Psych Student Ariadne Kaylor's Research Selected for the 2022 CSU Student Research Competition

Psychology student Ariadne Kaylor's research project was selected to represent Cal Poly in the 2022 CSU Student Research Competition in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category.

Here's what she has to say about her work: "Over the past year I have been conducting research investigating the relationships between OCD symptoms, COVID anxiety, and cognitive distortions. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that participants with more frequent OCD tendencies would exhibit higher COVID-related anxiety. 157 college student participants completed a survey including a measure of coronavirus anxiety as well as a questionnaire about OCD tendencies that fall within four cognitive distortions. Results supported the hypothesis and provided evidence that a tendency towards overestimation of threat may be a predictor of COVID anxiety. Conclusions from this study improve our ability to predict OCD-like issues for the non-clinical population and inform interventions for individuals already diagnosed during times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This opportunity has been invaluable in developing my career goals and exploring the area of research that I hope to focus on in graduate school! I am so honored to be chosen to represent Cal Poly in the CSU Research Competition, as well as to present my research as a poster at the Western Psychological Conference in April. Thank you to my faculty advisor, Dr. Freberg!"

Congratulations Ariadne!