Lab News

Lab News
April 5, 2025
FAM Lab Presents Reseach at ADAA Conference in Las Vegas!

Naz Dinc, Alex Petryczenko, Jordan Yerger, and Ashley Engstrom presented their research findings at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) annual meeting, which took place April 3rd to April 5th. 

Ashley presented a poster on the interplay of early life adversity and maternal depression on social reward responsiveness in youth.

Jordan presented a poster on the role of neighborhood disadvantage on depression prevention response in children of depressed mothers.

Naz presented a poster on the attenuated cognitive control network (ACC) as a mechanism in mother-daughter intergenerational transmission of depression.

Alex presented a poster on maternal responses to distress and RSA synchrony in low and high-risk mother-child dyads.

Great job!

 

April 1, 2025
Research Assistants Receive Grad School Acceptances

Caley Lane was accepted into a Clinical Psychology doctoral program at the University of Toledo!!

Christine Roberts was also accepted into a Clinical Psychology doctoral program at Case Western Reserve University!

Congratulations to Caley and Christine!

March 7, 2025
FAM Lab Participates in Stand Up For Science Rally in Pittsburgh

FAM Lab members participated in the stand up for science rally in Pittsburg, PA!

 

February 1, 2025
Dr. Burkhouse Joins Development and Psychopathology Journal

Dr. Burkhouse was invited to join the editorial board for Development and Psychopathology. 

Congratulations Dr. Burkhouse!

November 11, 2024
FAM Lab Research Assistants Present Innovative Findings at ABCT Convention in Philadelphia!

Our research assistants, Christine and Caley, are presenting posters at the ABCT (Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies) Convention, which takes place November 14–17 in Philadelphia.

Christine is presenting a poster on the interaction between neural reward responsiveness and socioeconomic status in the prediction of depression in children.

Caley is presenting a poster on electrocortical reactivity to emotional faces in mother-daughter dyads, and how maternal depression and rumination moderate these associations.

Good luck to them both! Stay tuned for updates!

November 11, 2024
New Lab and Studies Launching: Join Research on Youth Mental Health!

We are currently in the process of setting up our lab here at Penn State! In November we plan to start taking participants for a brand-new multi-site study with Vanderbilt University examining the impact of maternal depression on positive emotion processing and mental health outcomes for youth.   

We are also setting up an existing study from Nationwide Children's hospital in Ohio examining how individual differences in emotion regulation patterns are implicated in risk for depression in children and adolescents.  

October 28, 2024
Congratulations to Maria Granros on Starting Internship and Michelle Sheena on Dissertation Defense!

Graduate student Maria Granros began her Clinical Psychology Internship at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.  

Graduate student Michelle Sheena successfully defended her dissertation entitled, “Examining Reward Reactivity using EEG Between Mother-Child Dyads With and Without a History of Depression.”  

Congrats to Maria and Michelle!  

October 28, 2024
Chuck Kingston Submits Manuscript on Rumination and Brain Activity in Predicting Youth Depression

Our research assistant Chuck Kingston is in the process of submitting his manuscript titled 'The interplay of rumination and error-related brain activity in the prospective prediction of depressive symptoms among youth,’ to the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology for their Rumination, Cognitive Performance, and Depressive Symptoms special issue. He and his co-authors found that ERN (an ERP tested with Flanker that indexes cognitive error processing) moderates the relationship between rumination and twelve-month depression symptoms in a sample of adolescents.  

Great job Chuck!  

October 25, 2024
Celebrating Success: Maria Granros Begins Clinical Internship at Lurie Children’s, Michelle Sheena Defends Dissertation on Depression in Mother-Child Dyads

Graduate student Maria Granros began her Clinical Psychology Internship at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.

Graduate student Michelle Sheena successfully defended her dissertation entitled, “Examining Reward Reactivity using EEG Between Mother-Child Dyads With and Without a History of Depression.”

Congrats to Maria and Michelle!