Marissa Marsolek is a second-year graduate student in UMD's Master of Arts in Psychological Science program. She is on the clinical counseling track and conducted research this year as part of the program.
Associate Professor Kathy Dowell mentored Marsolek as she worked on the project, "The Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Early Childhood Mental Health and Mental Health Service Utilization in a Clinical Sample." Marsolek had the opportunity to travel in February to present findings at the Miami International Children and Adolescent Mental Health (MICAMH) conference.
How did you become interested in this research topic?
I was really interested in the impacts of the pandemic on mental health and found that there was a gap in the research for the youngest children. I am also passionate about community-based research and was able to complete this study by partnering with a community collaborator.
What surprised you about the research process or findings?
In my sample, children were just as likely to have clinically significant mental health symptoms before COVID as after COVID began. When I talked to early childhood educators and mental health practitioners at MICAMH, many of them believed that the impact of COVID may have a delayed effect on young children’s mental health. I look forward to continuing to hypothesize as to why this may have occurred in my sample, as well as reading more recent research on this topic to find out if their hypotheses are true!