The ability to recall information through associations plays a crucial role across the lifespan, and is particularly important in learning health-related information. However, substantial evidence has revealed age-related declines in paired-associate learning, which involves remembering a connection between two items (Naveh-Benjamin et al., 2007). Older adults (defined here as aged 60+) often take multiple prescription medications, many of which can pose significant health risks when combined with other drugs or substances (Qato et al., 2008). Age-related memory loss can make remembering those connections more difficult. Research in the science of learning has shown that retrieval practice can significantly enhance long-term memory compared to passive strategies like rereading (Agarwal et al., 2021). As such, improving older adults’ ability to remember drug interactions through the use of retrieval practice represents a meaningful and practical goal.

To examine whether retrieval practice can improve associative memory for drug interactions, we presented both young and older adult participants with 8 fictitious medications (e.g. Floragin) and an associated interaction and outcome (diarrhea when used with alcohol). All participants studied the drugs with their corresponding substance interaction and side effects. Each participant completed 5 study blocks, with participants in the restudy condition simply rereading each medication, while those in the structured retrieval practice (SRP) condition took a practice test with immediate feedback. All participants were given an immediate test and asked to recall the interacting substance and outcome when given the medication name. Two days later, participants from both conditions completed an identical delayed test.

We hypothesized that those in the SRP condition will successfully recall more medication-interaction and outcome pairs than the restudy condition, even after the 2-day delay. We also hypothesized that the younger adults will display better recall than the older adults. Interim analyses revealed that participants who engaged in SRP demonstrated better recall compared to those in the restudy condition, regardless of age group. Critically, this outcome reveals that retrieval practice is an effective strategy for learning medication interactions. Data collection for the older adult sample is ongoing, so the lack of interaction between condition and age group should be considered preliminary

HIV-related stigma remains a significant obstacle in the prevention and delivery of care within faith-based communities. Faith communities, particularly churches in the southern United States, play a powerful role in shaping community norms and can either reinforce silence around HIV or serve as trusted entities that promote awareness and education (Pichon et al., 2020). The current study explores how individuals within religious communities perceive HIV prevention strategies and HIV-related stigma, with particular attention to how personal religiosity, church involvement, and trust in faith institutions shape attitudes toward prevention and care. Participants complete an online survey via Qualtrics covering HIV knowledge, PrEP self-efficacy, and religious trust. Recruitment will utilize flyers and raffle incentives to gather data. The study is expected to reveal both barriers and opportunities within faith-based settings, such as levels of knowledge, attitudes toward prevention strategies, and the potential role of churches in reducing stigma and partnering with health organizations. By generating community-specific insights this research can inform future public health programs, reduce stigma, and strengthen vital partnerships between healthcare providers and faith-based organizations.

Participating in substance use treatments has been linked to positive outcomes for individuals released from jail or prison (Belenko et al., 2004; Evans et al. 2012). Conversely, risk-taking is one psychological factor associated with an increased likelihood of continuing substance use post-release, failure to initiate community-based services, and recidivism (Rieser et al., 2019; Taylor et al., 2013; Vazsonyi & Ksinan., 2017). The purpose of this current study was to investigate the role risk-taking has in explaining the relationship between engagement in substance use treatment and recidivism. Data were collected across three timepoints from 455 individuals undergoing residential substance use treatment. It is hypothesized that increased treatment participation will be associated with decreased risk taking, which, in turn, will lead to lower rates of recidivism at a three year follow up. This study extends the existing literature on the importance of treatment participation for individuals with substance use disorders involved with the criminal justice system. Interventions centered on combating risk-taking behavior may prove to have a crucial role in preventing recidivism post-release and therefore warrant the need for interventions targeting risk-taking as a primary mechanism of change.

Food insecurity affects more than 6 million households with children in the U.S., the majority of which are insecure without hunger, and is associated with significant negative health outcomes, such as impaired immune function, anxiety/eating disorders, malnutrition, and delayed language acquisition. Given the increased control allowed by animal model work, an ideal study design to answer this question would expose mice to a food source that is truly unpredictable and of poor nutritional value for an extended period and assess their behavior for any significant changes. However, most of the prior work has either not been able to make a truly unpredictable food source or utilized a food source that is both unpredictable and less-than-healthy, thus limiting the generalizability of their findings. To address these limitations, the present study aimed to ensure that the rodent's food source was truly unpredictable by randomly assigning periods of limited food access across each week of the study. At weaning, male and female C57BL/6J mice were either given ad libitum food access or were food insecure, where their otherwise full food-hopper would be reduced to 25% of their baseline consumption three randomly selected nights each week until the following morning. Additionally, mice were also randomly assigned to be fed either a control chow or a “typical American diet” (TAD) chow. At 6.5 months, the mice underwent a battery of behavioral tests, including the open field test, elevated-zero maze, y-maze, and novel object location task, to assess anxiety-like behavior and spatial memory capabilities. Early analysis indicates that mice fed the TAD and were insecurely fed displayed more anxiety-like behavior and impaired spatial memory capabilities compared to the securely fed mice and those fed control chow. Taken together, this study demonstrates the combined impact of being exposed to both a nutritionally poor food source and having an unreliable food source, further illustrating the significant and deleterious nature of experiencing food insecurity.

According to Horton and Wohl (1956), parasocial relationships are considered to be “one-sided relationships in which a person develops a strong sense of connection, intimacy, or familiarity with someone they do not know, most often celebrities or media personalities.” A reason that parasocial relationships may be so popular is because they can help people feel connected to others resulting in less loneliness. These one-sided relationships are psychologically powerful, influencing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in ways that mirror two-sided relationships with friends and family (Lotun et al., 2024). Further, Goldman (2024) emphasizes how parasocial relationships fill a need; that by social scrolling, streaming shows, or following celebrities may tamp down loneliness or offer curated moments of connection. Thus, this may be a way that existentially isolated individuals try to meet their needs. Existential isolation (EI) is the feeling that no one understands your subjective worldview (Pinel et al., 2017). In previous literature, it has been shown that higher EI is associated with a person having greater depression, anxiety, and distress at baseline, as well as, having poorer therapy outcomes during and at the end of treatment (Constantino et al., 2023). To our knowledge, research on existential isolation and relationships remains in its early stages, but with the growing rise of artificial intelligence (AI), it is worth investigating the relationship between parasocialism, especially as to how people may form them with AI, and its association to existential isolation. This study will utilize a cross-sectional design to establish a preliminary link between feelings of existential isolation and strength of parasocial bond.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the 6th leading cause of death the United States of America, affecting more than six million Americans aged 65 years and older. In the absence of disease-modifying therapies, identification and modification of lifestyle-related risk factors remain critical strategies for mitigating AD incidence and progression. Dietary pattern represents a particularly salient and modifiable determinant of risk. Preclinical and epidemiological evidence consistently demonstrates that Western-style dietary patterns—characterized by high intake of saturated fats and refined carbohydrates—are associated with cognitive impairment and increased amyloid-β accumulation within the hippocampus, a region essential for learning and memory. In contrast, plant-forward dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean diet have been linked to preserved cognitive function and reduced AD risk.

Despite this evidence, a major limitation in the literature is the reliance on rodent models fed exaggerated Western diets providing 40–60% of total kcal from fat, which do not accurately reflect typical human consumption patterns. Furthermore, experimental Mediterranean diets often isolate one or two nutritional components rather than modeling the full dietary pattern. To address these gaps, we developed a translationally relevant rodent model incorporating three dietary conditions: a diet that mimics the typical American diet (TAD), a macronutrient-matched Mediterranean diet (MD), and a standard rodent chow control diet. C57BL/6J mice were weaned onto one of the three diets at postnatal day 21 and maintained for six months. Behavioral assessments include the open field test, elevated zero maze, and object-location memory task. We hypothesize that, relative to MD-fed and chow-fed controls, TAD-fed mice will exhibit reduced locomotor and exploratory activity, heightened anxiety-like behavior, and impaired spatial memory performance. These anticipated findings would suggest that dietary pattern—independent of extreme macronutrient manipulation—significantly influences affective and cognitive outcomes, underscoring the translational importance of modeling realistic dietary exposures in AD risk research.

Progesterone is a female sex hormone that has been known to have anxiolytic, craving reducing, and sedative effects due largely to its major metabolite allopregnanolone. Women who are on hormonal birth control have low levels of progesterone and higher levels of a synthetic progestin that does not break down into allopregnanolone. Given this, we hypothesized that women on hormonal contraceptives (HC) will have greater alcohol craving compared to naturally cycling (NC) women due to lower levels of allopregnanolone. In a mixed model analysis, alcohol craving was compared across groups: manipulation (video with alcohol cues) versus control (neutral video), hormonal contraceptive (HC) users versus naturally cycling (NC) women, and before versus after watching the video. Participants were first asked about their current alcohol craving, such as how strong the participant’s urge to drink at the moment (0 = not at all, 100 = the most I’ve ever felt) and how likely the participant would drink that day (1 = not at all likely, 7 = extremely likely). Results revealed a significant increase in HC women’s reported intention to drink before and after the priming condition, but the same was not found in NC women. We conclude that HC women are more likely to drink alcohol when primed with an alcohol-related stimulus. This knowledge may encourage women to be more mindful of their drinking habits while also informing contraceptive developers to consider these potential side effects.

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviors, interests, and activities and differences in reciprocal social communication abilities (APA, 2013). Prior research emphasizes the importance of including multiple informants when collecting data on child psychopathology (De Los Reyes, 2011). For example, results of a study conducted by Baumgarter et al., (2020) suggested large informant discrepancies between adolescents and their parents regarding the child’s mental health. However, there is a lack of research examining informant discrepancies between autistic adolescents and their parents. Therefore, the current study examined informant discrepancies between dyads (mother-father, mother-child, father-child) in a sample of autistic adolescents regarding adolescent mental health.

Methods: Participants included 117 autistic adolescents between the age of 10 and 17 years old. Both parents and the adolescent completed a series of questionnaires related to the adolescent’s mental health. Parents completed questionnaires regarding their child’s symptoms of depression and anxiety. Adolescents completed self-report measures of their own depressive and anxiety symptoms.

Results: A series of t-tests were conducted in order to examine whether there were discrepancies in ratings of depressive and anxiety symptoms between parents and their child. For each mental health outcome, a series of three t-tests were conducted including, mother versus father report, mother versus child report, and father versus child report. For depressive symptoms, all t-tests were non-significant (p > .05) suggesting that mothers, fathers, and their children agree in the rating of the adolescent’s depressive symptoms. However, for anxiety symptoms, there was a significant difference between both mother versus father report, t(117) = 3.30, p < .001, as well as father versus child report t(115) = -4.18, p < .001. These results revealed that mothers and adolescents are reporting higher anxiety symptoms than fathers. In addition, there was no difference between mother and child report of anxiety symptoms (p > .05), suggesting that mothers and adolescents agree in the rating of the adolescent’s anxiety symptoms.

Discussion: Overall, the results of the current study suggest that the family generally agrees on the rating of the child’s depressive symptoms, however, there are discrepancies in the rating of the child’s anxiety symptoms with fathers reporting less anxiety symptoms as compared to the mother and adolescent report. These discrepancies highlight the importance of including multiple informants when examining child psychopathology. Future research should consider possible predictors (i.e., symptom severity, child gender, parent mental health) of these discrepancies.

Research shows that a sense of belonging predicts meaning in life (Lambert et al., 2013). While psychologists have studied how individuals develop a sense of belonging with others, little attention has been given to the sense of belonging in time, or temporal rootedness (Baldwin & Keefer, 2020). Temporal rootedness has previously been defined as what makes people feel like they are living in the “right time” or that they “belong in the present.” Despite its positive link to well-being, its definition and content have remained unexplored. This study replicates Baldwin and Keefer (2020) to examine temporal rootedness and compare the themes that persist across time (i.e., 2020 and 2025). Additionally, this research will serve to help further define the construct, assist in creating a better operationalization of TR, and broaden manipulation techniques. A representative sample of participants (N = 386) was recruited via Prolific to describe their source of temporal rootedness and complete a questionnaire assessing time metaphors, human flourishing, existential isolation, social and economic conservatism, familiarity with technology, and perceived discrimination. These findings will improve our understanding of TR for future research.

The present study seeks to answer the research question: Are medical professionals who experience more existential isolation (EI) less empathetic toward their patients? We hypothesize that higher levels of existential isolation among medical professionals will be negatively associated with levels of self-reported empathy toward patients. Specifically, we predict that providers with greater EI will demonstrate lower scores on standardized measures of empathy, reflecting a reduced ability to connect with patients’ experiences. By investigating this relationship, the study will provide novel insight into how existential isolation may act as a psychological barrier to physician empathy. Results may inform future interventions aimed at reducing existential isolation or increasing empathy training, thereby strengthening the physician-patient relationship and ultimately improving patient care.