The IMPACT (Improving Mental-health and Promoting Adjustment through College Transitions) lab at Loyola University Chicago is led by Dr. Colleen Conley and includes several graduate students and undergraduate research assistants.  We are dedicated to making a real impact on college communities with new research and intervention programs.

Our research explores topics related to:

  • Trajectories of risk and resilience across development (e.g., transitions to adolescence, emerging adulthood, and parenthood)
  • College student mental health challenges (e.g., stress and coping, social support, emotion regulation, cognitive styles) and strengths
  • Gender-linked patterns of psychosocial well- versus ill-being (e.g., depression, anxiety, body image and eating disturbance)
  • Testing the effectiveness of a mental health promotion course in improving psychosocial adjustment among first-year college students
  • Social media use as it relates to mental health, physical health, health behaviors, and academic outcomes
  • Testing the effectiveness of a peer-led program to reduce mental illness stigma among college students who identify as struggling with mental illness