Welcome to the Health Experiences and Adolescent Relationship Trajectories (HEART) Lab!
Our research focuses on how the social-ecological contexts that adolescents and young adults are embedded in have an impact on their health behaviors and mental health. Some of our active projects include understanding how adverse childhood experiences (ACES) are associated with sexual behaviors, substance use, and mental health, how adolescent sexual behavior is associated with mental health and well-being, and the socio-cultural correlates of sexual behavior in Latine adolescents.
The lab is directed by Dr. Sara Vasilenko, Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Science at Syracuse University.
Please click around our website to learn more about our research!
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Featured Article: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adolescent Early Sexual Behaviors
Xiafei Wang, the HEART lab Assistant Director and Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Kentucky recently published a paper in the Journal of Early Adolescence, along with coauthors Kirstin Clear and Sara Vasilenko. This paper focuses on uncovering patterns of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in 9-11 year-old adolescents, and then examining how…
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Featured Article: Parental Closeness and Sexual Behavior
Doctoral candidate Linghua Jiang recently had a paper accepted to Journal of Research on Adolescence, which focuses on how the associations between parental closeness and sexual behavior change over the course of adolescence and young adulthood. The paper applied the time-varying effect model (TVEM) to data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult…
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HEART Lab Students Recognized with Awards
Three students from the HEART lab were recognized with awards at the Human Developmental and Family Studies end of the year awards ceremony. Linghua Jiang received the HDFS Doctorate Awards for Research Excellence, which is awarded to an HDFS student who has excelled in academics, research, and leadership. Kirstin Clear was awarded the Alice Sterling…
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