Research

Pathways to Preserve Cognitive Functioning Study

We are currently conducting an NIH-funded study to examine how and under what conditions modifiable psychological factors and health behaviors protect against age-related declines in cognitive functioning across multiple timescales (days, months, years). Starting in Summer 2023, we have been collecting micro-longitudinal data on dynamic daily and monthly changes in control beliefs, motivation, emotion, physical activity, sleep, and cognitive functioning in a regional sample of middle-aged and older adults (4 weekly bursts over 1.5 years). Pre-existing macro-longitudinal data on 9-year changes in the same measures was obtained from the national Midlife in the United States study. Knowledge gained from this research will inform evidence-based approaches on when (at which timescale) it is most effective to target changes in modifiable psychological and behavioral resources to preserve cognitive functioning and reduce risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias.

NDSU National COVID Study

Together with Dr. Kat Duggan's PATHS lab, the MHAD lab launched the ongoing NDSU National COVID Study at the beginning of the pandemic. We followed a nationally-representative sample of 301 American adults for a 2-month period in the initial stages of the pandemic. We followed up with these participants 1 year and 2 years later. Participants were assessed at 5 waves to obtain data on psychological factors that may affect health and well-being during this stressful period. Several studies we recently published using this data point to the critical role of motivation-relevant beliefs (perceived mastery and constraints) and strategies (goal reengagement) in buffering against declines in health and well-being during this major life transition.

Maintaining Physical Activity During Stressful Transitions Study

We recently conducted an NIH-funded study on the relationships between cognitive self-regulation, motivation, and health behavior in first-year students transitioning to college. The shift from high school to college is a stressful life transition that presents self-regulatory challenges for maintaining positive health behaviors. Daily physical activity is one such health behavior that exhibits strong declines during the college transition. The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to exacerbate these declines in creating additional obstacles to physical activity. Overcoming these transition-related challenges and obstacles to remaining physically active during this stressful period may depend on self-regulatory abilities that underlie the enactment of positive health behaviors. Our study is thus examining the conditions under which individual differences in self-regulatory ability predict objectively assessed physical activity (depending on control beliefs) as well as the mechanisms that account for these associations (daily emotions). 

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