Stronger bicultural identity integration (BII) —the perceived harmony and blendedness between an individual’s heritage and dominant cultural identities—has been linked to positive psychological outcomes among immigrants due to the cultivation of social support. However, this association could vary depending on cultural orientation since more individualistic people could be less inclined to pursue social support, hence benefitting less from BII. The present study investigated whether individualism influences the relationship between BII and perceived social support. A cross-sectional survey of immigrant-background students (N = 659; 14% first-generation, 12.6% 1.5-generation [foreign-born but US resident], 73.4% second-generation) assessed their BII, cultural orientation between individualism and collectivism, and perceived social support. A moderation analysis revealed that individualism significantly moderated the association between BII and perceived social support (b=-0.012, SE=0.005, p=.016), such that the positive relationship between BII and perceived social support was weaker at higher levels of individualism. These findings highlight the importance of considering individual differences in cultural orientation when addressing the social and psychological well-being of bicultural individuals. Interventions aiming to enhance social support among immigrant populations may be more effective when tailored to individuals' cultural values, particularly by promoting relational strategies among those with lower individualism.

Alexithymia, characterized by difficulty identifying and describing emotions, is increasingly reported among youth, yet its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Emerging evidence suggests the gut microbiome, which influences emotion and cognition via the brain-gut axis, may be altered by caregiving-related early adversity (crEAs), potentially contributing to alexithymia. Exploring this link could help identify intervention targets for at-risk youth.To address this, we conducted a study of 150 youth (ages 6-18) in a longitudinal, 3-wave study, with data collected at baseline and follow-ups 12-18 months apart. Participants, with and without crEAs, completed self-report measures of mental and physical health. Alexithymia was assessed using a child-adaptive version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). Higher scores indicated greater difficulty identifying and expressing emotions. Microbiome composition was analyzed using alpha diversity measures.I hypothesize that lower alpha diversity (fewer microbial groups) in the gut microbiome is associated with higher alexithymia, with stronger effects in crEA-exposed youth. Preliminary findings show Cronbach’s alpha for alexithymia ranged from 0.71-0.81, indicating acceptable reliability for Difficulty Describing Feelings (0.71) and good reliability for Difficulty Identifying Feelings (0.81). This study will clarify how crEAs affects gut-brain interactions and emotional processing, uncovering mechanisms that influence at-risk youth.

As cannabis policies in the US continue to change, understanding how cannabis use may relate to other substance use is crucial. Race, ethnicity, age of cannabis initiation, and frequency of cannabis use may provide insight into patterns of current and/or lifetime substance use. Data from people who use cannabis (N=371) were collected during screening for drug administration studies at the UCLA Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids. Substance use status was categorized into 3 dichotomous variables [current nicotine use; current alcohol use; lifetime use of any other substance (e.g., psilocybin, cocaine)] and was examined across race, ethnicity, age of cannabis initiation, and cannabis use frequency using Chi-square tests and one-way ANOVAs. Rates of nicotine and alcohol use did not differ significantly based on race. Rates of lifetime use of other substances were significantly lower among participants who identified as Black. Ethnicity was not significantly related to use of nicotine, alcohol, or other substances. Participants who used alcohol reported significantly fewer days/week of cannabis use when compared to those who did not use alcohol. Earlier cannabis initiation was associated with lifetime use of other substances, but not with nicotine or alcohol use. This study aimed to examine use of other substances among people who use cannabis as the initial step toward improving treatment. Future research can explore whether individualized treatment plans are more effective at treating mental health disorders.

With the rise of Large Language Models (LLMs), interest in simulating interaction dynamics has grown, raising questions about their validity as cognitive models of human discourse. While extensive research focuses on their performance in various applications, we aim to quantify LLM conversational processes akin to traditional human studies. By analyzing how convergence entropy evolves across different conversational tasks, we propose a framework for quantitatively assessing LLMs’ ability to exhibit specific features. This approach offers a pathway to characterizing LLMs for agent-based modeling and broader discourse analysis.

Conceptual compositionality, the ability to combine concepts in a structured way to form more complex meanings, is a fundamental cognitive skill that begins developing in early childhood. Recent research shows that children under 7.5 years old struggle with combining abstract concepts, such as understanding how changing an icon’s color and switching the order of two icons sequentially leads to a new outcome (Alderete et al., 2024). One possible reason is the difficulty in mentally representing abstract functions. Embodiment theory posits that bodily actions help clarify ideas by making them more concrete. Drawing on this theory, the current study investigates whether embodying abstract concepts through physical movements, such as showing animations of hands manipulating the icons, improves children’s understanding of conceptual compositionality. To test this, we designed an experiment in which children learn two simple functions with or without seeing animation of physical movements and are then asked to predict outcomes when the functions are combined sequentially. We hypothesize that children who see animations of physical movements will perform better in the task, as embodied animations help them mentally represent and integrate abstract functions. Findings from this research will contribute to our understanding of how embodied experiences shape children’s conceptual compositional reasoning and inform educational strategies that support their reasoning about complex ideas.