Fields, Sherecce Professor

My research focuses on the trans-disease processes of cognitive and emotional dysregulation and how these factors affect health-risk behaviors in adolescents. Identifying trans-disease processes that contribute to the development or maintenance of multiple diagnostic categories -- that underlie both substance use and obesity -- can enhance the development of interventions that target the underlying process rather than specific symptoms of a single disorder. This not only provides a more efficient approach to treatment, it is particularly relevant to health disparities. I am especially interested in how these trans-disease processes interact with family, social, and psychological factors to increase engagement in health-related risk behaviors, and the development of appropriate prevention and intervention tools that can be used to improve health outcomes in youth. I conceptualize these processes in the context of physical and mental health disparities as they relate to stress, minority status (race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender) and socioeconomic factors (food insecurity).