Director and Principle Investigator
Our Research Team
Located at Purdue University, the Relationships & Health Lab is a part of the Human Development and Family Science Department.
Rosie Shrout, PhD
Rosie Shrout (she/her), PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Purdue University's Human Development and Family Science Department. She also has a courtesy appointment in Psychological Sciences, and is a faculty associate of both the Center on Aging and the Life Course and the Institute of Inflammation, Immunology, and Infectious Disease at Purdue. As a social-health psychologist with training in psychoneuroimmunology and behavioral medicine, Rosie studies how stress affects couples’ relationships and health using dyadic, biobehavioral, and longitudinal methods. Her work has shown how couples' relationships influence psychological, behavioral, and physical health, including the immune, endocrine, and cardiovascular systems, and the gut microbiome.
Rosie's work has been funded through competitive fellowships, awards, and grants. Most notable among these honors include the University of Nevada, Reno’s Most Outstanding Graduate Student Researcher, the Ohio State University’s Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship, and an Early Career Investigator Award through the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and National Institutes of Health. She received an Emerging Scholar award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Purdue University’s Award for Excellence in Research about Families, and the National Council on Family Relationship's Outstanding Paper award focused on families and health. Rosie serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships and Personal Relationships, and the Early Career Editorial Board for Psychosomatic Medicine. Her work has been featured in multiple media outlets including NPR, BBC, and U.S. News and World Report.
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Rosie enjoys all things water --lakes, beaches, rivers, and pools--cuddling her cats Peach and Mango, and laughing and spending time with her friends and family.​​
Graduate Research Assistants
MiKaila (she/her) is a second-year Dual-Title PhD student in the Human Development and Family Science and Gerontology programs from DuBois, Pennsylvania. She received her Bachelors of Science from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania in Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience. She is so excited to work in the Relationships & Health Lab as she explores her research interests in understanding coregulation between romantic partners, how stress and adversity impacts romantic relationships, and, in turn, how relationships can act as a buffer to those adverse and stressful experiences to better the health and well-being of couples. MiKaila looks forward to her PhD journey in the Relationships & Health Lab at Purdue and is excited for all of the experiences and opportunities in her upcoming years here. In her free time, MiKaila loves hiking outdoors, writing, trying new coffee shops, facetiming her friends and family back home, and spending time with her kitten, Juniper.
MiKaila Leonard, BS
Carly (she/her) is a second-year Doctor of Audiology (AuD) student from Indianapolis, IN. She received her Bachelors of Science degree in Speech Language and Hearing Sciences from Purdue University in May 2023. In addition to being part of the Relationships and Health Lab, she is a teaching assistant for HDFS and is a member of the Student Academy of Audiology. Carly joined the lab because she has always been interested in relationships and overall health and is eager to learn how the two interact. As a future audiologist, she wants to learn how the dynamics of her patients' relationships might affect their health outcomes. She is excited to be a part of the lab to gain knowledge that could help her future patients. In her free time, Carly loves to travel, workout, go to concerts, and spend time with family and friends.
Carly Ferree, BS
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Megan (she/her) is a fourth-year undergraduate student in Psychological Sciences (Psychology), and minoring in both Sociology and Human Development and Family Sciences, from Carmel, IN. On campus, Megan is a part of her sorority's diversity, equity, and inclusion committee, is a committee member for PUDM morale, and is also a part of the Brain Exercise Initiative Club. She is honored to be able to be working in the Relationship & Health Lab, as well as learning more about research as a whole, and the toll health has on people and their relationships. Megan is eager about this research and would like to, in the future, learn more about grief and the effects grief has on a person. Megan aspires to become a Clinical Social Worker and is looking forward to working toward both her undergrad as well as strives to get into a master’s program that can help her toward her end goal.
Megan Dillon
Megan Dillon
Claire (she/her) is from Wakarusa, Indiana, and is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in psychological sciences with minors in sociology and HDFS. In the future, she plans on pursing a master’s in counseling! She is interested in clinical psychology, psychotherapy research, and child development and is eager to be a part of this lab and help in the research of cancer and chronic illness as it has affected those in her personal life. She is on the executive board for Psi Chi as chair of community outreach and for LLS at Purdue as VP of public relations. In her free time she loves to do art, hike, and spend time with her friends!
Claire Lingle
Lily York
Lily (she/her) is a fourth-year student at Purdue studying Psychological Sciences with a minor in Human Development and Family Sciences from Evansville, IN. After graduating, she plans on getting her masters in marriage and family therapy and hopes to work with couples and children to help work towards achieving the highest quality relationships possible. She is interested in learning more about the negative implications stress can have on our relationships, and by how understanding the impacts, we can work to eliminate them.
Outside of school, Lily is a Group Fitness Instructor at Purdue's Corec, specifically teaching indoor cycling classes, but she also loves to take yoga classes or go on walks. Lily also enjoys spending time with her cat, Phoebe, watching reality TV with her friends or reading!
Allison (she/hers) is a first-generation junior in Medical Laboratory Sciences. She’s from Lowell, a small town in Northwest Indiana. She enjoys hanging out with her older sister, father, grandparents, two dogs, and her cat. Allison enjoys listening to musicals and being creative with everything she does. She puts a lot of time into her studies and her resident assistant job. She intends to go to medical school and pursue a career in forensic pathology to help those find answers in the toughest time in their lives.
Allison Swarens
Ella Francis
Ella (she/her) is a third-year undergraduate student with a Kinesiology major, minoring in psychology on a Pre-Medical track. She plans to attend medical school with intentions to become a Rheumatologist. On campus, she is a member of the Golduster Dance Team, serves as the Academic Excellence Director at her sorority, and works part-time at IU Arnett Hospital. She is looking forward to the opportunity to contribute, learn and grow from her involvement with this lab. Her research interests include how breast cancer and relationships are related, and how stress from a relationship can impact a person's body, both physically and mentally. In her free time, Ella enjoys spending time baking, hiking, and being around her friends and family.
Alicia (she/her) is a fourth-year undergraduate student double majoring in Psychological Sciences and Developmental and Family Sciences from Greenwood, IN. She plans on going to grad school for clinical psychology. She cares deeply about mental health and is excited for this opportunity to work in the Relationship & Health Lab to learn more about the relationship between stress and health. She enjoys captaining the Purdue Women’s Ultimate Frisbee team, painting, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.
Alicia Ader
Katie is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying psychological sciences. She is from Westfield, Indiana, and plans on going to graduate school to get her PhD in Clinical Psychology. Her research interests include chronic illnesses and how the stress of experiencing a concealable chronic condition impacts various life outcomes. On campus, she is a member of the Psychology, Psi Chi, and NAMI clubs and a sorority. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, baking, reading, and watching movies.
Katie Kemper
Ashley (she/her) is a third-year student majoring in Psychological Sciences and minoring in Human Development & Family Sciences and Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies from Thorntown, IN. After graduation, she plans to achieve her goal of getting a master’s in clinical or counseling psychology. She joined the Relationships and Health Lab as she is passionate about mental health and working in counseling. She is excited to gain research experience and learn from others in this lab. Her research interests include clinical, cognitive, and behavioral psychology. Outside of school, Ashley enjoys spending time on her family’s ranch, reading, going to concerts, and spending time with friends and family!
Ashley Alvarado
Lab Alumni
Emily Staub (Genetic Counseling Assistant, University of Iowa Holden Cancer Center)
Shaina Zilber
Rasheedah Adisa (Ball State University's Clinical Psychology Master's Program)
Lauren Todd (Registered Behavioral Technician, Hopebridge Autism Therapy Center, Lexington, KY)
Anna Morehead (Assistant Language Teacher, the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Program)
Alexa Spurlock (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry's Doctor of Dental Surgery Program)
Abby Huesca (Bay Path University's Physician Assistant Program)
Claire Bilodeau (Indiana University's Mental Health Counseling Master's Program)
The Relationships and Health Lab in Action
Rosie and MiKaila went to the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR) Main Convention in Boston! Rosie presented as part of a symposium on the Early Years of Marriage project, Her research showed greater relationship positivity, social network size, well-being, and socioeconomic status predicted greater happiness in couples over 16 years. MiKaila’s work showed spouses with a history of childhood maltreatment felt less understood and supported by their partners during marital conflict.
Rasheedah Adisa, a lab alumni now studying clinical psychology at Ball State University, presented her work at IARR in Boston, too! She showed that chronic pain-related stigma was associated with lower relationship satisfaction and greater depressive symptoms
The Relationships and Health Lab cheered on our 2024 graduating seniors as they walked across the stage to earn their bachelor's degrees! We are so proud of each of them. They are founding members of the lab and have helped shape us into the lab we are today.
Congratulations, Claire, Abby, Anna, and Alexa!
The Relationships & Health Lab gathered to celebrate the Spring 2024 semester!
Rosie presented her research at the Association for Clinical and Translational Science Convention in Las Vegas in April 2024! She discussed her recent findings that breast cancer survivors and their partners who felt more satisfied with their relationships also felt less stressed and had fewer physical health symptoms.
​Pictured: Ella, Claire, Anna, Allison, Lily, and Rosie
Pictured: Allison, Anna, Claire
​Pictured: Ella and Lily
The Relationships and Health Lab was well-represented at Purdue’s Health and Human Sciences Research Event in March 2024! Ella, MiKaila, Megan, and Lily presented their poster on the breakup experiences of students with concealable chronic health conditions, and in particular the lack of trust and increased anxiety students felt. Allison, MiKaila, Claire, and Anna’s poster showed the importance of positive and direct illness disclosure strategies for enhancing relationship closeness among those with concealable health conditions. They all did a brilliant job!
Celebrating our Fall 2023 semester with a lab dinner and game night!
Rosie and MiKaila at the Fall 2023 HHS Research Day where MiKaila presented her research on how childhood abuse and psychological disorder histories influence emotion regulation during marital conflict. Way to go, MiKaila!
The lab, plus honorary members Peach and Mango, celebrating an amazing spring 2023!
​Pictured: Rasheedah
​Pictured: Emily and Lauren
The Relationships & Health Lab presented at the Health and Human Sciences Spring 2023 Life Inspired Research Event! Rasheedah discussed patterns of illness disclosures to instructors, family, and friends. Lauren and Emily presented on the social and health outcomes of students with concealable chronic illness as they came back to campus amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Way to go, Rasheedah, Lauren, and Emily!
​Pictured: Rasheedah, Rosie, Lauren, and Emily
Rosie giving a talk at the American Psychosomatic Society conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico! She discussed how couples' negative communication patterns predicted slower wound healing.
​Pictured: Rosie
​Pictured: Rosie, Lauren, and Emily
​Pictured: Lauren and Emily
Rosie, Emily, and Lauren presented their work at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology conference in Atlanta, GA! Rosie presenting her poster about relational and emotional responses to marital conflict. Lauren and Emily discussed the social and health consequences among students with concealable chronic illness returning to campus amid the COVID-19 pandemic
Rosie received the Lorene Burkhart Award for Excellence in Research about Families from Purdue University’s Center for Families! This award was for her publication on how breast cancer survivors' satisfying marriages promoted psychological and physical health.