URA Abigail Brooke awarded a Dean’s Assistantship

Congratulations to undergraduate research assistant Abigail Brooke for being awarded a Dean’s Assistantship for her senior thesis. Abby will complete her thesis in the 2026-2027 academic year. Her thesis builds on her current independent project which evaluates differences in emotional resolution across clinical stages of psychotic illnesses (i.e. Clinical High Risk and First-Episode Psychosis). Abby will look at how social and role functioning, as well as reported life satisfaction, relate to emotional resolution across clinical stage. Abby’s project also includes a qualitative topic analysis of narratives of individual’s greatest life challenges. Abby’s thesis will help identify protective factors associated with resilience and quality of life and inform patient-centered interventions for early stages of psychotic illnesses.

The College of Social Science Dean’s Assistantship program supports promising independent research projects for upperclassmen. The Dean’s assistantship program provides students with approximately $6,495 to support the work on their project. Abby will present her senior thesis at the 2027 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum and the 2026 Society for Research in Psychopathology conference. Congratulations Abby!