The zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) is a commonly studied model organism for understanding the neural basis of motor learning due to its ability to learn its characteristic song. Researchers investigating the neuronal mechanisms that produce zebra finch song are often interested in measuring the internal pressure of the zebra finch's air sac, which physiologically produces the observed song. Unfortunately, this is an often difficult and intrusive signal to measure. Previous work has used biophysical modeling to demonstrate that air sac pressure can be reconstructed from a bird's song using a dynamical system with parameters fine tuned to a specific bird. In this project, we aim to develop a machine learning model that can infer internal air sac pressure from acoustic data across multiple birds. Specifically, we train a variational recurrent neural network to translate observed acoustic data into a low-dimensional set of latent variables that can be decoded into air sac pressure.

Caregiver mental health is closely linked to parenting practices, making it crucial to understand how adversity affects parenting. This study examined how daily war-related stress and caregiver mental health relates to parenting quality, among Ukrainian caregivers of children under 18 years of age. Participants (N = 319) were recruited through social media platforms and directed to an online survey hosted on Qualtrics. Measures included the Ukrainian Scale of Daily War Stressors, PHQ-8 (depression), the GAD-7 (anxiety), and the MAPS scale for parental practices. Pearson correlation analyses were conducted to examine the relationships among daily war-related stress, caregiver mental health, and parenting practices. Results indicated that higher levels of daily war-related stress were positively correlated with greater depressive (r = .579) and anxiety (r = .600) symptoms among caregivers. Depression and anxiety were not significantly associated with positive parenting behaviors. However, both depression (r = -.342) and anxiety (r = -.394) were significantly associated with greater harsh parenting behaviors. These results highlight the importance of supporting caregiver mental health, especially in war-affected areas, as caregivers' well-being may influence parenting behaviors and potentially affect child and family outcomes. Future research should consider a longitudinal design and a more diverse caregiver sample to better understand how war-related stress affects parenting and mental health over time.

In recent years, there has been growing interest among women regarding menstrual cycle-based approaches to women’s health and fitness. While previous research has found that hormonal fluctuations across the menstrual cycle influence various parts of women’s physiology (e.g., Eiling et al., 2007; Lim et al., 2024; Rizor et al., 2024), no prior research has examined outcomes associated with “syncing” one’s lifestyle, specifically their exercise routine, to their hormonal state. Therefore, the present research examined the effects of using a cycle-based approach to exercise on women’s levels of happiness, quality of life, body image, and health satisfaction. 1091 naturally cycling women who were current users of the cycle-based wellness application, 28, filled out a survey asking about usage of menstrual cycle-based approaches to exercise. Participants then reported their levels of happiness, quality of life, health satisfaction, and body image. Results revealed that individuals who worked out in sync with their cycle over the last three months reported higher levels of happiness, positive body image, and health and fitness than those who did not workout in sync with their cycle. The results of the present research provide evidence to suggest that working out in sync with one’s menstrual cycle may improve one’s mental and physical health. These results expand upon past research on women’s physiological changes across the menstrual cycle and suggest that women may benefit from tailoring their exercise routine to their menstrual cycle phases.

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). Children with ASD are more prone to depressive symptoms when compared to TD children (Muscatello et al., 2021). Studies have found that a high RSA reactivity (RSA-R) predicted an increase in externalizing behaviors when moderated by high negative parenting and predicted a decrease in externalizing behaviors when moderated by lower negative parenting (Baker et al., 2019). However, there is a lack of research examining this relationship with internalizing behaviors. McRae et al. (2018) found that warm parenting behaviors were negatively associated with internalizing behaviors in children with ASD, however, there has been no investigation into if RSA reactivity moderates this relationship and if this association remains as autistic children mature into adolescents. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine how RSA reactivity moderates the relationship between parenting behaviors for both mothers and fathers and depressive symptoms in autistic adolescents.

Method: Participants included 117 autistic adolescents aged 10 to 17 years old. Adolescents and both of their parents participated in an in-person lab study at TCU. Questionnaires were completed by adolescents which assessed parenting behaviors (Parental Bonding Instrument–Revised), RSA reactivity (Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia), and child depression (Child Depression Inventory). RSA is a specific measure of heart rate variability that reflects natural fluctuations in heart rate during breathing (Cacioppo et al., 2007) and was measured while adolescents watched a video of their parents engaging in a conflict discussion.

Results: Several moderation analyses were conducted to examine the effect of parenting behaviors on adolescent depressive symptoms as a function of adolescent RSA reactivity, while controlling for RSA baseline. A two-way moderated regression examined the effect of mother parenting behaviors (centered) on adolescent depressive symptoms as a function of adolescent RSA reactivity (centered). The results indicated that there was a significant main effect for mother warmth on adolescent depressive symptoms, b = -.63 (SE = .29), t = -2.22, p = .029. All other moderations for mother parenting behaviors were non-significant (ps > .05).

A two-way moderated regression examined the effect of father parenting behaviors (centered) on adolescent depressive symptoms as a function of adolescent RSA reactivity (centered). The results indicated non-significant main effects for father firm control, b = .07 (SE = .26), t = .28, p = .78, and adolescent RSA reactivity, b = -.12 (SE = 1.34), t = -.09, p = .93. However, these main effects were qualified by a significant interaction between father firm control and adolescent RSA reactivity, b = 1.01 (SE = .42), t = 2.40, p = .018.

To probe at this interaction further, we conducted simple slope analyses to examine the relationship between father firm control and adolescent depressive symptoms at low (- 1 SD), mean, and high (+1 SD) levels of adolescent RSA reactivity. The results revealed that at low, b = -.51 (SE = .38), t = -1.34, p = .18, and mean, b = .07 (SE = .26), t = .28, p = .78, levels of adolescent RSA reactivity, there was no association between father firm control and adolescent depressive symptoms. The results also revealed that at high adolescent RSA reactivity, b = .65 (SE = .34), t = 1.94, p = .055, such that higher father firm control resulted in higher adolescent depressive symptoms. Overall, adolescent RSA reactivity moderated the association between father firm control and adolescent depressive symptoms, but only at high levels of RSA reactivity. All other moderations for father parenting behaviors were non-significant (ps > .05).

Discussion: The results of the analyses revealed that as mother warmth increased, adolescent depressive symptoms decreased. These results imply that mother’s warm parenting behaviors could be used as an intervention for both autistic adolescents and mothers. Mothers can implement warm parenting behaviors in their parenting style in order to decrease internalizing behaviors in their adolescent with ASD. The analyses also revealed an association between father firm control and adolescent depressive symptoms at high levels of adolescent RSA reactivity. This indicates that if an adolescent has high levels of RSA reactivity, then higher levels of father firm control are associated with higher levels of adolescent depressive symptoms. High levels of RSA reactivity reflect increased PNS activity and have been shown to predict increased observed dysregulation in children with ASD (Baker et al., 2022). These results could suggest that autistic individuals with high levels of RSA reactivity are more easily dysregulated in the presence of high dad firm control, leading to an increase in internalizing behaviors such as depressive symptoms. Future interventions should focus on promoting positive father parenting behaviors, especially in fathers of autistic adolescents with physiological dysregulation.

There is a gap in the literature examining the role of fathers on internalizing behaviors of autistic adolescents. Therefore, it is crucial for research to evaluate how father parenting behavior impacts behavior in children and adolescents with ASD. Given that autistic individuals are at a higher risk for increased internalizing behaviors (Hudson et al., 2019), future research should further examine the moderating role of physiological data in relation to internalizing symptoms in autistic individuals. A better understanding of physiological data in children and adolescents with ASD will allow for more effective interventions.

51% of Americans report having a parasocial relationship, but research on how parasocial relationships form still remain ambivalent, with theories of loneliness and social isolation centering the conversation. With the rise of AI and increased social media use, parasocial relationships are all the more ubiquitous. In this study, feelings of state existential isolation were primed using a short video paradigm to elucidate how feeling as though no one understands your subjective experience influences your parasocial relationship engagement and strength with carryover effects on well-being outcomes such as self-esteem and depression.