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.