Research Group:
Positive Psychology
The Positive Psychology research group is focused on identifying various factors that predict optimal psychological functioning in youth, and testing interventions to improve youth, educator, and family well-being. Recent accomplishments by team members include dissertations and theses on relevant topics (e.g., effectiveness of positive psychology counseling with autistic students; how baseline mental health problems effect responsiveness to a Tier 2 small group positive psychology intervention), dissemination of results via published manuscripts (peer-reviewed publications based on students’ theses and collaborative research co-authored by volunteer graduate students on our research group) and conference presentations (e.g., NASP, APA, the World Congress on Positive Psychology [WCPP]), and contributions to the field through peer reviews of others’ research and completion of our own empirical studies.
In July 2020, we received a 6-year grant from the Institute of Educational Sciences (IES) to study of the efficacy of a Tier 2 positive psychology intervention (the Well-Being Promotion Program; WBPP) with middle school students. We are partnering with colleagues at UMass Amherst to implement and evaluate a 10-session positive psychology group intervention with a parent component and booster sessions to middle school students in 6 middle schools in Tampa and 7 schools in MA. We have trained school mental health staff (counselors, psychologists, social workers) to lead and co-lead (alongside study staff) the WBPP. During 2023-24, we will provide and evaluate the WBPP at Chasco, Cypress Creek, and Charles Rushe Middle Schools within Pasco County Schools, and do the same in 3-4 middle schools in MA. We welcome volunteers to help us prepare for this work, track fidelity of implementation, and provide the WBPP to students in the delayed-tx control (at Raymond B. Stewart and Pasco Middles; Pasco High School). If interested in this project, contact Dr. Kristen Mahony at [email protected].
In Fall 2023, research group members (led Samin Khallaghi [email protected] and Austin Cole [email protected] ) will teach multiple sections of an undergraduate course “Positive Psychology in the Schools,” a service learning course that facilitates partnerships with school-age children to increase students’ happiness. Undergrads provide positive psychology interventions to individual children in the community using virtual couseling modalities (Zoom). We might seek volunteers to provide services virtually if the number of children recruited through community outreach yields more than can be accommodated by the students in the course. Our team is also working on resubmitting a multi-year grant proposal to develop a refined Tier 1 positive psychology intervention for elementary school students, teachers, and parents. In 2020-21, we piloted this work- including comprehensive professional learning to K-5 teachers to increase subjective well-being- at Mort Elementary School. We are seeking funding to expand this work to other schools. We are completing a 2-year partnership with Children’s Home Society (CHS) to infuse a positive psychology assessment and intervention framework into their clinicians’ counseling with youth and parents, and evaluate the improvement in client outcomes when clinicians incorporate positive psychology into their toolbox of evidence-based practices. If interested in this project, please contact Frances Coolman at [email protected].
In January 2023, Evan Dart and I began a 2-year service grant funded by the Florida Department of Education to develop resiliency curriculum resources for teachers of secondary students throughout FL. If interested in this project, contact Dr. Cheryl Gelley at [email protected].
In addition to these intervention and writing goals, we plan to present our research at conferences such as NASP and FASP; continue to provide peer reviews of articles submitted for publication relevant to positive psychology; and support team members as they continue their dissertation and thesis research on topics relevant to positive psychology. If you are interested in this work, please contact me at [email protected] to be included in scheduling of lab meetings!
The Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate (AP/IB) research group, led by Drs. Shannon Suldo and Elizabeth Shaunessy-Dedrick (Gifted Education), in collaboration with Drs. John Ferron and Robert Dedrick (Measurement and Research), investigates the psychosocial functioning of high school students in college-level classes. In August 2015, we began a second federally-funded study, to apply findings from the first study in order to develop prevention and intervention strategies to support AP and IB students. This $1.5 million project, entitled “Facilitating Academic Success and Emotional Well-Being among High School Students in Accelerated Curricula,” was funded by IES. In the first year of the project (2015-16), we developed universal and targeted curricular materials for AP/IB students (with companion materials for teachers and families), geared towards facilitating adaptive coping and engagement strategies among these youth. In the second year (2016-17), we piloted all of these intervention materials with about 350 high school freshmen at two high schools (one IB Program, one AP Program). Then, we revised our universal curriculum (in-person classroom lessons for students, online webinars for their teachers, and in-person workshops and flyers for their parents) and targeted procedures (universal screening to determine risk status; for at-risk students, 2 individual sessions of motivational interviewing-based counseling targeting students’ personal goals) in line with feedback received from youth and adult stakeholders. In the third year (2017-18), we provided the refined intervention materials to freshmen entering AP or IB courses in a randomized controlled trial involving 15 high schools across Pinellas (4 schools), Pasco (4 schools), and Hillsborough (7 schools). In 2018-19, we offered the intervention to the 7 control schools, and recruited about 350 students to take part in a 1-3 year follow-up study of intervention outcomes. In 2019-20, we collected 1-year follow-up data, and began to analyze outcome data, and disseminate our work from Years 1 – 4 in publications and presentations. A 2-year follow-up data collection was canceled in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 related school closures. We are currently completing data analyses and disseminating findings. If you want to learn more about this line of research, please contact Austin Cole at [email protected].