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Reseach Studies at VT Opportunities

February 26, 2015



Group intervention research project seeks kids ages 8-11

Parents, does your child have difficulty with flexibility, organization, or planning? Does your child struggle with making transitions, negotiating with others, managing an emotional feeling, accepting differing viewpoints, and/ or accepting flexible interpretations of rules? Unstuck & On Target! is a new group intervention being offered at the VT Psychological Services Center. This group program is free and open for children between 8 and 11 years of age. This research project will provide strategies to improve flexibility, planning, and organization for both parents and children. For more information call 540-231-2024 or e-mail vtunstuck@gmail.com.


Participants are sought for online survey about trail usage in the New River Valley to learn more about the physical activity characteristics of trail users and non-users and to determine the impact that trails has on our local economies. We believe this project will help us to better understand the link between trail usage and physical activity and ways to improve trail experience for all users. Your participation is voluntary and anonymous. If you have 5-10 minutes, please complete the quick online survey.  For more information, please email us at jay7@vt.edu.

 https://virginiatech.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9ug2KImzBHVw3yd

Parents, is your teen nervous or afraid in social situations?

Parents, is your teen (12-16)  nervous or afraid in social situations? • Meeting new people • Public speaking • Using the phone • Standing up for him/herself • Going out to eat in public • Going to the mall • Attending social functions. Don’t let anxiety keep your son or daughter from enjoying life. This is a free treatment study available for adolescents with social anxiety and their parents. It is five weeks long. Individuals come in twice a week for 30 minute treatment sessions. Email:childstudycenter@gmail.com


Hear My Emotions Project

We are looking for families with children ages 3 to 6 years of age to participate in our study on emotion recognition and regulation. This study involves a 60 minute long visit to the Cognition, Affect, and Psychophysiology (CAP) Lab (Williams 354) at Virginia Tech. At the end of the session, your child will be given a small toy as a thank you for participating. If interested in learning more, please contact Deanna Swain (swaindm@vt.edu). Study ends 12/20. 

 

Facial Motion Expression Study 

We are seeking teens 12 -17 to participate in a research study on facial emotion expression. Involvement in this study will require completion of computerized task to label and express emotion, as well as filling out of few questionnaires. We are currently recruiting adolescents with ASD, and typically developing adolescents for this study. The study takes place at the Child Study Center (460 Turner Street) on Virginia Tech’s campus and will take approximately 2.0 hours. All participants will receive $20 after the completion of the study. Contact Andrea Trubanova at atruban@vt.edu or 540-231-2024 to obtain more information & to sign up for the study.


Siblings and parents of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
(ASD) are sought for participation in a new study through the Virginia Tech Autism Clinic!

Who: Children in grades 1 through 8 with a sibling with an ASD (Autism, Asperger’s, or PDD-NOS). Children must currently live in the same home.

What: One visit for parent to fill out surveys (90 min.) and one visit for parent and sibling without ASD to participate in separate focus groups (60 min.)

Where: Blacksburg or Roanoke.Flexible scheduling - daytime, evening, or weekend appointments Participating parent must be primary caregiver, but other parent is welcome to participate, too! Compensation provided for each visit. f you are interested in participating, please contact Tyler Hassenfeldt at thassen@vt.edu or (412) 600-8304


Slow Down Program
Are you a mother with a child in grades K-5 for the 2014-5 school year? Would you like to learn a new way to approach eating with your family? Do you drink three or more sugar-sweetened drinks each day? (i.e. Soda, sweet tea, sports drinks, specialty coffee, etc.) This study will help you learn about slowing down for meals and reconnecting with food. You will learn strategies for enjoying food and sharing that joy with your family & be compensated $10 - $60 on a gift card for completing the study.Participation involves completing a few short questionnaires, providing a salivary sample and participating in four group educational sessions. Each of the first three group meetings should take 60 minutes and the fourth will be 90 minutes. For more information please contact Lauren Kennedy, kennedy0@vt.edu or call/text 540-808-5358.


The VT iLEAP lab is recruiting 3- to 18-month-old infants
for three studies examining developmental changes in learning across the first two years. The first study explores learning trajectories in the cognitive, social, and language domains at the following ages: 3-mo, 6-mo, 9-mo, 12-mo, 14-mo, 18-mo, and 24-mo. Infants will experience a variety of fun, colorful learning tasks at each age. In the second and third studies, infants’ abilities to learn novel word-object associations are tested under different conditions. For example, do 12- to 14-month-olds learn better when the speaker is happy vs. neutral? Also, does the presence of a female speaker help 13- to 15-month-olds learn difficult object names (e.g. BIN vs. DIN)? In Study 2, 12- to 14-month-olds and their mothers will also see a series of slides with adult females portraying two emotions. Finally, mom and baby will be recorded while playing naturally with toys for both the second and third studies. Participants will be provided $10 compensation for each hour-long lab visit. If you would like to participate in any of the studies listed above or would like any additional information, please email us at 
iLEAP_Lab@vt.edu or call 231-3972!

Children 12-18 and parents needed
for a study to determine the reliability and validity of a biomarker for beverage consumption and added sugar intake in adolescents. Study involves children completing beverage and theory-based questionnaires, food recalls, and two non-invasive fingerstick blood samples across 5 visits; approximated total time is <5 hours. Children will receive $50 upon completion.  If interested in participating please contact Carly in the Lab for Eating Behaviors and Weight Management. Phone: (540)-231-7918 or email: carlym@vt.edu 

Social Anxiety Research Project for teens 12-16
Parents, is your teen nervous or afraid in social situations? The Social Anxiety Research Project Can help. This program is open for teens between 12 and 16 years of age. Don't let anxiety keep your son or daughter from enjoying life. The treatment will be offered free of charge and qualifying families will receive payment ($50 for each assessment session). This payment is to offset the time and inconvenience to you since we are collecting questionnaires and administering some computerized tests to help us evaluate the treatment. All information is strictly confidential.If you wish to learn more about this project, please contact the Social Anxiety Disorder Project at (540) 231-8276.