Young adults’ mental health has emerged as a critical public health concern, with rising rates of sleep deprivation reported over the past decade. Online video gaming has become a popular bedtime activity, especially among undergraduates, and may contribute to their sleep disruptions and daytime mental health malfunctions. However, not all undergraduates experience bedtime online gaming in the same way, and understanding who is most vulnerable, under what conditions, and whether bedtime online gaming may have neutral or even protective effects for some individuals remains a critical gap. Besides the importance of exploring individual differences in such effects, many studies rely solely on self-reported sleep quality, which can be biased or inaccurate.

To address these issues, this project will utilize a longitudinal data collection method. A total of 10 TCU undergraduates will be recruited through the campus gaming club. Over 14 days, participants will complete a morning survey assessing their prior night’s online gaming experiences and subjective sleep quality, and a brief tasks to measure cognitive functioning. Evening surveys will assess momentary mental health states and include an open-ended question about anything they want to share about their past day. Participants will continuously wear Garmin devices to collect objective sleep metrics passively. Findings will uncover the moment-to-moment impacts of bedtime gaming on sleep quality and overall functioning, and provide preliminary insights into individual differences in why and how some students are negatively affected by bedtime video gaming, while others may not be.

I expect that task performance will vary among participants based on individual gaming habits. Specifically, I anticipate a negative correlation between total bedtime gaming time and next-day performance on cognitive tasks, particularly when participants stay up late to game, leading to disrupted sleep. In such cases, deviations from typical healthy sleep patterns may negatively influence participants’ cognitive functioning. I also expect that the type of game played may influence outcomes, as games that involve higher levels of sensory stimulation and rapid decision-making (e.g., action shooters) may negatively affect sleep and further impair cognitive performance compared to slower-paced genres such as role-playing games.

Frustrative nonreward refers to the behavioral reactions that occur when an expected reward is reduced or omitted. Reward downshift procedures provide a useful framework to examine whether behavior is guided by current reward expectancies (action) or by learned stimulus - response associations (habits). Under conditions in which behavior depends on reward expectancies, animals typically adjust their responses when reward value changes. By contrast, if behavior has become habitual, original responses may persist even when the outcome is reduced. The present study examined whether extended training in a Pavlovian autoshaping task promotes habit-like responses following a reward downshift. In Experiment 1, rats were trained to respond to two levers associated with different reward magnitudes. Animals received either standard training (10 days) or extended training (30 days). After training, preference for the higher-value reward was assessed, and then one lever was downshifted to deliver the same smaller reward that the other lever provided. Changes in lever preference following the downshift were used to evaluate behavioral adjustments. Both groups initially adjusted their responses after the reduction in reward magnitude, through a change in preference from the downshifted to the unshifted lever. However, animals that received extended training gradually returned to their original preference for the downshifted one, even though both options delivered the same outcome. This persistence suggests the development of stimulus–response associations consistent with habit-like control. In contrast, animals that received standard training maintained a frustration induced change in preference after the downshift, indicating a weaker habit formation response. Experiment 2 tested whether overtraining by increasing the number of trials within each session would produce similar effects. Although animals received more trials per session, both groups showed similar behavioral adjustments following reward downshift and did not differ in preference patterns. Together, these results suggest that the development of habit-like responding depends not only on the amount of training but also on how experience is distributed over time. Training extended across multiple days, rather than concentrated within sessions, appears to promote persistent responding that is less sensitive to changes in reward magnitude.

Women remain disproportionately affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), with disparities in acquisition risk research concentrated among Black women in the Southern United States. Although there are effective prevention tools such as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), uptake of these tools remain low. This review analyzes the critical gap in prevention and protection against HIV in Black women. Systemic search of PubMed (2010-2025) was conducted looking for keywords such as “Women and PrEP”, “Barber Shop Model”, “Beauty Shop Model”, “Mobile Health Unit Health Care”, “PrEP Education”, and “Birth Control”. Reducing HIV disparities among Black women requires changing structural and social factors that influence the high HIV risk-factors. Awareness and self-perceived risk must be considered at the individual level in order to effectively prevent HIV acquisition. Existing research shows that the way prevention services are delivered and designed affect the efficacy of HIV prevention efforts. In addition to advancing biomedical strategies, interventions should be culturally responsive to increase awareness and reduce stigma surrounding PrEP and HIV. Overall, HIV disparities among Black women are multifactorial, and shifting prevention efforts into trusted community spaces while addressing the structural roots of medical mistrust shows a promising strategy for narrowing the gap in HIV prevention.

Resilience is the ability to cope with and overcome difficulties. Childhood traumatic events can undermine resilience by disrupting emotion regulation, coping skills, social connectedness, and self-esteem, thereby reducing an individual's ability to cope effectively. A commonly used metric for assessing these events is Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), which examines exposure to abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. One way to increase resilience is through a secure attachment to a caregiver. However, if an individual lacks a secure attachment to their caregiver, supportive relationships, such as natural mentors (NM; kin, non-kin, helping professionals), can also foster resilience. The present study examines whether having a NM is associated with higher resilience, while accounting for adverse experiences and insecure attachment to primary caregivers. Approximately 300 TCU students will be recruited to complete an online survey assessing ACEs, resilience, attachment to their caregiver, and any prior relationship with a NM. Descriptive analyses, one-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression will be conducted to examine associations. Descriptive analyses will examine the prevalence of all variables. Individuals with different types of NM mentors are expected to report different levels of resilience. Additionally, individuals with a NM are expected to demonstrate greater resilience when accounting for ACEs. Finally, the presence of NMs is expected to be associated with greater resilience compared to individuals without a mentor, even after controlling for insecure attachment. Data collection will begin in March 2026 and continue throughout the month, with results and implications being presented at the conference.

Cytokines are a protein involved in the body’s inflammatory response to pathogen threats (Danzter, 2001), and there is evidence that long-term oral contraceptive use can increase generalized inflammation (Mongiovi et al., 2025). Sickness symptoms are related to higher cytokine levels (Dantzer & Kelley, 2007), and further research found that participants who experienced more sick effects (injection-site soreness, fatigue, muscle aches, etc.) post-flu shot showed higher cytokine levels than those with less intense sick effects (Christian et al., 2015). We wanted to know if there is a difference in post-flu shot cytokines levels and sick symptoms between naturally cycling women vs. women on hormonal birth control (HBC)/ We also wanted to know if there is a relationship between phase of menstrual cycle and levels of inflammation after a flu shot. To answer these questions, we recruited 47 women from the TCU flu-clinic. The morning after their flu shot, participants gave a blood-spot samples (stored on Whatman 903 protein saver cards), completed a survey on their HBC use, menstrual cycle phase, GRIT, mood and feelings, and sick symptoms. The data are currently undergoing multi-variate analysis, where birth control use (naturally cycling vs. HBC use) and menstrual cycle phase are the predictor variables, and cytokine levels, sick symptoms, GRIT, and mood and feelings are the dependent variables. Blood spot samples will be analyzed in May 2026 using Mesoscale Discovery V-Plex assay kits. We expect to find a relationship between HBC use and cytokine levels, and sick symptoms and cytokine levels. We also expect to find a relationship between HBC use and GRIT, mood and feelings, and sick symptoms. We do not have any expected outcomes for the relationship between menstrual cycle phase, cytokines levels, and sick symptoms, as this research is exploratory.