University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus · PsychologySilk Psychology Lab
Jennifer S Silk · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Research Focus
Dr. Jennifer Silk's research focuses on understanding how social experiences, both online and in-person, affect the mental health of adolescent girls. She aims to identify the factors that increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, as well as depression, by studying girls' interactions and feelings in real-time. By combining psychological assessments with brain imaging and machine learning techniques, her work seeks to find ways to prevent mental health crises among youth.
suicidalitydepressionadolescent psychologysocial medianeural mechanismsecological momentary assessmentmachine learningbrain imagingmental healthself-harm
Research Aims
5AIM 01Examine how daily online and in-person social interactions impact suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adolescent girls.
AIM 02Identify which girls are at highest risk for depression and suicidal thoughts based on their brain responses to social evaluation.
AIM 03Explore the relationship between social media use and emotional health in real-time using machine learning techniques.
AIM 04Utilize neuroimaging to investigate brain activation patterns associated with social threat and reward experiences.
AIM 05Develop strategies for real-time detection and prevention of mental health issues in adolescent girls.
Skills the Lab Values
ecological momentary assessment (EMA)functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)machine learningdata analysisneuroimaging techniquesclinical assessmentsstatistical modelingresearch designpatient recruitmentpsychological testing
Output against the department
Publications268top 20% of dept.59th of 296
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations17ktop 14% of dept.40th 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.