About Isaac Sanchez

I am a fourth-year undergraduate student studying Psychology and Criminology at the University of New Mexico. I have always been extremely enthusiastic about conducting meaningful research in the field of Psychology. I will be conducting research in the ASSURE program with the guidance of Dr. Margo Hurlocker, aimed at clarifying the relationship between social anxiety and substance use. Specifically, Dr. Hurlocker and I will be focusing on cannabis use in relation to social anxiety. Prior studies have shown that cannabis is the most used illicit substance among young adults, including college student populations. Across myriad of reasons that college students use cannabis, using to cope with mental health symptoms like social anxiety may lead to at-risk cannabis use or to develop a cannabis use disorder and/or social anxiety disorder. With our research we hope to better inform universities of the potential effects of cannabis use on mental health. Findings can potentially be used to provide helpful information to students regarding safe use of substances in hopes to prevent the development of substance use disorders or other mental health disorders. Additionally, our findings will provide valuable information for the field of clinical psychology in an area that has not yet been extensively researched.