The rapid rise and widespread accessibility of AI-generated content within digital spaces has introduced new risks for public health, as highly realistic misinformation can appear credible, trustworthy, and easy to process. Using a between-subjects experimental design, this proposed study examines how AI-generated health misinformation influences memory accuracy, perceived trust, and behavioral responses compared to accurate health information. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups wherein they will either view AI-generated misinformation videos or videos depicting accurate health information from a credible source. Memory accuracy, misinformation acceptance, and perceived trust will then be assessed using items adapted from the Trust in Online Health Information (TOHI) scale. It is anticipated that AI-generated misinformation will be processed more efficiently, produce lower recall accuracy, and elicit greater trust and willingness to follow inaccurate advice. These expected outcomes underline the persuasive potential and associated dangers of AI-generated misinformation and emphasize the need for improved strategies to support critical evaluation of online health information. This study points out the need for future work aimed at developing effective detection tools, improving digital literacy, and strengthening public-health strategies to mitigate the impact of AI-driven misinformation. 

This research project aims to focus on women of color and their healthcare experiences before receiving an official diagnosis of endometriosis or polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (formerly known as polycystic ovarian syndrome). Endometriosis is a condition where scar tissue, similar to uterine lining, develops both inside and outside the uterus, thus creating an environment where the ovaries and fallopian tubes could stick to the uterus; causing extreme pain when it is contracting. Common symptoms include painful menstruation or intercourse, infertility, excess blood flow during period, or weight gain or difficulty losing weight. Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) is a hormonal disorder that affects more than 170 million women worldwide but was left untreated in most because the symptom criteria were only narrowed down to finding cysts in the ovaries. PMOS presents in people differently, so it was recently renamed so that way the symptom criteria could be expanded, and more people could get diagnosed and get the proper treatment they need. Research is limited on women of color with their experiences with these chronic conditions, but on the few research articles done in the past, it is said that women of color have had negative experiences before getting officially diagnosed. The research project is still ongoing so there are no results to present at this time, but the prediction of the outcome would be that women of color do report negative experiences within the healthcare field before receiving a diagnosis.

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality, partly because many cases are diagnosed at later stages. Low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) can detect lung cancer earlier and reduce mortality, yet, screening participation is low. Psychological barriers, including lung cancer stigma, may influence how people interpret screening messages and whether they view screening as acceptable or recommendable. Because public health advertisements circulate through television, social media, and other communication channels, they may influence not only screening-eligible individuals but also community adults whose attitudes can affect conversations with friends and family members making health decisions. This experimental study examines whether stigmatizing content in lung cancer screening advertisements influences attitudes towards lung cancer screening in a community sample. A total of 432 adults in the U.S. will be randomly assigned to view one of three 30-second advertisements: a high-stigma lung cancer advertisement, a low-stigma lung cancer screening advertisement, or a control advertisement. After exposure to the ad, participants will complete self report measures assessing attitudes towards lung cancer screening. We hypothesize that participants exposed to high-stigma advertisements will report less favorable attitudes toward lung cancer screening than participants exposed to low-stigma or control advertisements. Findings may inform the development of less stigmatizing public health campaigns that encourage positive attitudes towards lung cancer screening, which will promote early detection and contribute to efforts to reduce preventable lung cancer mortality among high-risk populations. 

This proposed mixed-methods study seeks to examine the relationship between caregiver burden and mental health outcomes among family caregivers of older adults, and to explore the role of psychological resilience in caregiver adaptation. Guided by the Stress Process Model and Resilience Theory, the quantitative component will assess caregiver burden, resilience, depression, anxiety, and perceived stress using validated survey instruments. The qualitative component will use semi-structured interviews to explore caregivers’ lived experiences, coping strategies, and perceived support needs. It is anticipated that greater caregiver burden will be associated with poorer mental health outcomes, whereas higher resilience will be associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, and perceived stress. Qualitative findings are expected to identify personal, social, and community factors that promote resilience and sustain caregivers throughout the caregiving journey. This research seeks to contribute to the growing body of literature on family caregiving by informing resilience-focused interventions, caregiver support programs, and community-based strategies that promote healthy aging. Ultimately, the study aims to provide evidence to improve caregiver well-being while supporting older adults in remaining safely and independently in their homes and communities.

Visual search is a fundamental cognitive process used in everyday tasks, from locating household objects to completing professional search activities. While many studies examine visual search using computer based tasks, real world searches often require physical interaction with the environment. This study investigated interactive visual search using LEGO bricks to examine how search strategy influences performance. Participants searched for target LEGO pieces within trays containing many distractor pieces while using different search approaches. Search efficiency was evaluated by measuring accuracy and the time required to locate target objects. Results indicate that participants who adopted an active, goal directed search strategy located targets more efficiently than those using a more relaxed search approach. These findings suggest that effective visual attention and intentional search behaviors improve performance during interactive search tasks that require both visual and manual exploration. Understanding the cognitive processes underlying interactive search may contribute to improving training methods for occupations that rely on efficient visual search, including medical imaging, security screening, and search and rescue operations. This research extends laboratory models of visual attention to more realistic environments and provides insight into how people coordinate vision, attention, and physical actions when searching for objects in complex settings.

With heightened immigration enforcement and recent policy changes, concerns about the mental health and well-being of undocumented immigrants and their families have grown. This scoping review examines recent literature on the psychological impacts of immigration policy and enforcement, focusing on undocumented adults, children, and mixed-status families. Specifically, it explores mental health outcomes among Latino adults and children, barriers to care, and protective factors. Peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2026 were identified through Google Scholar, PsycINFO, and PubMed using key terms related to undocumented immigrants, ICE enforcement, deportation, mental health, anxiety, depression, family separation, and immigration policy. Findings indicate that immigration-related stressors, including discrimination, restrictive policy environments, and fear of deportation, are associated with elevated anxiety, depression, and chronic stress among undocumented adults and children. Barriers to mental health care include fear of deportation, financial constraints, limited insurance coverage, and shortages of bilingual and culturally responsive services. Protective factors identified across studies include family support, community networks, trusted adults, cultural values, and access to culturally responsive care. Implications include expanding bilingual and culturally responsive mental health services and advocating for policies that reduce barriers to care for undocumented and mixed-status families. Future research should examine the impacts of more recent policy changes, evaluate evidence-based interventions, and explore experiences across diverse immigrant populations and rural communities.

Asian American adolescents experience a range of internalized issues, including depression, anxiety, and psychological distress. These concerns may be influenced by cultural stigma surrounding mental health, family expectations, discrimination, and pressures associated with the model minority stereotype. Despite these challenges, Asian Americans remain underrepresented in health research. From 1992 to 2018, National Institutes of Health funding for Asian research comprised only 0.17 percent of its budget. Representation is even more limited for Asian American adolescent populations. Furthermore, the broad use of the term Asian often combines diverse ethnic subgroups into a single category, potentially obscuring important differences in experiences and health outcomes. To address these gaps, this study identified the internalized issues reported among Asian American adolescents who have experienced adverse childhood experiences in the United States. Additionally, the study examined the most prevalent adverse childhood experiences and explored trends across Asian American adolescent subgroups. The Arksey and O'Malley framework was utilized as the guiding methodology. The framework consists of five essential stages: identifying the research question, identifying relevant studies, study selection through an inclusion and exclusion process, charting the data, and summarizing and reporting the results. All studies were identified exclusively from PubMed or Google Scholar. Retrieved studies were screened according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria to determine eligibility for inclusion in the review. A total of 45 studies were identified across PubMed and Google Scholar related to adverse childhood experiences and internalized issues among Asian American adolescents in the United States. 11 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The selected studies were examined to identify patterns in internalized issues, prevalent adverse childhood experiences, and trends across Asian American subgroups. This scoping review synthesized existing literature on adverse childhood experiences and internalized issues among Asian American adolescents in the United States and identified gaps in subgroup-specific research. The review highlights the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and adverse mental health outcomes while emphasizing the need for additional research focused on diverse Asian American subgroups.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by the generalization of fear beyond the stimuli directly experienced during a traumatic event, often extending to indirect cues with an abstract relationship to the original trauma. This high-order generalization presents a significant barrier to existing exposure-based treatments, which specifically target identifiable triggers and struggle to address the broad nature of generalized fear in PTSD. Although prior work has begun to try to understand the mechanisms that underlie this process, trauma type and ethnicity remain understudied as sources of PTSD heterogeneity. The proposed study utilizes behavioral data from the Memory Integration Networks in Trauma (MINT) study to address these gaps. Using threat expectancy ratings collected across a three-session high-order generalization paradigm, this study proposes to examine how trauma type and Hispanic minority status moderate the relationship between PTSD symptom severity and fear generalization. It is hypothesized that higher PTSD symptom severity will predict broader fear generalization, that this relationship will be strongest among participants with interpersonal trauma histories, and that Hispanic participants will demonstrate a strong positive relationship between symptom severity and generalization compared to non-Hispanic white participants. Findings may inform more personalized, culturally responsive approaches to identifying and treating fear generalization in PTSD.