Supervising Faculty: Salome Vanwoerden, PhD and Stephanie Stepp, PhD
Contact: Salome Vanwoerden, vanwoerdens@upmc.edu
Area of Research: Clinical Psychology, Borderline Personality Disorder, Developmental Psychopathology
Description of Research: The overarching goal of our research is to understand factors related to risk for the development and maintenance of borderline personality disorder that originate within significant relationships (parent-child, child-friend, romantic). Our research aims to identify and understand interpersonal behaviors within these relationships that are characteristic of borderline personality disorder and that may exacerbate difficulties for these individuals. Given the focus on significant relationships, our research typically entails laboratory-based interaction tasks (eliciting conflict, problem discussions, play) and ecological momentary assessment of interpersonal interactions in peoples’ daily lives. We also include physiological data collection in our studies to understand the autonomic nervous system correlates of interpersonal behavior.
Duties of Students: Students are expected to attend weekly lab meetings, which include discussion of professional development topics and reviews of journal articles. Additional meetings based on specific projects and tasks may be required. There are a range of tasks that students can be involved in, including processing and analyzing psychophysiology data, conducting observational coding of laboratory based interpersonal interactions, data management tasks, running participants through laboratory assessments, conducting phone screening and recruitment of potential participants, scheduling participants, and providing instructions and reminders for ecological momentary assessment. Depending on background and interests, students can engage in data analysis, conference presentations, and manuscript writing under the mentorship of PIs. Training and support will be provided in learning all relevant software, so no previous experience is required. Training experiences include the use and implementation of observational coding, awareness of racial bias in observational coding, and interrater reliability (what it is and how it is evaluated).
Requirements:
- Overall GPA of 3.0 or higher
- 12 credits of Psychology (including current term)
- STAT 0200/1000/1100 Statistics
- PSY 0036 Research Methods Lecture
- PSY 0037 Research Methods Lab
- Two consecutive semesters
- At least 2 credits each term
Recruitment Process: We have created a Qualtrics survey to collect responses on standardized questions from applicants: https://pitt.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bf3ivJYOenl8Ese
A standardized description of the lab and project will be provided to students. Students who are interested in working in the lab will be scheduled for a one-on-one meeting with Salome. This meeting will give students an opportunity to learn more about the activities in the lab, expectations of students, mentoring style, and research topics as well as ask questions. Salome will cover a list of standardized questions including student goals, previous research experience, previous work experience, year of study and progression of Psychology coursework, and preferences for mentoring style. If there are multiple interested applicants at this stage, a standardized rating scale will be completed that evaluates fit between research topic and student interest, ability to meet personal goals of students, mentor-style match between lab and student, and overall interest in lab activities. These procedures will allow for equitable opportunity for all students to become involved as well as ample opportunity for students to evaluate their interest in the activities and learning opportunities in the lab.
Terms offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Number of Students: 3