Ashton Jones, Undergraduate Senior in the University of Arkansas Honors College

Author: Ashton Jones | Major: Biology

My name is Ashton Jones, and I am a senior on the pre-medical track in the Fulbright Honors College working towards completing a Bachelor of Science in Biology while also minoring in Psychology and Medical Humanities. I am currently working as a research assistant in the Spark Lab in the University of Arkansas Psychology Department. I also research and conduct my thesis project in the Spark Lab under the direction of my thesis mentor, Dr. Anastasia Makhanova, an Assistant Professor in Social Psychology at the University of Arkansas Department of Psychological Science.

Women are often well informed of the physical effects of hormonal birth control. Still, there is little emphasis on the mental effects, such as increased rates of depression and changes in social perception. Based on previous research, it is predicted that changes in hormone levels due to the use of hormonal contraceptives could also affect perception/feelings of social stress. This research project addresses a critical gap in the scientific knowledge, and women’s knowledge, about the effects of hormonal contraceptives on perceptions of stress and social support in women. The study Dr. Makhanova and I are conducting uses a rigorous repeated-measures design to compare changes in women’s perceptions of stress after using hormonal birth control relative to a control sample of naturally cycling women. I believe this research could find critical data to help women become better informed about the mental effects of hormonal contraceptives they are taking and understand subsequent attribution of mental symptoms experienced when beginning hormonal contraceptives.

I became interested in this topic after meeting with my thesis mentor, Dr. Makhanova, several times to discuss different topic options. The idea initially began when Dr. Makhanova introduced me to a research study that was conducted in Denmark with hormonal contraceptive users. The results of this study showed increased rates of depression in women that begin using hormonal contraceptives (relative to women who were not using hormonal contraceptives), specifically hormonal intrauterine devices. As a student on the pre-medical track, I have always been interested in the women’s health field and hope to one day specialize in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Therefore, when Dr. Makhanova introduced me to this study, I was immediately intrigued and began researching specific topics related to social psychology and hormonal birth control. After extensive research, we began to understand the vast scope of the lack of research surrounding the mental health effects that can occur due to hormonal contraceptive use. I was utterly shocked by this discovery, given the large population of hormonal contractive users in the United States. Following this, I was inspired to dedicate my research to this topic, as I knew it could significantly impact both the scientific community and the women’s health field.

When beginning this research project, we knew that finding eligible participants would be difficult given the specific requirements we needed each woman to meet in order to be eligible. Eligible participants must meet the following criteria: eighteen years or older, are not currently on hormonal contraceptives, plan to begin using hormonal contraceptives, and must complete the first survey before beginning their hormonal contraceptive plan. To overcome the challenge of receiving enough participants, we have partnered with the Pat Walker Health Center and other students within the Spark Lab to inform eligible participants of the survey. Additionally, the Honors College Research Grant has helped us increase the number of participants and reduce the risk of attrition by giving us the opportunity to pay participants after completing each survey. With that being said, there is also a small-time window that must be efficiently followed between the participant completing the interest form and completing the first survey before beginning hormonal birth control. If the appropriate time window is not successfully followed, the consistency and significance of our data will suffer. To prevent this from occurring, Dr. Makhanova and I continuously check for incoming interest forms and pay close attention to participants’ appointment dates, the day the first survey is completed, etc. Facing this complex challenge throughout my research project has taught me the cruciality of the attention to detail and dedication required to produce psychological research that is both statistically sound and significant to the field.

Before beginning to conduct my thesis project, I was naive to the challenges that research projects inevitably pose before sending the survey to participants. But, after working alongside Dr. Makhanova, I have learned the importance of being realistic and proactive when conducting scientific research projects. Dr. Makhanova has become an incredible mentor throughout my undergraduate career. I know the skills I have learned with her will even further help me succeed in my future career and research projects. Not only has she exposed me to the entire process of creating and conducting a research project, but in doing so, she has also pushed me to be the best student I can be and has continued to inspire me to work to reach my fullest potential. Additionally, Dr. Makhanova has shown me the value of reflection for improvement and learning from mistakes to become the best student and researcher I can be.

As we continue working on the research project, I hope to continue improving and expanding the number of participants to increase the significance of the data we will be able to conclude from the surveys. This past year, I have become even more so passionate about this research topic and the impact it could potentially have on the women’s health field. I hope this research project can serve as a segway for people to become exposed to the potential psychological effects of hormonal contraceptives and provide women with a chance to become better informed with adequate information when choosing a hormonal birth control plan. Although I only have one semester left at the University of Arkansas, my goal is to continue to grow this project’s scope and even inspire other researchers to begin to research and understand the significance of this topic regarding the health and mental well-being of our population of women.