ETDs

This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.

In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.

Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.

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Elucidating the link between parent and adolescent psychopathology: a test of transmission specificity and genetic and environmental liabilities

Description
The tendency for psychopathology to aggregate within families is well-documented, though little is known regarding the level of specificity at which familial transmission of symptomology occurs. The current study first tested competing higher-order structures of psychopathology in adolescence, indexing general and more specific latent factors. Second, parent-offspring transmission was tested…

The tendency for psychopathology to aggregate within families is well-documented, though little is known regarding the level of specificity at which familial transmission of symptomology occurs. The current study first tested competing higher-order structures of psychopathology in adolescence, indexing general and more specific latent factors. Second, parent-offspring transmission was tested for broadband domain specificity versus transmission of a general liability for psychopathology. Lastly, genetic and environmental mechanisms underlying the familial aggregation of psychopathology were examined using nuclear twin-family models. The sample was comprised of five hundred adolescent twin pairs (mean age 13.24 years) and their parents drawn from the Wisconsin Twin Project. Twins and parents completed independent diagnostic interviews. For aim 1, correlated factors, bifactor, and general-factor models were tested using adolescent symptom count data. For aim 2, structural equation modeling was used to determine whether broadband domain-specific transmission effects were necessary to capture parent-offspring resemblance in psychopathology above and beyond a general transmission effect indexed by the latent correlation between a parental internalizing factor and offspring P-factor. For aim 3, general factor models were fitted in both generations, and factor scores were subsequently extracted and used in nuclear twin-family model testing. Results indicated that the bifactor model exhibited the best fit to the adolescent data. Familial aggregation of psychopathology was sufficiently accounted for by the transmission of a general liability. Lastly, the best fitting reduced nuclear twin-family model indicated that additive genetic, sibling-specific shared environmental, and nonshared environmental influences contributed to general psychopathology. Parent-offspring transmission was accounted for by shared genetics only, whereas co-twin aggregation was additionally explained by sibling-specific shared environmental factors. Results provide novel insight into the specificity and etiology of the familial aggregation of psychopathology.
ContributorsOro, Veronica (Author) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Chassin, Laurie (Committee member) / Doane, Leah D (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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The roles of sensation seeking and level of response to negative, sedative alcohol effects in the intergenerational transmission of risk for developing alcohol use disorders

Description
The present study tested the respective mediating effects of sensation seeking and initial level of response (LR) to negative, sedative alcohol effects on the relation between the density of familial history of alcoholism and adolescent alcohol use. Additionally, the present study tested the direct effect of LR to negative, sedative…

The present study tested the respective mediating effects of sensation seeking and initial level of response (LR) to negative, sedative alcohol effects on the relation between the density of familial history of alcoholism and adolescent alcohol use. Additionally, the present study tested the direct effect of LR to negative, sedative alcohol effects on adolescent drinking over and above the effects of sensation seeking; and also tested the moderating effect of sensation seeking on the relation between level of response negative, sedative alcohol effects and adolescent drinking. Specifically, OLS regression models first estimated the effects of sensation seeking, LR to negative, sedative alcohol effects, and their interaction on alcohol outcomes, over and above the influence of covariates. Indirect effects were then tested using the PRODCLIN method through RMediation. Analyses failed to support sensation seeking as a mediator in the relation between familial history of alcoholism and adolescent drinking, and as a moderator of the relation between LR and adolescent drinking. However, analyses did support a robust direct effect of LR to negative, sedative alcohol effects on adolescent alcohol involvement. A significant mediating effect of initial LR to negative, sedative alcohol effects on the relation between familial alcoholism and adolescent drinking was found, however failed to maintain significance in post-hoc analyses attenuating the downward bias of the measure of initial LR. Initial LR to negative, sedative alcohol effects continued to predict adolescent drinking after attenuating measure bias. These findings strengthen research on initial LR to negative, sedative alcohol effects as a risk for greater alcohol involvement in adolescence, and underscore the complexity of studying the familial transmission of alcoholism in adolescent populations
ContributorsPandika, Danielle (Author) / Chassin, Laurie (Thesis advisor) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Aiken, Leona (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015