Population Wellness Lab
The Population Wellness Lab, led by Dr. Christy Denckla, studies how adversity, including trauma, loss, and bereavement, affects mental health, physical health, and well-being. We are driven by the ultimate question: how do people adapt and recover from these adverse events? What is the difference between normal grief and pathological grief? How does loss shape our understanding of the world and ourselves? Ultimately, we aim to prevent trauma exposure as well as the subsequent cascade of physical and mental adverse effects at the population health level.
677 Huntington Avenue
Kresge Building, Room 720 Boston, MA 02115
Our Research
The Population Wellness Lab unravels the psychosocial, biological, and environmental factors that shape response to loss and trauma. This work seeks to create a world where effective prevention and interventions at the population level support wellness from the cradle to the grave.
Experiencing the death of a loved one is a profoundly impactful event. Both clinical and public health strategies are needed to better support people grappling with loss. We investigate the unique and multifaceted effects of bereavement across the life course, as well as risk and protective factors associated with post-bereavement psychopathology.
Prevalence, Risk, and Protective Factors for Prolonged Grief Disorder
We have received funding from the National Institute for Mental Health (1R01MH137201-01) to investigate the prevalence, risk, and protective factors for prolonged grief disorder, which was newly introduced in the most recent versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD). This project is embedded within the Nurses’ Health Studies and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, three national cohorts encompassing over 200,000 health professionals that have been followed biennially since the 1980s. Please see an infographic outlining our project timeline and goals via the button below.
Social and biological factors pattern a person’s exposure to bereavement as well as their subsequent risk of psychopathology. Our research shows this is true across various settings, from the United Kingdom to Kenya. We examine psychosocial, neurocognitive, and genetic pathways that may explain the relationship among bereavement, psychopathology, and adaptation to major life events.
Health Outcomes of Youth Who Experience Caregiver Death
Dr. Denckla is a co-investigator on the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant (5R01HD114790-02) (MPI: Terrinieka Powell and Dylan Jackson), this project uses a convergent mixed-method design to fill the knowledge gaps in understanding the effects of caregiver death on child health. We seek to use quantitative and qualitative findings to develop a set of theory-driven and data-informed recommendations for future research, practice, and policy related to childhood bereavement.
Pathogenic Mechanisms in Post-Bereavement Psychopathology: Contributions of Gene-Environment Interplay, Psychosocial Factors, and Cognitive Ability in Two Population-Based Cohorts
We have been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (5K23MH117278-05) for this study, which is focused on identifying pathogenic mechanisms that influence the risk for post-bereavement psychopathology in youth to inform effective preventative and treatment interventions that reduce the burden of post-bereavement exposure psychopathology. We seek to evaluate the joint effects of biological, psychosocial, and cognitive factors to better understand and identify vulnerable populations, thus resulting in greater ability to prevent adverse outcomes.
Extensive research has examined the impact of acute traumatic events such as natural disasters, but less is known about how chronic stressors impact mental health and well-being. For example, the stress-related consequences of chronic aspects of climate change are largely unknown. Our ongoing projects seek to bridge this knowledge gap.
Given the adverse impacts of stress on the mind and body, why do so few people develop chronic complications after loss and trauma? We seek to identify the levers that promote recovery and healing, which in the context of grief may exist in multiple layers from the biological and individual to familial, social, political, and environmental.
Good Grief Collaborative: Increasing Grief Literacy and Building Community to Enhance Health Equity for Children and Young Adults
We have received funding from the John W. Alden Trust to develop and evaluate a community engagement program to deliver a novel in-person and online resource platform that supports youth and families affected by grief and loss. This project seeks to transform social conventions and attitudes toward grief and death among children and their caregivers by increasing grief literacy through education and community engagement, ultimately supporting the development of a Good Grief Coalition. Building on the success of grief engagement models in the UK, including the Good Grief Festival, this project will include a planning phase with community partners that will culminate in the delivery of a novel, community-based resource platform to support all grieving youth.