Current Studies at the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center

If you are interested in participating in a research study, please call 444-8945 for more information.

Currently Recruiting

Neural Mechanisms of Depressive Symptoms in Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common disorder that impacts one in 36 American children. Co-occurring psychiatric disorders like depression are understudied and can influence how children respond to ASD. Bradley Hospital is seeking children and youth, 11 to 17 years old, with ASD to participate in a research study. The purpose of this study is to assess brain mechanisms associated with depressive symptoms in youth with ASD as compared to youth without ASD. We would like to assess youth with a range of depressive symptoms (from no symptoms at all to prominent depressive symptoms). This study may help us learn more about how depression looks in children with ASD and how to better treat them in the future. The study consists of interviews, surveys of your child's mood and behavior, and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Families will be compensated for their time.

If you would like to learn more about this study, please contact the research team at 401-432-1600, email us at [email protected], or fill out our contact form. A member of our research team will contact you to tell you more and answer your questions.
Principal Investigator: Petya Radoeva, MD, PhD

Teen Decision-Making Study

The goal of this study is to understand behavior and brain activity related to how teens make decisions and respond to rewards because we want to understand how decision-making may differ based on teens’ amount of marijuana use. We are enrolling teens ages 14-17 with a range of marijuana use—from none to a lot. Participation involves answering questions in interviews and surveys, computer games, and a brain scan (MRI). To be eligible, teens must have a parent or guardian willing to participate (we do not share substance use information with parents), and must not have braces, permanent retainer, or implanted metal. For more information about the Teen Decision-making Study, call us at 401-365-4320, email us at [email protected], or visit this website.
Principal Investigator: Sarah Thomas, PhD

Dating Violence and HIV Prevention in Girls: Adapting Mental Health Interventions

The goal of this study is to develop and test a group-based, dating violence and HIV prevention program entitled Date SMART. Date SMART is a targeted prevention program, enrolling female high school students (ages 15-17) who are identified as having a history of dating violence exposure (perpetration and/or victimization) during a school-based screening procedure. For more information about the Date SMART study, call 401-793-8064.
Principal Investigator: Christie Rizzo, PhD

HIV Prevention in the Family Court

(funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse)

Project RAP is testing the effect of a family-based HIV prevention intervention on reducing marijuana use and increasing safer sex behaviors among substance abusing juvenile offenders.  The project is enrolling 60 families with court-involved juveniles who are actively using marijuana.
Principal Investigator: Marina Tolou-Shams, PhD

The Role of Parents in Adolescent Weight Control 

(IRB Title: Combined Communication and Behavioral Weight Control Intervention for Teens)
This study is recruiting overweight adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 years. Adolescents are randomly assigned to one of two group based behavioral weight control interventions, one in which adolescents work independently, or another in which adolescents work as a team with their parent.
Principal Investigator: Elissa Jelalian, PhD

Integrated Treatment for Overweight Adolescents with Depression

This study is recruiting adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 years who are overweight and experiencing depression. Adolescents are randomly assigned to receive cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression or an integrated treatment that includes both CBT for depression and exercise.
Principal Investigator: Elissa Jelalian, PhD
Co-Investigator: Anthony Spirito, PhD