Behavioral addiction, characterized by persistent engagement in compulsive behaviors to alleviate distress or manage challenging circumstances, devastatingly impacts the psychological development of children and adolescents. Youth affected by addiction often exhibit self-sabotaging behaviors, employ avoidance strategies, struggle with compromised decision-making abilities, become desensitized to harm, and suffer from severely diminished self-esteem. These challenges are exacerbated by systemic issues such as the pediatric mental health crisis, the school-to-prison pipeline, and entanglement in child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Consequently, these youths frequently face severe deficits in impulse regulation, inadequate stress coping mechanisms, and complex behavioral patterns that hinder their development. Mindfulness emerges as a critical, cost-effective therapeutic approach known for enhancing attentional control, emotion regulation, and cognitive flexibility. This research delivers urgent insights into the impact of mindfulness interventions on youth outcomes, promoting metacognitive awareness in high-pressure contexts, challenging automatic cognitive biases, and fostering adaptive reinterpretations of situations to cultivate mindfulness and present-centered awareness. This presentation, based on a thorough scoping review, urgently addresses the pervasive effects of addictive behaviors on youths' self-concept and social integration, positioning mindfulness as a vital solution for these disrupted domains. By clarifying how mindfulness mitigates behavioral addiction and boosts positive psychological development in youth, this study calls for immediate, developmentally-sensitive and non-punitive interventioning aimed at fostering resilience among at-risk youth and enhancing intergenerational well-being.

An infant's early life experiences and behavior are shaped by the synchrony between the caregiver and the infant. Synchrony, the effortless coordination between individuals’ interactions, establishes the foundational framework where self-regulation and social adaptation integrate. These interactions facilitate infants' social engagement opportunities, fostering the development of their self-regulatory abilities; including the capacity to control and manage their behavior, compliance, and effective coordination. Therefore, understanding interactive behavior is crucial to support appropriate development. The Coding Interactive Behavior (CIB), designed by Ruth Feldman PhD, is a global rating scheme where mothers and infants are recorded during interactive engagement activities. These interactions are analyzed using a rating scale based on the coder’s observations and CIB guidelines. The purpose of our research project is to explore the foundations of CIB and its use in the study of caregiver-infant synchrony. Additionally, we examine the application of synchrony and dyadic exchanges between caregiver and infant, emphasizing its significance in child development and developmental disorders.

This research, using Martin’s (2003) humor styles, explores humor diversity among students and Forensic professionals who are frequently exposed to graphic violence in their curriculum or job. It examines humor's impact on well-being, its psychological significance, and its role in stress navigation and social success. According to Martin (2003), a sense of humor can be seen as a cognitive ability, habitual behavior, and an emotion-related trait like a coping strategy or defense mechanism. In the area of violent and graphic images, research indicates that watching violent movie content increases anxiety in late adolescents (Madan et al., 2013). Exposure to violent media can erode mental well-being over time, affecting an individual's emotional state, interpersonal relationships, and overall life quality. Violent Content consumption and a higher rate of aggressive behavior were highly correlated (Mößle et. al., 2014). Using the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) and The Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB) the purpose of this project is to explore: How students who have been exposed to violent images as part of their curriculum use humor and its impact on their well-being. Additionally, interviews will be conducted with professionals in the field to explore their coping strategies and how humor contributes to their well-being. As a current Forensic Science student who is also studying psychology, I find that maintaining a robust mental health is crucial for forensic scientists. The nature of their work involves delving into the darker aspects of human behavior, and its exposure can lead to heightened stress levels and emotional strain.

There is not much research done on the semantic network and OCD. To assess how thoughts lead to other thoughts and its correlation to levels of obsession, 3 procedures are going to be used including the Free Association Semantic Task (FAST), Response Categorization Task, and the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). When we think of a word, our brain thinks of other words. According to a previous study using the FAST to test if high levels of repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is associated with higher levels of negative word chain lengths, it is expected that instead of RNT, high levels of obsession is going to be associated with higher levels of negative word chain lengths in response to a positive seed word. By examining how semantic networks contribute to the persistence of negative thoughts, the study may offer valuable insights for interventions and therapeutic strategies for those who have OCD. Also, this study allows for more understanding of mechanisms underlying obsessions because obsessions are a key feature of OCD.