Current Research Areas of Interest
Substance Use
Many youth and young adults are exposed to substance use-related content via social media. We are using social media for insights into drug use behaviors, especially use of newly emerging drugs that are increasing in popularity. This information will help us understand how social media can be used for delivering substance use messages to young people.
Depression
As more and more people engage with social media, it is important to learn the motivations of individuals who publicly post about their depression, suicidal thoughts, and self-harm struggles via postings on social media. We are seeking to understand why this type of social networking occurs online and how it impacts users’ overall mental health.
Eating Disorders
There is increasing concern about online communities that promote eating disorder (ED) behaviors. We are exploring innovative strategies for online, accessible, and timely ED-related outreach that could facilitate novel ways to utilize social media in mental health promotion and prevention initiatives.
Our Team
Patricia Cavazos-Rehg, PhD
Associate Professor, Principle Investigator
Dr. Patricia Cavazos-Rehg is the principal investigator (PI) of iCHASM. She is a clinically-trained licensed psychologist who has been involved in biomedical research for over 10 years. After receiving her Ph.D. in Psychology from SUNY at Buffalo in 2004, she moved to Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in St. Louis, MO to begin her research career, focusing on understanding how policy and social media shape health risk behaviors of young people. In addition to her research, she is also a dedicated Associate Professor and was voted “Course Master of the Year” by students enrolled in the Master of Science in Applied Health Behavior Research program at WUSM.
Erin Kasson, MS
Clinical Research Coordinator
Ms. Kasson completed her undergraduate degree in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and is also pursuing a Master’s of Social Work degree from Saint Louis University. Ms. Kasson has previously worked and conducted research across a variety of mental disorders.
Xiao Li, MS
Data Analyst
Ms. Li completed her Master’s degree in Health Data Science from St. Louis University. She has experience with data mining of national databases and integrating machine learning algorithms into applications. Ms. Li has extensive experience with performing survival analysis, longitudinal analysis, and modeling of large population-based studies.
Melissa Garcia, LMSW
Project Manager
Ms. Garcia is a Licensed Social Worker. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of New Mexico where she majored in Family Studies. Ms. Garcia obtained her master’s in social work at the University of Alabama, where her emphasis was on children and adolescents. She has experience working high risk populations and has focused on the intervention and prevention of family maltreatment.
Jane Steible
Health Counselor
Ms. Steible completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She has over 3 years of experience working in research as a smoking cessation counselor here at Washington University where she has enrolled over 400 study participants. Jane has vast experience in study recruitment, counseling and assessment of research participants and has interest in addiction treatment and recovery.
Caroline Min
Research Assistant
Ms. Min is an MD/MPH candidate at Washington University (WU). Before beginning her medical training at WU School of Medicine, she completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania. She hopes to specialize in Obstetrics and Gynecology. With one final year left in her medical training, she is now a graduate student of public health at WU Brown School. Within public health, she is interested in women’s, maternal-fetal, sexual, and reproductive health, and cancer disparities and prevention. She has experience working in medical and public health research.
Nnenna Anako
Research Assistant
Ms. Anako is an MPH candidate specializing in Health Policy Analysis at Washington University. She attended the University of Arizona where she double majored in Psychology and Sociology. She has conducted research on the social and cultural implications of the Gold King Mine spill for Native American communities. After her undergraduate degree, Nnenna worked as a counselor, focusing on substance abuse, domestic violence and life skills. She is interested in mental healthcare access and policies for low income and under-served communities.
Micah Goodman
Programmer
Mr. Goodman graduated from Washington University with a degree in computer science. He has experience in social science research and app development. He’s particularly interested in using technology to expand access to high quality mental health help.
Nina Kaiser
Research Assistant
Miss Kaiser is a rising junior at Saint Louis University. Pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, along with minors in Health Care Ethics and Biology, she hopes to eventually study medicine. Having interned with iCHASM three years ago, she has experience working with the research team, as well as additional research experience studying the Opioid Crisis. She returns to the team this summer to work as a Research Assistant.
Christine Xu
Research Assistant
Ms. Xu is an MPH candidate specializing in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Brown School at Washington University. She received her undergraduate degree in pharmaceutical engineering from Chengdu University of Technology in China. She is interested in psychiatric epidemiology, psychiatric genetics, health behavior, developmental psychology, and psychoanalysis. Ms. Xu has experience examining risk factors and psychiatric comorbidity of eating disorders and social anxiety disorder, and the effects of child maltreatment using data from genetically informative, longitudinal study designs. She is also conducting biostatistics research on reproducibility.
Samantha Sansone
Research Assistant
Samantha is an undergraduate student at Washington University pursuing a B.A. in Entrepreneurship with a minor in Psychology. She has worked with the iCHASM team on and off since she was in high school and is happy to be back again this semester to help with all the ongoing research projects in the lab.
Recent Findings
Using an app to deliver information about Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)
In this pilot study we examine the preliminary effectiveness of a mobile application, ‘uMAT-R’, that includes health information about opioid use disorder (OUD) recovery supported by science and MAT benefits.
Operating a motor vehicle after marijuana use
We assessed the risk perception and experiences of driving under the influence of marijuana by investigating people who use extracts. Our findings indicate that driving following marijuana use is relatively common, and risk level was often perceived as dependent upon one’s tolerance to marijuana.
Pro-eating disorder communities on Reddit
We investigated a pro-ED community on Reddit and found that the content aligned with expressions of clinically relevant ED psychopathology, including eating, weight and shape concerns.
Depression on Tumblr
We establish a baseline picture of the depression, self-harm, and suicidal ideation content on Tumblr that can serve as a starting point for discussions of this topic in the mental health community.
News & Events
