Graduating from college is an important time of life transitions and career development for undergraduates and their future. Future self-identification, the connection between an individual’s current and future self, can negatively predict depression and utilize self-control as a mechanism to achieve later academic goals. Investigating an individual’s future self- identification, depression scores, and behavioral outcomes in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic can help optimize college graduate success in an uncertain world. The present study aimed to (1) determine if earlier future self-identification moderated the changes between later outcomes (e.g., depression, perceived alcohol consumption, and academic and career goals) from pre-COVID-19 to during COVID-19, (2) investigate if psychological resources (e.g., self-control and emotion regulation) had any intermediary effects between earlier future self-identification and later depression and behavioral outcomes during the pandemic, and (3) test for any moderation effects of future self-identification on the relationship between available psychological resources before COVID-19 and during COVID-19. The present research demonstrated that students with greater earlier future self-identification were less likely to change their academic and career goals and were less likely to experience symptoms of depression during the pandemic. Additionally, self-control was demonstrated as an intermediary factor between earlier future self-identification and later academic and career goal changes. These findings may help college graduates develop resilience in other stressful situations.

From 2019, a severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2, began to be a global pandemic. Many high income countries developed different strategies in response. This analysis intends to highlight how the COVID-19 became a global pandemic and the strategies that account for successes and failures. In identifying key policy differences, the high income countries of the United States, New Zealand and France were examined. The analysis found that New Zealand had proactive elimination strategies that proved highly effective, whereas the United States and France both struggled with mitigation factors that resulted in disproportionately higher confirmed cases and mortality rates. The analysis highlights how the airborne virus became a pandemic and then followed public policies’ effectiveness in terms of existing political institutions,and then their ability to be successful in preventing the spread of the virus.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated alarming increases in psychological distress and alcohol use behaviors and has caused the greatest increases in depression and anxiety symptoms among college students. Prior studies have examined the impact of COVID-19 broadly on mental health and alcohol use outcomes; however, few studies have examined these impacts in college students. Previous studies have examined individual factors that could moderate the relation between COVID-19 related stressors and mental health and alcohol use outcomes, but knowledge is lacking regarding the role of emotion regulation. The present study aimed to examine the role of emotion regulation in the relation between both COVID-19 stressful experiences and COVID-19 related worry and mental health and alcohol use outcomes, and to explore racial/ethnic differences in their associations. Four hierarchical multiple regression models were conducted to assess main effects of COVID-19 stressors and emotion regulation, as well as moderation of the effect of emotion regulation on depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, alcohol consumption, and alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms during the past year. COVID-19 related worry was associated with greater symptoms of both mental health outcomes, whereas COVID-19 related stressful experiences were associated with both mental health outcomes, more alcohol consumption, and more AUD symptoms. Difficulties in emotion regulation had significant main effects on mental health outcomes and AUD symptoms, but not alcohol consumption. Hispanic/Latinx students reported higher experiences of both COVID-19 related stressors, but consumed less alcohol than did White/European students. This study provides further insight into the nature of COVID-19 related stressors and their subsequent impacts. Implications for prevention and intervention on college campuses are discussed.

Survivors of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) often experience chronic symptoms that include fatigue, shortness of breath, and brain fog. The collection of ongoing post-COVID-19 symptoms have been classified as Post-Acute Sequela of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC). Older adult patients are especially susceptible to experiencing PASC related complications and have a high risk for long-term cognitive impairment symptoms. Definitions for categorizing PASC- associated cognitive impairment and neuropsychological assessments used to evaluate cognitive impairment are inconsistent between studies examining older adults. This systematic review aims to identify which neuropsychological tests best identify cognitive impairments associated with PASC and suggest a guide to standardize the measurement of PASC-related cognitive impairments. Through a literature search using PubMed, we included within this review 14 studies that fulfilled our inclusion and exclusion criteria evaluating middle-aged and older adult populations affected by PASC-associated cognitive impairments. The majority of the studies used tests designed to screen for general cognitive function to test for the prevalence of cognitive impairment, with the most common one being Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), followed by MMSE and TICS. MoCA reported the highest prevalence of the general cognitive screeners which suggests higher sensitivity and specificity. Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) demonstrated similar scores as MoCA despite administration being remote while MMSE identified the lowest prevalence. Four studies also used domain-specific cognitive evaluations and reported instances of cognitive impairment in individuals who had previously tested healthy. Furthermore, the results gathered in this review were stratified based on disease symptom severity. This review identifies MoCA to be better suited for evaluating general cognitive impairment in older adults. TICS has the added utility in being able to access a wider range of older adults through remote screening. Disease severity must be clearly defined to allow better comparisons between studies and allow for standardization. Early identification of PASC-associated cognitive impairment in middle-aged and older adults can be performed using general cognitive function evaluations and administering a baseline cognitive evaluation one month after infection is suggested.

Studies during and following the height of the Coronavirus pandemic show that psychological and physical health levels decrease, due to factors such as reduced human contact and anxiety. However, there is little to no research on how quality of life levels would change over the course of the pandemic for families who have the added stress of having a child with a developmental complication. To answer this question, this study utilized longitudinal data from the Babble Boot Camp, a project under the ASU Speech Language Genetics Lab, to analyze quality of life measures in families who have children with Classic Galactosemia (CG). CG is an inborn metabolic disorder that causes an intolerance to galactose, a sugar in dairy, the effects of which can be deadly. These children often show signs of developmental delays in multiple areas within the first few years of life. Studying quality of life surveys before, during, and after the most intense phase of the pandemic, this study investigates the difference between these families and those with typical children.

The climate conversation is growing more important and necessary than ever. The media has a way of promoting a "doom and gloom" sentiment over conservation efforts and what the public has the power to do in terms of making a change. Now due to the effects of COVID-19 on the population's attention spans and memories, there is a need for a way to communicate climate science effectively and to encourage those who feel discouraged by climate change to find their inner power. The answer lies in photography. Making science accessible and intriguing through the art of photography is what can get people more interested and empowered to fight against climate change and alter their attitudes towards environmentalism. This thesis explains psychological research and the reasons why people feel helpless in terms of our global future. In then dives into human subjects research conducted on ASU's campus and how the survey results argue in favor of the paper's hypothesis. Additionally, ways to get involved and reasons why we need to remain hopeful are discussed.

Early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic introduced a change in communication norms in regard to well-being. People traversed through different forms of communication to adapt to policies and regulations that limited in-person interactions to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Social interactions have been found to be an innate human need, important to one’s health and well-being. The study looked at the relationship between socializing and well-being during the state of the COVID-19 pandemic. Socializing variables consisted of remote and in-person socializing which in-person socializing was divided into two distinct categories. In-person socializing was divided into in-person safe socializing, indicating socializing that was safe from the risk of contracting the virus, and in-person unsafe socializing which indicates that socializing was at risk of contracting the virus. Additionally, the current study also investigated how age moderates this relationship between socializing and well-being. SEM analyses reported that in-person unsafe socializing has a significant positive association with well-being outcomes: anxiety and depression which indicate high levels of anxiety and depression with increased in-person unsafe socializing. The study also found remote socializing to have a significant positive association with the well-being outcome: positive affect, indicating increased levels of positive affect with increased remote socializing. Regression analyses looked at moderation by age, finding no significant interactions of age between socializing and well-being. Findings suggest the beneficial role of remote socializing and although remote socializing cannot replace in-person interactions, it serves as a supplemental resource during unpredictable events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has proven to be a challenging time for the Hispanic community, facing impacts on stress and depression symptoms at disproportionate rates. The current study examined the associations between socioeconomic COVID stressors and depression symptoms; and coping styles, including problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, and depression symptoms amongst Mexican heritage parents. Coping styles were also examined as a moderator of the association between socioeconomic COVID stressors and depression symptoms