Kean Senior Olga Lopez Explores Nostalgia Therapy as a Tool to Reduce Stress

Kean University senior Olga Lopez is exploring how revisiting childhood memories through media can help reduce stress, highlighting the role of nostalgia in emotional well-being. 

Lopez, a psychology major in Kean’s College of Liberal Arts, presented her “Nostalgia Therapy” project at Kean’s 2026 Research Days. Her study examines whether watching childhood television shows can lower stress levels in adults.

“I decided to explore nostalgia because it’s a feeling that brings you back to happier moments,” Lopez said. “I wanted to see if reconnecting with those moments could help reduce stress in the present.”

As part of her Experimental Psychology course with adjunct professor Alexa Angster, Lopez measured participants’ stress levels before and after they watched a self-selected childhood television episode. 

“Olga did this as her culminating project, and I oversaw the experiment while teaching research methods,” Angster said. “You need to know how to read research in any psychology field and the best way to understand it is by doing it.”

Lopez’s findings showed a consistent decrease in stress across all participants and a strong correlation between nostalgic media and lower stress markers.

“Everyone’s stress levels dropped after watching their chosen show,” Lopez said. “Some more than others, but the pattern was consistent across the board.”

Her work builds on research linking modern media and social media to increased stress and anxiety, shifting the focus to the potential positive effects. Her findings suggest nostalgic content may offer a simple, accessible way to support emotional well-being.

“Much research focuses on how media contributes to stress,” Lopez said. “I wanted to look at how the type of media we consume can help reduce it.”

Participants selected content ranging from early childhood programs to adolescent favorites, reinforcing the strong personal and emotional connection tied to memory and media.

Now in her final semester, Lopez said presenting her research at Research Days is especially meaningful.

“I worked on this project for an entire semester, so being able to share it with the Kean community means a lot,” she said.

Lopez plans to pursue a career in forensic psychology and credits Kean for preparing her.

“Kean has really helped me learn how to conduct research and write effectively,” she said. “That’s something I’ll carry with me into my career.”