On April 18-19, the Honors College and IDEA Center at Texas State University hosted the 18th annual Undergraduate Research Conference, which provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to share their research and scholarship, the college said in a June 10 press release.

More than 80 undergraduate students from across disciplines presented research at the conference, including poster and panel sessions.

Faith Swanson, a psychology junior, and co-presenter Taylor Himes, graduate teaching assistant, were awarded this year’s Scott Emerson Health Innovation Award for Stress Co-Regulation Among Romantically Involved Couples in Virtual Reality. Their advisors are Rhonda Balzarini, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at TXST, and Chris Agnew, professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University.

“Stress co-regulation is the mechanism that occurs between romantic partners,” Swanson said. “When they experience a stressful event together, their nervous systems and physiological responses will synchronize, resulting in a decrease in stress. This mechanism has previously presupposed that physical proximity is required for this to take place.

“This is important because as we see the world becoming more globalized and technology rapidly advancing, we’re seeing more people engaging in long distance relationships. There really hasn’t been any work so far as to whether this co-regulatory mechanism can occur in these emerging virtual environments. In this study, we examined whether stress co-regulation can occur with a virtual simulation of proximity or VR technologies.”

The annual award given to one URC participant recognizes undergraduate research with a potential to improve human health and healthcare. The $2,000 award is presented in collaboration with the Undergraduate Research Conference and the Translational Health Research Center.