Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Developmental Psychology
Description
This study examined whether early adversity at 30-months moderated the heritability of common and individual components of EF at 8 years. It was hypothesized that early adversity would not moderate the common EF factor, but instead moderate individual EF components. The sample included 208 twin pairs from the Arizona Twin Project. Early Adversity, assessed at 30 months of age, included Parenting Daily Hassles, low perceived MOS social support, punitive punishment (Parental Responses to Child Misbehavior), home chaos (Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale), CES-D maternal depression, and low maternal emotional availability. EF at 8 years included the Eriksen Flanker Task, Continuous Performance Task, Digit Span Forward and Backward, and parent-reported Attentional Focusing and Inhibitory Control (Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire). For both early adversity and EF, the first principal components were extracted as composites. A confirmatory factor analysis was also conducted to index common EF. Genetic analyses were tested on the common EF composites as well as each individual task using umx. Univariate models revealed genetic influences on all individual measures and common EF, with broad sense heritability from .22 (Digit Span Backwards) to .61 (parent-reported inhibitory control). Shared environmental influences were found for the Flanker Task (.13) and parent-reported inhibitory control (.24), and E was moderate to high (.40-.73) for all measures except parent-report inhibitory control (.15) and attentional focusing (.31). Moderation of heritability was not observed in for Digit Span Forward, Digit Span Backward, and Attentional Focusing. However, the nonshared environment was moderated for Common EF, and the Flanker Task, and additive genes and the nonshared environment were moderated for the Continuous Performance Task and Inhibitory Control. Generally, total variance decreased as early adversity increased, suggesting that homes with low levels of adversity may allow children to interact with more proximal processes that can promote EF development.
ContributorsRea-Sandin, Gianna (Author) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Elam, Kit (Committee member) / Bradley, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The transition from adolescence to young adulthood is an important developmental period, as youth experience rapid changes in many domains of their lives (Settersten & Ray, 2010). These transitions have been linked to both positive and negative turning points in youths’ behavior and psychosocial wellbeing (Elder & Shanahan, 2007). Being disengaged from work and school, two important social institutions involved in the transition to adulthood (Havighurst, 1972), has been associated with poorer mental health and increases substance use; in this literature, there is still a dearth of research among youth in the United States of America and on the developmental implications of disengagement (Hilley et al., 2019). Therefore, this dissertation includes two studies to address these gaps with respect to mental health and substance use. Study 1 explores the heterogeneity in youths’ engagement and disengagement from work and school at two developmentally relevant time points across the transition to adulthood rather than impose a priori definitions of disengagement. Next, this study explores whether risk and protective factors predict membership in these subgroups. Finally, this study examines subgroup differences in problematic substance use concurrently and longitudinally. Study 2 investigates the cross-lagged associations between opportunity youth (or youth who are neither in school nor working) status and mental health over the transition to adulthood and explores whether familial social support and socioeconomic status mitigate or exacerbate the influence of opportunity youth status on mental health. Findings from these studies support the developmental nature of disengagement (despite its heterogeneity) and its connection with mental health and substance use, as well as suggest the need for additional research into risk and protective factors.
ContributorsHilley, Chanler (Author) / Lindstrom Johnson, Sarah (Thesis advisor) / Elam, Kit (Committee member) / Ferguson, Kristin (Committee member) / Jager, Justin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020