Whereas Fleming was alone with her partner and missing outside social activities, Franzese had a full house and was missing the quiet afforded by children leaving to go to school. And thus, a study was born.

The two quickly put together a study that asked participants to report on their work and financial concerns, mental health, intimate relationship status and satisfaction, parenting issues, and more.

Relatively early on in the pandemic, they published an article titled “” that examined relationship satisfaction and commitment during the initial shutdown.

Recently, Fleming worked with ������Ƶ statistician Mark Weaver, an assistant professor of statistics, to follow up on those outcomes after two years, in a paper titled, “.” Based on past catastrophic events, the researchers expected significant declines in satisfaction and commitment. They did see significant declines in satisfaction over time, but they did not see as many separations or divorces as expected.

This may be because many people in the pandemic reported mixed feelings about their relationships rather than solely negative experiences. Fleming and students Honors Fellow Abbey Rose ’23, ������Ƶ College Fellow Kerry Barba ’22 and ������Ƶ College Fellow Marli Siciliano ’22), took a deep dive into open-ended responses to the question, “How has the pandemic affected your relationship?” which participants addressed in the survey in April and May 2020 and again in March 2021.

Many participants responded with both positive and negative changes that they had experienced in their relationships, and even the same reported change was often discussed with a different emotional tone. For example, many participants experienced a shift in the division of labor in their household. For some, this was a welcome change but for some, it was an added stress. Their paper, “” captures the experience of the pandemic in participants’ own words.

In addition to relationship issues, the survey also addressed mental health across the pandemic. Franzese and Fleming intended to look at mental health over time, and Honors Fellow Abbey Rose ’23 brought her own spin to the project. Now a nursing student and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Rose was interested in the intersection of physical and mental health. Together with Weaver, the group examined mental health over time as well as how mental health varied in accordance with the health challenges of the pandemic, including COVID diagnosis and hospitalization, quarantine due to COVID, and loss of family members due to COVID.

Results of this study were published recently in a paper titled, “.” Results suggest that mental health concerns such as depression and anxiety spiked at the beginning of the pandemic and have declined somewhat in intervening years. As of Spring 2022, rates of mental health symptoms experienced by participants were still roughly double pre-pandemic levels, however. Surprisingly, most COVID-related issues did not significantly impact change in mental health over time, with the exception of quarantine experiences. It seems that more time in isolation as a family or as an individual had a significant impact on mental health over time.

That brought the researchers back to our early pandemic question – how do we best support our mental health and need for connection while protecting those who are most vulnerable? Hopefully, this is not a question that will need to be answered again for a long time.

In addition to these published papers, the research team is examining the domains in which participants felt they could be most genuine during the pandemic. Building on Franzese’s interests in authenticity, study participants were surveyed for where they engaged in the most emotional masking – at work, in romantic relationships, or in their parenting. Results from the first round of data were presented at the February 2024 meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and revealed that participants displayed the most emotional masking in work, followed by parenting, and that the least masking occurred in the context of romantic relationships, and that these differences were statistically significant. Particularly notable was the frequency of effort to more deeply feel the emotions one is displaying in the domain of parenting. Franzese and Fleming, along with Assistant Professor of Psychology Katrina Jongman-Sereno are now working on a publication on that topic.

Overall, this project shows how unique experiences and perspectives can inform the research ������Ƶ faculty members pursue. As Fleming and Franzese have found, despite some gains in pandemic recovery, the psychological effects of this crisis will continue to be felt for quite some time.

������Ƶ students presented on many topics including understanding biological precursors to the development of dementia, restorative practices in education, feminist themes in gothic literature, modeling of obesity trends and coral reef biodiversity and more. Students were accompanied by ������Ƶ faculty members Vanessa Drew-Branch, CJ Fleming, Eric Hall, Scott Morrison and Hwaeyon Ryu.

“This was my second time attending NCUR and I was again blown away by the range of expertise and the amazing talents that our students displayed,” Fleming said. “It is such a treat to see them demonstrate to the larger community how much they have learned as well as the value of ������Ƶ’s experiential education model.”

������Ƶ students presented across multiple formats. Human Service Studies major Ethan Lane-Blake presented his film series “Erased: The Hidden Stories of Queer People in the Civil Rights Movement.”

“Participating at NCUR was an incredibly enriching experience,” Lane-Blake said. “Having the chance to present my year-and-a-half-long project of passion and dedication alongside peers was truly meaningful. Not only did I get to share my work, but I also had the privilege of supporting and learning from other fellow presenters who showcased their own hard work and talent. It was an amazing opportunity that allowed for personal growth and satisfaction, seeing my work have a positive impact. I am hopeful that my presentation will spark a light in the next generation of ‘Angelic Troublemakers.’”

Vanessa Drew-Branch, an associate professor of human service studies who is mentoring Lane-Blake, was new to NCUR. “This is my first time attending NCUR but I hope that it will not be my last!” she said. “Witnessing all of the great work that our students at ������Ƶ have produced under the mentorship of my colleagues across campus was truly inspiring and uplifting. Being in the presence of the next generation of thinkers was truly energizing.”

Education major Ally Shibata shared her work on using a walking curriculum with autistic first graders in an oral presentation. “Working with Dr. Morrison on our research project for the last three years has been an extremely impactful part of my undergraduate experience, Shibata said. ”It was incredibly fulfilling to present my research with my peers and learn about others’ inspiring projects at NCUR.”

Psychology major Emma Simpson presented a poster focused on the relationship between intellectual humility, investigative behaviors, and overclaiming of knowledge. “Attending NCUR was a unique experience that allowed me not only to build confidence presenting my research, but also to actively learn more about topics beyond my own research discipline,” Simpson said. “I greatly appreciate the opportunity that NCUR provided for me to connect with ������Ƶ peers as well as student scholars from universities across the world.”

Across format and discipline our students were tremendously successful and impressive. Students also attended keynote talks presented by Dana Bolles, disability rights activist and external information technology lead at NASA, and from Lori Bettison-Varga, president and director of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

NCUR was first held at the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 1987 and ������Ƶ students have been attending the conference since 1993. ������Ƶ often has more than 40 students present at NCUR each year. Next year’s conference will be held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

As a part of a special interest group for clinical psychologists at liberal arts colleges, Associate Professor of Psychology CJ Fleming and a group of collaborators are considering the need for specific competency specifications as a part of the undergraduate psychology curriculum.

Much like the pre-med and pre-health students who have specific course and experience requirements, students in pre-mental health careers are also expected to meet specific requirements, but these are not often articulated clearly. This research group surveyed master’s- and doctoral-level faculty to investigate what each type of graduate program expects and how current undergraduates stack up agains these expectations.

to learn more.

Deandra Little, director for the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning, and CJ Fleming, assistant professor of psychology, presented a talk entitled, “Creating Evidence-Based Reflective Writing Assignments Across Experiential Learning Opportunities,” in which they shared models of reflection and strategies for using meaningful reflection assignments in experiences such as internship, service-learning, and study abroad.

Fleming and Laurie Judge, senior associate director of career services, hosted a roundtable focused on the collaboration between faculty and career services, entitled, “Better Together: Creating Effective Internship Partnerships Across the University.”

President Emeritus Leo Lambert and Peter Felten, executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning, presented a talk entitled, “Relationship-Rich Education: Centering Human Relationships in Undergraduate Education,” previewing their book that will be published in October by Johns Hopkins University Press. They were joined by students Amaya Gaines and Matt Seib.

Jessica “Jess” Burchett received the Seena Granowsky Outstanding Student in Psychology Award. She was nominated by her mentor, Associate Professor Kim Epting, who said in her nomination, “Jess Burchett is an outstanding human, student, and developing researcher. She began as a researcher in my lab in spring of her sophomore year, although she had been actively pursuing the possibility since fall of her first year. Jess’s work, commitment, and ethic are second to none. A double-major in Psychology and Music Production & Recording Arts, she has maintained a high level of engagement in both areas. Over the past 2.5 years in psychology, Jess has worked on 3 research projects, including leading a multi-experiment study as her ������Ƶ College Fellows project, has had work accepted for presentation 7 times (3 external professional venues, 4 internal), and already has a professional publication under her research belt. She immerses herself into the research, both conceptually and analytically, is conscientious and collaborative, and an absolute delight to mentor. Truthfully, she inspires and drives me more than I do her.”

Alexandra “Alex” Grillo received the Research Excellence in Psychology Award. She was nominated by her mentor Assistant Professor Sabrina Thurman, who said in her nomination, “Alex is one of the only students in recent years in our department who has conducted independent research simultaneously with two faculty mentors (Dr. Sabrina Thurman and Dr. Bilal Ghandour). Alex actively and intentionally pursued these different opportunities to tailor her research training in varied areas. In the Infant Development Lab, Alex has developed effective research skills in a number of tasks, made meaningful contributions to several projects, and has been a leader and role model in training and supporting other research students. Her research has been supported by numerous research grants and recognitions, has been presented at a local conference, and was recently accepted to an international professional conference (to be held summer 2020).”

Robyn Lane received the Community Engagement Excellence in Psychology Award. She was nominated by her mentor, Assistant Professor CJ Fleming, who said in her nomination, “Robyn has completed internships at Southeast Psych, Broughton Hospital, and AmeriHealth Philadelphia. She participates in activities like the Lost Got Found organization which works towards the destigmatization of mental illness, and with the Hope Springs equestrian center for people with disabilities. She is also the current president of the Psychology Club and has worked hard to drum up business and plan fun/educational activities for her peers. I think of her as a standout ‘department citizen’ in that she attends events, brings friends, and is generally a pleasure to have in class. She ties her community activities in with her classwork seamlessly, and brings a great attitude to everything that she does.”

Congratulations Jess, Alex, and Robyn, and thank you for all your hard work!

The award is given to a person under 25 years old who has made a significant impact on young people with mental illness in the community. DeVries is completing her Lumen Prize project titled, “Young, Anxious, and Feeling Alone: An examination of the role of social influence in help-seeking for young adults with anxiety” with her mentor Assistant Professor of Psychology CJ Fleming.

DeVries conducted an online survey about mental health help-seeking with high school students, and then also surveyed members of NAMI nationwide. She has worked closely with the local NAMI affiliate in Alamance County to increase its web and on-campus presence.