Olivia is a member of the Class of 2024 at Wesleyan University from Arlington, Virginia planning to major in Government. Prior to Wesleyan, Olivia attended Yorktown High School in Arlington, VA. At Wesleyan, she is member of the Women’s Lacrosse team and participates in Hope Happens Here. Post-graduate, Olivia aspires to lobby for comprehensive public health legislation.
Abstract: The goal of the present analysis include 1) establishing the relationship between regular access to a health care provider and a patron’s ability to maintain a routine healthy diet; and 2) determining whether or not the relationship between regular access to a health care provider and a patron’s ability to maintain a routine healthy diet differs for those who are classified as financially disadvantaged. This study will investigate whether financially disadvantaged individuals are less likely to maintain a routine healthy diet given that there is not regular access to a health care provider who can provide individualized health and nutritional counseling.
Langston Morrison is a senior student at Wesleyan University, working towards a Bachelor’s Degree in College of Letters, Economics, and International Relations. His research interests include language, African indigenous hermeneutics, philology, semiotics, epistemology, worldview(s), and James Africanus Beale Horton. After graduation, Morrison plans to work at a law firm before pursuing his ultimate dreams of going to law school in the Fall 2022. A passionate global citizen and international traveler, he is fluent in several languages and is studying to strengthen his proficiency in Arabic, German, and Kiswahili.
Abstract: This study examines the relationship between depression and poor appetite among African American female adolescents in grades 7-12 in the United States using the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (ADDHEALTH) from 1994-2008. The survey included 6,504 participants randomly sampled from around the United States. This study operationalizes “poor appetite” as a binary categorical response variable with “0” indicating that the respondent “never” had poor appetite in the past 12 months. The category “1” indicates that the respondent had experienced poor appetite “just a few times,” “about once a week,” “almost every day,” and “every day.” My explanatory variable “depression” is a scale from 0 to 3 based on respondents accordance (never or rarely – most of the time or all of the time) with the statement “you felt depressed.” Additionally, I wanted to include variables like race and sex to analyze whether or not there is a relationship to depression. My sex variable was invaluable in helping to explain the association between depression and poor appetite.
Andrew is a Sophomore double major in Economics and Computer Science at Wesleyan University and a member of the Wesleyan Mens Ice Hockey team. Andrew went to Newton South High School, before taking a post graduate year at Avon Old Farms. Andrew is from Newton Massachusetts, about 15 minuets outside of Boston. Andrew’s project explores some of the hereditary and social factors that predict alcoholism among American adolescents.
American pop culture glorifies binge drinking in society, and commercials suggest that alcohol makes every situation better, but the media fails to highlight that alcohol accounts for over 5.9 percent of deaths worldwide (Vladimir, P, Dag, R, 2018). Given the strong positive association between alcohol use and the negative alcohol-related consequences, it is important to understand the social determinants that lead to these adverse outcomes.
The goal of the present analysis include 1) establishing the relationship between family history of AUD and future development of AUD; 2) establishing the relationship between the number of genetic parents in a adolescents household and future development of AUD; and 3) determining whether or not the relationship between the future development of AUD and family history of AUD differs for adolescents with varying levels of housing stability in terms of the number of genetic parents present in the household.
Emmet is currently a Sophomore at Wesleyan from just outside Syracuse, NY majoring in Economics. Emmet is also a member of the Men’s Ice Hockey team at Wesleyan. Prior to coming to Wesleyan Emmet attended a boarding school 8 miles south of Boston, Milton Academy, in hopes to prepare him for the rigors of college. Emmet spent this spring semester examining the relationship between an individual’s household income and ownership of non-retirement investments such as stocks. Emmet is very interested in things such as the stock market and was curious to analyze data regarding it.
Abstract: Discussions concerning the stock market are at the forefront of today’s society with many unusual factors affecting the markets normal nature. Things like cryptocurrency surges and Coronavirus pandemic effects have created chaos in the stock market resulting in large financial gains for many individuals. The stock market has always been depicted and stereotyped as something that the wealthy people use to grow their wealth, and isn’t often seen as something used by the common American as much (Khan, Rabbani, & Kadoya, 2020). Furthermore, People with higher income or higher education are more optimistic about future macroeconomic developments, such as stock market returns (Das et al., 2020).
The objectives of this present analysis include 1) establishing the relationship between ownership of non-retirement investments and household income; and 2) determining whether or not the relationship between ownership of non-retirement investments and household income differs for those who do not own non-retirement investments.
Hi! My name is Natalie Gross. I am a freshman at Wesleyan from New York City and plan on double majoring in Sociology and Psychology.
Abstract: Nicotine usage is often thought to be associated with poor sleep. Many studies have shown an association between the two and it is common practice for doctors to advise discontinued use of nicotine products if one’s sleep is impacted (Wiener RC;Waters C;Bhandari R;Trickett Shockey AK;Alshaarawy O;, 2020), (Dugas EN;Sylvestre MP;O’Loughlin EK;Brunet J;Kakinami L;Constantin E;O’Loughlin J, 2016). As nicotine usage is rampant in young adult communities and a healthy sleep schedule is thought to be crucial for complete functioning (CDC, Youth and Tobacco Use 2020), it is important to examine the relationship between the two and the potential impact nicotine could have. The aim of this study was to find evidence either in support of or to the contrary to the hypothesis that nicotine usage negatively affects sleep.
Eleanor Van Evera is currently a Junior at Wesleyan University majoring in Sociology. She is originally from Lexington, Massachusetts, and attended Lexington High School before moving to Middletown. When she is not working or studying, Eleanor spends most of her time figure skating, which she has done competitively for twelve years. She is also very interested in public policy and social and political engagement, which is why her project this semester is focused on analyzing connections between a person’s history of drug use and their political beliefs and level of interest in politics, particularly when considering other aspects of that individual’s identity.
Abstract: This project aims to explore and further analyze associations between an individual’s history of drug use, specifically crack cocaine and substances injected via needles, and their experiences engaging with politics, including their political beliefs, identification with a political party, and their overall level of optimism/cynicism about the American political process. The relationship between these variables is significant because of the extent to which addiction, substance abuse, and rehabilitation have been politicized in the past several decades in the U.S. and globally, with opinions regarding the treatment and value of drug users often being heavily partisan. However, despite the vastly differing attitudes between people of different political affiliations related to the decriminalization (and sometimes legalization) of drugs, the political beliefs and associations held by drug users themselves is a topic which has yet to be deeply examined. The data collected in this study ultimately revealed that crack users are significantly less likely than others to feel optimistic about the current political process and American politicians, however, they were also more likely to seek information on political websites than those who have not used crack.
Nathan is a member of the Class of 2024 at Wesleyan University planning to major in Economics and minor in Data Analysis. Prior to attending Wesleyan, Nathan attended Campbell Hall School in North Hollywood, California. At Wesleyan, he is a member of the Football team and Be The Match Biorepository.
Abstract: The goals of the present analysis include 1) establishing the relationship between political party and climate change belief/concern, and 2) determining whether there is a relationship between climate change belief/concern and Trump climate policy approval. Although the relationship between party and climate change has been thoroughly studied already, it is necessary to show where those who believe in climate change lie on the political spectrum in this analysis. However, the main goal of this study will be to investigate whether individuals who support Trump’s climate policy are more likely to not believe in global warming or view it as a threat.
I am a 3rd year at Wesleyan University, graduating high school in Hebron Maine fro Hebron Academy. I am a Psychology major with a special interest in cultural and emotional social psychology. Before moving to the US, I spent my time moving around the Caribbean and Mexico. I hope to continue traveling, and look forward to seeking opportunities in Asia following graduation.
Abstract: The goal of this study is to examine the relationship between exposure levels to US politics (discussing, watching, thinking, interest) and and perceptions of the US government (does the government care about its citizens? can we as citizens make change? how well does the government execute their promises?). The study involves creating two main variables that represent overall exposure and overall perception. By grouping individuals based on how many level of exposure they have, I am able to create a variable that measure how much exposure one individual has in comparison to another. Furthermore, by grouping individuals based on their perception of the government, I am able to create a variable that measures government perception from individual to individual. I also aded a third variable to the study that was ID (political affiliation: Republican, Democrat, Independent). When analyzing both my response and explanatory variable, I used my third variable (ID) to look for any differences among political affiliation. The research (a) shows that as exposure levels increase, negative perceptions of the government increase as well. (b) There is no difference in mean change across the ID variable. (c) Across all ID groups, more exposure is significantly related to a more negative perception.
Colin is a Sophomore at Wesleyan University from Ridgefield, CT. He is a double major in Economics and Government. Colin is a member of the Wesleyan Men’s Ice Hockey Team. Prior to attending Wesleyan, Colin was enrolled at a boarding school in Kent, CT. After graduation, Colin hopes to pursue a career in finance or attend law school.
No child deserves to be raised by parents who prioritize drinking over their well-being, as it obvious that households dominated by alcohol are not functional ones. Many studies have demonstrated that adolescents exposed to drinking at a young age are likely to engage in future heavy consumption. It is important to study the relationship between being raised by parents with a drinking problem and future alcohol dependence because excessive alcohol consumption is responsible for over 95,000 deaths per year (CDC, 2021). Furthermore, suffering from a mental illness, such as antisocial personality disorder, makes an individual more susceptive to alcohol dependence. It is also important to recognize the possible association between antisocial personality disorder and the development of a drinking problem.
The intentions of this analysis consist of 1) establishing the association between parental excessive drinking and future adolescent alcohol abuse; and 2) deciding if the relationship between parental alcohol use and an adolescent developing a drinking problem differs for those with and without antisocial personality disorder. The study will examine if individuals with an antisocial personality disorder are more vulnerable to future alcohol abuse than those without an antisocial personality disorder, and whether these differences are consistent with the impact of parental alcohol usage.
Arabella is a First Year student at Wesleyan University from New York City. She plans to study Government and Film Studies. She graduated from the Hotchkiss School in 2020.
Abstract: The United States has a unique two-party political system that fosters polarization and policy gridlocks. In the era of Donald Trump, polarization is at a height, and our political landscape will never be the same unless there are major changes. In recent years, the partisan gap in the United States has been wider than at any point since 2009 (Pew, 2018). Specifically, having a higher degree of educational attainment has become increasingly associated with belonging to the Democratic Party. This study looks to discover the relationship between socioeconomic class and political party affiliation.
