Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Peer Deviance As A Predictor Of E-Cigarette Use Pre And Post Pandemic, Jenna Dunham, Heather Kissel, Ty Brumback

Posters-at-the-Capitol

There is growing concern regarding the use of e-cigarettes among younger demographics. Also known as vaping, e-cigarettes have been posited as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes and have increased in popularity due to marketing, added flavors, and discreet delivery methods (Durkin et al., 2021; Hart et al., 2017). Research has shown dangerous and adverse outcomes of using e-cigarettes, including mood disorders, attention deficit, addiction, and lung injury (Durkin et al., 2021; Krishnasamy et al., 2020).

Peer group deviance is associated with risky external behaviors in young adults and youth (Durkin et al., 2021; Kendler et al., 2016). This research …

"Alcohol Is Not Fun Anymore!": A Study Of Alcohol Expectancies During Covid-19, Sara Mcfarland, Katie Ison, Heather Kissel Phd, Ty Brumback Phd

Posters-at-the-Capitol

College parties normalize alcohol use and students develop expectations about drinking due to peer influence and previous experience with alcohol. Our study investigated changes in alcohol expectancies by collecting cross-sectional data on predictors of alcohol use in young adults before and after the start of the pandemic. Data for 46 participants (mean age=20.74, 72% female) were collected prior to March 2020, while data for an additional 26 participants (mean age=19.27, 80.8% female) were collected starting in 2021. During the laboratory session, participants completed surveys and a structured clinical interview. We examined responses from the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (AEQ). This self-report …

Ethnic Identity Influence News Selection, Alexcia D. Richard, Dan Florell

Posters-at-the-Capitol

American news networks have been known to push a positive biased agenda towards the white population, which in turn leaves minorities displayed in various negative forms. News stations have different ways of reporting on the same story, which may lead people to choose some media outlets over others. The focus of this study was to analyze if ethnic identity influences an individual's selection of news. To find this out a survey was created, the first part of the survey includes the Political Scale. This measure scales the consistency of one’s political ideologies (i.e. conservative, liberal, and neutral) using sources from …

Can I Hit Your Juul? Nicotine Motives & Accessibility In College Students, Ashlen Grubbs

Scholars Week

The purpose of this project was to examine the associations between nicotine dependency, motives, and the impact of new laws on college student nicotine patterns. Motives for smoking can also be analyzed through categorizing motives into primary and secondary motives (Piasecki, et. al., 2011). Primary motives are reasons such as habit, tolerance, cravings, and loss of control (Piasecki, et. el., 2011). All motives for smoking have been shown to have a positive correlation with nicotine dependence except smoking to lose weight and for socialization (McEwen, et. al., 2008). Yet conflicting research by Aloise-Young, Grant, and Hansen (1994) indicates that smoking …

Bilingual Language Distance Predicts Dementia Rating, Morgan Owens

Scholars Week

This study explored the differences in the languages spoken by bilingual people may lead to differences in cognitive reserve and the progression of AD. Individuals who speak distant languages (e.g., a Romance and a Germanic language) will have a different linguistic experience than individuals who speak two near languages (e.g., two Romance languages). Knowledge of distant languages may provide speakers with a large set of cognitive tools (e.g., linguistic constructs, concepts, schemas) that could increase cognitive reserve. We hypothesized that greater language distance would predict lower dementia scores in a clinical AD population.A subset of the data from the National …