Marital conflict is a key factor in the quality of marriages (Gottman & Levenson, 1992; Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2005), and research shows that it is also pertinent to child functioning, affecting the mental health and behavioral outcomes of the children of marital partners (Buehler et al., 2009; O’Leary & Vidair, 2005; Tavassolie et al., 2016). Most of the past research examining the relationships between marital conflict and child functioning has examined couples with a child in the developmental stages of childhood and adolescence, with little research observing effects beyond adolescence. Emerging adulthood is a developmental period between the ages of 18-25 and is a crucial stage in the development of emotion regulation and suppression (Arnett, 2007; Zimmermann & Iwanski, 2014). Despite this, there is a lack of research observing the effects that marital conflict may have on the children of marital partners in emerging adulthood, a gap that the current study seeks to fill. The current study had three goals. First, it examined the association between parental marital conflict and the mental health outcomes of emerging adults, exploring whether specific conflict resolution strategies differentially influenced mental health outcomes. Second, it examined how parental reports of marital satisfaction relate to reports of marital conflict and strategy use and how these reports relate to emerging adult mental health outcomes. Finally, it aimed to add to existing research on discrepancies between mother, father, and child reports of marital conflict. The current study included 176 emerging adults (18-25 years old) and 163 of their parents, of which 90 were mothers and 73 were fathers. The children answered a series of questionnaires about their self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and their parents’ marital conflict. The parents answered a series of self-report questionnaires about their marital conflict, their marital satisfaction, and their and their partners’ resolution strategies. The results of the study have not yet been analyzed.

There has been limited research evaluating Rape Myth Acceptance (RMA) in police officers. However, previous research has suggested that although low levels of RMA have been found among police officers, specific myths such as victim credibility, are still prevalent. The endorsement of specific myths can be impactful as they can influence victim-blaming attitudes and case progression, along with reinforcing negative rape stereotypes (Sleath & Bull, 2017). Police officer's trainings have been held to address rape misconceptions; however, the long-term effectiveness of these trainings remain unclear (Darwinkel et al. 2013);(Sleath & Bull, 2017). As trauma informed-care has begun to emerge in the field of policing, there is a need for further research on how trauma-informed attitudes influence RMA in police officers (Lathan et al., 2019). The study aims to address (1) how RMA scores differ from police officers that have trauma-informed knowledge versus police officers who do not, and (2) the difference in attitudes towards trauma-informed care among officers who have trauma-informed knowledge versus those that do not. This study includes secondary data collected from a previous study recruiting police officers from across the state of Texas. A total of 108 police officers voluntarily completed the online Qualtrics survey that assessed their trauma-informed knowledge, attitudes towards trauma-informed care, and rape myth acceptance. Two t-tests were conducted to examine the differences between (1) trauma-informed knowledge and rape myth acceptance, and (2) trauma-informed knowledge and attitudes towards trauma-informed care. This study provides informative insights about the relationship between trauma-informed knowledge, trauma-informed attitudes, and rape myth accepts among police officers, which overall emphasizes the need for the continuous implementation of trauma-informed care in police officers.

Moral decision-making is influenced by a range of ethical perspectives; yet little is known about how the more nuanced perspectives impact people's response to different moral dilemmas. The present study examines the predictive power of six ethical perspectives—Utilitarianism, Rights, Justice/Fairness, Common Good, Virtue, and Care—when predicting decision outcomes among 20 dilemmas divided into Sacrificial-Personal (SP), Sacrificial-Impersonal (SI), Contemporary-Personal (CP), and Contemporary-Impersonal (CI) types. Participants in the study comprised two different groups: Study 1 (N = 210) consisted of a sample of college students recruited through TCU’s Psychology Participant Pool, while Study 2 (N = 501) consisted of a general population sample recruited through CloudResearch.
The results indicate that contextual as well as population-specific characteristics drive ethical decision-making. Utilitarian ideals notably predicted the acceptance of sacrificial-impersonal situations, emphasizing the need to maximize group welfare. In contrast, Virtue and Care ethics were inversely related to sacrificial-personal choices, suggesting aversion to causing direct harm. Justice/Fairness and Rights-based ethics exhibited increased relevance in contemporary policy issues, echoing concerns for equity and individual rights. Study 2 also revealed that demographic variables of age, gender, political ideology, and religious affiliation contributed to ethical inclinations: young liberals exhibited a proclivity for Utilitarian and Justice/Fairness ideals, while older, conservative, and religious individuals preferred Virtue-based considerations.
The results highlight persistent disparities in moral judgment within various categories of dilemmas and demographic groups, depicting the effects of context-specific factors along with individual characteristics on ethical decision making. The findings provide additional insight into the workings of ethical perspectives within real-life moral dilemmas and policy decision making.

This study explored the relationship between existential isolation (EI) and dehumanization. Studies have shown existential isolation, or feeling alone in one’s experience, is associated with deficits in personal well-being, such as feelings of loneliness, depression and anxiety, and lower levels of self-esteem. Other forms of isolation, such as social ostracism, have been associated with feelings of dehumanization, perceiving oneself or others as being “subhuman” or lacking essential human attributes. Given these associations, we wanted to test whether greater levels of EI were positively associated with dehumanizing perceptions. Across three studies surveying undergraduate students and adults, we found significant evidence of an association between high EI and greater self-dehumanization (perceiving oneself as subhuman), greater meta-dehumanization (perceiving others as subhuman), and lower moral goodness.

Research indicates that sex differences are evident in most emotion regulation strategies including impulsivity, as measured by higher delayed discounting, even when controlling for substance use. Impulsivity, linked to deficits in self-control and delayed discounting, contributes to substance use and risk-taking behavior, with emotion dysregulation further reinforcing these patterns in youth. However, protective factors like parental support and monitoring can mitigate impulsivity by fostering moral reasoning and self-regulation, which encompasses emotion regulation, reducing risk of delinquency. A deeper understanding of emotion regulation and impulsivity can inform the development of more effective, tailored interventions for all youth in the legal system (YLS), focusing on self-control deficits and risk behaviors. This study examined sex-based variations in impulsivity and emotion regulation among YLS, while also looking at their link to substance use and family dynamics. Data utilized were from an ongoing 5-year longitudinal project with YLS. Hypotheses were tested through independent t-tests and Pearson’s correlation analyses. Despite prior research with adult samples, findings indicated no significant sex differences in emotion dysregulation or delayed discounting among YLS. Correlation analyses revealed significant associations between family functioning, emotional regulation, and substance use. Specifically, emotional regulation difficulties correlated with poorer family functioning, which was also linked to higher substance use. These results may suggest that future interventions can apply similar strategies for both males and females; however, they should consider the role of family functioning in emotional regulation to mitigate impulsive behaviors and risk of delinquency.