Our Research

The INSPYR Lab is in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Fairfield University. Broadly, we are committed to understanding and improving youth mental health through research, with a particular focus on serving youth and families coping with psychotic experiences and stigma. Our team employs a number of research methods in this work, including rigorous public surveys, community-based participatory research, and mixed-methods approaches (combining quantitative and qualitative insights). Our program of research is driven by three overarching questions:

What are the predictors of public stigma in the community and how can we best reduce such stigma?
How do factors such as internalized (or self-) stigma and resilience impact diverse youth and families, particularly those contending with psychotic experiences?
What are the best practices for training students and mental health professionals in assessing and treating individuals experiencing psychosis?

Undergraduates who train in this lab have the opportunity to engage in all phases of research, including critical literature review and hypothesis development, IRB writing and submission, survey development and piloting, participant recruitment and engagement, data collection, data cleaning and management, data analysis, manuscript preparation, and presentation and publication. The poster presentations, publications, and other research activities & achievements of Fairfield undergrads in the INSPYR Lab are highlighted below.

Click posters below to enlarge

Fall 2024

What does the general public know about the transgender community?

Clare, Sara, and Braden (left to right) presented this project at the Connecticut Psychological Association Annual Convention in November 2024 and won the Outstanding Poster Presentation Award.