Adolescent Development Lab

There a number of different types of opportunities in the Adolescent Development Lab, please contact Professor Ludden to inquire about these opportunities. Volunteer work may be available to assist with Pr. Ludden's current research project, as she analyzes data and prepares manuscripts. In addition, students may be able to assist other students on their projects or design their own research projects collecting their own data or analyzing data from Pr. Ludden's existing studies. Opportunities are available for Holy Cross students to collect survey data from adolescents in local schools.

Pr. Ludden's current research projects:

--Civic involvement, mental health, school engagement and substance use among adolescents (independent projects as well as collaborations with Pr. Susan Crawford Sullivan)

--Caffeine use and other substance use, stress, sleep, and academic engagement among adolescents and emerging adults (independent projects as well as collaborations with Pr. Amy Wolfson and Pr. Ed Soares)

--Academic engagement, well-being, and substance use among adolescents

--Perceptions of adolescents and substance use among preservice teachers

Examples of current students' projects:

--Melissa Richards '10. Richards, M. & Ludden, A. B. (2009). The mediating effects of motivation on adolescents' achievement and well-being. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Society of Research in Child Development, Denver, Colorado, April 2009. (Presentation based on data from SAMS Project; collaboration was possible through a Fisher Summer Research Grant in 2008.)

Examples of former students' projects:

--Amanda McLaughlin ’09. The Effects of Religiosity and Spirituality on Adolescent Well-being. (For Amanda's senior project, she collected surveys from 371 high school students that included information about religiosity, voluntarism, well-being, caffeine use, and delinquency.)

--Alyssa Milot ’06.  Milot, A. S. & Ludden, A. B. (2009). The effects of religion and gender on well-being, substance use, and academic engagement among rural adolescents, Youth and Society, 40, 311-335. (Publication based on data from SAMS Project).

--Rheanna Ata ’06 and Megan Lally ’06.  Ata, R. N., Ludden, A. B., & Lally, M. M. (2007). The effects of gender, and family, friend, and media influences on eating behaviors and body image during adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36, 1024 – 1037. (Based on survey data they collected themselves from 177 8th – 12th graders in public and private high schools.)