COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on society, but can practicing gratitude make us more hopeful amidst adversity? The onset of the pandemic fostered newfound fears of death and increased general anxiety for the future. Previous research on the positive effects of practicing gratitude, such as the facilitation of hope and relationship reinforcement, serve as pathways for fostering healthy outlooks and coping mechanisms in light of adversity. The purpose of this study is focused on the priming effects of gratitude on hope. This research, distributed by survey, was conducted at a vaccine clinic where patients who received their first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine were in their 15 minute waiting period post-injection. Our findings yielded a small effect with no significant relationships between gratitude and hope. The results of the research are analyzed and expanded upon in the discussion portion of the study. Ideally, the findings of this research study would provide enlightenment in regard to the positive effects of gratitude and its facilitation of hope within the context of hardship.

The purpose of this study is to examine the potential influence of race and ethnicity on juveniles’ participation in a restorative justice program. More specifically, this study will examine an offender’s likelihood of being accepted into a school-based restorative justice diversion program based on the race and ethnicity of their victim and how that relates to the offender’s race and ethnicity. Race and ethnicity are important factors to examine to ensure that this diversion program is available to all eligible youth and youth are not being unintentionally excluded based on race. For this study, data about victim and offenders’ race was collected directly from a police department in a midwestern city. The current study examined the diversion program data. Based on prior research, we expect our sample will include offenders who are more likely to have committed assaults on those of the same race or ethnicity. Further, we expect those offenders with the same race or ethnicity as their victim will be more likely to be accepted into a school-based restorative justice program. The findings of this study will provide researchers with a more refined understanding of how shared racial identity impacts the juvenile justice system.

Childhood obesity increases the risk of having obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease in adulthood (Preventing Obesity in Children, Teens, and Adults, 2019). This study will investigate whether there are gender differences in body-mass-index (BMI) percentile amongst low-income children ages six to eleven in New Jersey and reveal any emerging patterns. Statistically significant differences in obesity prevalence between boys and girls ages six to eleven nationwide support the existence of gender differences in childhood obesity. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, boys ages six to eleven were more likely to be obese than girls in the same age range. Prevalence rates were 22.9% and 18.5% from 2017 to March 2020 for boys and girls, respectively (Stierman et al., 2021). Data from the New Jersey Childhood Obesity Study will be analyzed to determine whether similar trends can be identified at the state level. Pattern identification at the state-level patterns will allow decision-makers to make more informed choices when deciding which subpopulations to target when designing, promoting, funding, and implementing community-wide childhood obesity prevention programs. Prevention programs that target subpopulations with the most need can help to reduce health disparities in childhood obesity while promoting health equity for all children.

Dental health can impact diet quality by limiting the consumption of certain foods, but how does diet quality affect dental health? This research attempts to better understand and bring novel data that highlights the effects of diet quality on dental health. Participants will include college students aged 18-25. A Qualtrics survey using questions adapted from the Global Dietary Quality questionnaire will be distributed to qualifying participants. Challenges that college students face based on the lack of knowledge of a proper diet, food insecurities, and lack of dental care will be queried and explored. The goal of this study is to learn more about a college students' daily dietary life to help identify common factors that can lead to dental health issues which could lead to novel prevention and treatment options in the fields of dentistry and nutrition. The current hypothesis is that college students with lower diet quality have increased dental health issues than those with a higher diet quality. With further data collection, The results of this study will add to existing literature to provide a better understanding of the effects of diet quality and dental health in college students.