Social connection, and the protection it provides, was a determining factor for our ancient ancestors’ ability to achieve their evolutionary goals of survival and reproduction. In turn, social exclusion, the loss of this connection, posed a serious threat to these goals, spurring the development of several cognitive and behavioral recovery strategies to combat its harmful effects. One potential strategy for women following experiences of social exclusion is increased motivation to engage in short-term sexual relationships that may quickly alleviate the safety and affiliative concerns associated with social exclusion. However, the relationship between social exclusion and women’s short-term mating (STM) motives remains relatively unexamined. The present research investigated the influence of social exclusion on women’s STM motives, and how individual differences in chronic concerns about exclusion influence this relationship. I predicted that being socially excluded, compared to included, would lead women to have increased STM motives. Furthermore, I predicted that individuals’ differences in chronic concerns about exclusion would moderate this relationship. To test these hypotheses, I primed feelings of social exclusion and inclusion using the future alone paradigm, and then measured several dimensions of unpartnered women’s self-reported STM motives (including sexual unrestrictedness, openness to sexual intercourse, and desired mate investment). Results did not support the hypothesized relationship. Instead, they indicated that excluded women exhibited lower STM motives, specifically less sexual unrestrictedness, than included women. However, this relationship was moderated by chronic exclusion concerns, such that, for socially excluded women, the more chronically concerned with social exclusion they were, the greater their expressed sexual unrestrictedness. For social included women, their trait exclusion concerns were unrelated to their expressed sexual unrestrictedness. Thus, for women that have chronically high exclusion concerns, increased sexual unrestrictedness following social exclusion may be a compensatory mechanism to mitigate the negative effects of being excluded. The implications of these findings for women’s interpersonal and intimate relationships will be discussed.

Terror management theory suggests that the potential for anxiety from the awareness of death can be buffered by a cultural worldview. Mind-body dualism, the belief that the mind and the body are separate, might affect people’s mortality concerns. Given that the body is threatening given its vulnerability to death, individuals who perceive the mind and body as being connected (vs. separate) should experience higher mortality-related thoughts and defense of their cultural beliefs. Past research found that mind-body dualism was related to afterlife belief, which was able to buffer existential concerns (Heflick et al., 2015). Based on these findings, the current research investigated how mind-body dualism moderated the effect of the creaturely body on death-related concerns. The result showed that people who perceived the mind-body relationship as more separate showed significantly fewer death concerns after reading an essay emphasizing the creatureliness of the body, whereas people who held beliefs in a more interrelated mind-body relationship showed heightened death concerns after the creaturely body prime.

Nostalgia, a sentimental longing for the past, increases prosocial behavior. Research has demonstrated that when a former competitive athlete reflects on their time participating in their sport, they experience feelings of nostalgia. Applying the prosocial nature of nostalgia to an athletic domain, it was hypothesized in the current study that sport-specific nostalgia would predict greater sportsmanship attitudes among athletes. To test this, we primed former competitive athletes with sport nostalgia by instructing them to write about a memory from playing their sport. Then they completed items about their sportsmanship attitudes, such as respecting opponents and officials. Results showed that nostalgia-primed participants reported greater sportsmanship attitudes compared to a control group. This is consistent with research showing that nostalgic reflection increases prosocial attitudes and behavior. In future work we plan to examine these findings in current competitive athletes to give further insight into the role that nostalgia plays in sport settings.

Background: Reward loss is accompanied by a stress response affecting emotion and health. Problem: A comprehensive map of brain activity, or connectome, during an episode involving reward loss remains to be worked out. A connectome is being developed using the protein c-Fos expressed in recently activated neurons. Method: Experimental animals were exposed to reward loss (high-to-low sucrose and pellet downshift), whereas control animals had access only to the small or only to the large reward. c-Fos expression was measured in brain slices obtained after the reward loss event using immunohistochemistry. Brain activity levels in experimental and control animals were determined based on c-Fos expression in several key brain areas. Results: c-Fos expression was found to be higher in areas involved in negative emotion and lower in areas involved in reward processing in downshifted vs. unshifted groups. Contribution: This novel approach will continue to help identify the brain connectome underlying reward loss, that is the set of excited and inhibited areas when the organism is experiencing a loss.

Research suggests that cannabidiol (CBD) can act as an anxiolytic when injected (Blessing et al, 2015). We investigated whether these findings could be replicated in rats using chronic (12 day) voluntary oral consumption of non-pharmaceutical grade CBD oil at 20mg/kg. A control group consumed distilled water. An elevated plus maze (Test 1), open field (center vs. outer, light vs. dark, Test 2 and 3), and running wheel (Test 4) were used to examine the anxiolytic effect of CBD beginning on day 12 of administration and two hours after consumption. One test occurred each day. It was hypothesized that CBD rats would spend more time in the open arms of the elevated plus maze than the control group, and more time in the center and lit areas of the open field compared to the control rats. For the running wheel, we expected the CBD rats to turn the wheel more times than the control group. Results revealed that in the open field, the CBD group spent more time in the center compared to the control group, as was expected. There were no other differences between groups. These results are discussed with respect to administration route, timing of test, and type of test.

Varied practice, or studying many different examples of a given topic, can be a more effective method for learning a concept compared to studying one example repeatedly, as demonstrated in motor learning (e.g., Kerr & Booth, 1978) and category learning (e.g., Wahlheim et al., 2012). The present study examined how varied practice affects learning vocabulary from examples used in sentences. Although potentially beneficial for long-term understanding, varied practice can make initial vocabulary learning challenging because the example sentences for a given term may vary greatly. The current study presented participants with a sentence and asked them to select the correct vocabulary word that completed the sentence. For half of the vocabulary terms, participants were tested on that vocabulary word in the same sentence repeatedly (constant practice); for the other half of the words, participants were tested on that vocabulary word in different sentences (varied practice). Participants were also asked to answer questions about their attention during the task. After a short delay, participants took a final test to investigate how well they could identify the studied vocabulary words in novel sentences. The results will be discussed in terms of desirable difficulties, the distinction between learning and performance, and whether the type of practice may influence attention.

Learning and correctly remembering health information is important at all ages, and it can be particularly important in later adulthood (65+ years old). Thus, interventions focused on identifying methods to improve young and older adults’ health knowledge and memory for medication information are valuable. We developed a cognitive intervention relying on methods that have been identified to be effective for enhancing learning. Specifically, prior research has established that retrieval practice (recalling information from memory) can be a powerful tool for learning other kinds of information. Our goal was to evaluate the degree to which a retrieval practice intervention would improve younger and older adults’ self-regulated learning of medication side effects. Younger adults from TCU and older adults from the community were recruited to participate. Participants who received the intervention were given information about repeated retrieval practice that emphasized the effectiveness of this strategy for improving memory. Specifically, the intervention indicated that they should recall each medication’s side effects correctly 3 times during learning, and they should continue to space their retrieval practice until they met this goal. All participants learned medication names paired with a side-effect. They made decisions about when to study, engage in retrieval practice, and stop learning the list of medication-side effect pairs. Younger and older adults’ who received the intervention made better study decisions relative to those who did not. Further, the intervention enhanced both younger and older adults’ memory for medication side effects relative to control conditions. These outcomes suggest that our evidence-based intervention can help young and older adults learn and remember critical health information, which may assist them in monitoring for adverse outcomes during medication usage.

Developmental Dyslexia (DD) is a heritable disorder that effects approximately 5-12% of children (Shaywitz et al., 1990) and persists in 4-6% of adults (Schulte-Korne & Remschmidt, 2003). In those with dyslexia, reading dysfunction is caused by phonological impairments that may result from neurological low-level sensory-processing mechanisms. Previous research suggests that rapid autonomized naming (RAN) deficits are the most reported deficit in adults with dyslexia (Araújo, et al., 2019), however it is unknown whether the RAN deficit is caused by general rapid processing deficits or a specific letter-sound binding problem. This experiment was designed to address this unknown question by measuring rapid visual processing deficits and their relation to reading skills in children with dyslexia. Children (N=103) were recruited during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a larger study of rapid stimulus processing in dyslexia. Out of the 103 children screened, 77 qualified for use in the study (33 neurotypical, 33 dyslexia, and 11 compensated dyslexia). Children completed two visual processing tasks online. The first was a rapid serial visual perception task (RSVP; Amador-Campos et al., 2015) which evaluates rapid stimulus processing of one or more symbol and letter. The second was a visuo-spatial working memory task (VSWM; Sander, Werkle-Bergner, & Lindenberger, 2011) that evaluates working memory and visual acuity at different speeds. Accuracy and reaction times were measured for each task. While we found no group differences on any task or condition, there were main effects of target number for RSVP accuracy and of set size and speed for VSWM. These results demonstrate that the tasks were adequately difficult but that those with dyslexia did not exhibit specific deficits on either task, even when the stimuli were printed letters. This suggests that RAN deficits in children with dyslexia may not originate from rapid visual perception deficits, but some other neural mechanism.

Relationship between Self-Care Inquiry and Stress Levels In Adolescents with Substance Use Disorders

Adolescents living with substance use disorders are presented with a multitude of challenges when confronted with the reality of recovery from their addiction. Despite numerous interventions used to assist adolescents as they seek rehabilitation, few interventions focus on everyday stressors or triggers that contribute to substance use. Research has shown that stress significantly impacts substance use. This study aims to evaluate whether inquiring about self-care strategies used by adolescents seeking recovery from a substance use disorder will reduce stress levels, thus improving chances of adolescents maintaining recovery. Adolescents participating in outpatient treatment at a recovery facility were recruited for this study and were asked to fill out surveys once a week for four weeks about their level of stress and activities that they were doing for self-care.

Romantic relationships are a popular subject in the psychological research realm, but their social counterparts, singles, are overlooked. Further, whereas loneliness is well-studied, existential isolation (EI), the subjective sense that one is alone in one’s experience and that others cannot understand their perspective, is a construct that could provide insight to singles. Our research will examine single adults and how they might experience EI if they do not have single friends who can reasonably share their same experience (i.e., if most of them are in relationships). Single participants will estimate the proportion of their social circle (friends and family) who are single vs. in relationships. We predict that singles whose friends are mostly in romantic relationships will experience higher EI. On the other hand, we predict that single people with mostly single friends will not experience the same high level of EI. We will also measure EI in comparison to different well-being measures (e.g., self-esteem, happiness). It is hypothesized that singles will experience higher EI and lower well-being if most of their friends are not single.

Title: The Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health and Marital Functioning in Mothers and Fathers of Autistic Children

Authors: Maddy Filippi, Deborah Rafferty, Naomi Ekas, Chrystyna Kouros

Introduction: Mothers and fathers of autistic children face many mental health and relationship challenges compared to parents of neurotypical children, including higher levels of stress (e.g., Benson, 2006; Weitlauf et al., 2014), more marital dysfunction (e.g., Shtayeermman et al., 2013; Sim et al., 2016), and increased likelihood of divorce (e.g., Hartley, 2010; Shtayermman, 2013). The sudden closure of schools and transitioning to online services at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated the stress levels of parents with a disability, including negatively affecting various aspects of home life (Marchetti et al., 2020). The purpose of this study was to compare differences in marital relationship quality and psychological distress in mothers and fathers of autistic children at multiple points throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the mental health and marital satisfaction in mothers and fathers of autistic children were compared to population norms at all timepoints.

Methods: Mothers and fathers of autistic children who were part of a larger longitudinal study participated in a supplemental study examining the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. To qualify for the main study, parents had to be married or living together for a year, have an autistic child that lived with them 50% of the time, and be able to read and speak English. From the original sample of 119 couples, 94 mothers and 58 fathers answered surveys about their mental health (anxiety, stress, dysphoria), marital functioning (conflict and satisfaction), and the symptom severity of their autistic child at three time points (April, July, and October 2020) after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: A series of independent t-tests examined the differences between mothers’ and fathers’ reported levels of mental health, marital functioning, and child symptom severity. At all timepoints, mothers’ parenting responsibilities and anxiety levels were significantly higher than fathers’, ps ≤ .043. Mothers’ levels of stress and dysphoria were significantly higher in October 2020 than fathers’, ps ≤ .012. Compared to pre-pandemic population norms, mothers reported significantly higher stress at all timepoints (ps ≤ .006), while fathers only reported significantly higher levels of anxiety in April 2020 (p ≤ .001). Fathers also reported lower levels of dysphoria compared to population norms at all timepoints (ps ≤ .016).

Conclusion: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, mothers of autistic children appeared to have more negative outcomes compared to fathers of autistic children. Mothers reported more parenting responsibilities compared to fathers, as well as higher rates of stress. In October 2020 when school districts re-opened, mothers reported higher levels of stress and dysphoria compared to fathers. Further, compared to pre-pandemic populations, parents of autistic children reported more stress and fathers reported reduced dysphoria. Overall, parents of autistic children appeared to face negative outcomes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and displayed higher rates of stress and dysphoria than parents at pre-pandemic populations. However, any conclusions generated from data reported by fathers are limited based on the reduced sample size.

References:

Benson, P. R. (2006). The impact of child symptom severity on depressed mood among parents of children with ASD: The mediating role of stress proliferation. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 36(5), 685-695.

Hartley, S. L., Barker, E. T., Seltzer, M. M., Floyd, F., Greenberg, J., Orsmond, G., & Bolt, D. (2010). The relative risk and timing of divorce in families of children with an autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Family Psychology, 24(4), 449–457. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019847
Marchetti, D., Fontanesi, L., Mazza, C., Di Giandomenico, S., Roma, P., & Verrocchio, M. C. (2020). Parenting-related exhaustion during the Italian COVID-19 lockdown. Journal of pediatric psychology, 45(10), 1114-1123.
Shtayermman, O. (2013). Stress and marital satisfaction of parents to children diagnosed with autism. Journal of family social work, 16(3), 243-259.

Sim, A., Cordier, R., Vaz, S., & Falkmer, T. (2016). Relationship satisfaction in couples raising a child with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review of the literature. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 31, 30-52.

Weitlauf, A. S., Vehorn, A. C., Taylor, J. L., & Warren, Z. E. (2014). Relationship satisfaction, parenting stress, and depression in mothers of children with autism. Autism, 18(2), 194-198.

Abstract

Examining The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem on the Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Anxiety
Holli Fullbright, Michelle Coad, Lindsay Dills, Porter Maggiore
Texas Christian University, Fort Worth

Background: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events during childhood that have lasting effects into adulthood, being associated with poorer health and psychosocial well-being. The present study investigates the relationship between ACEs, self-esteem, and anxiety among people with a history of justice involvement. We predicted that ACEs would be negatively correlated with self-esteem. Self-esteem, in turn, would be negatively correlated with anxiety.
Methods: Data were collected from 216 people with a self-reported history of substance use and justice-involvement using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Participants were required to be 18 years of age or older and fluent in the English language. Eligible participants who consented to participate in the study were asked to complete a 25-minute online survey and were compensated $1 for their time.
Results: Analyses revealed that more childhood adversity was significantly related to both higher anxiety and lower self-esteem. Further, self-esteem was significantly related to anxiety while controlling for ACEs. When self-esteem was included in the model, the relationship between ACEs and anxiety was no longer significant. In other words, self-esteem statistically mediated the relationship between childhood adversity and anxiety.
Conclusion: Findings indicate that self-esteem may be an important target for treatment among clients with histories of childhood adversity and anxiety. Self-esteem may serve as a protective factor against anxiety for clients who report a history of childhood abuse or neglect.

Past research has shown that individuals can think themselves into more extreme attitudes in the absence of learning new information about an attitude object (Tesser, 1978). Less is known, however, about whether certain types of thinking, or thought strategies, are more likely than others to make attitudes more extreme. The current study assessed whether and how a specific type of thought strategy—extrapolating beyond what is known about a social group’s personality traits—can make attitudes more extreme in the absence of new information. Participants first learned moderate trait information about two (fictitious) social groups and then self-generated extrapolations about one of the social group’s traits and reviewed the initial trait information for the second social group. Attitudes were more extreme toward the social group whose initial traits participants extrapolated than the social group whose initial traits participants reviewed. These findings extended past research and theory on the processes by which attitudes can become more extreme in the absence of new information.

Introduction: Some may believe that helicopter parenting and controlling parenting behaviors are the same, but parental control as a parenting style is distinct and separate from helicopter parenting (LeMoyne & Buchanan, 2011). Helicopter parenting is a widely known parenting style that is characterized by the tendency for parents to be over-involved in the lives of their children in attempts to shield children from experiencing pain, discomfort, or failure (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012). Helicopter parenting behaviors have been linked to concerning child outcomes, however, including lowered student academic motivation and achievement (Schiffrin & Liss, 2017), decreased psychological well-being (LeMoyne & Buchanan, 2011), and increased feelings of depression and anxiety (Set, 2020). Parental control, alternatively, is characterized by complete control of the child’s life while expecting compliance with parent demands without exception. Child outcomes as a result of parental control also differ such that these children tend to have greater academic achievement (Watabe & Hibbard, 2014). The goal of the current study was to further explore how parents’ helicopter parenting and controlling parenting behaviors differ in predicting their students’ psychological entitlement. It was hypothesized that both helicopter parenting and controlling parenting behaviors will predict higher student psychological entitlement with helicopter parenting predicting a greater increase.
Methods: Six hundred sixty-five undergraduate psychology students at two Southern private universities were recruited through SONA. Participants answered a battery of online questionnaires about their relationship with their parent, their parent’s personality traits, and their helicopter parenting and controlling parenting behaviors. Additionally, participants answered questions about their own personality traits, academic achievement, and overall well-being.
Results: A simultaneous multiple regression was performed to explore the association between parents’ helicopter parenting and parental control scores on their students’ psychological entitlement scores. The results showed a significant association between helicopter parenting and student psychological entitlement, b = 1.54, SE = .57, t = 2.70, p = .007, R2 = .01, with increases in helicopter parenting scores predicting an increase in student psychological entitlement scores. There was also a marginally significant association between parental control and child psychological entitlement, b = -.10, SE = .05, t = 1.95, p = .052, R2 = .01, with increases in parental control scores predicting a decrease in child psychological entitlement scores. These results suggest that helicopter parenting behaviors predict higher student psychological entitlement whereas controlling parenting behaviors predict lower student psychological entitlement. For exploratory purposes, another variable, student gender, was entered into the model to assess whether gender was a predictor of student psychological entitlement. Gender was dummy coded using females as the reference group coded as 0. The results showed that there was no significant association between students’ gender and psychological entitlement scores, b = .38, SE = .83, t = .46, p = .646, R2 = .000, suggesting that gender is not associated with one’s psychological entitlement.
Discussion: Helicopter parenting and parental control are two, distinct styles of parenting that result in differing effects on student psychological entitlement. The results of the study support the hypothesis that helicopter parenting would predict a greater increase in psychological entitlement compared to parental control, however, the results refuted the claim that both parenting styles would predict increases in psychological entitlement as parental control predicted a moderately significant decrease in entitlement. Future research should examine whether these results replicate among more racially diverse and younger samples. Having a richer understanding of the parental contributors to the development of child psychological entitlement over the span of childhood and adolescence will aid professionals in identifying and changing problematic parental behaviors to decrease these outcomes.

 
References
LeMoyne, T., & Buchanan, T. (2011). Does “hovering” matter? Helicopter parenting and its effect on well-being. Sociological Spectrum, 31(4), 399-418. https://doi.org/10.1080/02732173.2011.574038
Padilla‐Walker, L.M., & Nelson, L.J. (2012). Black Hawk down? Establishing helicopter parenting as a distinct construct from other forms of parental control during emerging adulthood. Journal of Adolescence, 35(5), 1177-90. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2012.03.007
Schiffrin, H.H., & Liss, M. (2017). The effects of helicopter parenting on academic motivation. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26, 1472-1480. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0658-z
Set, Z. (2020). The mediating role of inflated sense of self and impulsivity in the relationship between helicopter parenting and psychological symptoms. Archives of Neuropsychology, 57(4), 318-324. https://doi.org/10.29399/npa.24942
Watabe, A., & Hibbard, D. R. (2014). The influence of authoritarian and authoritative parenting on children’s academic achievement motivation: A comparison between the United States and Japan. North American Journal of Psychology, 16(2), 359–382.

Assessing staff attitudes and needs in a trauma-informed organization: a mixed-methods study
Background: Prior research has found that high burnout rates are prevalent in organizations that work
with individuals who have experienced trauma. Furthermore, high burnout is associated with secondary
traumatic stress, which can affect staff’s ability to provide care to clients. Therefore, the purpose of the
current study was to identify staff satisfaction and departmental needs at an organization specializing in
family services for those who have experienced trauma.
Methods: An online survey, including qualitative and quantitative questions, was developed via
Qualtrics and emailed to one non-profit organization. The results are comprised of responses from 20
employees.
Result: Overall, the participants rated their organization favorably. The average burnout and secondary
traumatic stress levels were low, which indicates no issues present in these categories. Simple linear
regression was used to test if burnout significantly predicted secondary traumatic stress. It was found
that burnout significantly predicted secondary traumatic stress (β = .57, p = .001). These results were
corroborated by qualitative data from staff, where staff demonstrated a general positive experience
within their work environment. However, when prompted staff identified aspects of the organization
that could be improved: the low number of staff employed, staff coordination and training, open
communication between coworkers and supervisors, reinstating staff events, and increased access to
mental health services.
Limitations: This study is limited by its small sample size and may not be generalizable to other
organizations, as only one organization was assessed.
Conclusion: The current study found that burnout predicts secondary traumatic stress. Overall, the staff
assessed feel that their organization is a positive work environment but identified areas for
improvement such as the number of staff, training, communication, the addition of social events, and
access to mental health services. Addressing staff concerns could reduce staff burnout and increase
satisfaction. Additionally, ensuring that staff needs are met could also benefit clients, as staff and
organizational factors are related to the quality of services.

A deterministic position claims that all events, including human choice behavior, are caused by other events (e.g., a person’s environment and past experiences). In contrast, indeterminism, or free will, maintains that a decision can emanate solely from within (i.e., independent of external influences). Previous research found that participants who read deterministic passages cheated more on an arithmetic test than those who read free will passages (Vohs & Schooler, 2008). The current research examined how the valence of the outcomes in passages influenced behavior (i.e., cheating). Experiment 1 examined how positive or negative participants rated passages that described an action within a deterministic or indeterministic universe that ended in a positive (e.g., a rescued child), negative (e.g., a lost child), or neutral (e.g., a child sitting) outcome. In Experiment 2, participants read one of the above mentioned passages followed by an additional 9 passages and comprehension questions. After reading each passage, a click to a “Show Questions” button made the passage disappear and the comprehension questions appear. To manipulate cheating, on some passages, the questions were automatically displayed while the passage was visible. Participants could answer the questions with the passage visible or click “Show Questions” to remove it. Results will be discussed in terms of the reported valence and the number of times “show questions” was clicked.

Title: MEMO-ASAP: Mealtime Effects on Maternal Outcomes- Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum Amongst the COVID Pandemic

Authors: Kate Lindig, Deborah Rafferty, Naomi Ekas, and Chrystyna Kouros

Introduction: Mental health of mothers of children on the autism spectrum has been extensively studied (e.g., Sawyer et al., 2009). Prior studies have found connections between the time commitment and pressure experienced by mothers of autistic children and poor mental health outcomes (Liu et al., 2020). Mealtimes for children on the autism spectrum often create stress for mothers (Ausderau & Juarez, 2013). Children on the autism spectrum often experience various difficulties with feeding and mealtime behaviors, such as limited food variety (Curtin et al., 2015), food neophobia (Kuschner et al., 2015), high rates of food refusal and more restricted food repertoire compared to neurotypical children (Bandini et al., 2019), as well as increased disruptive behaviors around mealtimes (Curtin et al., 2015). While little research has examined how feeding behaviors in autistic children impact mothers’ mental health (e.g., Ausderau & Juarez, 2013), it is possible that these behaviors may exacerbate negative mental health outcomes as mothers spending hours attempting to help their children eat with little fruition likely causes feelings of stress and anxiety. Therefore, this study aims to examine how food restrictiveness and disruptive behavior during mealtimes for children on the autism spectrum affects measures of maternal mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has the potential to elevate stress-levels and other negative mental health outcomes for mothers.

Method: Ninety-seven mothers with a child on the autism spectrum served as participants for this study. All mothers participated in October 2020 as a follow-up to a larger study that began prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mothers were mostly white, non-Hispanic (77%), college-educated (45%), with a yearly income greater than $40K (90%). Mothers answered surveys about their children’s mealtime behaviors (BAMBI) and their own mental health (IDAS, NIH PROMIS).

Results: Two separate multiple regressions were performed to examine associations between disruptive mealtime behaviors, such as refusing to stay seated or screaming, and maternal dysphoria and stress. Results indicated a significant, positive association between the number of disruptive behaviors a child or adolescent with ASD exhibited during mealtimes and maternal self-reports of dysphoria, b = 1.24 (SE = .60), t = 2.05, p = .04, R2 = .05, while controlling for everything else in the model. Similarly, there was a significant, positive relation between disruptive mealtime behaviors and maternal self-reports of stress, b = 1.66 (SE = .82), t = 2.02, p = .047, R2 = .09. The relations between limited variety of food and the study outcome variables were non-significant, ps ≥ .09.

Discussion: Autistic children’s disruptive mealtime behaviors were associated with poor maternal mental health outcomes, specifically higher depressive symptoms and greater stress. Consequently, finding ways to lower disruptive mealtime behaviors is important, since they have the potential to impact maternal mental health outcomes. Future research should test various mealtime intervention programs to find the most effective ways for parents to minimize their autistic children’s disruptive mealtime behaviors. Additionally, future research should explore the effects of mealtime behaviors on fathers’ mental health outcomes, since they are often present during their autistic children’s mealtimes. Finally, future research should look specifically at how children on the autism spectrum’s mealtime behaviors at the current time compare to those during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the present study’s data was collected.

References:
Ausderau, K., & Juarez, M. (2013). The impact of autism spectrum disorders and eating challenges on family mealtimes. ICAN: Infant, Child, & Adolescent
Nutrition, 5(5), 315–323. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941406413502808
Bandini, L. G., Curtin, C., Eliasziw, M., Phillips, S., Jay, L., Maslin, M., & Must, A. (2019). Food selectivity in a diverse sample of young children with and
without intellectual disabilities. Appetite, 133, 433–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.11.016
Curtin, C., Hubbard, K., Anderson, S. E., Mick, E., Must, A., & Bandini, L. G. (2015). Food selectivity, mealtime behavior problems, spousal stress, and family
food choices in children with and without autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(10), 3308–3315.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2490-x
Kuschner, E. S., Eisenberg, I. W., Orionzi, B., Simmons, W. K., Kenworthy, L., Martin, A., & Wallace, G. L. (2015). A preliminary study of self-reported food
selectivity in adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 15-16, 53–59.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2015.04.005
Liu, R., Dong, H., Wang, Y., Lu, X., Li, Y., Xun, G., Ou, J., Shen, Y., Xia, K., & Zhao, J. (2020). Sleep problems of children with autism may independently affect
parental quality of life. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 52(3), 488–499. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-020-01035-z
Mayes, S. D., Calhoun, S. L., Murray, M. J., & Zahid, J. (2011). Variables associated with anxiety and depression in children with autism. Journal of
Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 23(4), 325–337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-011-9231-7
Sawyer, M. G., Bittman, M., La Greca, A. M., Crettenden, A. D., Harchak, T. F., & Martin, J. (2009). Time demands of caring for children with autism: What are
the implications for maternal mental health? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40(5), 620–628. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-009-
0912-3

Background
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes deficits in reciprocal social communication and restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviors, interests, and activities (APA, 2013).
Previous work has found disagreement between parents in their perception of characteristics of their child (Duhig et al., 2000). These differences in perception have been termed ‘informant discrepancies’ and have been linked, in neurotypical (NT) families, to phenomena within the family system such as maternal depression and family distress levels (Christensen et al., 1992; Whiffen et al., 1990). Previous work with NT and ADHD children also found that mothers rated their child’s symptoms as more severe than fathers did (Langberg et al., 2010; Christensen et al., 1992). There is, however, a paucity of research examining possible discrepancies between parents of autistic children (Stratis & Lecavalier, 2015). Because the entire family is impacted by characteristics of each individual member, parents of children with autism may differ from parents of NT children and consequently, research utilizing parents of NT children may not generalize to parents of ASD children.
The current study seeks to examine possible patterns of discrepancies in parents’ perception of their child’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors in parents with ASD children. I aim to determine the rate at which parents agree about their child’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors and to determine which parent perceives behaviors as more severe when parents disagree. Lastly, I aim to determine whether discrepancies in parent perception of child behavior predict depression for either parent.
Method
Participants in this multi-site study included 117 mothers and fathers with a child between 10 and 17 years old with autism. Parents were required to be married or cohabitating for at least one year, to be living with their child at least 50% of the time, and to be able to read and speak English. Their children were required to have a community diagnosis of ASD and must not have a co-occurring intellectual disability. Mothers’ average age was 43.15 years (SD = 6.42) and fathers’ average age was 44.99 years (SD = 6.90). The majority of parents were White and reports of annual family income revealed that 47% earned more than $100,000. Families came to the testing site and completed a series of questionnaires.
The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL: Achenbach, 1999) was used to measure parents’ perceptions of their child’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors. The CBCL contains a total of 73 items and two subscales; one for internalizing behaviors (mothers, α = .87; fathers, α = .86) and one for externalizing behaviors (mothers, α =.92; fathers, α = .91). Using a three-point Likert-type scale, parents were asked whether statements about their children were not true, somewhat true, or always true in the last two months. Parent depression was measured using the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS; Watson et al., 2007). This 64 item measure uses a five point Likert-type scale (1 = not at all, 5 = extremely) to measure how true statements are of the participant in the previous two weeks.
Results
Parent scores were considered to be discrepant if they were more than half of a standard deviation apart. Raw scores were converted to Z scores in SPSS and the difference between Z scores was calculated. Analyses revealed that about half of parents agreed about their child’s symptoms while half disagreed for both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Additionally, when parent did disagree, fathers rated behavior as more severe about half of the time, while mothers rated behavior as more severe the other half of the time (see Table 1 for precise descriptives).
Table 1. Percentage of instances of parent agreement, mother rating higher than father, and father rating higher than mother for internalizing and externalizing behaviors.
Externalizing Behaviors Internalizing Behaviors
Agreement groups Percentage Agreement groups Percentage
In agreement 50.90 In agreement 50.90
Mothers > fathers 24.10 Mothers > fathers 24.10
Fathers > mothers 25.00 Fathers > mothers 25.00

Further analyses will be conducted using polynomial regression with response surface analysis to determine whether discrepancies in parent perception of their child’s internalizing or externalizing symptoms predict depression for either parent.
Discussion
Results revealed that parents agreed about their child’s symptoms about half of the time for both internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Additionally, in instances where parents disagreed, mothers rated behaviors higher than fathers half of the time and lower than fathers half of the time for both internalizing and externalizing behaviors. This is inconsistent with prior work using parents of NT children, which found that mothers tended to rate child behavior higher than fathers. Further work needs to assess both the potential factors contributing to each discrepancy type and possible individual and family outcomes associated with each type.
Analyses will be run before the conference to determine whether the discrepancies in parents’ perception of their child’s symptoms predict depression for the mothers or fathers included in our sample.
 
References

Achenbach, T. M. (1999). The Child Behavior Checklist and related instruments. In M. E. Maruish (Ed.), The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and outcomes assessment., 2nd ed. (pp. 429–466). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Christensen, A., Margolin, G., & Sullaway, M. (1992). Interparental agreement on child behavior problems. Psychological Assessment, 4, 419–425.
Duhig, A. M., Renk, K., Epstein, M. K., & Phares, V. (2000). Interparental agreement on internalizing, externalizing, and total behavior problems: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 7(4), 435–453. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.7.4.435
Stratis, E. A., & Lecavalier, L. (2015). Informant agreement for youth with autism spectrum disorder or intellectual disability: A meta-analysis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(4), 1026–1041. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2258-8
Watson, D., O'Hara, M. W., Simms, L. J., Kotov, R., Chmielewski, M., McDade-Montez, E. A., & Stuart, S. (2007). Development and validation of the Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS). Psychological assessment, 19(3), 253.

In a feature-positive discrimination, responding to a target stimulus (A) is reinforced only when presented with a feature stimulus (X), but not when presented alone (XA+/A-). The manner in which animals solve this type of discrimination is affected by the temporal arrangement of the feature-target compound. Presenting the compound in a serial fashion (X --> A) results in X acquiring the ability to set the occasion to respond to A. When the compound is presented simultaneously (X:A), X could either directly control responding or X and A could form a unique stimulus configuration (i.e., configural learning). The present experiment used a spatial occasion setting procedure with pigeons to examine the ability of a feature (a diffuse background color) to modulate responding to a landmark (LM). For two of the feature-positive trial types, the feature and LM were presented simultaneously, and the LM and goal were always in the same spatial location (simultaneous/static). During other trial types, the feature preceded the presentation of the LM and the location of the LM and goal varied across trials (serial/dynamic). Responding was reinforced at the location to right or left of the landmark when presented with an occasion setter (static: +<-- WA, XB -->+, dynamic: +<--YC, ZD-->+), but not on LM-only trials. Transfer tests (WB, XA, YD, ZC) were used to differentiate between the features as occasion setters or direct control/configurations. The results of LM transfer tests will be discussed with respect to the mechanisms of feature-positive discrimination learning.

Human language is an action wherein one plans for, produces, and terminates sound production. Errors in motor planning and production lead to vocal dysfluency. Motor control of respiration is critical for a myoelastic-aerodynamic sound generation mechanism that is used by humans and many other vocalizing animals. Developing our understanding of how the forebrain assumes control of brainstem respiratory circuitry is essential for understanding language initiation, execution, and termination. Songbirds are an animal model for speech production in humans because of the numerous similarities between song learning and production and language acquisition and speech production. Zebra finches sing a learned song that is composed of a motif of 4-7 syllables. The motif is repeated multiple times to form a song bout. Here we explore how a cell-type specific class of neurons control sound termination in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). In songbirds, motor production of song requires activity in premotor and motor cortical analogues HVC (letters used as proper name) and RA (robust nucleus of the arcopallium), respectively. Using an AAV (adeno-associated virus) as a viral vector and Cre-dependent expression of a red-shifted opsin (ChRmine), neurons in premotor cortex that project to motor cortex (HVCRA neurons) produced and inserted soma-targeted, membrane-bound ion channels that allowed for light-dependent manipulation of ongoing cellular activity. Using real-time recording of singing, optical stimulation was timed with the production of individual song syllables. Light stimulation was delivered while birds produced self-initiated and female-directed songs, as well as during quiet respiration. We measured respiratory pressure in birds while they were singing by inserting a small piece of silastic tubing into the anterior thoracic air sac. Singing was reliably disrupted by optical illumination of HVCRA neurons. During the production of song, optogenetic activation of HVCRA neurons resulted in a truncation of the ongoing song respiratory pattern within ~25 ms for female-directed songs and ~32 ms for self-initiated songs. Measures of ongoing respiration during HVCRA stimulation outside of singing had no measurable effects on respiration. These data demonstrate that ongoing song motor patterns can be interrupted via activation of a specific class of neurons, and that the effect is mediated by suppression of ongoing respiratory patterns. However, the suppression of respiration is state-dependent. When birds typically sing faster (female-directed song), the termination occurred faster compared to when they sing more slowly (self-initiated song). Further, outside of song, optical activation of the neurons did not affect ongoing respiration. This suggests that forebrain control of respiration is “permitted” only during song. The underlying neural mechanisms allowing for this state-dependent switch remain to be elucidated. The forebrain control of song termination requires robust activation of HVCRA neurons to suppress brainstem respiratory circuitry. Similar suppression of respiratory circuits may control the termination of human speech.

Introduction: TBRI is an attachment-based model of care for children and youth who have experienced relational trauma. TBRI has been used in a number of service settings, but there is a lack of research on TBRI in clinical and counseling services.   
 
Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate behaviors and trauma symptoms among foster and adopted children whose families received clinical services using the TBRI Counselor’s Manual. 
 
Methods: This study used a one group, pre-post design. Caregivers seeking clinical services for their foster and adopted children (n=14) completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Trauma Symptoms Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC) or Trauma Symptoms Checklist for Children (TSCC) prior to treatment and again after 18 family sessions with a clinician using the TBRI Counselor’s Manual.  
 
Results: Although statistical analyses were limited by the small sample size, descriptive statistics suggest that CBCL and TSCYC/TSCC scores were trending in positive directions. Specifically, mean t scores for most CBCL and TSCYC/TSCC subscales improved, including mean scores for attention problems, aggressive behaviors, and anger. Further, the percentage of participants with scores in the clinical/borderline range dropped for most subscales, including attention problems, aggressive behaviors, anger, arousal, as well as for the composite scales of internalizing problems and externalizing problems.   
 
Discussion: Preliminary findings suggest that TBRI may help improve behavior and trauma symptoms among adopted and foster children whose families participate in TBRI-based clinical services. Limitations include a high rate of attrition and lack of a control group. Further research is needed to establish the effectiveness of the intervention in improving outcomes for adopted and foster children and families.

Introduction: During emerging adulthood, the dynamics of the parent-child relationship change such that parents need to support their child’s independence and autonomy (Padilla-Walker et al., 2019). Engaging in helicopter parenting, where parents excessively monitor their adult children, is associated with greater mental health problems for emerging adults (Schiffrin et al., 2014). Emerging adults who experience greater helicopter parenting also report higher levels of entitlement (Segrin et al., 2012). As emerging adults transition to attending college, perhaps living away from home for the first time, they may experience challenges that negatively impact their mental health. However, there is a lack of research that focuses on how helicopter parenting impacts well-being specifically related to students’ college experience. Thus, the overall goal of the current study was to examine associations between helicopter parenting and emerging adult’s college-related well-being. A second aim was to determine the extent to which psychological and academic entitlement (i.e., the belief that academic success is deserved and the avoidance of personal responsibility) mediated these associations.

Method: Participants included 657 undergraduate students at two private universities in the United States. Participants completed an online survey composed of several measures evaluating the participants’ parents’ helicopter parenting behaviors and the participants’ own academic entitlement, psychological entitlement, and college related well-being. Measures used in the current analyses included the Helicopter Parenting and Autonomy Supportive Behavior Scale (Schiffrin et al., 2014), the academic entitlement scale (Chowning & Campbell, 2009), the Psychological Entitlement Scale (Campbell et al., 2004), and the College Student Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire (CSSWQ; Renshaw, 2016).

Results: Multiple mediation was used to investigate the extent to which academic entitlement – externalized responsibilities and entitled expectations -- and psychological entitlement mediated the association between helicopter parenting and well-being related to the college experience. Results revealed that helicopter parenting positively predicted each measure of entitlement, ps ≤ .001; but, only academic entitlement – externalized responsibilities significantly predicted college related well-being (b path), b = -5.82, SE = .71, p ≤ .001. The 95% confidence interval of the indirect effect using 5,000 bootstrap reiterations did not include zero [-1.25, -0.47], suggesting a significant indirect effect of helicopter parenting on college related well-being through academic entitlement – externalized responsibilities.

Discussion: Although helicopter parenting was associated with higher levels of each form of entitlement, only academic entitlement served as a mediator of the association between helicopter parenting and college related well-being. Students with higher levels of externalized responsibility generally avoid taking personal responsibility for their academic difficulties, instead blaming failures on others (e.g., their college professors). It is possible that these students were accustomed to having their parents manage academic tasks, particularly when they were living at home. However, now that they are living away from home and attending college, they feel entitled to expect similar treatment from their professors. These findings are important for college administrators and others working with college students to identify students who may be particularly vulnerable for struggling during the transition to college.

How does Prior Knowledge Impact Students’ Study Order Decisions?
Matthew N. Olivares, Addison P. Williams, Addison L. Babineau, Michelle L. Rivers, Sarah K. Tauber, & Michael A. Pelch

Learning complex concepts is essential for student success, but it is often challenging. To improve student concept learning, researchers have identified study strategies that can significantly increase student performance (Samani & Pan, 2021). One strategy that has a profound effect on complex concept learning is study order. Prior research has found that memory performance is better when concepts are studied in an interleaved order (i.e., studying multiple concepts mixed together) compared to a blocked order (i.e., studying one concept multiple times before moving to the next; Brunmair & Richter, 2019). One factor that may impact students’ study order decisions (i.e., the decision to interleave or to block) is prior knowledge. We hypothesized that students with more knowledge about a topic would choose to interleave more during learning than would students with less knowledge. To evaluate this hypothesis, we conducted a two-part study to explore the study order decisions of undergraduate students enrolled in Introductory Geology at TCU (i.e., “Understanding the Earth”). During session one of the study, students learned to classify categories of rocks (i.e., igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary) by either studying the rocks or by completing practice tests. After each learning trial, students could block their study by selecting to study another example from the same rock category (e.g., study multiple igneous rocks in a row); or they could interleave their study by selecting to study an example from a different rock category (e.g., study one igneous rock, then one sedimentary rock). After the first session, students completed activities and lectures in their Introductory Geology course aimed at increasing their knowledge of rock classifications. Then, students completed session two of the study by restudying the rock categories, making study order decisions, and taking a final test on rock classification. We will examine students’ study order decisions at session one (i.e., low prior knowledge) as compared to their study order decisions at session two (i.e., high prior knowledge).

The goal of the present study was to compare the effects of two presentation formats when teaching Icelandic words through computer-assisted instruction: In the high-density constructed response condition, the participant was shown a word in Icelandic and asked to type the Icelandic word in every trial. In the pair-test condition, most trials simply presented the Icelandic word paired with a word in English and typing was required only in intermittent probe trials. Ten undergraduate students will participate in the study. Five Icelandic words are assigned to each condition. The assignment of stimuli to conditions is counterbalanced across participants. Pre and post-tests included translation trials, in which the participants were either presented with an Icelandic word and asked to give its equivalent in English, or vice versa. Preliminary data suggest similar acquisition curves in both conditions.

Cannabidiol (CBD) has been found to have anxiolytic effects on behavior when injected (Blessing et al, 2015). In Experiment 1, we investigated whether we could replicate these findings in rats using acute voluntary oral consumption of non-pharmaceutical grade CBD oil at 60mg/kg in Long-Evans rats, with a control group consuming coconut oil (COC). A test was given two hours after consumption to observe any anxiolytic effect of CBD using an elevated plus maze. It was hypothesized that CBD rats would spend more time in the open arms of the elevated plus maze than the control group; however, results revealed that there was no difference between groups. Experiment 2 utilized Fischer rats as subjects to observe the difference in anxiolytic behaviors of TgF344-AD and wild-type (WT) rats and determine if our previous test apparatus was a sufficient measure of anxiety. Previous research has found that AD rats spent less time in the open arms of an elevated plus maze than WT counterparts (Pentkowski et al., 2018). There was no significant difference between the WT and AD rats; however, there was a significant difference between the Fischer rats (WT and AD) and Long-Evans rats (CBD and COC) with the Long-Evans rats spending more time in the open arms than the Fischer rats. Results will be discussed regarding possible factors for finding similar behavior across rats.