At the Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead, two high school students Baldwin, Tori Famularo and Victoria Vazquez, are researching behavioral science through socially conscious projects that will be exhibited at the convention of the Association for Psychological Sciences (APS) in Chicago, Illinois, May 26-28. Famularo’s Study was entitled “Children Are Not * OK: Assessing Student Stress in Preparatory Schools for Same-Sex Schools in New York and Puerto Rico” and Vazquez, “#Retweet”: Is There a Link Between Social Media Use and Social Anxiety? ” with respect. Famularo is expected to attend Dartmouth College in the fall, and Vasquez at Scranton University.
Famularo chose her topic while thinking about other student experiences around the world that could have happened to her if she had not been born in the geographical location where she was. Being a decent Puerto Rican but growing up in Baldwin, this was special for her statement: “I was actually a partner with our sister school Maria Reina in Puerto Rico, which was really nice because I’m Puerto Rican so I could accept my culture. ”
After the survey, the results were published and it was found that in both schools there was a high prevalence of physical and mental stress and related unhealthy behaviors related to that stress, such as 67.4 percent who reported chronic sleep deprivation. More interestingly, Famularo found that there was no correlation between physical stress symptoms and the calculated grade point average.
Vasquez, Famular’s colleague and fellow researcher, chose an equally important research topic, wondering if the addition and use of social media was linked to social anxiety. By sending a three-part survey for 78 participants, Vasquez discovered the unexpected, not seeing a significant correlation between social anxiety and the use of social media.
However, the topic is timely because the increase in the suicide rate, especially among young girls, can be seen in today’s youth. Ambulance visits on suspicion of suicide attempts among girls between the ages of 12 and 17 increased by 26 percent during the summer of 2020 and by 50 percent during the winter of 2021, compared to the same periods in 2019, say researchers from the US Centers for Control and disease prevention. found.
Sacred Heart Academy Director Jean Amore stopped by the classroom during the presentations and was impressed by the work of the teenagers: “They do well in research and work very well according to the metrics of Dr. Sullivan who coached them. a moral compass for themselves, which is nice because their research reflects their personal and professional interests, but also what they care about today as witnesses of the world. ”
The APS began in 1988 with 400 dedicated psychological scientists and a mission to restore the public image of psychology as a science. Today, APS has international membership and continues to combine traditional scientific values of rigor and transparency with innovative methods and practices in conducting and applying research.
The APS Convention hosts more than 4,200 psychological scientists and students annually, and more than 2,500 at its two-year International Convention on Psychological Sciences. And throughout the year, APS divides its science into six of the most influential journals in the field. APS is also committed to training and supporting a new generation of psychological scientists and engaging the scientific community with state-of-the-art tools and techniques.