Architecture

Authors: Rafael Deo. Mentors: Matthew Wilcox. Insitution: Brigham Young University. A listening test is an important method used to assess language proficiency. It can be used as placement tests, pre and post-tests, research purposes, classroom evaluations, and many more. Comparison of results of such tests can also be used to assess language gain throughout a period of time. However, to create such listening tests that can genuinely evaluate an individual's ability, audio quality plays an important role, too. This factor should be addressed because it seems trivial, even though it can affect test-takers results. Through this presentation, I will provide general guidelines and practical tools for finding, evaluating and capturing listening passages for proficiency tests.

Authors: Maggie Wu, Ashley Littlefield, Bryant Jones. Mentors: Bryant Jones. Insitution: Snow College. A novel method of predictive thermodynamic property mining using AIMD simulations of molten salts for use in molten salt nuclear reactorsSolving the worlds energy crisis has been a heavily debated and researched topic for many years. One proposed solution to this problem is the micro molten salt nuclear reactor (MMSR). The MMSR is a small portable nuclear powerplant that can provide an affordable source of energy that is completely safe, readily available, and passively controlled. The waste products from this reactor are also heavily sought medically important isotopes. One final hurdle for MMSR development is the mining of the thermodynamic properties for previously unstudied eutectic mixtures of molten salts. Due to the hygroscopic nature of molten salt eutectics, experimental techniques for measuring thermodynamic properties are time and cost prohibitive. Modern supercomputing techniques provide a solution for property mining. However, computational methods have been historically limited to previously experimentally studied salts. There has always been a need for experimentally measured values to be determined first to provide tuning for the computational techniques. This group has developed a novel technique for tuning the values for previously unstudied salts. This greatly enhances the predictive capabilities of computation methods. This technique was then employed to successfully measure the density, Heat capacity, and coefficient of thermal expansion for two promising uranium salt eutectics. These studies provided the data to also study the molecular structure of these salts. This study showed interesting new aggregation of the uranium atoms that will be presented.

Authors: Jaren Meikle, Samuel Archer. Mentors: Jacob Dean. Insitution: Southern Utah University. Dipyrroles are bicyclic, heterocyclic compounds ubiquitous in nature. Dipyrroles form subunits in commonly-occurring photoactive biological subunits such as bilins, and are thus remarkable in their ability to absorb visible light despite their chemical simplicity. In this work, the photochemistry of a model dipyrrole serving as an analogue to the core subunit found in bilins was investigated and found to show a proclivity to undergo pH-dependent reactions. When the acidic and basic variants were irradiated with blue light and the time-resolved UV-vis spectra were recorded, we found stark differences in reactivity between the two variants. The protonated variant is highly photostable and resistant to photoxidation with photonic energy being channeled into rapid internal conversion. The basic variant, however, undergoes consistent oxygen-dependent photooxidation, forming hydroxy and methoxy adducts. Our research is currently focused on elucidating the structure of these photoproducts, identifying the mechanism of photooxidation, as well as modeling the kinetics of the reaction.

Authors: Samuel Andersen. Mentors: Jianlong Han. Insitution: Southern Utah University. We study a Gray-Scott model arising from chemistry. Using nondimensionalization, we reduce the number of parameters, we also analyze the stability of the steady state solutions of the system.

Authors: Matthew Drachman, Caden Weaver, Nicholas Martin. Mentors: Kal Munis. Insitution: Utah Valley University. There has been a lot of public debate in recent years when it comes to the topic of guns in the United States. Scholarship on the subject has shown varying opinions on how people believe on gun ownership, along with the subject of carrying firearms in public. A Pew Research study found 46% of people supported concealed carrying in places, while support among gun owners was 67% (Parker et al., 2017). While research has been conducted on concealed carry, research on open carry support and the factors that contribute to it are rather unknown. Within our study, we attempt to see how support for open carry, which is legal in most places in the U.S., is affected based on who is doing the open carrying of firearms. Particularly controversial political and racial groups. Within our model we randomly assign survey respondents to either our control question to gauge their support for open carry, or one of four vignettes we have designed to see if exposure to the treatment causes a change in how support for open carry will change. Our results have important implications pertaining to attitudinal (in)stability on core civil liberties within the United States.

Authors: David Schloesser. Mentors: B Kal Munis. Insitution: Utah Valley University. How do place-based identities influence American’s attitudes towards perpetrators of politically motivated violence? Through the implementation of a pre-registered conjoint experiment, I seek to answer this question. Ideally, and under normative circumstances, punishment of politically motivated violence should be applied to perpetrators with considerations only towards what/who was targeted in the act and the severity of the violence committed. In the U.S. however, evaluations of guilt are determined through the trial of peers, leaving room for the influence of in-group and out-group biases to appear in the judgement of perpetrators according to the suggestions of Social Identity Theory. As such, biases arise that cloud human judgement based on preconceived attitudes towards various group identities that influence our opinions when judging other individuals. One’s sense of place, or how strongly they identify themselves with their locality and its’ culture, is one of these powerful group social identities that establishes a salient “in-group” persona to other locals, while influencing attitudes towards various “out-groups” of people not from that place. Holding constant other considerations pertinent to acts of politically motivated violence, Americans more harshly evaluate perpetrators of violence from geographic communities other than their own. To judge the relative weight that these place-based identities hold towards the judgement of political violence perpetrators, evaluators were presented with perpetrators with randomly assigned personal characteristics (e.g., where they are from) and varied features of the violent act (e.g., how severe the act was, what/who was targeted), and asked to determine the level of punishment or mercy to be assigned to each perpetrator. I found that perpetrator place characteristics indeed influences the evaluator’s excusal of political violence, however when weighted against the features of the act, the nature of the act matters much more for evaluations on average. These findings can be interpreted as normatively negative, given that an evaluator’s place identity appears to reflect in-group out-group biases that affect the assignment of punishment to a crime. However, the disproportionate effect of the violent act’s target and severity are normatively encouraging.

Authors: Adam Smith, adam@tallsmith.com. Mentors: Kal Munis. Insitution: Utah Valley University. The social desirability bias is a well-documented and well-studied phenomenon in the social sciences, but it has only been in relatively recent literature that experimentalists have begun to study the effects treatments have on the manner in which the social desirability bias is reflected in social behavior. The aim of this study is to test the effects of perceived privacy influences the way people answer this question: "What is the aim of politics?" This study seeks to replicate findings in other research that has delved into the relationship between perceived privacy and social desirability. Another significant area of interest is how neurodivergent identity, especially autism, fits into the relationship. With this study, we can better understand how social desirability affects political discourse as well as provide insights into the neurodivergent mind and how it relates to politics.

Authors: Bryan Jay Frandsen. Mentors: Joseph McMurray. Insitution: Brigham Young University. This paper expands on a citizen-candidate model of electoral competition under both plurality rule and ranked choice voting. The paper finds that ranked choice voting nominally avoids Duverger’s Law by accumulating many identical candidates but yields fewer viable equilibrium policy positions than plurality rule. Additionally, ranked choice voting favors moderate candidates and policies, increasing the probability of their implementation compared to plurality rule. This moderate bias leads to lower polarization in equilibrium than is possible under plurality rule.

Authors: Ethan Reese. Mentors: Russ Bailey. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Many individuals struggle with oppressively high standards for their character, behavior and environment, know commonly as perfectionism. Perfectionism also carries significant attention in the fields of psychology, at least partially because of its association with higher rates of OCD, depression and anxiety, but also higher performance and goal-achieving (Lunn et al., 2023). The presentation will be synthesized from available literature, and focus on how perfectionism can be positive or negative, and how to effectively adopt beneficial perfectionism. Special emphasis will be placed on the role of perfectionism in academic and workplace settings.There are moderating factors that distinguish adaptive perfectionism from maladaptive perfectionism and various sources of perfectionism, including self-prescribed, socially-prescribed, and other-oriented perfectionism (Benson, 2003). There are diverse explanations of the many ways individuals strive for perfection, or how they impose expectations of it on others, and many of those will be elaborated on. Therapists have both the ability and the professional responsibility to assist in those efforts. The therapeutic modalities specifically suited for working with perfectionism and the consequences of complex relationships between it and certain mental illnesses will be presented for analysis. This discussion will benefit individuals inside and outside of mental health professions alike through exploreing the process of turning perfectionism adaptive, as well as provide direction for future research in on the topic.References:Lunn, J., Greene, D., Callaghan, T., & Egan, S. J. (2023). Associations between perfectionism and symptoms of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression in young people: A meta-analysis. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 52(5), 460–487. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2023.2211736Benson, E. S. (2003, November 1). The many faces of perfectionism. Monitor on Psychology, 34(10). https://www.apa.org/monitor/nov03/manyfaces

Authors: Allison Perkins, Aubrey Hawks, Talia Karasov. Mentors: Talia Karasov. Insitution: University of Utah. Over the past two decades, studies have documented a 20% decline in Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) populations in western North America (Worrall et al., 2015; Stanke et al., 2021). This phenomenon has been fittingly characterized Sudden Aspen Decline (SAD), and is an increasingly pressing issue as the role of aspen as an ecologically irreplaceable keystone species impacts the health of the surrounding forests (Singer et al., 2019). SAD has been attributed to the interplay of climate change-driven drought and other biotic and abiotic factors that are less well characterized (Anderegg et al., 2013a). One potential contributor to SAD is biotic pests and pathogens (Marchetti et al., 2011; Anderegg et al., 2013a; Worrall et al., 2015). My study system includes both natural populations of aspen representing a precipitation gradient and a controlled garden experiment. The field experiments span five distinct sites across Utah & Colorado, selected and montintered by the Anderegg lab of the University of Utah. The experimental garden contains approximately 300 tree saplings subjected to various levels of drought stress, managed by the Anderegg lab on the University of Utah campus. Through the integration of both controlled and natural experiments, my research aims to comprehensively evaluate the impact of drought exposure on pathogen abundance and chemical defenses in aspen trees.Over the past two decades, studies have documented a 20% decline in Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) populations in western North America (Worrall et al., 2015; Stanke et al., 2021). This phenomenon has been fittingly characterized Sudden Aspen Decline (SAD), and is an increasingly pressing issue as the role of aspen as an ecologically irreplaceable keystone species impacts the health of the surrounding forests (Singer et al., 2019). SAD has been attributed to the interplay of climate change-driven drought and other biotic and abiotic factors that are less well characterized (Anderegg et al., 2013a). One potential contributor to SAD is biotic pests and pathogens (Marchetti et al., 2011; Anderegg et al., 2013a; Worrall et al., 2015). Recent investigations have indicated a link between SAD and specific microbial diseases, suggesting that the increasing frequency and severity of droughts due to climate change might make aspen more vulnerable to certain pathogens, even though many of the most common pathogens of aspen in general require more abundant water (Aung et al., 2018). For example, the foliar Melamspora fungal pathogens require abundant water and are not frequently observed in drought stressed trees.On the other hand, Cytospora, which causes a devastating canker disease in aspen trunks, occurs at higher frequency in plots of trees suffering damage from drought (Guyon, 1996). Lin et al. (2023) shows changes to phyllospheric microbiome in aspen during drought, but far less is known about the leaves specifically. Could drought lead to an altered microbiome in aspen leaves? If different or possibly opportunistic pathogens are better able to colonize the leaf tissue under drought stress, this may be the case.It’s known that plants with a reduced diversity of microbiomes are more susceptible to pathogens (Zheng et al., 2020), but the there is little understanding how drought may reduce microbial diversity in aspen. Aspen have two main groups of chemical defenses (SPGs and CTs) that occur in relatively high levels in the leaf (Lindroth et al., 2023). It is well established that these defend against insect herbivores and that they come with a trade-off for plant growth (Marchetti et al, 2011). There is some observational evidence that these secondary compounds have an effect on pathogens (Jacoby et al., 2021), but there are few controlled studies on this idea. Additionally, Metlen et al. 2009 describes how trees in North America produce higher rates of these metabolites under wetter conditions, attributed to possible UV protection. However, the impact of additional environmental changes have of on the abundance of these compounds is understudied. Aspen are an ideal system to study forest disease and drought because the genus’ (Populus) genomes are easily sequenced and relatively tractable, aspen generally exhibit rapid vegetative growth, their defensive chemistry is relatively well known, and most importantly, they grow in cloned groves that reduce the genetic variation in experiments (Lindroth et al., 2023, Luquez et al., 2007).

Authors: Braxton Bird. Mentors: Sarah Franklin. Insitution: University of Utah. Heart disease ends the lives of nearly 700,000 people each year and has been the leading cause of death in the United States since 1950. Around this time researchers discovered that some modifications involving our genetic code could be altered to affect gene expression but leaves the DNA intact, which was later termed epigenetics. Today we’ve discovered that these epigenetic modifications, including post translational modifications (PTMS), regulate genes linked to cardiovascular disease. We recently examined the histone lysine methyltransferase SETD7, which is most prominently known for its ability to methylate histone H3K4. SETD7’s expression is upregulated in multiple types of heart disease in both humans and mice and is essential for cardiomyocyte differentiation in embryonic development. In addition to its ability to methylated H3K4, SETD7 has been shown to methylate 8 other histone residues. To further characterize the histone residues methylated by SETD7, we carried out an unbiased analysis of lysine residues methylated by SETD7 using an in vitro methyltransferase assay coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. We hypothesized that SETD7 may modify additional sites than those that have previously been identified. Our analysis determined that SETD7 monomethylates two novel residues on histone H3: lysine 36 (K36) and lysine 122 (K122). These sites of modification were also confirmed by western blotting for site specific antibodies to these methylation marks. Although our understanding of both these residues is limited, we do know that K36 methylation is linked to DNA replication and genomic stability while K122 methylation is downregulated in drug-resistant MCF-7/ADR cancer cells. These two novel methylation sites suggest that this lysine methyltransferase plays a more complex role in regulating epigenetic modifications and gene expression than previously recognized. Although the identification of this new enzymatic activity for SETD7 is important for understanding the dynamic function of methyltransferases, additional studies will be necessary to fully elucidate the role of SETD7 in cardiac physiology and gene regulation.

Authors: America Cox, Kendra Autumn , Bryn Dentinger. Mentors: Bryn Dentinger. Insitution: University of Utah. Neotropical ants of the Attini tribe evolved the innate ability to farm fungi. Agaricomycetidae contains two clades that are cultivated by ants: the lepiotaceous and pterulaceous cultivars. However, there are free-living relatives phylogenetically distributed throughout each cultivar clade. Comparison between the free-living relatives and attine system cultivars may identify the evolutionary differences caused by, or initially enabling, agricultural symbiosis. Our research compares free-living relatives and cultivars through genomic and metabolic analysis. Attines undertake significant cultivar maintenance through the regulation of pathogenic contamination of their fungal “gardens” as well as the provision of specific growth substrates, including insect frass. Noting the apparently specialized substrates cultivars receive from the ants, we conducted a pilot test for a growth media preference between a lepiotaceous cultivar, a pterulaceous cultivar, and a free-living pterulaceous relative. We placed the fungi on regular PDY media and PDY media infused with caterpillar frass, and the cultivars either changed structure or had improved growth on the frass-infused media. Following the pilot test, we will run metabolic assays on the cultivars and free-living relatives on different media types. This may indicate a media preference which gives further insight to the attine-fungal symbiotic relationship opposed to the fungal free-living relatives revealing pieces of the fungi’s evolutionary history. We performed DNA extraction, PCR testing, Sanger sequencing of the ITS region, and then whole genome sequencing on the cultivars and their free-living relatives. Sanger sequencing allowed us to build phylogenetic trees to examine the relationship between the free-living fungi and cultivars. The whole genome sequencing allowed us to use antiSMASH software to generate predicted secondary metabolite clusters in a fungi species that “escaped” cultivation, a cultivar, and a free-living relative. This preliminary data suggests a diversification of fungal secondary metabolites occurs after attine domestication. By looking at fungal metabolic and genomic data, we hope to gain insight into the fungi’s evolutionary history and agricultural symbiosis.

Authors: Dua Azhar, Alexander MacKenzie, Sophie Caron. Mentors: Sophie Caron. Insitution: University of Utah. The mushroom body of the Drosophila melanogaster is a structure in the brain that is necessary for learning, but much of how it functions remains unknown. In this model organism, D. melanogaster’s mushroom body neurons, known as Kenyon cells, and input projection neurons have connections that are random and biased—in which some projection neurons connect with Kenyon cells more than others—allowing the fly to potentially prioritize the learning of particular odors. I investigated the functional consequences and characterizations of these biases in order to understand the biological role they play for the fly using a theoretical and experimental approach. With a computational model of the D. melanogaster olfactory system, how biased connectivity to the mushroom body influences its ability to form associations with various odors and distinguish between similar odors was explored. Experimentally, the morphological features of olfactory circuits were characterized by low to high connectivity rates to the mushroom body, allowing us to see the unique features in these circuits that are beyond the different connectivity rates. Through a combination of immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy, high-quality images were generated of these different neuronal olfactory circuits and their morphological qualities, such as the number and volume of boutons they project to the mushroom body. Altogether, these findings demonstrate how neural connectivities behind learning shape the representation space in D. melanogaster and impact its learning outcomes.

Authors: Alexa N Gormick, Adam M Zahm, Justin G English. Mentors: Justin G English. Insitution: University of Utah. Recent advancements in gene therapy have pushed towards the prevention and treatment of a diverse spectrum of disorders and diseases that are caused by misregulation of gene expression programs and their transcriptional regulators. However, the profoundness of the field means that much of the mechanisms and effects of regulation are unknown and understudied. Here, we explore the limits of flexible exogenous gene expression and its potential use in optimizing efficacy and specificity in gene therapy interventions while minimizing the possible associated risks. This is made possible by exploiting the Tet-On system of inducible transcriptional regulation, which allows the expression of any target gene to be reversibly, specifically, and differentially controlled. In this system, the tetracycline repressor (TetR) binds the tetracycline operator (TetO), impeding transcription of any downstream gene embedded by the researcher; tetracycline dosing causes TetR to adopt a new conformation that removes it from TetO, inducing gene expression on command (Das et al., 2016). Because of the diverse utility of this system, we are in pursuit of developing novel TetR-TetO orthologous pairs that do not interfere with this wild-type circuit and can be used to regulate gene expression in parallel. As a first step to generating TetR-TetO orthologs, we mapped the usage of TetO by TetR in a massively parallel reporter assay (MPRA) by engineering an extensive library of mutant TetOs and quantified the resulting range of TetR regulation through reporter gene expression. From this screen, we identified candidate TetO mutants to direct the evolution of the wild-type TetR towards complementary states to those TetO mutant sequences. Our preliminary findings indicate that the engineering of distinct synthetic expression cassettes based on the TetR-TetO operon is feasible. These novel tools may ultimately allow us to build a synthetic genetic circuit to model regulatory feedback loops that can help discover malfunctions in cell growth, reproduction, and cycling that can arise from genetic disorders and can lead to disease.1. Das, A. T., Tenenbaum, L., & Berkhout, B. (2016). Tet-On Systems For Doxycycline-inducible Gene Expression. Current Gene Therapy, 16(3), 156–167. https://doi.org/10.2174/1566523216666160524144041

Authors: Jennifer Mortensen, Melissa Lee, Jessica C Hill. Mentors: Jessica C Hill. Insitution: Utah Valley University. The prevailing assumption in academia has been that outstanding researchers would naturally be outstanding teachers. However, this notion began to face scrutiny in the late 1950s and early 1960s (Cruz et al., 2023). The societal upheavals of the 1960s had a profound impact on American colleges and universities, leading to students demanding and obtaining a more significant role in campus life. One notable change was the introduction of student evaluations of teaching, which were virtually non-existent before the 1960s but became standard practice by the late 1970s. In response to these shifts and faculty requests for support to enhance teaching, Centers for Teaching Excellence (CTEs) were born, with the inaugural centers established at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University (Bakutes, 1998; Miller, 2002). This marked the beginning of a nationwide initiative to strengthen teaching in higher education, culminating in the formation of over 1,000 such centers by the mid-1970s and general coverage across the United States by 2020 (Wright, 2023). In today's academic landscape, CTEs play an instrumental, mission-driven role in enhancing learning and teaching. The primary mission of most CTEs is to improve student learning, support faculty, encourage innovation, and support scholarly and creative work (Wright, 2023). While there is a wealth of literature on CTE organization, function, and impact, there is a noticeable gap in knowledge regarding the most frequently utilized programming and services offered by CTEs. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the educational landscape has undergone significant changes, necessitating a shift in the learning and teaching needs of students and faculty. This research seeks to address this evolving dynamic within Utah by examining the prevalent programming and services provided by CTEs across the state. The findings from this research will provide valuable insights into these changing needs and will inform future programming and strategic directions for CTEs in Utah. Bakutes, A. P. (1998). An examination of faculty development centers. Contemporary Education, 69(3), 168-171.Cruz, L., Parker, M. A., Smentkowski, B., & Smitherman, M. (2023). Taking flight: Making your center for teaching and learning soar (2nd ed.). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. Murray, J. P. (2002). The current state of faculty development in two-year colleges. New Directions for Community Colleges, 118, 89–98.Wright, M. C. (2023). Centers for teaching and learning: The new landscape in higher education. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Authors: Derek Wolfgramm. Mentors: Kaicee Postler. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Since 2008, Utah Valley University has taught community classes through the Family Life Education curriculum called the "Stronger Families Project". Previous research has demonstrated the importance of evidence-based family life education (FLE) programs in strengthening families (e.g., Myers-Walls et al, 2011). This study investigates the efficacy of the Stronger Families Project (SFP) by employing a pre- and post-test analysis of change for participants enrolled in the program in Spring 2023 and analyzing qualitative satisfaction data.

Authors: Taelyn Stinson, Kaicee Postler, Racel Arocho, Julie Nelson. Mentors: Kaicee Postler. Insitution: Utah Valley University. The Stronger Families Project (SFP) is an established FLE program at Utah Valley University (UVU) that is taught by undergraduate student interns to families in the community. The current study aims to examine the efficacy of SFP among Fall 2023 participants. A pre- and post-program evaluation of survey data from participants enrolled in SFP during the Fall 2023 semester will be used to evaluate changes in communication, problem-solving skills, and general family functioning. Several subscales from the program’s own established evaluation tool (Family Wellness, 2023) and the General Functioning Subscale from the Family Assessment Device (FAD, Epstein, 1983) were used. A total of N = 25 participants completed the pre-program surveys in September 2023 and will be asked to complete post-program surveys in November 2023. Results from the pre- and post-test analysis of change will be presented. Implications for future research and Family Life Education (FLE) programs will be discussed.

Authors: Lauren Hammond, Hailey White, McKayla Pittman. Mentors: Brandon Burr. Insitution: Utah Valley University. Public opinion has largely moved away from traditional notions of marriage and religion, particularly for emerging adults (Gubernskaya, 2010; Pew Research Center, 2019). Data shows 44% of those ages 18-29 believe marriage is obsolete (Helimlich, 2011), and 40% of emerging adults are religiously unaffiliated (Pew Research Center). Emerging adults are more likely to explore diversity in relationships and express more openness to various relationship arrangements such as cohabitation and polyamory (Levine, 2020; Trask & Koivunen, 2007; U.S. Census Bureau, 2020), and many emerging adults may not find the structure and rules of organized religion agreeable with their perspectives and chosen lifestyle (Drewelies et al., 2018). Various reports also show strong connections between relationship health and physical and emotional health (e.g., Kiecolt-Glaser & Newton, 2001; Miller et al., 2013), with some connections between religiosity and health (Weaver et al., 2006), but very little information exists on how relationship and religion trend perspectives affect various aspects of health and well-being. Marital paradigms theory suggests that marriage attitudes are shaped by varying “marital contexts,” including religious beliefs, socioeconomic factors, public opinion, and changes in attitudes and beliefs over time (Willoughby et al., 2013). Thus, current relationship, marriage, and religiosity facets are likely interrelated and likely influence health aspects, perspectives, attitudes, and practices. This study extends the current literature exploring how various relationship and religion perspectives connect with various aspects of well-being (e.g., emotional and physical health, self-esteem, stress, general happiness), and how these connections may differ by demographic factors such as age. References Drewelies, J., Agrigoroaei, S., Lachman, M. E., & Gerstorf, D. (2018). Age variations in cohort differences in the United States: Older adults report fewer constraints nowadays than those 18 years ago, but mastery beliefs are diminished among younger adults. Developmental Psychology, 54(8), 1408–1425. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000527 Gubernskaya, Z. (2010). Changing attitudes toward marriage and children in six countries. Sociological Perspectives, 53(2), 179–200. https://doi.org/10.1525/sop.2010.53.2.179 Heimlich, R. (2011). Marriage is obsolete. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2011/01/06/marriage-is-obsolete/ Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. & Newton, T. L. (2001). Marriage and health: His and hers. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 472–503. Levine, N. (2020). This is how many young people are open to a polyamorous relationship. Retrieved from https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/young-people-polyamorous-relationship-study Miller, R. B., Hollist, C. S., Olsen, J., & Law, D. (2013). Marital quality and health over 20 years: A growth curve analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family, 75, 667-680. doi: 10.111/jomf.12025 Pew Research Center. (2019, October 17). In the U.S. decline of Christianity continues at rapid pace. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/ Trask, B. S., & Koivunen, J. (2007). Trends in marriage and cohabitation in culturally diverse families. In B. S. Trask & R. Hamon (Eds.), Cultural diversity and families: Expanding perspectives. Sage Publications. U.S. Census Bureau. (2019). Estimated median age at first marriage, by sex: 1890 to the present (Historical Marital Status Tables, Table MS-2). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/families/marital.html Weaver, A. J., Pargament, K. I., Flannelly, K. J., & Oppenheimer, J. E. (2006). Trends in The Scientific Study of Religion, Spirituality, and Health: 1965-2000. Journal of Religion and Health, 45(2), 208–214. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-006-9011-3 Willoughby, B. J., Hall, S. S., & Luczak, H. P. (2013). Marital paradigms: A conceptual framework for marital attitudes, values, and beliefs. Journal of Family Issues, 20, 1-24.