Presenter: Sofia Leusch, Neuroscience, Global Public Health Scholars
For my practicum, I am working at the Comprehensive Assessment and Intervention Program (CAIP) Lab at the University of Maryland as a research assistant (RA). The CAIP lab specializes in anxiety in children and adolescents and family dynamics. Currently, due to being completely online, the lab’s focus shifted to college age individuals because there are ample people available to participate in the study. As part of my role, I work with other Ras and coordinators to prepare the study for actual participants. Since, this is a psychological lab, the data received from these studies will be used to publish papers about anxiety in various individuals. It is such an exciting project to be a part of because there is a lot of turmoil in many college students lives currently, so it will be interesting to see the toll taken on the participants of this study.
Hi Sofia! I really loved your topic as social anxiety is such a prominent yet glossed-over issue, especially amongst college students. You went over how the lab uses the "unfamiliar peer paradigm," could you possibly elaborate on the details of how the study is conducted? Also, as it's starting to be used in an online format, what were some differences from how it's usually conducted in person?
This topic sounds really interesting! I think that it’s so cool that you can create connections about the research you are conducting and the topics that you are learning about in both your major and in the scholars program. How did you discover this particular opportunity and what were some of the skills you developed throughout the duration of the research opportunity?
Hi sofia! I believe this is a very important and relevant topic to do research on, since as you said, according to the NIH, an estimated 9.1% of adolescents have a social anxiety disorder. Due to COVID, you stated that this lab was performed over zoom, how did this effect your research?
Hi Sofia, I loved reading about your practicuum. Social anxiety is definitely a very relevant and worthwhile issue to discuss due to its prevalence. You mentioned that you are studying social anxiety in college aged individuals, but do you ever plan on expanding your research to other age groups as well?