Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Association Between Exposure To Air Pollution And Hippocampal Volume In Adults In The Uk Biobank, Dawson W. Hedges, Lance D. Erickson, Jackie Kunzelman, Bruce L. Brown, Shawn D. Gale

Faculty Publications

Background: The hippocampus is important for memory processing. Several neuropsychiatric diseases including Alzheimer’s disease are associated with reduced hippocampal volume, and further the hippocampus appears vulnerable to environmental insult. Air pollution has been associated with cardiovascular disease, abnormal brain structure, and cognitive deficits.

Objective: Because of hippocampal vulnerability to environmental insults and based on the association between exposure to air pollution and cognitive function and brain structure, we evaluated the association between exposure to toxins in air pollution and left and right hippocampal volume using brain-imaging and air-pollution data from the UK Biobank, a large community-based dataset.

Methods …

Examining Religious Commitment, Personality, And Well-Being Among Latter-Day Saints, Kawika Allen, Ofa Hafoka, Lane Fischer

Faculty Publications

This study examined religious commitment, the big five personality traits, social interaction anxiety, and anger among 110 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Results suggest the majority of the participants are religious, score high on agreeableness and conscientiousness, and low on social interaction anxiety and anger. Agreeableness mediated the relationship between religious commitment and anger, and extraversion moderated the relationship between religious commitment and social interaction anxiety. Counseling strategies are discussed for social work providers. Implications and future directions are discussed.