Mental Research Institute

An MRI Funded Grant - Establishing the Contributions of Romantic Partners to Older Individuals’ Prescription Opioid Misuse

https://mri.org/blog/establishing-the-contributions-of-romantic-partners-to-older-individuals-prescription-opioid-misuse

People tend to exhibit health behaviors similar to those around them, especially their romantic partners or spouses. Studies of the inter-spousal correlation in health status among married couples in later life found a tendency to share lifestyle behaviors such as diet, smoking, and exercise. To date, however, research had not examined the romantic relationship context of serious prescription behaviors at the time of the prescription of a new opioid medication, a key medical event that commonly precedes longer-term, problematic opioid use or misuse.

Dr. Lauren M. Papp, Jane Rafferty Thiele Professor in Human Ecology and Professor of Human Development & Family Studies at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, and her colleagues, used an MRI Grant to study this area of research.

Establishing the Contributions of Romantic Partners to Older Individuals’ Prescription Opioid Misuse — Mental Research Institute People tend to exhibit health behaviors similar to those around them, especially their romantic partners or spouses. Studies of the inter-spousal correlation in health status among married couples in later life found a tendency to share lifestyle behaviors such as diet, smoking, and exercise. To dat

MRI Funded Project: The Effects of A Brief Interconnectedness Meditation On Perceived Social Support, Emotional Reactivity, and Mental Health

https://mri.org/blog/the-effects-of-a-brief-interconnectedness-meditation-on-perceived-social-support-emotional-reactivity-and-mental-health

Brief interconnectedness meditations have been found to promote feelings of connection; however, research has yet to explicitly test the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of these among college students. This is critical, as despite reporting high rates of depression and utilization of mental health services, interventions among college students is low, in part due to lack or time and preference for self-help.

Existential Isolation and Well-Being Among Persons In Residential Treatment Facilities

Read More: https://mri.org/blog/existential-isolation-and-well-being-among-persons-in-residential-treatment-facilities



Check Out More Grants: https://mri.org/blog

An MRI Funded Grant: Dimensions of Couples' Relationship Functioning That Predict Mental Health

https://mri.org/blog/dimensions-of-couples-relationship-functioning-that-predict-mental-health

An MRI Grant Funded Project: Training Youth with Disruptive Behaviors as School-Based Peer Coaches

Stanley Huey, PhD at USC, and Katherine Galbraith, grad student at USC, used an MRI grant, took a counterintuitive approach to remediating disruptive behaviors that deemphasizes the youth’s existing problems and focuses instead on training youth to help others. They developed a Peer Coach Training model (PCT) which involves teaching positive skills to youth and encouraging them to influence their peers. The goal is to facilitate the development of new “helper” identities by having target youth serve as coaches for other youth. They built on the work of prior researchers that showed the benefits of “peer therapist training” for delinquent girls. That study found that training girls as “peer therapists” was more effective than alternative approaches at reducing recidivism.

https://mri.org/blog/training-youth-with-disruptive-behaviors-as-school-based-peer-coaches

Training Youth with Disruptive Behaviors as School-Based Peer Coaches — Mental Research Institute Stanley Huey, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Southern California, and Katherine Galbraith, doctoral graduate student at University of Southern California, using an MRI grant, took a counterintuitive approach to remediating disruptive behaviors that deem

Studies suggest that if negative attitudes and stereotypes are automatically activated when a provider encounters a stigmatized patient, they can affect nonverbal forms of bias like how long the provider spends with the patient, the extent to which the provider dominates the conversation and expresses positive affect (Hagiwara et al., 2020).

Dr. Jeff Stone, University Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Arizona received support from the Mental Research Institute to conduct research and investigate how physicians communicate implicit bias when they interact with Hispanic patients during a clinical visit.

https://mri.org/blog/nih-funded-research-investigates-how-physicians-communicate-implicit-bias-when-they-interact-with-hispanic-patients-during-a-clinical-visit215

NIH funded research investigates how physicians communicate implicit bias when they interact with Hispanic patients during a clinical visit. — Mental Research Institute Studies suggest that if negative attitudes and stereotypes are automatically activated when a provider encounters a stigmatized patient, they can affect nonverbal forms of bias like how long the provider spends with the patient, the extent to which the provider dominates the conversation and express

Promoting healthy and supportive couple relationships through sustainable, evidence-based program delivery

Maintaining a healthy and supportive couple relationship can be a trying endeavor for many couples, with national estimates suggesting as many as one-third of marriages are distressed, a statistic that may be a conservative estimate at present given the challenges many couples are facing in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The presence and prevalence of this distress is nontrivial, as unmitigated relationship distress forecasts a variety of negative outcomes for individuals, their families, and the broader community.

In response to the prevalence of relationship distress across the country and its negative effect on adults and children, a myriad of relationship education and intervention programs have been developed…

https://mri.org/blog/promoting-healthy-and-supportive-couple-relationships-through-sustainable-evidence-based-program-delivery

The Nurturing Connections Intervention for Mother-Infant Dyads

The perinatal period is a critical phase in the lives of mothers and infants. Numerous studies have shown that perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are the most common risks associated with childbirth. PMADs and related psychosocial stressors may result in significant impairment in maternal and infant functioning as well as disturbances in the quality of the mother-infant relationship.

Samantha M. Brown, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Colorado State University used the Nurturing Connections intervention in a pilot study, and delivered it to at risk mothers, to see whether the Nurturing Connections intervention affects the mothers and their relationship with their infants to help them learn skills to better relate to their infants and thus better cope with parenting stresses.

https://mri.org/blog/the-nurturing-connections-intervention-for-mother-infant-dyads

Dear Friends,

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued interest in MRI and to give you some news on our grants.

As we embark on our 4th year as a grant making organization, we are excited to be a part of this big family of researchers whose goal is to understand and improve human relationships.

We are optimistic that this year has allowed you to reach some of your professional goals which we hope has included or will include, our support. Please visit our blog(https://mri.org/blog) to read about the many projects we have funded.

As we move forward into 2024 and in addition to the broader guidelines for research topics MRI supports, MRI has decided to dedicate part of its funding to a grant focused on Healing Family Division.

We are interested in funding research to help families restore cohesion when the children’s choices (for example, in areas such as professional choice, s*xual preference, gender identity, political views, economic values, religious choice, or relational choices) have divided the family. The research will look into processes and methods that could help reunite families and help parents come to terms with their children's choices. In today’s world, adolescents and young adults are often encouraged to empower themselves by choosing and making decisions for themselves -- decisions which may be counter to parental values and expectations for their children. This process is often not understood by the parents of these individuals and family conflicts and divisions can occur. Research grants focused on helping families heal these divisions and restore healthy relationships will be awarded up to $75,000.

We also will continue to support Doctoral Dissertation Grants for doctoral research projects that focus on facilitating healthy relationships and are constituent with MRI’s interactional systemic approach.

MRI’s board will continue to fund general grants for research and programs whose goals are to understand the systemic processes that strengthen advances in psychology, social systems and interactional approaches to improving human relationships.

These research projects will all have in common the fulfillment of our mission.

…to explore and support the development of innovative interactional, systemic approaches.

We look forward to seeing you, working with you, and especially to sharing our ongoing endeavors with you.

From everyone here at MRI, we thank you again for your support, and we wish you a healthy and prosperous New Year!

Evaluating Promoting Resilience in Self-Management (PRISM) in Community Settings

Drs. Carissa D’Aniello-Heyda, Associate Professor of Community, Family and Addiction Services at Fairfield University, Rachel Tambling, Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut and Beth Russell, Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut used an MRI grant in a pilot study to test whether the PRISM Program can relieve caregiver anxiety, depression, perceived stress and burden.

The PRISM program, based on Linehan’s Dialectial Behavior Therapy, is a group-based intervention over eight weeks. Dr. D’Aniello-Heyda and her colleagues found that the PRISM program was successful particularly in reducing anxiety, depression, perceived stress and caregiver burden of the family members of young adult substance users. Further analysis and research will focus on identifying within-subject changes from pre to post workshop.

https://mri.org/blog/evaluating-promoting-resilience-in-self-management-prism-in-community-settings

Culturally Adapting Relationship Education for Latino Sexual Minority Men

Latino s*xual minority men (LSMM) face mental health, substance use, and s*xual health disparities, partially driven by minority stress. They also face significant, intersectional cultural challenges to forming healthy, strong romantic and s*xual relationships with other men.

These challenges are, in part, related to their intersecting Latino and s*xual minority identities (e.g., family rejection, internalized stigma, scarce culturally salient role models for healthy dating, cultural norms regarding race and ethnicity among gay and bis*xual men, substance use norms among s*xual minority men).

https://mri.org/blog/culturally-adapting-relationship-education-for-latino-s*xual-minority-men

MRI awarded $25,000 to support Dr. Virgil Zeigler-Hill’ s project titled “Narcissism and Romantic Relationship Functioning: The Mediating Roles of Coercive and Collaborative Theories of Power.” Dr. Zeigler-Hill is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at Oakland University in Michigan.

The goal of this research was to gain a better understanding of how individuals with narcissistic personality features perceive and respond to issues surrounding power dynamics in their romantic relationships.

https://mri.org/blog/narcissism-and-romantic-relationship-functioning-the-mediating-roles-of-coercive-and-collaborative-theories-of-power

Narcissism and Romantic Relationship Functioning: The Mediating Roles of Coercive and Collaborative Theories of Power — Mental Research Institute MRI recently awarded $25,000 to support Dr. Virgil Zeigler-Hill’ s project titled “Narcissism and Romantic Relationship Functioning: The Mediating Roles of Coercive and Collaborative Theories of Power.” Dr. Zeigler-Hill is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at Oakland Un...

Possible Selves in Midlife Women: Toward a more diverse understanding of social and contextual factors related to risk for disordered eating...

Most eating disorder (ED) research has focused on young women. This has left other vulnerable groups largely overlooked, such as middle-aged women and those from minority backgrounds. Leslie Frazier, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Florida International University, and her team, are using an MRI grant to address this gap in the literature and to better understand the extent and the nature of eating disorder risk in menopausal women. Their research will develop and test a theoretically driven model of the influences of biopsychosocial, intra- and interpersonal and sociocultural factors that may impact culturally diverse middle- aged women’s self-perceptions, body image, emotional regulation and risk for ED’s.



https://mri.org/blog/possible-selves-in-midlife-women-toward-a-more-diverse-understanding-of-social-and-contextual-factors-related-to-risk-for-disordered-eating

Couples in Conflict: Bridging the Systemic Divide

Dr. Nathan Hardy was given a grant from Mental Research Institute to develop and then test a systemic relationship education program against the traditional behavioral-based method of relationship education.

https://mri.org/blog/couples-in-conflict-bridging-the-systemic-divide-1

MRI Grant Funded Project Update: Couples in Conflict... - https://mailchi.mp/60e70521d6a5/mri-prenatal-pandemic-stress-ipv-intervention-17346110

MRI Grant Funded Project Update: Couples in Conflict... - https://mailchi.mp/69d29fb690eb/mri-prenatal-pandemic-stress-ipv-intervention-17343458

https://mri-apply.us.optimytool.com/en/

Hope Through Strengths...The Results Are In! - https://mailchi.mp/ac223e697237/mri-prenatal-pandemic-stress-ipv-intervention-17340786

Hope Through Strengths...The Results Are In! - https://mailchi.mp/41a89045225c/mri-prenatal-pandemic-stress-ipv-intervention-17340766

Matthew A. Diemer, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Professor of Education at the University of Michigan received an MRI grant to examine relational processes more closely and deeply in couples (i.e., male partner processes impacting female partner processes, and vice versa) in Mozambique, via a dyadic structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.
Dr. Diemer repurposed existing measures of partner support, trust in medical professionals, and internalized HIV stigma – which were developed and validated in North America – to the Mozambican context.
He hypothesized they, along with partner empathy, are likely important mediators of the relationships between the HoPS+ intervention (which emphasizes male partner involvement) and key child and maternal health outcomes. Because Mozambique has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world, this work holds the potential to address this critical problem.



https://mri.org/blog/dyadic-analyses-of-relational-processes-among-mozambique-couples

As we enter into 2023, we would like to thank you for being part of the MRI community, and we hope that you have been able to stay safe and connected during these challenging times.

During 2022, we continued to explore and support innovative interactional, systemic approaches to improving human relationships by funding research projects with awards ranging from $2,500 to $25,000. Please visit our blog to read about the many different projects we have funded.

We will continue to support as many researchers as possible, and we look forward to continuing to receive applications from researchers who are working to understand and improve human relationships.

From everyone here at MRI, we thank you for your interest and we look forward to seeing you, to working with you, and especially to sharing our ongoing endeavors with you. We wish you a very happy, peaceful, healthy, and prosperous 2023.

#2023

Interethnic relationships and same s*x relationships continue to grow in the U.S., but they remain understudied. In a new MRI funded dissertation study, Sree Sinha, MA, a doctoral student in the Department of Counseling Psychology at the University of Denver, aims to investigate q***r people of color (QPOC), examining their individual and relational health through couple-level minority stress theory (CLMS). CLMS addresses unique stressors experienced in a relationship that is societally marginalized, such as interethnic or q***r relationships and is associated with dyadic and individual health outcomes. ***r ***rcommunity

Q***r Interethnic relationships: Couples Minority Stress and Resilience for Intersectionally Marginalized Couples — Mental Research Institute Interethnic relationships and same s*x relationships continue to grow in the U.S., but they remain understudied. In a new MRI funded dissertation study, Sree Sinha, MA, a doctoral student in the Department of Counseling Psychology at the University of Denver, aims to investigate q***r people of colo

Bullying is a significant problem for students in the U.S., peaking in middle school. The STAC intervention is a brief bullying bystander intervention developed by Aida Midgett, Ed.D. to train middle school students how to defend students who are targets of bullying. STAC stands for the four bullying intervention strategies: “Stealing the Show,” “Turning it Over,” “Accompanying Others,” and “Coaching Compassion.”



https://mri.org/blog/development-usability-testing-and-short-term-outcomes-of-the-brief-bullying-bystander-intervention-stac-teacher-module

Development, Usability Testing and Short-term outcomes of the Brief, Bullying Bystander Intervention (STAC) Teacher Module — Mental Research Institute Bullying is a significant problem for students in the U.S., peaking in middle school. The STAC intervention is a brief bullying bystander intervention developed by Aida Midgett, Ed.D. to train middle school students how to defend students who are targets of bullying. STAC stands for the four bul

Findings indicate that virtual services may help Thriving Families reach underrepresented populations even more. With these results, Dr. Rhoades and her team expanded their virtual services beyond the Denver metro area…


https://mri.org/blog/motherwise-virtual-relationship-education-for-pregnant-and-postpartum-women-during-covid

MotherWise Virtual Relationship Education for Pregnant and Postpartum Women During COVID — Mental Research Institute Findings indicate that virtual services may help Thriving Families reach underrepresented populations even more. With these results, Dr. Rhoades and her team expanded their virtual services beyond the Denver metro area…

Dr. Papp and her team are working to determine the extent to which partner factors contribute to an individual’s increasing risk of opioid misuse in the short-term following a new prescription. Their hypothesis is that the romantic relationship context is a robust predictor of opioid misuse risk and problematic prescription behaviors. This study will augment an ongoing study of 80 adults (and their partners) who receive a new prescription for non-chronic pain during an emergency department (ED) visit.

Establishing the Contributions of Romantic Partners in Older Individuals’ Prescription Opioid Misuse — Mental Research Institute Dr. Papp and her team are working to determine the extent to which partner factors contribute to an individual’s increasing risk of opioid misuse in the short-term following a new prescription. Their hypothesis is that the romantic relationship context is a robust predictor of opioid misuse risk a...

Please apply here - https://mri-apply.us.optimytool.com/en/

James R. Muruthi, PhD, at The University of Oregon, is conducting research that they hope will increase the understanding of the informal support for better psychological health among aging Kenyans by clarifying the significant characteristics of support associated with good health. They will also demystify the pathways through which informal support impacts the relationship between SES induced stress and psychological distress. Such clarification will in the future inform the creation of peer-based intervention to enhance psychological health among aging Kenyans.



https://mri.org/blog/chronic-socioeconomic-stress-psychological-distress-and-informal-support-among-aging-kenyans

Chronic Socioeconomic Stress, Psychological Distress and Informal Support among Aging Kenyans — Mental Research Institute James R. Muruthi, PhD, at The University of Oregon, is conducting research that they hope will increase the understanding of the informal support for better psychological health among aging Kenyans by clarifying the significant characteristics of support associated with good health. They will also d

Brett J. Peters, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology and Abriana M. Gresham, Ph.D. Student at Ohio University, have shared preliminary findings of the very interesting longitudinal study that they and their team (Drs. Gery Karantzas, Linda D. Cameron, and Jeffry A. Simpson) conducted, “Examining prospective associations between COVID-19 stressors, IPV, and health behaviors.”

The study had two primary hypotheses. The first was that greater COVID-19 stressors (financial anxiety, social disconnectedness, COVID-19 related health concerns, and perceived COVID-19 stress and impact) would predict increases in interpersonal violence (IPV) victimization over time. The second was that increases in IPV victimization would predict residual increases in movement outside the home and substance abuse and decreases in physical and mental health over time. Measurements were taken at two periods of time, described as Wave 1 and Wave 2.


https://mri.org/blog/examining-prospective-associations-between-covid-19-stressors-ipv-health-and-health-behaviors-preliminary-findings-of-dr-brett-j-peters-mri-funded-research

Examining Prospective Associations between COVID-19 Stressors: Preliminary Findings of Dr. Brett J. Peters’ MRI Funded Research — Mental Research Institute Brett J. Peters, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology and Abriana M. Gresham, Ph.D. Student at Ohio University, have shared preliminary findings of the very interesting longitudinal study that they and their team (Drs. Gery Karantzas, Linda D. Cameron, and Jeffry A. Simpson) conducted, “Examin...

Doctor Laura Jobson, from Monash University, one of Australia’s leading universities, was granted $23,300 to explore cultural differences in social support and quality of social networks following adverse life events.

https://mri.org/blog/exploring-cultural-differences-in-social-support-and-quality-of-social-networks-following-adverse-life-events

Exploring Cultural Differences In Social Support and Quality of Social Networks Following Adverse Life Events — Mental Research Institute Doctor Laura Jobson, from Monash University, one of Australia’s leading universities, was granted $23,300 to explore cultural differences in social support and quality of social networks following adverse life events.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!