Our Work

In the ECHO Lab, we study how everyday experiences, both good and bad, shape the physical and mental health of racially diverse young people and their families. We explore the impact of identity-based stressors on developmental outcomes such as socioemotional well-being, academics, health behaviors, sleep, and stress responses.

Studies

UH Black Family Health Study

This project investigates the influence of vicariously experienced daily discrimination on the mental health of Black and African American teenagers and their parents, and the protective role of positive family communication and coping. Learn how to participate in the study.

Black American Young Adult Coping and Health Project

This project investigates how ethnic/racial stress and various coping strategies influence the mental and physical health of Black and African Americans during the transition from adolescence to adulthood (age 18-25).

Vicarious Discrimination in a National Sample of Minority Families

This project investigates how parents and children are affected by each other’s experiences of discrimination using nationally representative data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

Selected Publications

(*denotes student mentees)

Jelsma, E., Wang, Y., Cham, H., Zhang, Y., Yan, J., Zhao, Z., Alegria, M., & Yip, T. (2025). Everyday ethnic discrimination and early substance use based on hair samples in high-risk racial/ethnic minority early adolescents. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000732

Jelsma, E., *Kebbeh, N., & *Ahmad, M. (2024). The influence of children’s discrimination experiences on parents’ mental and self-rated health: Results from the National Health Interview Survey. Children, 11(7), 830. https://doi.org/10.3390/children11070830

Yan, J., Jelsma, E., Wang, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhao, Z., Johnson, S., Cham, H., Alegria, M., & Yip, T. (2024). Racial/ethnic discrimination and early adolescents’ behavioral problems: The role of parental warmth. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2024.03.020

Jelsma, E., Zhang, A., Goosby, B., & Cheadle, J. (2024). Sympathetic arousal among depressed college students: Examining the interplay between psychopathology and social activity. Psychophysiology. 61(9), e14597. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14597

Wang, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhao, Z., Cham, H., Jelsma, E., Wadsworth, H., Yan, J., Johnson, S., Alegria, M., & Yip, T. (2024). Multiple discrimination and substance use intention in late childhood: Findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 74(6), 1217-1224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.01.028

Jelsma, E., Chen, S., & Varner, F. (2022). Working harder than others to prove yourself: High-effort coping as a buffer between teacher-perpetrated racial discrimination and mental health among Black American adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 51, 694-707. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01563-4

Jelsma, E., Varner, F., & Engineer, N. (2022). Perceptions of adolescents’ racial discrimination experiences, racial identity, and depressive symptoms among Black American fathers. Family Relations, 71(1), 163–180. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12613

Jelsma, E., Goosby, B., & Cheadle, J. (2021). Do trait psychological characteristics moderate sympathetic arousal to racial discrimination exposure in a natural setting? Psychophysiology, 58(4), e13763. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13763

Chen, S., Jelsma, E., Hou, Y., Kim, S. Y., & Benner, A. D. (2021). Antecedents and consequences of discrepant perceptions of racial socialization between parents and adolescents within Mexican-origin families. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50, 2412-2426. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-021-01487-z

Collins, A., Jelsma, E., & Varner, F. (2021). The role of perceived thought control ability in the psychological well-being of African American mothers. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 91(2), 246-257. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000540