptation of CLS (CLS-T) and compare its impact on the CLS implementation, student outcomes, and team processes to standard CLS implementation in schools in the San Francisco Unified and National School Districts.

Adult Outcomes in the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect – San Diego

PI: Miguel Villodas

Project supported by the SDSU Division of Research and Innovation

LONGSCAN is a five-site consortium of studies that have followed prospective cohorts who were identified as being at risk for abuse and/or neglect during early childhood for more than 30 years. At the San Diego site, we have maintained contact with many of the participants who have been participating since they were four years old and who are now approximately 30 years old.  We are collecting data about their relationships with their children and parenting behaviors. 

Understanding the Culture of University Research Experiences (Project CURE)

PI: Dustin Thoman

Project supported by NSF award # HRD 2100129

This 3-year study is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and aims to examine the role that research experiences play in students’ intentions to pursue STEM careers, with a specific focus on diversifying the STEM workforce. We will enroll faculty mentors and students from their research labs across three Southern California universities to learn how communications among lab members affect students’ engagement in and motivation toward STEM careers over time.

Empowerment Talks: Understanding Underrepresented Students’ Experiences in Research Labs

PI: Miguel Villodas

Project supported by the SDSU Division of Research and Innovation

The objective of this mixed-methods study is to examine how social and cultural barriers (e.g., subtle social messages of exclusion, perceptions of incongruence with cultural values, racial microaggressions) within research labs influence underrepresented students’ science identities and interests, as well as their persistence in science-related education and careers. We will collect surveys and conduct focus groups with underrepresented students who are engaged in research labs to learn about their experiences within the research lab context.