The Teen Lab is dedicated to understanding pathways to health risk behaviors (e.g., alcohol and substance use, risky sexual behavior) to inform accessible prevention efforts, especially among those most at-risk of engaging in such behaviors.

Youth with externalizing difficulties (e.g., ADHD, ODD, CD) are at-risk of a variety of adverse outcomes, including engagement in health risk behaviors. The Teen Lab seeks to develop and evaluate interventions that promote skills (e.g., social skills, emotion regulation strategies) for teens with externalizing difficulties to prevent such adverse outcomes. 

The Teen Lab focuses on promotion of accessible, feasible, and cost-effective interventions for teens. We therefore build mutually-beneficial partnerships with schools to understand their needs, increase their capacity for intervention delivery, and promote implementation of evidence-based practices.

The Teen Lab prioritizes community partnerships to ensure that intervention strategies are desired, acceptable, and beneficial to relevant stakeholders. Community outreach is a priority in the Teen Lab to build durable, mutually beneficial relationships and to increase access to evidence-based practices.