CSULB psychology students tackle maternal stress, one family at a time
Hannan Salam came to Cal State Long Beach with a drive to participate in community-minded research. The graduate psychology research student is off to a good start, helping the lab make connections with local moms-to-be for an ongoing study on maternal health.
“It was just a breath of relief for me,” Salam said of recruiting a new research participant. “I was just holding my breath and hoping she would want to be interested.”
What followed, however, was more nerve-wracking, as it was up to Salam to cut a small sample of the new research participant’s hair for analysis. All went well, and she was able to feel the sense of reward that comes with being able to contribute to the lab’s work.
“I think at the end I felt relieved and none of my fears came true,” she said. “We were able to do what we came to do, and talking to people gave it that wholesome community feeling.”
Salam and fourth-year psychology student Aeron Frye-Jones represented The Beach’s PRO-Health Research Lab during a late July resource event hosted by the Black Infant Health Program. PRO stands for Partners in Research and Outreach and the lab, part of the Psychology Department, has a distinct focus on maternal and family health, blending research with community service.
The lab’s current project, Rooting for Better Health, aligns with the commitment. The project centers on relieving stresses affecting pregnant women and mothers, especially those living in low-income communities, to improve health and strengthen babies’ development.
Salam and Frye-Jones attended the July resource event, held at Miller Family Health Education Center near an industrial section of central Long Beach, with the shared goal of encouraging families to participate in Rooting for Better Health. Parents, some of whom arrived with playful toddlers or with babies in their arms, could pick up essentials like food or picture books, sit down for conversations and maybe think about getting involved with PRO-Health's work.
Students like Salam and Frye Jones serve both as researchers – using lab results to monitor biological evidence of stress – and as helpers – directing families to services providing some relief from life’s pressures, such as diapers, fresh produce, housing assistance or prenatal care.
“These are very real people who have very real struggles,” said Frye-Jones, who wants to work as a social worker. “It just feels very rewarding to be able to connect them to resources that they need.”
The science of stress relief
PRO-Health is open to undergraduate and graduate students. After joining, they get practice in technical skills like collecting biological samples and statistical analysis while getting a close view of the real people at the center of their studies – and potential future service as clinicians, researchers or social workers.
“They just have to have that passion for that mission,” said Lab Director Guido Urizar, also a professor of psychology. “I always tell them that the research, we can teach them, but they have to have that passion for helping families.”
Students form relationships with local families that can last for several months. Research assistants take the lead in recruiting women, who can be 10- to 24-weeks pregnant, to join Rooting for Better Health. Participants can continue meeting students until six months after giving birth. So far, more than 160 families are involved in the project.
Participants agree to provide hair and saliva samples that are processed so researchers can observe levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, and check for signs of damage to telomeres, protective structures attached to chromosomes.
“The students are trying to figure out what experiences that families have that determine why a baby has shorter telomeres or longer telomeres,” Urizar said. “Shorter telomeres are a marker of poor health later on. The good news is we can grow out telomeres back. How do we do that? Through nutrition, sleep, self-care. All the things that Black Infant Health and our other community organizations are promoting with their services.”
Students meet participants in clinical settings and also make home visits. They share lab results with mothers and can offer advice for dietary improvements, exercise or better sleep that can deliver short-term relief.
“This lab has helped me understand that part of research where you’re not sitting, looking at a computer,” psychology graduate student Sanjana Pantsachiv said. “You’re connected to the patients.”
Learning what can't be taught
PRO-Health has been a part of The Beach since 2006 and more than 200 alumni have contributed to the lab’s work. They include Viviana Jimenez ‘24, now considering possibilities for doctoral programs, and Jacob Nguyen ‘25, about to begin one at University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Both affirmed that PRO-Health strengthened their confidence and communications skills and share an interest in studying the linkages of biological and mental health.
“I really want to bridge that gap,” Jimenez said. “I really want to help people who are suffering from their mental disorders have more supports or treatments that are tailored for them.”
PRO-Health enmeshes students within the local network of organizations assisting local families and Urizar said the lab works with about 20 Long Beach-area organizations. These include Black Infant Health Program and TCC Family Health, which operates several clinics in and near Long Beach.
“We’re following the families together,” said Liliana Martinez, director of health education and outreach for TCC Family Health. “If there’s something new that comes up, they’ll inform us.”
Participating in projects like Rooting for Better Health can heighten students’ awareness of widespread problems affecting mothers and pregnant women. For example, Salam recalled that multiple women who attended the Black Infant Health Program’s resource event discussed an app called Irth, designed so Black and brown women can review medical providers and point users toward safe maternal and infant care facilities and away from any places where racial biases are evident.
PRO-Health has a long-standing connection to the Black Infant Health Program and Gwendolyn Manning, the program's coordinator for the Long Beach Department of Health & Human Services, expressed hope that PRO-Health students will develop into culturally competent members of their future professions.
“I’m sure that they will be able, as they progress in their careers, to lean into what they’re learning now,” she said. “They will get a training and understanding that can’t be taught in a classroom.”
