Dr. Jessica Willoughby presented on research conducted by members of the MAC Lab at the fall WSU Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program retreat. The presentation, titled “Digital media for prevention: Developing and evaluating health communication interventions,” highlighted work from Murrow faculty related to substance misuse prevention before highlighting one specific MAC Lab team project funded through the ADARP mechanism. The project was a collaboration with members of the WSU College of Nursing.

The project focused on creating an intervention to reduce cannabis use among pregnant women. An article describing the intervention was previously published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.

Christina Nickerson, a doctoral candidate in the Murrow College of Communication and research assistant in the MAC Lab, was recently awarded the 2024 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Barrow Minority Doctoral Student Scholarship.

The award is designed to aid doctoral students in journalism and mass communication programs to complete their dissertation research and academic studies. As per the award notification, Christina was selected due to her “strong demonstration of scholarly work, progress toward completing her dissertation, and potential to contribute further to the communication theory and methodology field.”

The award is co-sponsored by the Communication Theory and Methodology Division, the Newspaper and Online News Division, the Commission on the Status of Minorities, and the Mass Communication and Society Division.

On Jan. 31, MAC Lab Co-Directors Stacey Hust and Jessica Willoughby presented at the 6th Annual Cannabis Action Conference. Dr. Hust and Dr. Willoughby presented on the results of a state-wide survey of teens and young adults about cannabis product packaging and implications for prevention. The session was titled Examining cannabis edibles packaging: Findings from a survey of Washington State youth.

Two team members from the MAC Lab presented on in progress research findings at the WSU 2023 Academic Showcase. Academic Showcase is a forum for sharing research with the WSU community.

Christina Nickerson presented “A qualitative exploration of the relationship between cannabis and sex among young adults.” The poster described initial findings from a thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 10 participants  who had used cannabis prior to sex. Participants described their social media use and perceptions of cannabis messaging, as well as their own experiences.

Ron Price presented “A qualitative exploration of youth’s perceptions of cannabis-infused product packaging appeals in Washington state.” Results described findings from virtual focus groups conducted with 28 13-17 year olds in Washington state where the team explored teens’ perceptions of cannabis product packaging appeals.

Chelsea Thomas, M.S., a scholarly assistant professor in the Murrow College of Communication, will be presenting on the development of one-page documents created as part of an effort to disseminate MAC lab research findings.

Chelsea created two one-pagers designed to showcase research findings and implications for two separate audiences, parents and public health practitioners and policymakers. She summarized findings from research and a report on cannabis product packaging perceptions data gathered among Washington state teens. Learn more about the research on our projects page. Chelsea gathered feedback on the one-pagers to learn more about what people took away from the summary of findings. She will be presenting a poster on the development of the dissemination effort and the findings from the evaluation at the 33rd Annual Art and Science of Health Promotion Conference.