Dr. Zapolski's PRISM (Prevention Research In Substance Use & Minority Health) Lab focuses on risk for substance use and other health behaviors among African Americans.
Specifically, she is examining the interactive effect of cultural variables (e.g., discrimination, racial socialization, racial identity) on physiological, individual level (e.g., personality, expectancies, perceptions of risk), interpersonal (e.g., parental/peer support, parent/peer substance use, drug use beliefs), and environmental (e.g., access to drugs, school support, neighborhood disorganization) factors to better understand drug choice, course of use and consequences among African American youth and young adult popuations.
Students in Dr. Zapolski's lab are also examining risk for other health behaviors, such as risky sexual behavior and illicit drug use among both youth and college populations.
