As a research assistant in the Inspired Lab with Drs. Trenette Goings and Daniel Bauer, I examined how to integrate data from two complex samples (The National Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and Monitoring the Future) to better understand the etiology of substance use in distinct biracial subgroups. This work involved significant methodological (e.g., how to integrate complex sampling features across two studies?) and substantive (e.g., do the prevalence and predictors of substance use vary across biracial groups?) components.
Funding:
National Institute of Health, National Institute of Drug Abuse (R01DA051578)
Publications:
Traver, J.M., Goings, T.C., Bauer, D.J., Bo, A. (Under Review). Prevalence and correlates of substance use among biracial and monoracial adolescents.
Traver, J.M., Goings, T.C., Bauer, D.J., Chen, P. (Manuscript in Prep). Sampling Weights in Integrative Data Analysis: Challenges and Potential Solutions.
Presentations:
Traver, J.M., Goings, T.C., Bauer, D.J., Chen, P. (August 2024). Handling sampling weights in integrative data analysis. [Poster Presentation]. To be presented at the American Psychological Association Conference, Seattle, WA.
Traver, J.M., & Goings, T.C. (August 2024). Prevalence and correlates of substance use among biracial and monoracial adolescents [Poster Presentation]. To be presented at the American Psychological Association Conference, Seattle, WA.
Goings, T.C., Martinez, A., Evans, C., Joseph, P.L., Bo, A., & Traver, J.M. (April 2024) Correlates of Cigarette Initiation & Regular Use Onset among Biracial Youth: Testing Competing Theories [Poster Presentation]. Presented at the Society for Research in Adolescence Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
The goal of my W&M Masters Thesis was to evaluate the development of the mental well-being in youth involved in the juvenile justice system. I used data from The Crossroads Study to assess the bidirectional relationships between maternal warmth, peer warmth, and individual well-being over five years. This study was the first time I used the latent curve model with structured residuals, and largely inspired my current UNC Masters thesis comparing the latent curve model with structured residuals to the random intercept cross-lagged panel model.
Funding:
Funded in part by the W&M Graduate Studies Advisory board
Publications:
Traver, J.M., Dallaire, D.H., Frick, P.J., Steinberg, L., Cauffman, E. (2022). The reciprocal relations between well-being and maternal and peer warmth in justice-involved adolescents. Journal of Adolescence,95(3), 401–412. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12122
Presentations:
Traver, J.M. (June 2023). A novel application of the latent-curve model with structured residuals to well-being in justice-involved youth [Poster Presentation]. Modern Modeling Methods, Storrs, CT.
Traver, J.M. (2022, March 3-5). An Ecological Perspective on Positive Development of Youth Involved in the Juvenile Justice System [Poster Presentation]. Society for Research in Adolescence Biennial Meeting, New Orleans, LA.