CURRENT WORK

• Developing, adapting, and testing behavioral health interventions for young people in underresourced communities

• Applying experimental methods, user-centered design, community-engaged methods, and implementation science

• Examining social and structural determinants of substance misuse and mental health

• Strengthening families, communities, and natural support systems

• Leveraging digital prevention strategies to enhance reach, engagement, and impact at scale

A newly funded pilot project (CTBH P30 Pilot Award, 2025–2026) is the development of a digital prototype of Connect Kits for Family Action, a culturally grounded family-based prevention module originally delivered in print form as part of a Tribal–University partnership. This work uses human-centered and community-engaged design approaches with Tribal Nation youth and caregivers to identify user needs, digitize core components, and test early usability. The pilot will lay the foundation for a future hybrid effectiveness–implementation trial and scalability across rural, low-resource settings.

This project examines the mental health effects of a digital behavioral health game (PlaySmart of play2PREVENT Lab) using data across multiple post-intervention timepoints from a randomized controlled trial. Analyses focus on depressive and anxiety symptoms, equitability of effects across multilevel risk contexts, and mechanisms linking interactive gameplay with mental health outcomes. Findings inform the development of technology-enabled approaches for adolescent mental health promotion in diverse settings.

Building on qualitative work with instructors and school staff, this project examines how Youth Mental Health First Aid, a mental health literacy training for adults working with youth, is implemented in rural, reservation-based high schools. Current efforts focus on identifying contextual determinants, synthesizing barriers and facilitators, and generating implementation recommendations aligned with the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the Relational Worldview Model. This line of work aims to strengthen school-based capacity to recognize and respond to adolescent distress.

Ongoing work examines key determinants of adolescent substance use within a large multilevel cluster randomized trial conducted through Tribal-University partnership. Current analyses focus on process-level risk and protective factors—including motivations for non-use and perceived access to alcohol and cannabis—and how these factors shape substance use across adolescence. This line of research identifies proximal, modifiable drivers of adolescent behavior in rural and reservation-based settings and informs the design of more targeted screening, brief interventions, and family-based strategies.