Research Projects and Labs
About our research
Family social science faculty are renowned researchers who use the knowledge and methods of the social sciences to conduct research and outreach in partnership with families, communities, and organizations to address psychological, cultural, social, and economic issues affecting families locally, nationally, and globally.
Faculty mentor undergraduate and graduate students and collaborate with them to examine families and their interactions with – and within – diverse environments and systems.
Research areas
- Child adjustment in family context
- Families and culture
- Families and financial decisions
- Family formation and intergenerational studies
- Families, loss, and trauma
- Intimate family relationships
- Center for Personalized Prevention Research
- Children, Youth, and Families at Risk Professional Development and Technical Assistance Center
- Citizen Professional Center
- Dworkin TECH Lab
- Exploring College Students' Journey with their Finances
Center for Personalized Prevention Research
Faculty: Gerald August
CPPR advances children’s mental health with personalized approaches to healthcare that inform the development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of preventive interventions for children and youth at risk for mental health disorders.
Topics:
- Prevention science
- Child and adolescent mental health
- Conduct disorder prevention
- Drug abuse prevention
- Digital mental health including mobile technologies
- East Metro American Indian Diabetes Initiative
- Economic Well-Being of Diverse Families Residing in the United States
- Family Businesses and the Self-Employed
- Family Education Diabetes Series
- Immigrant and Refugee Families
- Knowledge for Parents
East Metro American Indian Diabetes Initiative
Faculty: Tai Mendenhall
This community-based participatory research project is designed to better understand and reduce health disparities.
Topics:
- Community-based participatory research
- Citizen health care
- Families and chronic illness
- Trauma and fieldwork
- Medical family therapy
- Learning from Experts: Having a Dialogue with Financial Counselors/Coaches of Color about their Best Practices
- Military REACH
- Minnesota Couples on the Brink Project
- Piehler Lab
- Social Networks and Child Adjustment
- The Weiler Lab
Learning from Experts: Having a Dialogue with Financial Counselors/Coaches of Color about their Best Practices
Faculty: Virginia Zuiker
This research agenda is designed to understand the needs of professionals of color who work in financial wellness programs with clients of color to achieve goals of financial stability and sustainable homeownership.
Topics:
- Family Financial Counseling
- Financial Delivery Methods
- Financial Professionals of Color
- First-time Homebuyers