Mary Ellen Fernandez
My name is Mary Ellen Fernandez; I am a first-generation college student as well as a first generation American. In my hometown of Lincoln, Rhode Island I was a graduate of Lincoln High School. In high school I was a part of the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) group. As a member of this group I developed my passion for providing health education and promoting positive change within my community for youth. In my current undergraduate career, I have continued this passion through my endeavors in research. In my senior year I was accepted as a McNair Scholar, with the desire to further my research interests in youth risk behaviors. As a McNair Scholar, I have begun to establish my own research process with the help of my mentor, Dr. Emily Cook. Developing a research question, conducting a thorough literature review, analyzing data and writing up results have all been a part of the process of managing my own independent project. This particular program has afforded me with the unique experience of personalizing my research process, and giving me the opportunity to independently construct my own research. My research involves examining the impacts of stress reactivity on adolescent risk taking in a laboratory setting. The results of the study will hopefully lend themselves to our understanding of how adolescents unique stress patterns may impact their behaviors. Such information can better inform future research on the biological underpinnings of adolescent risk taking.
ABSTRACT: The Impact of Stress Response on Subsequent Adolescent Risk-Taking During Adolescence
The prevalence of risk-taking during adolescence has become an area of interest for researchers as well as a major issue of public health. Current literature suggests that stress response may play a role in the propensity to which adolescents may partake in risk behaviors. The current study expands upon this literature to examine how, under laboratory conditions, physiological stress response to a stressor impacts subsequent risk taking. In order to examine this, non-invasive and reliable measures of stress response (alpha amylase, cortisol and heart rate) will be examined in the effect of two salient adolescent stressors within the laboratory. A computerized peer rejection stressor as well as a novel parent adolescent video stressor was used to elicit a stress response. An ecologically valid risk-taking task (Balloon Analogue Risk Task; Lejuez, 2005) will be used as well to assess risk taking. Additionally, gender and pubertal status will be assessed and considered as a potential moderator of the relationship between stress response and risk taking. Although past research has examined stress response and risk taking, few studies have examined this relationship under controlled laboratory settings. The research intends to further the understanding of risk taking amongst adolescents, in order to contribute information towards future preventative programs.
Keywords: stress response, adolescence, risk taking
