Methodology Resources

The Center for Family Research studies the reciprocal impact of children, their caregivers, and the broader community context on health and psychological adjustment among African American families living in the rural South. In recent years, we have examined how risk factors such as racial discrimination and poverty affect health outcomes for this population by studying the effects of stress on biological aging, behavioral factors, and substance abuse. This section outlines some of the issues and processes involved in this kind of work along with presentations and handouts created over the years.

Biological aging

Biological aging is the gradual and progressive decline in system integrity that occurs with advancing age, driving risk for disease, disability, and mortality. In this portion of a talk for UGA, Dr. Belsky presents a novel DNA methylation measure of the pace of aging. This novel measure and others represent a new direction for studies of social determinants of health and efforts to evaluate impacts of health promotion interventions and social policies. The entire presentation is available here: https://youtu.be/IsJxUE9OoDI

Dr. Daniel Belsky is Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health.

Measuring Stress

Coming soon

Inflammatory Primer
Reciprocal Regulation of the Neural and Innate Immune Systems
Stress Immune Overview

Refining Prevention: Genetic and Epigenetic Contributions
Refining Prevention: Genetic and Epigenetic Contributions

Blood and fMRI Data Collection Guides for Behavioral Researchers
fMRI Research Data Collection Guide
Human Subjects Blood Collection Guide

Resting State Functional Connectivity
Resting State Functional Connectivity Presentation

Who is an Adolescent? Presentation, Dr. Adriana Galvan
Who is an Adolescent? Dr. Adrianan Galvan

Functional Neuroimaging Presentation, Dr. Larry Sweet
Functional Neuroimaging, Dr. Larry Sweet

Conceptualizing Substance Use Among African Americans: Implications for Research and Future Directions
Dr. Tamika Zapolski Presentation at CTAPS Fall 2016 Meeting

Neuroimaging Research on Drug Use and Obesity, Nusslock, Northwestern
Presentation: Neuroimaging Research on Drug Use and Obesity, Nusslock, Northwestern

Resilience in Health Disparities
Resilience in Health Disparities

SPR Conference Presentation Slides
Session 0 – Introduction
Session 1 – Neuroimaging Overview
Session 2 – Risky Decision Making
Session 3 – Delay Discounting
Session 4 – Resting State Functional Connectivity
Session 5 – Early Life Stress
Session 6 – Conducting MRI studies
Session 7 – ANNA