COMN PATHS
About the study
The Colorado-Minnesota Parents, Adolescents, Temperament, and Health Study (COMN PATHS) seeks to better understand adolescent development, including individual (temperament) and contextual (parents, families, peers, schools, neighborhoods, communities) risk and protective factors for cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional functioning. The purpose of the study is to address questions regarding intergenerational transmission of behaviors and the effects of marijuana legalization. The PATHS Study is the first study, to our knowledge, examining effects of marijuana legalization on parents and families. The COMN PATHS Study is a phase of our COMN (Colorado-Minnesota) Study, which began in 2017 and assessed the impact of cannabis legalization.
Who we are contacting for this study
COMN PATHS is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of Colorado–Boulder that will enroll a total of nearly 7,000 twin parents, non-twin parents, and their adolescents, as well as cotwins who do not have adolescent children. We will collect data on risk and protective factors during adolescence, and examine parent, family, and adolescent functioning, including the potential effects of cannabis legalization on parents, families, and adolescents.
Study Assessments
Parents complete self-report questionnaires on their own, and adolescent children of twins are assessed via Zoom, and they do thinking tasks, answer interview questions about their feelings and behaviors, and fill out questionnaires in the presence of an Interviewer who can answer their questions as they arise.
Findings/results
Our assessments began in September 2023, and we are still collecting data.
Study personnel/contact info
- Principal Investigators: Sylia Wilson, PhD; Scott Vrieze, PhD
- Study Coordinator: Tasha Walvig, PhD
- Research Assistants: Brendon Lyons (Interviewer), Olivia Costa (Recruiter)
- Undergraduate Research Assistant: Morgen Bauer
- Graduate Student Interviewers: Kayla Nelson, Nat Dumornay, Jordan Alexander, Alexis Cruz, Akira Wang
FAQs
“My family doesn’t use marijuana - do you still want us to participate?”
Yes! We are interested in learning about a range of experiences and behaviors. Although many people use substances, many do not. We are also interested in learning more about the experiences and behaviors of those who do not use substances, so your answers will still be important to us.
“My child has dyslexia - can they still participate?”
Yes! The Interviewer will help with questionnaires as much as your child would like. We can read the questions to them and help clarify things.
“Why are you only asking about biological parents? My child’s other biological parent isn’t in the picture and my child feels closer to their step/adoptive parent.”
This is a study about genetics, so that’s why we ask a lot of questions about biological parents. It is important for us to learn about any kind of relationship people have with their biological parents.
“Is my child’s substance use something you’d consider harm and report to parents or the police?”
No, we would only break confidentiality if your child tells us they are using substances to intentionally harm themselves (or others). Substance use itself is not something we would report because it is not severe criminal conduct that will intentionally