Mental health and coping for teens who leave home without a parent
Official title: Mental Health of Adolescents who Leave Home without a Parent: Understanding Risk while Identifying Resilience and Coping Strategies
Funded at Columbia University Health Sciences · NIH-11458640 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work looks at how hunger and violence affect the mental health and coping of teens (about ages 15–19) who leave home without a parent.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | May 9, 2023 |
| Project end | November 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $15,102 |
| NIH project number | 3R01MD017273-03S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11458640 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adolescents roughly 15–19 years old who left home without a parent—especially unaccompanied migrants or teens who experienced hunger or violence.
✕Less likely to help
Teens who never left home alone and who have not experienced significant deprivation or threat are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this work.
What this research studies
If you left home without a parent—for example as an unaccompanied migrant—researchers will follow teens in mid-to-late adolescence to learn how experiences of hunger and threats like violence affect mental health and thinking skills. The team will collect information through interviews, questionnaires, and cognitive tasks over time to capture acute and ongoing exposures and post-resettlement stressors. They will also study social and psychological factors that help some teens stay resilient so those helpful strategies can be identified. Results are intended to guide new supports and programs that strengthen coping for youth in similar situations.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to targeted programs or treatments that reduce PTSD, depression, anxiety, and strengthen coping in teens who left home alone.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research on refugee and unaccompanied teens has shown higher rates of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and substance use, but combining measures of deprivation/threat with cognitive and social resilience factors is a relatively new approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Columbia University Health Sciences
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Orjuela, Manuela a — Columbia University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Orjuela, Manuela a
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.