Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and HIV are both critical and interconnected public health issues, particularly among individuals who are justice-involved. Individuals under community supervision face significant obstacles in accessing the prevention and treatment services necessary for both OUD and HIV. Although harm reduction strategies such as Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for OUD and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention have proven effective, these interventions remain underutilized and difficult to access. This research explores barriers to service delivery that service providers face in delivering OUD and HIV care to justice-involved individuals with substance use disorder. Qualitative analysis of data sourced from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded study, Addressing Risk through Community Treatment for Infectious Disease and Opioid Use Disorder Now (ACTION) was coded with deductive methods. By identifying systemic, structural, and social barriers, the study aims to understand the challenges that affect care delivery. Key findings included stigma surrounding PrEP, lack of awareness about available services, delays in ART (anti-retroviral treatment) initiation, transportation barriers, judicial resistance to MAT and punitive legal approach to OUD. Addressing these barriers is essential to improving health outcomes and reducing the impact of HIV and OUD in justice-involved individuals, drawing on service provider insights to inform future policy changes.

For much of human evolutionary history, women have relied on their men for direct benefits like resources and protection. Importantly, men are unlikely to provide these benefits without receiving something in return. One potential strategy women may use to secure these resources is offering men sexual access in exchange for investment. Given that sex is a highly valuable resource for men, as their reproductive success largely depends on the number of women who are willing to grant him sexual access, they should be willing to accept obtaining sexual access in exchange for their investment. For women in harsh environments, having an investing male figure is particularly crucial to survival. As such, we should expect that women’s sexual openness may vary depending on whether they are in a stable or harsh environment as being more sexually open may be advantageous for women who are in harsh environments. Thus, the present research aims to examine the impact of environmental harshness on women’s sexual openness. We predict that women who are in harsh environments will be more sexually open than women who are in stable environments. Data are forthcoming.

Emotion regulation capability is a major contributor to various areas of functioning, including well-being and mental health(citation). Previous research (Rusk et al., 2011) shows that people differ on how motivated they are to demonstrate their ability to control their emotions (performance goals) and how motivated they are to learn to control their emotions better (learning goals). The current study explored the relationship between beliefs about controllability and usefulness of emotions and how much the participants endorsed higher performance and learning emotion regulation goals. The study also explored how emotion regulation goals and emotion beliefs correlated with various indicators of well-being. The initial correlational study showed that believing emotions can be controlled moderately predicted higher performance-avoidance goals for emotion regulation, while believing that emotions were generally useful had a weak negative association with learning emotion regulation goals. Additionally, higher emotion controllability beliefs, as well as higher performance-avoidance goals, predicted lower well-being. A second study was conducted to assess the causal relationship between emotion controllability beliefs and performance-avoidance emotion regulation goals.

Research looking at the association between hormonal birth control and mental health outcomes has primarily looked at what happens to women when they start using hormonal birth control. However, researchers have not begun to delve deep into the influence of discontinuing hormonal birth control on women’s mental health outcomes. Therefore, this study aimed to address this gap in the literature by investigating mental health outcomes of those who have discontinued hormonal birth control. Participants included women who had never used hormonal birth control (HBC), were currently using hormonal birth control, or had discontinued using hormonal birth control. All participants answered survey questions related to their current mental health outcomes. Results revealed that there were no differences in trait anxiety between never HBC users, current HBC users, or previous HBC users. However, there were differences in depression levels among the groups, such that individuals who had never used HBC reported higher levels of depression than previous HBC users. Therefore, these findings suggest that hormonal birth control usage may act as a neuroprotective intervention against depression during a developmentally critical time in which mood disorders commonly arise.

Self-recognition is a key indicator of higher cognitive processing and is atypical in children with autism spectrum disorder. A normal hallmark of typical social development requires knowledge of self and others. Self-recognition has been tested in a variety of different species and has been seen in a small number of mammals, birds, and fish. It is classically demonstrated by visual recognition using the mirror mark test. Parishar et al. (2021) previously examined self-recognition in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), and despite some potentially promising findings, none of the birds in their experiments passed the mirror mark test. This study sought to extend previous research by exploring whether zebra finches demonstrate self-recognition using a more thorough and exhaustive procedure exposing zebra finches to a mirror following the application of visible mark. Six male zebra finches were habituated to an experimental cage and were exposed to four different conditions (mirror, male bird, female bird, control). Then, two analyses were performed: Experiment 1 examined whether zebra finches change the spectrotemporal features of song in each of the four conditions, and Experiment 2 assessed whether birds attempted to inspect or remove a mark only visible when birds viewed their reflection in a mirror in each condition. Observations suggest that some birds may show attention towards the mark test because as seen by mark-directed behavior. Song characteristics will be explored to determine if zebra finches modify their song structure when facing a mirror compared to singing to a male bird, a female bird, or an empty cage (control). This would provide evidence supporting self-recognition if the singing behavior directed toward the mirror is distinct from that toward a conspecific. This study explores whether self-recognition is observed in zebra finches, providing insight into evolutionary and cognitive mechanisms of self-recognition that can be used for future studies in the neurobiology of social and cognitive behaviors.

Existential Isolation and Its Impact on Empathy and Perspective Taking

Existential Isolation (EI) is the experience of feeling as though you are alone in your experience of the world; and that those around you do not share or understand your experiences. Past research demonstrates that EI is associated with negative influences on personal well-being including: loneliness, depression, anxiety, and lower levels of self-esteem. The impact of EI on our interactions or perceptions of others is less known and understood. Individuals that feel existentially isolated perceive a disconnect between how they experience the world and how others experience the world. Due to this disconnect, people with higher levels of EI may have difficulty taking the perspective of others or “walking in someone else’s shoes”. Perspective taking is a vital cognitive factor for feeling empathetic towards others. To explore if EI is associated with less empathy for others due to a difficulty in perspective taking, 186 undergraduate students were presented with three short stories depicting someone experiencing stress (e.g., recently experienced the death of a parent), and asked to try taking the perspective of the people in the stories. Results indicated that people who reported greater feelings of EI also reported greater difficulty with perspective taking and, subsequently, reported feeling less empathy for the people in the stories. These findings suggest that EI may inhibit people’s feelings of empathy due to increasing their difficulty with perspective taking. The implications of these findings for the role of EI in helping and supporting behaviors are discussed.

In conjunction with the legalization of medical marijuana, there has been an increase in recreational marijuana use among youth. In 2016, marijuana use for youth in the legal system (YLS) hit a high of 64%, which far exceeded the 11% rate for youth outside the legal system. Youth that frequently or occasionally use marijuana are linked to adverse health problems, including both physical and emotional, and have poor school outcomes. Prior research has found that youth who use marijuana are more susceptible to emotional dysregulation and higher levels of anxiety. Higher anxiety levels have been linked to greater marijuana use, more significant anxiety symptoms, and increases in anxiety over time. This is concerning as research shows that youth with higher levels of anxiety sensitivity, or fear of anxiety, used marijuana to detach or manage emotional distress. Due to the risks associated with cannabis use, this study examined marijuana use among a sample of YLS, specifically looking at its connection to both emotion dysregulation and anxiety. Data were utilized over three timepoints (i.e., baseline, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up) from a 5-year longitudinal study. Consistent with prior research, it is expected that there would be a positive relationship between anxiety and marijuana use, as well as emotion dysregulation and marijuana use. Utilizing Pearson’s correlations, results indicated a significant negative relationship between marijuana use and the emotion dysregulation subscale of nonacceptance at baseline. However, there were no significant relationship between marijuana use and anxiety. At month 3 follow-up, there were significant positive relationships between marijuana use and anxiety, as well as marijuana use and emotion dysregulation for total scores and the nonacceptance subscale. At the month 6 follow-up, results indicated a positive relationship between marijuana use and anxiety. However, there was no longer a significant relationship between marijuana use and emotion dysregulation. These preliminary results suggest there is a complicated relationship between emotion dysregulation and anxiety when it comes to marijuana use. Future research should continue examining these relationships to better inform intervention work.

Menstruation is stigmatized in many areas of society, often leading to distancing behavior and increased objectification of women. This is commonly reflected in the widespread use of euphemisms, or metaphors, for menstruation. According to conceptual metaphor theory, a society is shaped by the metaphors it adopts. When menstruation metaphors are used in a political context, it raises questions about whether their harmful connotations affect political appeal and broader societal implications. This study explores the power of menstrual metaphors in political attack ads, specifically focussing on the “Tampon Tim” campaign. Participants were randomly assigned to view one of three political ads (i.e., metaphor, non-metaphor, and neutral) and answer questions about ad appeal and individual differences. Results support our hypothesis that menstruation metaphors influence political opinions.

Among women in Texas, Black women account for 56% of new HIV infections. However, Black individuals receive only 14% of prescriptions for PrEP, a medication that prevents HIV transmission. In an effort to increase PrEP uptake among Black women, the Beauty Shop Study engages beauty professionals as trusted community members, equipping them to provide sexual health education to their clients. Clients are then connected with the TCU Mobile Health Unit for service delivery and/or referral coordination. In the initial phase, the study collected Beauty Shop Study needs assessment data from 32 beauty professionals in North Texas, exploring their experiences discussing sexual health and related topics with their clients. The current study will present these findings to highlight community readiness and the importance of the Beauty Shop Study.

Panic disorder is a debilitating mental health disorder characterized by recurrent panic attacks, fear of future panic attacks and maladaptive behavioral changes. While only 4.7% of Americans will battle panic disorder in their lifetime, 27.3% of Americans will experience at least one panic attack. Cognitive models of panic attacks have historically emphasized the role of anxiety sensitivity in predicting symptoms, but other transdiagnostic variables, such as thought suppression, have yet to be explored. The purpose of this study was to test the ability of thought suppression to predict panic symptom severity above and beyond other predictors. To do this, we recruited participants (N = 161) on Cloud Research using Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk) Toolkit. Participants completed an online survey consisting of self-report measures of panic symptom severity, thought suppression, anxiety sensitivity, and trait anxiety. Results of simultaneous and hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that thought suppression was a significant positive predictor of panic symptom severity and accounted for additional variance in the model above and beyond anxiety sensitivity and trait anxiety. This unique finding suggests that perhaps attempts to suppress anxious or catastrophic thoughts strengthens them and feeds the panic cognitive loop. It also supports the exploration of acceptance-based interventions to address thought suppression differently than traditional cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Prior research has found that visual cues presented before (pre) or after (retro) an object improve object properties recognition, like identity (what it is) and spatial location (where it is), in humans (Griffin & Nobre, 2003) and monkeys (Brady & Hampton, 2018). However, this has not yet been tested in other species or using other cue modalities (e.g., auditory). The current experiment will analyze the effect of visual and auditory cues on object recognition in 6 pigeons, explicitly examining how these cues influence identity and spatial location processing in a visual working memory task.

Pigeons will perform a change detection task,in a Plexiglas chamber with a monitor, touch screen, and speakers. In each trial, the subject will peck a white crosshair on the center of the screen to start. After 1500 ms, a sample pair of colored circles will appear on the left and right sides of the screen for 5000 ms. After a 1500 ms delay, a test stimulus will be displayed on the screen’s left or right side. Pigeons must compare the test stimulus to the sample previously presented on the same side of the screen. During some trials, pigeons will receive pre- or retro-cue signaling which sample stimulus will be tested (e.g., the one displayed on the left). For half of the pigeons, the cues will be different frequency sounds (auditory group), and for the rest, colored backgrounds (visual group). It is predicted that the auditory group will have higher accuracy than the visual group, suggesting auditory cues may enhance recognition of visual objects more than visual cues.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and affects over 6 million Americans 65 and older. In the absence of a cure, addressing modifiable risk factors could potentially reduce the risk of AD development. There is an established relationship between diet and AD risk. For example, studies in rodents found that highly processed Western diets are associated with cognitive impairment and increased amyloid-beta in the hippocampus, a brain region critical for learning and memory. Conversely, plant-based diets like the Mediterranean diet (MD) have been shown to protect against cognitive impairment.

A key limitation in the scientific literature is that most animal studies have only examined the effects of extremely high-fat WD (providing over 40-60% kcal from fat), or a MD with only one or two key nutritional components. We aimed to fill a gap in the literature by designing a rodent diet that mimicked the typical American diet (TAD), rather than an exaggerated WD, and a macronutrient-matched MD. C57BL/6J mice were weaned onto one of the two diets at postnatal day 21. Following six months of diet, we conducted behavioral tests, including open field, elevated zero, and object-location memory task (OLMT). In comparison to the MD, mice consuming the TAD had decreased locomotor activity and exploratory behavior, increased anxiety-like behavior, and reduced spatial memory.

Motor preparation deficits are a feature of many neurological disorders in humans. Developing animal models to study deficits in motor preparation is essential to explore the potential therapeutic treatment avenues. Preparation for motor actions involves neural pathways that facilitate neuromuscular planning. In male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), song production is controlled by a system of brain areas that are analogous to those areas in humans controlling human speech and language. Neural activity in many of these brain areas precedes the execution of song motor sequences. We aimed to differentiate preparatory motor periods from song execution by interrupting female-directed and song produced in isolation (undirected song) with white noise playback. The amplitude and duration of the white noise was systematically varied along with the timing of playback occurring during song. Song respiratory motor gestures were measured in six birds experiencing the noise disruption events. Transition entropy analyses revealed increased variability in syllable progression in the presence of playback compared to undirected song without playback (control condition). There were significant differences in the frequencies of interruption, continuation, and termination for each syllable of directed and undirected song with playback compared to baseline (Χ2, ps < .05). We observed higher rates of interruption and motif disruption during introductory notes and early syllables as well as later syllables within a song motif. Ascertaining patterns of stereotypy and variability in zebra finch vocalizations can elucidate deficits in motor planning that contribute to autism spectrum disorder, speech apraxia, and other clinical disorders.

Existing literature has highlighted the competing roles of each family dynamics, the patterns of interactions among relatives, and discrimination on the self-esteem and occupational performance of African American and Caucasian populations individually. However, no research to date has examined whether these factors are interconnected. In this study, we aimed to assess the competing roles of family dynamics and experiences of discrimination across a cross-sectional survey. In the study, we surveyed a sample of 178 White and Black participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Simple mediation models indicated that higher levels of discrimination were associated with lower levels of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and resilience. Additionally, more positive familial relationships were associated with better outcomes on these measures for White participants alone. Furthermore, self-esteem was positively related to better self-reported occupational performance. That is, our results suggest that perceived discrimination is associated with lower self-esteem, which is then subsequently related to poorer occupational performance. Conversely, the results suggest the opposite pattern for family dynamics, with more positive familial relationships being associated with higher levels of self-esteem among White participants, which is, in turn, associated with better self-reported occupational performance. These findings emphasize the negative role of discrimination in fostering personal well-being and success in occupational settings.

Humans are distinguished from other species due to their remarkable capacity to produce complex, goal-directed, and learned actions, such as speech, playing musical instruments, and sports. Performance of voluntary motor behaviors consist of several overlapping sequential processes from preparation to readiness and motor execution (Kinder & Buss, 2020). Before a voluntary behavior is executed, the brain selects must fit motor behavior regarding to external stimuli and internal goal, and prepare the best motor response to that specific condition The motor preparation phase involves not only physical readiness to act but also significant cognitive processing, such as decision-making and response planning, which determine the form of motor action. This underscores the interaction between cognitive control and motor readiness during action preparation (D’Ostilio & Garraux, 2012). Motor preparation for a behavior is not unique to humans. in different species, such as zebra finch songbirds, motor preparatory gestures can be observed as short-duration, low-amplitude sounds that, unlike calls which pare produced by both female and males, the INs are produced only by male zebra finches before the main part of the song (Simonyan & Horwitz, 2011). These gestures are considered "warm-up" behaviors before singing (Daliparthi et al., 2019). The aim of this study was to test the published but not experimentally verified hypothesis that introductory notes serve as preparatory behavior in songbirds, representing a transitional phase from a not-ready state to a ready state for song performance, whereas the song syllables of the motif represent a highly stereotyped, consistent, learned, and sequential motor program in zebra finches (Kalra et al., 2021b; Rajan, 2018b; Rajan & Doupe, 2013b; Rao et al., 2019b).
The current study examined how white-noise playback, used as an auditory distortion of the bird’s acoustic feedback during singing, affects the motor preparatory and motor execution phases of song production by targeting the INs and song syllable elements directly during the song production. This approach provides novel insights into how and why auditory perturbations influence distinct stages of song production in zebra finches, and what this implies for a species that has often been considered to produce song in a machine-like manner as a fixed repetition of a learned sequential motor program.
Overall, based on the two distinct response patterns of introductory notes (INs) and song syllables to auditory perturbation, our results support the view that INs function as preparatory motor gestures rather than components of the motor execution phase. Specifically, INs responded to auditory distortion with prolonged pauses during the inter-IN interval, accompanied by adjustments in the respiratory cycle, suggesting that birds modify preparatory processes to facilitate the transition into song production under perturbed conditions. In contrast, song syllables exhibited a different response pattern, indicating that the motor program during the execution phase remains stable and relatively inflexible once the song sequence has begun.

Throughout our evolutionary history, people have used social connections to enhance survival and reproduction, and consequently, the loss of these connections is very detrimental. Existing evidence has found that we have evolved sensitive neural and perceptual systems that detect and respond to threats of ostracism. This experience of distress when viewing another person being ostracized is referred to as vicarious ostracism. Recent work leans on the evolutionary perspective that being excluded by an ingroup member is costlier than being ostracized by an outgroup member. However, this research has produced somewhat conflicting findings, one that observing ostracism of ingroup members by outgroup members is more painful, while others have found the reverse. Further, little research has examined how experiences of vicarious ostracism influence the perceptions of and interactions with targets of ostracism. Thus, the present study aims to analyze the roles of group membership on an individual’s perceptions and observations of vicarious ostracism experiences, and also their thoughts of the person being ostracized. We hypothesized that observing an ingroup member being ostracized by an outgroup member would be seen as more prejudicial than an outgroup member being ostracized by ingroup members, which would, in turn, be related to a more positive view of the ingroup target that was ostracized.
Across two studies sampling Caucasian undergraduates (Study 1) and both Caucasian and African American adults via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk; Study 2), participants were presented with group-based ostracism vignettes, in which they read about a racial ingroup or outgroup member being ostracized by members of the ingroup or outgroup.
Then, participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing the degree to which they viewed the depicted ostracism as being attributable to prejudice by the sources, as well as their impression of the ostracism target. In both studies, regardless of race, we found that participants in the intergroup black condition viewed ostracism as more prejudicial and liked the target more than people who saw the ostracism in the intergroup white condition.
Further, we found that prejudicial attributions mediated the relationship between the depicted ostracism and participants’ impression of the target, such that when people viewed a black target being excluded by white sources, they rated the ostracism as more prejudicial, which in turn is associated with liking the target more.
Overall, these findings were opposite of our hypotheses and instead suggest that our evolved cognitions for processing experiences of group-based vicarious ostracism may be influenced by contemporary social norms and group dynamics. The implications of this research for understanding the ecological factors that influence behavioral and perceptual outcomes associated with vicarious ostracism, particularly within the context of intergroup conflict, will be discussed.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) research and clinical use demonstrate its efficacy in treating epilepsy, depression, migraines, and its potential to one day mitigate inflammation and improve working memory. However, variations in treatment outcomes indicate a need for further exploration into the individual factors that influence VNS sensitivity and responsiveness. The study aims to investigate how various individual factors like sex, body awareness, preterm birth, childhood socioeconomic status, childhood unpredictability, and adverse childhood experiences relate to sensitivity to VNS. A survey will administered to measure person-based variables of interest. Participants will undergo a VNS procedure involving a heart rate variability (HRV) recording during a baseline, stimulation, and recovery period. Some of our expected result are, individuals who were born prematurely will have higher sensitivity to VNS, and individuals who experienced more childhood stress will have lower sensitivity to VNS. The results of this study will improve future VNS clinical treatment and inform future VNS research pursuits.

It is commonly assumed that achieving financial success will remove many of the burdens associated with low socioeconomic status (SES). However, recent research suggests that individuals who transition from low to high SES environments are at even greater risk for poor health outcomes compared to those who remain in stably high SES environments and compared to those who remain in stably low SES environments. Although the underlying cause of these health outcomes are currently unknown, evidence from qualitative interviews of individuals experiencing upward mobility finds unique psychological stressors associated with transitioning from low to high SES. The current research was designed to experimentally examine the effect of upward mobility and childhood SES on psychological stress. Participants were randomly assigned to write about their life at a significantly higher SES than their childhood SES (upward mobility condition), or at the same SES as their childhood (no mobility condition) before reporting their psychological stress. Two studies were conducted in order to examine the effect of upward mobility in 1) a sample of undergraduate students and 2) to compare the effects of upward mobility in a sample of adults currently enrolled in college and never enrolled in college. Results revealed elevated psychological stress among participants in the upward mobility condition (vs. no mobility), but only among those who had low childhood SES. These findings suggest that upward mobility carries a psychological stress burden that uniquely impacts individuals from low SES environments.

Students wonder how to prepare for an upcoming exam, while instructors wonder how to best introduce materials to students. Research has found that practice testing after material is studied leads to better memory compared to other strategies like restudying (Rowland, 2014). Practice testing tends to be more effective when students recall material verbally or write it down (overt learning) compared to when they only mentally recall the material (covert learning; Tauber et al., 2018). Other research evaluates the value of pretesting individuals before they learn subject matter. Studies show that answering pretest questions before studying, even if people provide wrong answers, leads to beneficial learning outcomes compared to just studying material (Richland et al., 2009). We aimed to combine both research areas and investigate how covert and overt learning applies to pretesting: When taking a pretest, is it better to just think about the answer, or is it better to write it down? Undergraduate students at TCU were instructed to learn passages about the planet Saturn or Yellowstone National Park. For one of the passages, students simply read the passage (read-only condition). For the other passage, they were asked short-answer pretest questions about the passage prior to reading (pre-test condition). A random half of the participants complete their pretests overtly (typing their responses to the questions), whereas the other half of participants completed their pretests covertly (answering the questions in their mind). All participants completed a final multiple-choice test on the material they learned. Performance on this final test was higher for the pretest condition compared to the read-only condition, and this was true for both overt and covert pretesting. In strategy ratings made after the experiment, participants seemed to recognize that pretesting was more effective than learning because it helped them absorb relevant information while reading the passage. Our results suggest that pretesting is an effective learning strategy, even when learners do not provide articulated responses.

Bird song has been extensively investigated as a model for understanding the physiological basis for animal vocalization. Juvenile songbirds acquire their songs and perfect them as they transition into adulthood, just as we acquire our native language by exposure and imitation of adult tutors. Scientific investigation of bird song requires the collection of hundreds of hours of audio data containing songs, calls, and cage noise. These data must be sorted into categories of interest for specific research questions, with singing behavior being the dominant behavior of interest. Data categorization is a tedious and time-consuming process, and while current software hastens this process, substantial human effort is still required. This project investigates whether or not machine learning algorithms can be used to more efficiently categorize audio data collected in songbird research. Specifically, we developed a convolutional neural network (CNN) in PyTorch to classify whether or not 0.5 second sections of audio contain bird song. Using a supervised learning paradigm, we trained the CNN using labeled spectrograms (visual representations of audio frequencies across time) acquired from recordings of the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). After training the CNN, we implemented it into an algorithm that identifies song within audio recordings. We then compared the CNN based software to a pre-existing, custom-written LabVIEW template-matching algorithm to determine the relative speed and accuracy of the software. Recordings were taken in both noisy and quiet recording environments to test the strengths and limitations of the two approaches. Our data indicate that the CNN based algorithm achieves comparable levels of accuracy to the pre-existing algorithm and accomplishes the categorization using a fraction of the time required by the template matching program. These results suggest that machine learning algorithms can effectively be used to automate and rapidly categorize stereotyped vocal patterns. Further development of this software may facilitate rapid analyses of data and be extended to categorization of a broader range of vocal patterns, including human speech.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is derived from the Cannabis sativa plant and has been found to reduce anxiety-like behavior in rodents on an elevated plus maze (EPM) when injected, as well as in humans in both social anxiety and fear conditioning situations when consumed orally (Blessing et al., 2015). Pharmaceutical grade CBD is what is primarily used in research, but most people consume over-the-counter (OTC) CBD and there is a need to evaluate the benefits of its consumption (Chesney et al., 2020). In the current experiment, we explored the effectiveness of voluntary oral consumption of OTC CBD to reduce anxiety-like behaviors in rats using EPM and open field (OF) tests. Rats were given either 20 mg/kg of OTC CBD isolate or distilled water for 16 days prior to testing. On day 17, rats were placed on the EPM 2-hours after feeding for 5-minutes and on day 18, rats were placed on the OF in the same manner. The amount of time spent in the open vs. closed arms of the EPM and the center vs. outer portions of the OF was evaluated. If rats were less anxious (CBD group), then we expected that they would spend more time in the open arms of the EPM and center of the OF than the control group. The results will be discussed with respect to the grade of CBD, the administration route, and the type of test.

Narcan is an over-the-counter nasal spray used to reverse the effect of opioid overdoses. In 2022, approximately 110,000 fatalities resulted from opioid overdoses in the United States. Considering the high rates of opioid overdose fatalities, it is important to employ a community-based approach to the distribution of Narcan. To address this, a survey was distributed to individuals in a local Fort Worth community center (N = 5) to evaluate the utilization of Narcan. Following the survey, each participant was given one box (2 doses) of Narcan to take home. One month after the initial survey, participants completed a follow-up survey , indicating if they had used or given away the Narcan. While we do not expect the majority of participants to have used the Narcan within this timeframe , we expect to find high willingness to use Narcan in the case of an emergency. The distribution of Narcan can provide a resource to families as a precaution to prevent potential opioid related deaths in this community. Study implications highlight a greater need for community education and increased distribution of Narcan to improve public perceptions and reduce instances of opioid overdose in the Fort Worth community.

The Impact of Determined Behavior on Ratings of Determinism and Outlook
Cagney K., Nerz J., Jones S., & Leising K.J.
A deterministic position claims that all decisions are ultimately the result of external events (e.g., current conditions and past experiences). In contrast, indeterminism (free will) maintains that a decision can emanate solely from within (independent of external influences). Research has found that deterministic perspectives are rated as more negative than indeterminist perspectives, perhaps due to the loss of agency associated with determinism. This study examined whether manipulating the functional value of a behavior would alter ratings of a deterministic perspective, as well as, personal agency and optimism. Half of the participants were instructed to click a white box each time it appeared (i.e., determinism), and the other half were told to click the box whenever they wanted (i.e., indeterminism). Additionally, for half of the participants in each group, a response to the box changed its color (high behavioral utility), whereas, for the remaining participants, clicking the box did not change anything (low behavioral utility). Participants then assessed deterministic perspectives, and personal optimism and agency. It was hypothesized that high behavioral utility would attenuate the negative response to determinism. However, the results revealed that the determinism groups had a more negative view of determinism, regardless of the utility of their behavior. Those with less favorable views of determinism reported lower optimism, and those with lower optimism reported a lower sense of agency.

Felt-safety is the emotional and physical components of safety and fills the gap between knowing you are safe and feeling you are safe. Felt-safety is a critical aspect of development because it allows an individual to move from their lower functioning automatic brain to higher level centers capable of reasoning and learning. Youth who are in foster care, particularly youth in residential care settings, experience frequent change and many new environments. We investigated whether felt-safety levels could be increased in a local group home through “Life Skill” lessons. We used “Life Skill” lessons to help build the relational connections among residents and between residents and staff. Before undergoing “Life Skill” lessons participants took an online written assessment which measured: felt-safety using The Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS), attachment using The Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR), and psychological wellbeing using the Psychological-Wellbeing Scale (PWB). Our hypothesis was to see increases in felt-safety and gain evidence for best practices in increasing safety levels among youth in highly volatile environments. A second hypothesis was to see an increase in psychological wellbeing in connection to felt-safety. A Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test was used to determine significance between Time 1 and Time 2. Interestingly, there was found to be a significant decrease in felt-safety levels and the difference in psychological wellbeing was insignificant. Overall, this research helped quantify levels of felt-safety and wellbeing amongst youth in residential care.

Decades of research finds a relationship between low socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood and poor health outcomes in adulthood. However, recent evidence suggests individuals who experience upward socioeconomic mobility exhibit poorer health than those who remain in low SES environments throughout their lives. The current work examined the relationship between physical health and psychological stressors associated with upward socioeconomic mobility (i.e., financial insecurity, obligation to family, social isolation, and threat hypervigilance). Participants provided information about their childhood, current, and expected future SES to make upward socioeconomic mobility salient among individuals with low childhood SES. Then, participants reported their perceived psychological stress. Physical health markers (i.e., hear rate, blood pressure, inflammatory cytokine release) were measured throughout the study to examine physiological stress responses to upward socioeconomic mobility. Results reveal that psychological stressors faced by those experiencing upward socioeconomic mobility are associated with physiological responses which may contribute to poor health outcomes.