The Help-seeking And Multicultural Measurement Evaluation Research (HAMMER) Lab primarily studies what stops people from seeking professional healthcare, particularly mental health treatment, when they need it. We also use modern statistical methods to evaluate the reliability, validity, and cross-cultural utility of popular psychological instruments, with a focus on self-report measures of help-seeking constructs. A portion of our work is interdisciplinary and has been funded by the National Science Foundation ($3.4 million as of 8/15/26).
HAMMER Lab
Who We Are
Advancing Kentucky
The HAMMER Lab is advancing Kentucky by identifying key barriers to treatment access and testing interventions to remove those barriers, thereby improving health of Kentucky and the USA.
Our Team
The Lab is headed by Dr. Joseph Hammer and the team often includes postdoctoral scholars as well as doctoral, master’s, and undergraduate students.
Featured Projects
- Wilson, S. A., Hammer, J. H. (Co-PI), & Bork, S. J. (2026-2031) Collaborative Research: Mental Health Care Pathways: Examining Help Seeking in Engineering Graduate Students. National Science Foundation. $1,499,837 Direct and Indirect.
- Buchheit, R. (PI), Wilson, S.A., Johnson, M., Parker, J., Hammer, J.H. (Senior Personnel), Mirakhur, Z., Kaufmann, R., & Hagins, C. (2024-2026). Broadening Participation in Engineering. Track 4 The Engineering Wellness Center: Redefining success for engineering students. National Science Foundation. $1,199,649 Direct and Indirect.
Presentations and Publications
- Hammer, J. H., Dueber, D. M., Toland, M. D., & Weng, W.* (2026). The Integrated Behavioral Model of Mental Health Help Seeking Questionnaire (IBM-HS-Q): Development and validity evidence. Current Psychology, 45, 553. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-026-09132-3
- Hammer, J. H., Vogel, D. L., Grzanka, P. R., Kim, N.*, Keum, B. T., Adams, C., & Wilson, S. A. (2024). The Integrated Behavioral Model of Mental Health Help Seeking (IBM-HS): A health services utilization theory of planned behavior for accessing care. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 71(5), 315-327. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cou0000754
- Hammer, J. H., Wright, C. J., Miller, M. E.*, & Wilson, S. A. (2024). The Undergraduate Engineering Mental Health Help-Seeking Instrument (UE-MH-HSI): Development and validity evidence. Journal of Engineering Education, 1-28. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jee.20615
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