My research projects inform the work of our ENERGY (Examining Nutrition, Exercise, and Rest in Growing Youth) Lab.
The ENERGY Lab is dedicated to the study of health behaviors and health behavior change among children, adolescents, and their families. I am motivated to strike a balance between basic science and intervention development/implementation, by conducting research that builds upon the bidirectional relationship of these two components and incorporating basic research into my own intervention design. Specifically, my research program primarily will be focused on the role of goal-attainment processes (including expectations, motivation, and self-control) in health behavior among children with obesity (and health conditions generally), and how the manipulation of these processes through various levels of intervention is associated with health behavior change. Secondarily, I am interested in the use of technology to facilitate behavior change and improve the dissemination of interventions, and in the development and validation of psychological measures related to the above areas of inquiry.
