George Mason University · PsychologyChaplin Mindfulness Lab
Tara M Chaplin · Fairfax, Virginia
Research Focus
Dr. Tara Chaplin's lab at George Mason University explores how mindfulness can help parents reduce stress and improve their parenting skills in order to prevent substance use in adolescents. The lab conducts research on the biological and psychological factors that influence both parent and adolescent behavior, using techniques like brain imaging and stress measurement to understand the underlying mechanisms at work.
mindfulnessparentingadolescent substance usestress reductionrandomized controlled trials
Research Aims
3AIM 01Investigate the efficacy of mindfulness interventions for parents in preventing adolescent substance use.
AIM 02Examine the relationship between parent stress and adolescent substance use behaviors.
AIM 03Identify neurobiological mechanisms through fMRI related to parenting and stress.
Skills the Lab Values
fMRIparent-adolescent interaction tasksquestionnaire designstress reactivity measurementdata analysis
Output against the department
Publications88bottom 21% of dept.233rd of 296
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations5.7kbottom 49% of dept.152nd of 296
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.