Policies that would create net benefits for society but would also involve costs frequently lack the necessary support to be enacted because losses loom larger than gains psychologically. To reduce the harmful consequence of loss aversion, we propose a new type of policy bundling technique in which related bills that have both costs and benefits are combined. In our first laboratory study, we confirm across a set of four legislative domains that this bundling technique increases support for bills that have both costs and benefits. We also show in a second study that this effect stems from a diminished focus on losses and heightened focus on gains when policies are evaluated in bundled form.

Background Providing informal care for a relative or friend with medical or mental needs can extol a physical burden on the caregiver, including impaired aspects of sleep quality such as suboptimal sleep duration, lengthened sleep latency, frequent awakenings, daytime sleepiness, and poor self-rated sleep quality. Diminished sleep quality can worsen the health in the caregiver, including dysregulation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) activity. Few studies have attempted to describe sleep in young adults who provide regular informal care. This study examines subjective and objective indicators of sleep quality and diurnal cortisol rhythms among young adult caregivers relative to non-caregiving peers. We expect that caregivers will exhibit poorer objective and subjective sleep quality and greater dysregulation in diurnal cortisol indices, than demographically similar non-caregivers, and that caregivers with poorer sleep will exhibit pronounced cortisol dysregulation. Methods Participant self-reported sleep quality over the prior month via the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and objective sleep quality was observed via wrist actigraph for three consecutive days. Diurnal salivary cortisol was also measured across the three days of actigraph monitoring. Results Informal caregivers exhibited more self-reported sleep disturbance and greater sleep latency than non-caregivers, as well as more objectively measured sleep fragmentation. Caregivers with a shorter sleep duration were observed to have flatter diurnal cortisol slopes than caregivers with a relatively longer sleep duration. Conclusions Young adult caregivers appear to be at risk for impairment in sleep quality, which in turn might impact health through HPA axis dysregulation. Longitudinal research is needed to identify these relationships across time.

Objective: The experience of cancer-related financial stress was examined within the developmental context of emerging adulthood. Methodological approach: This study is a secondary analysis of data drawn from two samples of testicular or hematologic cancer survivors. In-depth interviews from 52 emerging adult (EA) cancer survivors, ages 18-29, were coded by combining thematic analysis with an abductive approach. Findings: Emergent themes included some common to most age groups, including worries about medical costs and availability of health insurance, as well as specific age-related concerns, such as fertility preservation. Financial stress appeared to interrupt developmental tasks of emerging adulthood, including completing an education, establishing independence, and managing relationships. Surprisingly, financial stress was experienced as a benefit for some participants. Conclusion: Financial stress affects EA cancer survivors in unique ways. To provide support, health professionals should consider survivors' developmental life stage to understand their financial stress, and ultimately, to improve quality of life.