Substance Use & Mental Health Research Laboratory
The Substance Use & Mental Health Research Lab investigates the epidemiology of mental health and substance use throughout the lifespan, utilizing a developmental and public health perspective.
About the Lab
By implementing advanced research methodologies and analytic techniques, our lab explores the relationships between substance use, mental health, and achievement, with particular focus on associations with academic and employment outcomes among young adult and student populations.
Meet the Director
Hannah Allen is an Assistant Professor in the HESRM department and the director of the Substance Use and Mental Health Research Lab. Dr. Allen received her Ph.D. in Public Health from the University of Maryland and completed a NIDA-funded postdoctoral fellowship at Penn State University. Her research is broadly focused on substance use in a developmental context, examining the relationship between substance use and both mental health and achievement throughout college and young adulthood.
Hannah Allen
Executive Director of William Magee Institute for Student Well-being and Assistant Professor of Public Health
Current & Upcoming Research Projects
Funded by the University of Mississippi’s Achieving Equity Investment Grants Program, we are currently collecting data on the experiences of Black/African-American undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in STEM programs. Using a daily diary design, we are exploring links between daily exposure to minority stress and health, social, and academic outcomes among students who have been historically underrepresented in the STEM disciplines.
In partnership with faculty and graduate student researchers in the HESRM department, we are currently analyzing data collected in Fall 2020 exploring the relationship between alcohol and other drug use behavior with COVID-19 among college students. This study aims to examine potential links between the quantity, frequency, and context of college student substance use with COVID-19 attitudes, prevention behaviors, and exposure.
To better understand how athletic identity and team culture are related to mental health help-seeking, our lab has partnered with UM Campus Recreation to explore these relationships among club sport athletes. This research project assesses the prevalence of mental health problems and treatment among this unique group of college athletes, examining differences by type of sport, level of physical activity, team engagement, and stigma around seeking help for mental health concerns.
Using a daily diary study design, our lab is launching a research project to test the relationships between alcohol use and work stress, productivity, and engagement among employed young adults. With participants completing daily assessments for 14 consecutive days, our study will shed light on how daily work stress and success are associated with same-day alcohol use as well as how alcohol use might predict next-day work outcomes.
Launching soon, this study will assess undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty members throughout their first year in their new academic role. Using a longitudinal study design, participants will complete monthly assessments examining their mental health, substance use, social support, and academic and work outcomes. The goal of this project is to understand how substance use and mental health change across this time period and how they are related to the success of students and faculty as they transition into new roles on college campuses.