2020 Abstracts

Sanders, Hannah; Graul, Antje; Lavoie, Raymond (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Graul, Antje (Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, Marketing and Strategy Department)

It is imperative for institutions of higher-education to understand and meet the needs of their students when teaching in an online environment, specifically, how their enjoyment, attitude and learning outcomes derived from an online class can be predicted. Our research demonstrates the importance of instructor playfulness--defined as the level of which an instructor is gregarious, uninhibited, comedic and dynamic in class--in an online class environment. We suggest that instructor playfulness significantly positively correlates with students' perception of enjoyment, attitude and learning outcomes in an online class.

To test these predictions, we conducted a quantitative study with college students in order to gain insights into their experiences and perceptions of instructor playfulness in online classes and surveyed related student outcomes. Our results suggest that the positive effects of instructor playfulness in an online class are drawn by the extent to which students develop a subject-related identity and improved flow of the online class. Based on our findings, we conclude specific methods and teaching techniques that can be incorporated by online instructors to design their online classes in higher education more successfully.

Together, our research advances the existing stream of literature by examining the concept of instructor playfulness in an online context. We contribute to practical implications by offering guidance for online instructors in higher education.

Symons, J. David; Thompson, Lauren; Ramous, Caroline; Cho, JaeMin; Boudina, Sihem; Margetts, Alex; Buzianis, Skye; Park, Seul Ki; Luu, Kiana; Hansen, Michele; Pires, Karla; Whitehead, Kevin; Carter, Kandis; Buffolo, Marcio (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Symones, J. David (University of Utah, Nutrition and Integrative Physiology)

Protein aggregates accumulate and organelles become damaged and / or dysfunctional during the process of healthy aging. A progressive loss of the cellular quality control mechanism autophagy (i.e., "self-eating") contributes to this age-associated decline in cellular function in many organs. Evidence for an age-associated repression in cardiac autophagy is not consistent. We hypothesized that 24-month old (old) male C57Bl6/J mice exhibit repressed autophagosome formation in the heart, an accumulation of cardiac protein aggregates, myocardial dysfunction, and reduced exercise capacity vs. 6-month old (adult) mice. First, cardiac lysates from old mice displayed reduced (p<0.05) accumulation of LC3II / GAPDH and degradation of p62 vs. adult animals (assessed via immunoblotting; n=12 per group). Second, the lysosomal acidification inhibitor chloroquine (CQ) induced accrual (p<0.05) of LC3II / GAPDH and p62 in hearts from adult but not old mice (quantified by immunoblotting; n=7 per group). Third, the number and size of protein aggregates was higher (p<0.05) in hearts from old vs. adult mice (measured via scanning electron microscopy; n=5 per group). Fourth, left ventricular mass / tibial length was greater (p<0.05), and indices of systolic, diastolic, and global left ventricular function (measured via transthoracic echocardiography) were impaired (p<0.05), in old vs. adult animals (n=12 per group). Finally, maximal workload performed during a treadmill-test, and soleus muscle oxidative enzyme capacity (citrate synthase activity assessed via ELISA), were less (p<0.05) in aged (n=11) vs. adult (n=12) mice. To determine whether late-in-life exercise training improves cardiac autophagy to an extent that demonstrates functional relevance, separate cohorts of older male mice completed a progressive-resistance treadmill-running program (old-ETR) or remained sedentary (old-SED) from 21-24 months. Body composition (estimated via nuclear magnetic resonance), exercise performance during a maximal workload test, soleus muscle citrate synthase activity, indices of cardiac antioxidant enzyme activity (quantified via immunoblotting), markers of cardiac autophagy, accumulation of cardiac protein aggregates, and indices of myocardial function, all improved (p<0.05) in old-ETR (n=11) vs. old-SED (n=12) mice. These data are the first to demonstrate that markers of cardiac autophagy are elevated, and indicators of protein aggregate removal and myocardial function are improved, in older mice that complete a treadmill-training regimen that is sufficient to increase skeletal muscle CS activity and maximal exercise capacity. Our results provide strong proof of concept to evaluate cause and effect relationships among exercise-training, myocardial autophagy, and cardiac function using genetic approaches in pre-clinical models and these studies are ongoing in our laboratory.

Bergman, Kyle (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Smith-Johnson, Amber (Utah Valley University, English)

The number of social media users has risen dramatically over the past few years; since 2008, the number of monthly users of social media has risen from 222 million to 2.24 billion. Studies have recently suggested that a correlation exists between this dramatic increase in electronic social behavior and impulsivity. Research suggests that the concept of "Fear of Missing Out" and the desensitizing of exciting behaviors are both possible causes (Baumgartner et al). In addition to the rise in impulsive behaviors, there have been a host of other studies that have shown how social media exposure is affecting the cognitive capacities of developing minds. Among their findings assert that behaviors such as Increased anxiety, depression, narcolepsy, anger, agitation, and internet addiction are increasing at an alarming rate (Bilgin, Tas). I want to take this research further and study how social media usage can cause impulsive views of self-value and worth. To conduct this experiment, I will create a survey designed to measure the impulsive, instinctive responses of college aged students to certain situations that would be commonly found online or actuality. I predict that because social media platforms often contain incomplete information about a post, the questions from the survey that will contribute to either jealousy or lower self-worth will be ones similar to what they would find on these platforms. I hope that these findings will help parents understand the impulsive influences that social media can have on their children.

Hale, Kaysi; Anderson, Chris (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Anderson, Chris (Utah Valley University, Psychology)

While there is significant data on adolescent sexual activity, education, and attitudes, there is little research done on adults who choose to stay abstinent, especially in the United States. Religiosity plays a significant role in reducing sexual behaviors before marriage. Many Christian faiths teach that sex should only be engaged in after marriage, so many followers choose to stay abstinent until marriage. Education about sex contributes to individuals choosing to stay abstinent and/or choosing to use safe-sex practices. Gender is not a large factor when considering reasons why individuals choose to stay abstinent; women have slightly lower rates of pre-marital sex at 94%; men at 96%. Sexual health and sexual well-being are difficult to define, but especially challenging when trying to define it for those choosing to stay abstinent into adulthood. The proposed study will sample an anticipated 200 self-reported abstinent undergraduates at Utah Valley University. This university has a high proportion of Christian students who are predominantly members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Data will be collected about why the students report they are remaining sexually abstinent as well as their sexual attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and feelings about their own sexuality. Correlations can be drawn between religiosity, gender, age, perceived healthy attitudes towards individual sexuality, feelings about sexual stimulating behavior, among other factors. This paper will contribute to the standing data about religiosity and sexuality. It will enhance the literature about how abstinent adults feel about their own sexuality.

Fox, Kirsti; Solomino, Lauralee; Baird, Todd. (Weber State University)
Faculty Advisor: Baird, Todd (Weber State University: College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Psychology)

Trauma can have a lasting impact on emotional and physical health, but relief is possible. It is important to study which factors of everyday life can alleviate this pain and suffering. Research suggests that social support and resilience both play an important role in helping relieve symptoms of traumatic stress. Each of these can be broken down into sub-subjects and measured to determine the types of resilience and social support provide the most relief. One type of social support that has not been studied in regard to resilience and trauma is religious activity. However, it has been found that religious activity can provide a unique and strong social support system. The present study looks at religious activity, social support, and resilience all in regard to trauma. There are some limitations in the present study that resulted in insufficient data to accurately test the hypotheses. Future directions that control for the limitations may have more reliable results, therefore providing more accurate information on which of these factors helps to best relieve trauma symptoms.

Keywords: trauma, resilience, religion, social support

Hendrickson, Kaden; Hinkson, Kent; Brooks, Malisa; Bryan, Craig (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Hinkson, Kent (Utah Valley University, Social and Behavioral Sciences)

Suicide rates over the last several years have been on the incline, many calling it a new epidemic. There are many known factors of suicide ideology and causality such as depression, anxiety, other mental illness, bullying, sleep disorders, victims of crimes, and many more. Sexual or physical assault are often found to correlate with suicide ideation and behaviors, especially among college-age persons. With veterans exposed to a wide variety of potentially traumatic events in service and because of the high number of sexual assault (both reported and unreported) on college campuses, this study seeks to examine if there if there is an association between suicide ideology and behaviors with type of assault among student veterans. A nationwide sample of 487 students were given a questionnaire that asked the student veterans about their experiences with trauma, as well as measuring their suicide ideation and behaviors. . Findings suggest student veterans tended to have less suicidal ideation and behaviors when assaulted with a weapon compared to other interpersonal traumas. Victims of unwanted or uncomfortable sexual experiences showed higher levels on average of suicidal ideation and behavior. Thus, victims of unwanted sexual experiences may be at higher risk of suicidal tendencies. With suicide rates increasing and the higher risk of suicidal tendencies amongst veterans, these findings can assist educators, administrators, professors, staff, and students in better understanding suicide risk by veterans on campus; additionally, this knowledge can promote the acquisition of better resources to assist those who are in need of help and to find ways to make reporting these cases (and seeking assistance) easier.

Chandler L Eyre. David A. Eastley (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Hancock, Chad (Brigham Young University, NDFS)

Purpose: To determine the effects of H2O2 exposure to human hepatocytes on the iron regulatory proteins such as transferrin receptor (TfR), Ferritin Light-Chain (FLC). Methods: Cells were cultured at an initial density of 35,000 cells/cm2 in 6-well plates, grown until confluent, and then harvested. Iron treatments were done using FeCl3 solution with media to desired concentrations, and then incubating for 24 hours. Groups that received both iron and H2O2 treatments were exposed to 12 hours of iron, followed by incubation with media that included both iron and GOX at 4.8 mU/mL and 0.165 mg/mL of CAT (2-5 KU/mg). BCA protein assay was used to assess protein content, and then normalize each sample to each other for subsequent preparation for western blot. Western blots were carried out were analyzed by fluorescence following densitometry. MTT assays were carried out utilizing the mitochondrial reductase enzyme, and colorimetrically measured to assess cell viability. Results: Iron treatments of 10, 50, and 100 µM for 24-hrs did not result in any significant cell death. Treatment with the same concentrations resulted in a significant decrease (n=12) in TfR for all three groups when compared against control cells that were cultured and harvested simultaneously without any addition the growth media. (10 µM p<0.01), (50 µM p<0.01), and (100 µM p<0.01). FTL in the 10 µM group was significantly decreased (n=11, p<0.01), but not for the 50 µM, or 100 µM groups with p values of 0.9867, and 0.9612, respectively. H2O2 treatments produced concentrations of 5-10 µM, mimicking neutrophil release during inflammatory response. Conclusion: Our assay is sufficient to mimic neutrophil release of H2O2. Iron treatments are able to induce TfR decrease but seem to have a threshold at 10 µM for increasing FTL for storage. We hypothesize that this may be due to a dysregulation at higher concentrations.

Seaboch, Melissa (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Seaboch, Melissa (University of Utah, Anthropology)

Primates do not make good pets because they are highly social animals that require members of their own species, large amounts of space, and specific diets to maintain positive psychological well-being. Additionally primates can also be aggressive toward their owners and they can transmit diseases (e.g. Salmonella, parasites, etc.) to their owners. Even so, there are over 15,000 pet primates in the United States. Regulations for owning a primate vary from state to state from a complete ban (19 states) to no restrictions (17 states). The goal of this project is to understand the pet primate trade and ownership in the United States, specifically, in which states they are for sale. Data (type of primate for sale and location) were collected bimonthly for five months from six online exotic pet trade websites. We found that 311 primates were offered for sale in 11 states with Florida having the most primates for sale (62%, n=195) followed by Tennessee (8.6%, n=27), and Texas (8%, n=25). The number of primates for sale in Florida is surprising since Florida requires permits from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission while there are no regulations for owning monkeys in Texas, or Tennessee. The Captive Primate Safety Act currently before Congress would prohibit the sale of all nonhuman primates by including them as "prohibited wildlife species" and would greatly reduce the ownership of primates as pets, though we note that a similar bill failed in 2007.

Reschke, Peter; Cooper, Alexandra; Clayton, Colter K. (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Reschke, Peter (Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Family Life)

Research has demonstrated that context plays a significant role in emotion perception (Reschke et al., 2018). However, it is unclear whether context produces differences in visual scanning of facial expressions of emotion. The present study explored whether variability within facial expressions differentially interacts with posture context to produce changes in emotion perception.

Participants (N = 86) viewed 96 images comprised of "open" (i.e., scrunched nose, open mouth, protruding tongue) and "closed" (i.e., scrunched nose, closed mouth) versions of disgust faces photoshopped onto postural expressions of emotion (disgust, anger, fear, sadness, joy, neutral). Subjects saw each image for 5000 ms while their eye movements were recorded by an eye tracker and were then asked to categorize the emotion in the facial expression.

The results support prior research demonstrating that contextual influence (i.e., categorizations matching the context) differed significantly within emotion contexts as a function of face type, F(3, 5436) = 29.65, p < .001 (Reschke et al., 2019). Specifically, contextual influence increased significantly for closed and open disgust facial expressions in anger and sadness contexts (ps < .001) and decreased significantly in fear contexts (p < .001). However, these differences in behavioral responses were not reflected in participants' visual scanning behaviors. Specifically, subjects fixated significantly more in the lower face region (M = 3.29) than the upper face region (M = .76), t(2268) = 37.56, p < .001, regardless of face type. Additionally, participants took significantly more time to fixate on the upper face region (M = 1046.77) than the lower face region (M = 580.07), t(1652) = 10.59, p < .001, also regardless of face type.

These findings suggest that behavioral differences in context-dependent emotion categorization are not due to reliable differences in visual scanning. Future directions and alternative explanations will be discussed.

Larsen Gibby, Ashley; Crockett, Kaelie (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Larsen Gibby, Ashley (Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Family Life)

Past research has found a strong association between sibling characteristics and academic achievement, but very few studies have considered the impact of adoption. Family theories, such as resource dilution, stress, and compensation theories, suggest that adoption may negatively impact biological children's educational outcomes by reducing the resources available to these children and introducing stress and complexity into their family. However, despite its likely importance, no representative studies have investigated the impact of adoption on biological children, to our knowledge. Using the American Community Survey Data from 2013-2017, we test the relationship between having an adopted sibling and being held back in school among 1,684,608 biological children. We use logistic regression and included several child and household characteristics as controls. We find that having an adopted sibling is significantly associated with an increased likelihood of being held back but that this association is almost entirely explained by family size and socioeconomic status. Therefore, we conclude that although our findings suggest a negative impact of having an adopted sibling on non-adopted children, this impact may actually be capturing differences in socio-economic status, rather than adoption itself. Further investigations of the differences among children with or without adopted siblings are needed to understand the associated classed nuances.

Reschke, Peter; Clayton, Colter; McLean, Ryan; Cordon, Hallie (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Reschke, Peter (Family, Home, and Social Sciences; School of Family Life)

Recent research has demonstrated that context plays a significant role in categorizing facial expressions of emotion (Aviezer et al., 2008). However, it is unclear which aspects of "context" drive this phenomenon. The current study sought to tease apart two unique sources of context (posture and background scene) using a fully crossed design with 6 emotions (Anger, Disgust, Fear, Sadness, Joy, and Neutral) expressed using 3 modalities (Face, Posture, Background Scene) featuring 48 different actors from 4 racial/ethnic background (Asian, Black, Hispanic, White). Seventy-two participants (Mage = 20.28, SD = 2.18, 48 female, 30 male) each viewed 216 randomly selected Face-Posture-Scene composites and were asked to select from a list an emotion that best described what the person in the image was feeling. Participants' categorizations matching the face (i.e., accuracy) were analyzed using a full factorial repeated measures Generalized Linear Mixed Model with face emotion, posture emotion, and scene emotion as factors. There were significant main effects of face emotion, F(4, 9968) = 89.602, p < .001, and posture emotion, F(5, 11574) = 34.830, p < .001, as well as significant interactions of Face Emotion X Posture Emotion, F(20, 12380) = 41.454, p < .001, and Face Emotion X Scene Emotion, F(20, 13682) = 8.066, p < .001. Post hoc analyses of the Face Emotion X Posture Emotion interaction indicated that certain face-posture combinations, such as disgust-anger and joy-anger, resulted in complete changes in emotion perception, with categorizations overwhelmingly matching the posture instead of the face. Taken together, these results suggest that face and posture play individual and interactional roles in emotion perception. Implications for theories on emotion and emotion perception will be discussed.

Hunter, Jacob; Wood, Elizabeth; Jarman, Parker; Lindell, Stephen; Schwandt, Melanie; Goldman, David; Suomi, Stephen; Barr, Christina; Higley, James (Brigham Young University)
Faculty Advisor: Higley, James (Family Home and Social Sciences, Plant and Wildlife Sciences)

Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) are commonly used as a translational model to investigate human behavior and biology, largely due to shared evolutionary history and genetic similarities. Within rhesus monkeys, there are two distinct subgroups: Indian-derived and Chinese-derived monkeys. It is surprising that research has not compared the behavioral differences in these two subgroups. While there are anecdotal reports indicating that the Chinese-derived monkeys exhibit more aggression than the Indian-derived population, the only studies to investigate differences between them investigated infants, a limitation as infants rarely exhibit significant levels of aggression. This study investigates the relationship between DCA and several behavioral measures of aggression in adult subjects. We hypothesize that rhesus monkeys with higher DCA would exhibit more aggression than monkeys with lower DCA. The subjects were n = 130 adult female rhesus monkeys, housed in indoor-outdoor runs at the National Institutes of Health Animal Center, located in Poolesville, Maryland. Observations were made while the subjects were in their home cages, using five-minute focal observations, twice weekly for six months by trained staff. Subjects were behaviorally scored for a variety of behaviors that reflect rhesus monkey aggression. DCA was determined using genealogical data tracing each subject's ancestry back to the colony's founding in the 1940s. Based on the pedigree, the subjects were divided into pure Chinese-derived, pure Indian-derived, or hybrids. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed that 100% Chinese monkeys exhibited higher rates of aggression (F(2,125) = 14.02, p < .0001), when compared to the Indian-derived or hybrid monkeys. These results suggest that, consistent with anecdotal reports, monkeys with 100% DCA exhibit higher levels of aggression than Indian-derived or hybrid subjects. Aggression may have played a pivotal role in the evolutionary success of the Chinese rhesus, allowing them to cross the Himalayas, disperse throughout China, establish territory, and successfully compete with other species.

Schiek, Haley; Thompson, Audrey; Rugo, Kelsi (Westminster College)
Faculty Advisor: Rugo, Kelsi (Westminster College, Psychology)

Background. College students face a myriad of well-documented mental health issues, including anxiety (American College Health Association, 2018), depression (Ibrahim et al., 2013), and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (Yozwiak et al., 2012). Many of these mental health issues are laden with negative social stigma and go untreated (Corrigan & Kosyluk, 2013). While most college campuses offer free mental health resources for students, a striking number of college students are unaware of resources available on their campus (Michaels et al., 2015).

Research Aims. The Abnormal Psychology class at Westminster College hosts Wellness Screening Days (WSD) on campus once per semester to provide outreach, psychoeducation, and resources for students struggling with mental health issues in the campus community. In the near future, we plan to submit an IRB application to formally collect data at WSDs with the primary aim of increasing mental wellness on our campus.

Methods. At each Wellness Screening Day, Abnormal Psychology students erect tables at 2-3 highly trafficked locations on campus. WSD banners, balloons, and free snacks are placed around the screening area to draw student interest. Abnormal Psychology students are stationed near each table to assist their peers in completing, scoring, and interpreting their wellness screener. Wellness screeners are then returned to each student with a full page of resources printed on the back for students to utilize, if desired. Additionally, mental health professionals are stationed at each table for further support.

Discussion. We are proposing a poster to present our idea to turn the Wellness Screening Day into an IRB-approved research project on our campus at UCUR 2019 in order to garner scholarly feedback from colleagues in attendance. In particular, we plan to engage other professionals in discussions on (1) prioritization of constructs to screen, (2) risk management considerations, and (3) innovative ideas for institutional collaboration. We believe UCUR 2019 will offer a unique opportunity for us to interface with other professionals in the field to refine our research methodology.

Implications. Using the Wellness Screening Day to identify, connect, and track at-risk students on our campus has the potential to decrease negative mental health stigma in our campus community, improve mental wellness of our student body, and increase awareness of free mental health resources available on campus.

Coy, Rachel; Macfarlan, Shane J. (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Macfarlan, Shane (University of Utah, Anthropology)

United States war veterans suffer from a variety of negative outcomes, including suicide and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). These negative outcomes may be due in part to how modern militaries treat moral trauma associated with war — as a transaction leaving warriors with minimal psycho-social support. Scholars have noted many cultures employ post-combat rituals to help reintegrate war veterans back to civilian life and these may be designed to treat PTSD specifically; however, none have ever systematically tested this. We test the hypothesis that post-combat rituals function to mitigate war-induced PTSD by extracting data from the electronic Human Relations Area Files, a repository of digitized ethnographic materials spanning 300 world cultures that are fully searchable by keywords, in conjunction with diagnostic criteria used in the DSM-5. Consistent with diagnostic criteria for PTSD, our analyses reveal that seclusion and sexual abstinence were frequent post-combat rituals (40% and 37.5%, respectively). Interestingly, we find a high prevalence of warrior contamination beliefs following war (80% of cultures). Strangely, food taboos were the most prevalent (42.5%) ritual yet were not represented in the DSM-5 PTSD criteria; this could be explained by comorbid depression affecting warrior's appetites and will be important in future work. These findings were consistent with the view that some war rituals are designed to treat PTSD. However, it appears some rituals have nothing to do with it. This suggests that war rituals may have another purpose such as warriors gaining cultural rewards to help with the transition back to civilian life. I highlight the importance of these findings as 1) an alternative treatment option for veterans suffering from PTSD and 2) as a therapeutic mechanism for reintegrating U.S. soldiers back to civilian life.

Hall, Anna; Fauth, Elizabeth (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Fauth, Elizabeth (Emma Eccles Jones College of Education & Human Services, Human Development and Family Studies Department)

Objective: Fine motor abilities (FMA) are essential to activities of daily living (ADL) that help older people remain independent. While some older adults with reduced FMA are aware of their impairment, others are not aware, which can be problematic if they do not seek ways to compensate for losses. I hypothesize that most older adults living in the community are aware of their losses, and self-reported FMA ability will correspond to actual performance of FMA tasks. Method: Data came from OCTO-Twin, a population-based dataset of twin pairs in Sweden aged 80 and older. We randomly selected one twin from each pair because twin status was not of interest to this study, and only included people who completed fine motor tasks (N = 262, 66.4% female; Mage = 83.27, SDage=2.90). Within a large battery of self-report and performance tasks, participants were asked their perceived ability to manipulate things with their hands (Cannot do at all, Big problem, Some problem, No problem). They were also timed (in seconds) on performing FMA tasks via ADL apparatus (putting coins in a slot, screwing in a light bulb, etc.). We defined someone as "slow" in FMA tasks if they were more than one standard deviation from the total mean (nslow=38, taking 80+ seconds). Results: Cross tabulations indicated, of "slow" participants, n=1 (2.6%) self-reported "cannot do at all", n=2 (5.3%) reported "big problem", n=10 (26.3%) reported "some problem", and n=25 (65.8%) reported "no problem". In comparison, of participants who were average or fast, 193 (85.8%) reported "no problem." Implications: Surprisingly, nearly 2/3 of people who were slow on FMA tasks self-reported that they had "no problems" with hand manipulation. Being unaware of deficiencies may lead to adverse effects via lack of compensation in ADL, but may also be mentally protective to help cope with physical losses.

Green, McKay (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Smith-Johnson, Amber (Utah Valley University, English)

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that "Six in ten adults in the U.S. have a chronic disease and four in ten adults have two or more" ("About Chronic Diseases," n.d.). This means that over half the U.S. population is trying to manage a chronic illness with their daily tasks. Those with chronic illnesses start with a shorter supply of energy. They are forced to focus solely on the basic necessities while ignoring the majority of their desires, since they do not have the energy. Because of this, they face serious problems when they put off managing their symptoms to manage society's perceptions instead. My main research question is this: "Are those with chronic illness essentially (mis)managing their illness due to the perceptions of society? And if so, how do we change this problem?" The impact of perception on chronic illness management has not been studied adequately. However, in spite of the paucity of research, I have confirmed through my own primary and secondary research that many with chronic illnesses abandon their required treatment regimens in favor of perception management. Society has this image of disability that is very appearance driven — wheelchair, crutches, etc. And because the vast majority of those with chronic illnesses appear outwardly healthy, they are expected to actually be healthy and function like everyone. In this process they typically push themselves too far and cause debilitating and painful flare-ups. Studies have shown that if those with chronic illness have hope for a productive life, their illness is easier to manage. This hope is best nourished by focusing on treatment management instead of perception management. The goal of my research is to introduce hope into the lives of those with chronic illnesses so that they can manage their symptoms instead of society's perceptions.

Sassra Dobson; Loren Larsen; Matthew Tidwell; Chris Anderson Ph.D.; Ron Hammond Ph.D. (Utah Valley University)
Faculty Advisor: Hammon, Ron (Utah Valley University, Behavioral Science: Sociology)

This UVU IRB approved study (Control #35) included a UVU IRI randomly selected sample of 9,999 UVU Graduates 2014-2018, solicited via email with a link to an online Qualtrics survey. Results yielded 668 completed surveys of married respondents. The standard Gottman's "4 Horsemen of Divorce" Questions were used to create a summative scale of their divorce risk (Range 0-28). The low and high Quartile Groups were analyzed via: Frequencies, Correlations, Independent T-Tests, & Multiple Regression. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how ADHD and other marital quality issues influence higher levels of Gottman's divorce Risk levels among married UVU Graduates. This was evaluated with 21 bivariate correlations between extended family interference and other marital quality measures. It was also evaluated with 37 Independent Sample T-Tests comparisons between Low Quartile (N=143) and High Quartile (N=157) Gottman's Four Horsemen of Divorce Scale (G4HDS) Groups. Finally a Predictive Multiple Regression Model was developed. Results from analyses indicated that at the <= .05 significance level: 20 out of 21 correlations were better for those with higher extended family interference; 32 out of 37 T-Test were better for the Low G4HDS Quartile Group; and the Regression Model was able to identify 4 of the 5 independent variables which predicted higher Gottman Divorce Risks. The somewhat unexpected influence of extended family interference is also discussed.

Dinehart, Claire; Alvord, Margaret; Holdeman, Alexis (University of Utah)
Faculty Advisor: Kamimura, Akiko (University of Utah, Sociology)

Previous studies suggest uninsured individuals in poverty not only experience higher levels of stress than the general public, but also often have a hard time seeking positive coping strategies. If the exposure to an unsafe environment is prolonged, the individual is subsequently exposed to chronic stress as a result of their constant safety concerns. Yet, little is known how home environmental issues affect stress levels among underserved populations. The purpose of this research project is to examine the association between household environmental safety and stress among uninsured primary care patients who live in poverty. Data have been collected from patients of the Maliheh Free Clinic in Salt Lake City using a self-administered survey in Fall 2019. As of October 14, 2019, 195 patients participated in the survey. The preliminary results suggest that while higher levels of concerns about indoor air pollution, lead exposure, pesticide contamination, and water contamination were associated with higher levels of perceived stress, concerns about mold were not related to stress. None of the demographic characteristics such as educational attainment and marital status affected the association between environmental concerns and perceived stress levels. Identifying these stress-related household environmental safety concerns provides a basis from which stress-reducing interventions can be launched. Remedying household environmental issues can range from simple changes, like proper chemical storage, to large scale remodeling projects, like lead abatement. Providing education about household environmental safety and information about local resources to free clinic patients is the first step towards improving stress conditions in at-risk populations.