PEANUTs Lab

Lab updates

New student paper! Sensory processing sensitivity and vulnerability to recent stressful experiences in the prediction of mental health in pregnancy

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Christina Personette, who is now a PhD student in clinical psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, recently published a paper she completed in the lab as an undergraduate research assistant in the peer-reviewed Journal of Affective Disorders.

Her paper used the Experiences of Pregnancy cohort to examine whether the association between recent stressful experiences and mental health in pregnancy differs based on individuals’ sensory processing sensitivity (also known as “highly sensitive personality” or sensitivity to the environment).

She found that recent stressful experiences predicted prenatal depression symptoms at high levels of sensory processing sensitivity, and not low levels of sensory processing sensitivity. For anxiety and life satisfaction, however, recent stressful experiences were predictive regardless of the level of sensory processing sensitivity. This study supports that screening and awareness of sensory processing sensitivity could support more precise and effective mental health care.

Find the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2026.121512

Graphical abstract of the paper.

Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2026 Annual Convention

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On February 26-28, Julie Godchaux-Linneman attended and presented her research at the annual convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, in Chicago Illinois! Julie is a student in the masters of human sciences and is doing her thesis in the lab.

Julie presented an ongoing scoping review of research examining associations between discrimination and perinatal mental health.

Congratulations Julie!

Julie in front of her poster

New paper! Sensory profile of the highly sensitive personality

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Four of the lab’s students along with Dr. Rioux published a new paper in the journal Personality and Individual Differences on the sensory profile of the highly sensitive personality!

The paper examines associations between the sensory profile (behavioral responses to overstimulation) and the highly sensitive personality (sensitivity towards external and internal stimuli and emotional reactivity to overstimulation). This can help inform tailored interventions for highly sensitive people when an aspect of their sensitivity or reactions is not complementary to a desired aspect in their life.

This was conducted with undergraduate research assistants Megan Waldron, Delaney Fulp, and Christina Personette as well as Honor student McKenna Nhem and partially supported by an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program Scholarship to Megan and Delaney. Megan is now a PhD student in social-developmental psychology. Christina and McKenna are now PhD students in clinical/counseling psychology.

Find the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.113710

Graphical abstract of the paper

New student paper! Environmental Sensitivity and Adult Mental Health

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McKenna Nhem, who is now a PhD student in counseling psychology at the University of North Texas, recently published her Honors thesis completed in the lab in the peer-reviewed journal Current Psychology.

McKenna conducted a systematic scoping literature review mapping the empirical literature conducted within the environmental sensitivity framework in adult mental health. This includes mapping which social environments have been examined, which individual sensitivity factors at the genetic, endophenotypic (physiological), and phenotypic (observable) levels have been examined, which mental health outcomes have been examined, and what models have been supported. This clarifies the current state of the literature, identifies existing gaps, informs future systematic reviews and empirical research, and allows for the identification of potential sensitivity-related strengths in adult adjustment.

This work was conducted with the contribution of three other students in the lab who are co-authors on the paper: Christina Personette, Zoe Childers-Rockey and Madison Bissa.

Find the paper (open access) here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-025-08919-0

Image with a board showing the article title
Title page of the article

Paper-in-a-Day 2026

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On Saturday January 10, the lab hosted its second Paper-in-a-Day event! Five undergraduate and graduate students along with Dr. Rioux spent the day writing a paper on the associations between sensory processing sensitivity (also known as the highly sensitive personality) and motives for using cannabis, ending the day with a full edited draft. They celebrated the end of a long day with dinner. We look forward to finalizing the paper for publication!

A student taking a selfie with his computer and other students working in the background
Two students discussing together with their computers
Photo with a Texas Tech mug in the forefront and a student holding up a mug in the back
Three student smiling around a table
The team at the dinner table

Marcé of North America 2025

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On November 5-8, Dr. Rioux and the lab’s students Carson Freeman (undergraduate research assistant), Christina Personette (past undergraduate research assistant, now Clinical PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh), and Madison Bissa (past Honors thesis student, now Clinical PhD student at the University of Tulsa) presented their research at the Marcé of North America Conference in Toronto, Canada! Marcé of North America is a regional group that is part of the International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health.

Carson presented his research finding that prenatal anxiety predicted a more difficult child temperament only when there were also high levels of prenatal sensory processing sensitivity (also known as highly sensitive personality).

Carson in front of his poster

Christina presented her research finding that social support buffered te impact of household, but not community-level, adverse childhood experiences on perinatal mental health.

Christina in front of his poster

Madi presented her research finding that asking questions about gender identity in a pregnancy cohort was not associated with participant dropout.

Madi in front of her poster

New student paper! Recruitment through social media ads and videocalls: Cost, effectiveness, and lessons from the Experiences of Pregnancy study

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Zoe Childers-Rockey, who is an incoming Masters student, recently published an article she worked on as an undergraduate research assistant in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Epidemiology !

Zoe examined the effectiveness of social media advertisements with videocalls to recruit participants in their first trimester of pregnancy, outlined safeguard methods to counter fraudulent participants, and examined the representativeness of the resulting sample when compared to the US population and to pregnancy cohorts recruited in person. This work was conducted with the contribution of four other research assistants who are co-authors: Emily Flesher, Jacob Stephens, Nicole Barton, and Megan Waldron.

Learn about the key findings in the short video below and find the paper here: https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwaf061

Oklahoma Psychological Society 2025 Conference

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On April 17, the lab’s students Carson Freeman (undergraduate research assistant), Zoe Childers-Rockey (past undergraduate research assistant and incoming Masters student), and Madison Bissa (past Honors thesis student, now Clinical PhD student at the University of Tulsa) presented their research at the Oklahoma Psychological Society Convention in Edmond Oklahoma!

Carson Freeman presented research he has been conducting with Christina Personette, examining the role of adverse childhood experiences and social support in prenatal mental health.

Carson in front of his poster

Zoe Childers-Rockey and Madison Bissa presented the lab’s Paper-in-a-Day project that examined mental health service use in pregnancy and postpartum.

Zoe and Madi in front of their poster

Southwestern Psychological Association 2025 Convention

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On March 28-30, undergraduate student and recent graduates Christina Personette, Emily Flesher, and Zoe Childers-Rockey Southwestern Psychological Association Convention in Little Rock, Arkansas!

Christina presented on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and perinatal mental health. Her study expands research showing that conventional ACEs predict anxiety and depression in pregnancy by showing that (1) ACEs also predict prenatal anger symptoms and lower well-being and (2) this applies not only to conventionally examined ACEs, which occur in the home, but also expanded ACEs, which occur in the community.

Christina in front of her poster

Zoe and Emily presented on participant representativeness in an online study on mental health during pregnancy. Their research shows that recruiting pregnant participants online allows reaching participants that cannot be recruited via clinics and hospitals (such as those without access to prenatal care) and allows recruiting samples much faster than typically done in person – but that some limitations in terms of representativeness suggest the need to implement stratified sampling. Zoe received a graduate student poster showcase award for this poster!

Zoe and Emily in front of their poster, with Zoe holding her award

Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2025 Annual Convention

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On February 20-22, Jacob Stephens attended and presented his research at the annual convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, in Denver Colorado! Jacob is a research assistant in the lab and graduate from his undergraduate degree last Fall.

Jacob’s research found that sensory processing sensitivity (sensitivity to social and environmental stimuli) and rejection sensitivity (hyper-alertness to potential rejection from others) are associated with each other and independently predict psychological distress and well-being, with both predicting mental health even when controlling for the other.

Jacob in front of his poster