Anxiety sensitivity (AS) refers to the fear of bodily sensations typically associated with physiological arousal. High AS is a transdiagnostic predictor of poor mental health outcomes, such as panic disorder, other anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and overall functional impairment. Individuals with high AS may exhibit body hypervigilance, and in turn, be more likely to experience psychosomatic symptoms. A State of Surrender (SoS) refers to one's ability to accept what is to come without resistance and relinquish control. It has been associated with greater well-being, and preliminary data suggests it is negatively associated to anxiety and AS, mediated by distress tolerance. To further test this, we will recruit individuals on Prolific and randomly assign them to either a surrender-based meditation protocol or a control condition. We will measure functional somatic symptoms, trait anxiety, distress tolerance, self-efficacy, and anxiety sensitivity. We predict that individuals in the experimental condition will endorse less AS, mediated by self-reported SoS. We also predict that the effect will be greater for individuals with more somatic symptoms. Findings will suggest further exploration of acceptance-based treatment for individuals with high AS and other psychosomatic complaints.

Emerging adulthood is a critical developmental period marked by increased independence, elevated social stress, and heightened susceptibility to mental health challenges. While digital device use is deeply embedded in their daily lives, its dynamic relationship with physiological functioning and mental health remains scare. Traditional retrospective self-reports cannot capture the objective, real-time, and complicate interactions between these factors. With the Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) and passive sensing techniques, we can overcome these obstacles and reveal the interactions between these factors in daily life.
This prospective, observational study aims to investigate the associations between phone use, physiological functioning, and mental health wellbeing among college students. Specifically, we aim to: 1) identify smartphone usage and physiological functions associated with between-person differences in mental health symptoms; 2) evaluate concurrent associations between individuals’ smartphone usage, physiological functions, and mental health symptoms; and 3) evaluate the time-lagged, mediating pathways of physiological functions (sleep duration and HRV) between smartphone use and next-day mental health symptoms.
We propose the recruitment of 100 undergraduate students aged 18-22 for a 28-day intensive longitudinal study. At baseline, participants will complete demographics survey and a series of assessments regarding their mental health. After the study takes place as physiological function (e.g., blood pressure, HRV, sleep quality, etc.) will be continuously measured via wearable devices Garmin Vivoactive Smartwatch. Digital behavior will also be measured via AWARE framework app installed and activated in the background of participants’ smartphones to passively record screen time and app use patterns. EMA will be provided 3 times a day (9am, 1pm, 6pm) to capture participants’ daily mental health. At the end of the 28-day period, a post-study assessment will re-administer mental health measures to evaluate change over time.
We anticipate specific digital and physiological patterns in distinguishing individuals' symptoms. First, at the between-person level, higher average daily screen time and greater evening smartphone use will be associated with elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms, while better physiological functioning, such as higher HRV and sleep quality, will be associated with alleviated depressive and anxiety symptoms. Second, at the within-person, concurrent level, days characterized by increased smartphone use and lower HRV will associate with higher stress and negative affect. Third we hypothesize a significant time-lagged mediation that elevated social media use will predict HRV and disrupted sleep, which in turn will prospectively predict (acute stress, negative affect, and depressive level) the following day.
Such findings will inform the development of scalable, data-driven models for early risk detection and support the creation of just-in-time intervention strategies to improve mental health outcomes for college students.

Youth involved with the juvenile justice system are disproportionately exposed to trauma, family stressors, and environmental obstacles. Although family dysfunction, emotion dysregulation, and caregiver strain have been studied in relation to youth delinquency, there’s a gap in the research examining the interaction between these three factors among families with youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Shaped by Bowen’s Family Systems Theory and Social Learning Theory, this study explored triangular associations among emotion dysregulation, family dysfunction, and caregiver strain.
Baseline data were drawn from the parent study, Leveraging Safe Adults (LeSA), which drew 220 youth and their caregivers from nine juvenile detention centers across Texas and Illinois. Among other measures, the youth completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Youth Family Assessment Device (Y-FAD), while the caregivers completed the Caregiver FAD (C-FAD) and the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire-Short Form (CGSQ-SF). Analyses examined correlations among the three factors.
Results indicated a moderate, statistically significant positive correlation between C-FAD and CSQ, but no significant relationship between Y-FAD and CSQ. The relationship between CSQ and DERS was small, but not statistically significant. Both Y-FAD and C-FAD were related to higher DERS reports.
By analyzing emotion dysregulation, family dysfunction, and caregiver strain reciprocally and interdependently rather than in isolation, this study helps to provide a better understanding of the objective socioemotional processes of and between youth and their families involved in the juvenile justice system. It also highlights the importance of incorporating both youth and caregiver perspectives into study design and assessments.