Prior work has shown that individuals become more committed to their partners and report higher relationship satisfaction when thoughts of nostalgia were salient. Although mentally revisiting partner-shared memories may be beneficial at reducing stress and increasing affect, other literature has argued that positive traits (e.g., optimism, forgiveness) are connected to heightened resilience and a greater acceptance of domestic abuse. The present research was designed to test the relationship between forgiveness, nostalgia, partner commitment, and intimate partner violence (IPV) attitudes. Nostalgia is positively associated with more forgiveness, partner commitment (Study 1), and IPV attitudes (Study 2).

Introduction: Parents can have a crucial impact on their child’s academic performance and internalizing symptoms. For example, parents who engage in helicopter parenting, are excessively involved and monitor their children, which is associated with mental health problems (Schiffrin et al., 2014). Children's report of maternal helicopter parenting is associated to perfectionist discrepancies, extrinsic motivation to learn, and avoidance to goals in learning which have been related to lower academic performance (Schiffrin et al., 2014). However, there is a lack of research that examines the role of helicopter parenting in college students' academic satisfaction and mental health outcomes. Thus, the overall goal of the current study is to examine the associations between helicopter parenting, academic satisfaction, and internalizing symptoms.

Method: 667 college students from Southern Methodist University and Texas Christian University served as participants for this study. All students participated during Spring of 2019. Students answered surveys about their parents' levels of helicopter parenting, their own mental health, and their academic performance. Measures used in the current analysis include Padilla-Walker & Nelson Helicopter Parenting Scale (Padilla-Walker & Nelson, 2012), Inventory for Depression and Anxiety Symptoms (IDAS; Watson et al., 2007), and College Student Subjective Well-Being Scale (Renshaw & Bolognino, 2016).

Results: A two-way moderated regression examined the effect of academic satisfaction (centered) on depressive symptoms as a function of helicopter parenting (centered) in a sample of college students. The results indicated significant main effects for both academic satisfaction, b= -1.12 (SE = .09), t = - 11.82, p ≤ .001, such that as academic satisfaction increases depressive symptoms decrease, and helicopter parenting, b = 1.88 (SE = .84), t = 2.25, p ≤ .001 such that as helicopter parenting increases depressive symptoms decrease. However, there was not a significant interaction between academic satisfaction and helicopter parenting, b = .13 (SE = .15), t = .83, p = .41.

Another two-way moderated regression examined the effect of academic satisfaction (centered) on college students' well-being as a function of helicopter parenting (centered). The results indicated that there was a significant main effect for academic satisfaction, b= 0.61 (SE = .04), t = 14.01, p ≤ .001. There was no significant main effect for helicopter parenting, b = - 0.35 (SE = .04), t = -0.91, p = 0.36. However, these main effects were qualified by a significant interaction, b = - .17 (SE = .07), t = - 2.35, p = .02. To probe at this interaction further, we conducted simple slope analyses to examine the relationship between academic satisfaction on students' well-being at low, mean, and high levels of helicopter parenting. The results revealed that at low (-1 SD), b = 0.71 (SE = .06), t = 11.83, p ≤ .001, mean, b = .61 (SE = .04), t = 14.01, p ≤ .001, and high (+1 SD), b = .51 (SE = .06), t = 7.88, p ≤ .001, levels of helicopter parenting, higher student academic satisfaction resulted in higher well-being. Overall, these results suggest that academic satisfaction can serve as a protective factor against helicopter parenting for a college students’ emotional well-being.

Discussion: The results of the current study revealed that helicopter parenting is significantly associated with an increase in depressive symptoms in college students. These results are consistent with past research (Wang et al., 2025). However, academic satisfaction appears to be a potential protective factor against helicopter parenting for students’ well-being. It is possible that when students are satisfied with their academic success can potentially protect from the negative impacts from helicopter parenting. It is important to note a potential limitation of the current study such that, the sample is not representative of the broader population but rather the sample of high-income college-aged students. Overall, based on these findings, school psychologists should focus on increasing academic satisfaction by fostering a supportive environment for students, and aiding in aligning students' courses to their preferences and personal strengths in order to counter potential parental pressures.

Caring for a person who is living with dementia (PLwD) is challenging and emotionally demanding. Much of this care is provided by unpaid, informal caregivers of a person living with dementia (PLwD) who often lack formal training and dementia care education (Thompson et al., 2007). As a result, caregivers frequently feel incompetent in their caregiving abilities (Merrilees et al., 2018) and desire more training about how to manage dementia symptoms effectively (Jorge et al., 2021). Thus, enhancing caregiver education and self-efficacy is critical, as caregiver self-efficacy predicts both mental health and overall well-being (Gallagher et al., 2011). However, informal caregivers often have limited access to structured educational support. To examine this issue, caregivers learned about the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) through one of two instructional approaches: a learning intervention or a restudy condition. The learning intervention implemented structured retrieval practice, in which caregivers completed self-paced practice tests followed by detailed corrective feedback. The restudy condition simulated a more passive learning experience, similar to reading information from online sources. Caregivers’ self-efficacy was assessed before and after the learning session using the family caregiver self-efficacy for managing dementia scale (Fortinsky, Kercher, & Burant, 2002). Self-efficacy scores were compared across conditions to determine whether structured retrieval practice enhanced caregivers’ confidence and competence more effectively than restudy. Performance results are consistent with our prediction that structured retrieval practice enhances learning; however, participants from both conditions report higher self-efficacy from pre to post-test. Therefore, caregivers’ self-efficacy assessments thus far are not sensitive to content in the study nor the learning condition they were in. Future work could assess ways to improve sensitivity to such self-efficacy measures.

As social media increasingly serves as a primary source of news, questions arise regarding
how digital exposure to crime-related content affects public views and emotions. The current
study examines how reliance on social media for news may influence perceptions of the
severity of crimes and concerns for community safety. Dallas-Fort Worth community members
(N = 40) completed measures assessing perceptions of crime severity, community safety, social
media use frequency, social media behaviors, preferred sources of news, and demographic
characteristics. We anticipate that more frequent social media usage as a news source and
higher use of audiovisual (rather than text-based) news sources will correlate positively with
more severe perceptions of crime and community safety concerns. These results will provide
insight into how media and the way it is delivered shape how people may feel about crime and
safety in their local communities. This insight can also encourage more mindful media
engagement and help communities think critically about how crime is represented in the
news.

Existential isolation, or feeling that others cannot fully understand one’s subjective experiences, has been linked to psychological distress in general populations, yet little research has examined its implications for sexual and gender minority individuals. LGBTQ+ people may be particularly vulnerable to EI because identity-related stigma and minority stress can create barriers to feeling understood by others. The present project examined whether existential isolation is associated with mental health and well-being among LGBTQ+ persons. Participants included 1,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults recruited through Prolific. Participants completed well-validated measures assessing existential isolation, loneliness, depression, suicidal ideation, meaning in life, and LGBTQ+ stigma. Preliminary analyses indicate that greater existential isolation is associated with lower meaning in life and higher levels of depression and suicidal ideation. Importantly, these associations remained significant when controlling for loneliness. Mediation analyses demonstrated that internalized LGBTQ+ stigma is associated with greater existential isolation, which in turn predicts poorer psychological outcomes.