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.
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- All Subjects: Developmental Psychology
Description
The transition to college is a time of increased opportunity and stress that spans across multiple domains (e.g., social life, academic workload, finances). Adolescents who encounter significant stress during the transition to college may be vulnerable to adverse outcomes, due to a “wear and tear” of physiological systems, including the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Latino students may be particularly at-risk for heightened stress exposure, as minority youth often experience both minority-specific stressors and general life stress. Despite this, the majority of research on Latino students is limited to the examination of singular forms of stress, and little is known regarding the cumulative impact of multiple forms of stress on Latino students’ HPA axis functioning. The present study employed a “multi-risk model approach” to examine the additive, common, and cumulative effects of multiple types of stress (general, academic, social, financial, bicultural, discrimination) on HPA axis functioning in Latino college students (N = 209; 64.4% female; Mage = 18.95). Results from three-level growth curve models indicated that, in the additive model, no stressors were associated with the CAR, but general stress was associated with a flatter diurnal cortisol slope (DCS) and bicultural stress was linked with a steeper DCS. In the common model, the college stress latent factor was related to a reduced cortisol awakening response (CAR), but not the DCS. In the cumulative model, cumulative risk was linked with a lower CAR, but not the DCS. These findings highlight the physiological correlates of various stressors experienced by Latino college students.
ContributorsSasser, Jeri (Author) / Doane, Leah D (Thesis advisor) / Su, Jinni (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
It has been theorized that cultural variation within the family shapes children’s self-regulatory competence, yet there is a dearth of research examining the relation between culture and self-regulation. Family orientation refers to the emphasis on providing support, respect, and obligation to the family system, and is important for children’s functioning, yet existing literature on related constructs relies on parent-reported measures. Additionally, quantitative genetic research has neglected the role of culture in the genetic and environmental contributions on children’s self-regulation. There were three main aims of this study: 1) to propose novel coding schemes and factor analytic approaches to capture family orientation, 2) to examine the relation between family orientation and self-regulation in middle childhood, and 3) to examine whether family orientation moderates the genetic and environmental influences on self-regulation in middle childhood. The sample was drawn from the Arizona Twin Project (N=710) where children (49.1% female, 55.6% White, 28.3% Hispanic/Latino) were assessed at approximately eight years of age (Mage = 8.38 years, SD = 0.66). Family orientation values were indexed by parent-reported familism, whereas family orientation behaviors comprised coded measures of children’s family orientation and experimenter ratings of caregiver and child behavior. Outcome measures of self-regulation included the Continuous Performance Task, Flanker Task, Digit Span Backward, and parent- and teacher-reported effortful control (Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire). Higher family orientation behaviors predicted positively predicted children’s self-regulation, with the exception of Digit Span Backward performance, and associations were not moderated by child sex, family SES, or race/ethnicity. Twin models revealed that differences in family orientation behaviors could be attributed to genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental influences, and additive genetic and nonshared environmental influences explained the variation across measures of self-regulation. Finally, there was no evidence that family orientation values nor behaviors moderated the genetic or environmental influences on children’s self-regulation. This study highlights the complex nature of cultural variation within the family and its importance for children’s self-regulatory abilities.
ContributorsRea-Sandin, Gianna (Author) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Doane, Leah D (Committee member) / Causadias, Jose (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis is a primary neuroendocrine system posited to mediate the associations between early life stress and long-term deleterious psychological and physical health outcomes. The effects of early life adversity on HPA axis functioning have been well-documented in primarily White samples, with statistical advances allowing researchers to isolate latent trait cortisol as a stable indicator of HPA axis functioning to account for day-to-day influences on diurnal cortisol patterns. However, directional associations have been mixed depending on developmental stage, demographic composition, and methodological differences across studies. The few studies of early adversity and HPA axis functioning in Hispanic/Latino/a/x samples demonstrate complex interactions between cultural processes and adversity in predicting HPA axis output. Further, nascent literature has isolated the cognitive, meaning-making, and prosocial skills involved in ethnic racial identity (ERI) and its subconstructs of exploration, resolution, and affirmation as promotive during the adolescent stage of development in Latinx youth. Such skills might better prepare youth for neurobiological stress regulation after adversity. To my knowledge, no study has examined whether ERI plays a protective role against the effects of early adversity on trait-level indicators of the HPA axis during adolescence, despite the particularly high rates of cumulative exposure to early life adversity in Latinx youth as compared to White counterparts. Guided by adaptive cultural resilience theories, this study of 197 socioeconomically diverse Latinx older-adolescents aimed to leverage recent findings of stable trait indicators of cortisol output to 1) identify consistent directional markers of the effects of early life adversity on latent trait cortisol in a Latinx sample and 2) elucidate the degree to which ERI might act as a promotive feature for HPA axis levels and protective factor against cumulative early life adversity. Confirmatory factor analyses identified a theory-driven model as an adequate measure of latent trait cortisol. Greater exposure to early adversity predicted lower latent trait cortisol, but ERI demonstrated neither protective nor promotive effects. The present study reifies that early adversity exposure has deleterious effects on trait-level HPA axis functioning, but identifying sources of cultural resilience among Latinx youth remains critical for the future of health equity.
ContributorsGusman, Michaela S. (Author) / Doane, Leah D (Thesis advisor) / Causadias, José M (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin J (Committee member) / Wolchik, Sharlene A (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
This dissertation combines three first-author manuscripts that focused broadly on the study of adolescent sleep within a family context (Sasser et al., 2021; Sasser & Oshri, 2023; Sasser et al., 2023). First, Chapter 1 introduces the theoretical background and empirical research that grounded the research questions and hypotheses explored across the studies. The first study (Chapter 2) examined the influence of family connection on actigraphy-measured sleep among Latinx late adolescents and explored family dynamics and cultural values as potential moderators. The second study (Chapter 3) investigated daily and average concordance between parent and youth actigraphy-measured sleep and how this varied as a function of family context (e.g., parenting, family functioning). The third study (Chapter 4) examined concordance in actigraphy sleep among parent-youth and sibling dyads and explored how relations differed across zygosity type and sleeping arrangements. The dissertation concludes with an immersive discussion (Chapter 5) that summarizes the key differences, similarities, and takeaways across studies and highlights future directions and implications for developmental science, public policy, and clinical interventions. Collectively, this dissertation contributes to the understanding of youth and adolescent sleep within a family context by identifying proximal (e.g., daily interactions with parents/siblings) and broader family-level factors (e.g., dynamics, culture) that may help promote more healthful sleep among both adolescents and their family members.
ContributorsSasser, Jeri (Author) / Doane, Leah D (Thesis advisor) / Su, Jinni (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin J (Committee member) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Drawing upon the theoretical framework of Cooley’s (1902) “looking-glass self” model, the current study examined how affective dimensions of parenting in adolescence contribute to psychopathology in early adulthood through the mediating mechanism of authenticity – one’s level of comfort with being oneself. Using latent profile analysis (LPA), a three-class solution was identified, classifying inadequate, adequate, and optimal profiles of parenting in adolescence. Class membership was used in a multilevel mediation structural equation model to examine longitudinal links with authenticity and psychopathology (e.g., internalizing, externalizing, and substance abuse disorders) in early adulthood. Results demonstrated that optimal compared to inadequate parent-adolescent relationship quality was directly linked to higher levels of authenticity, which in turn, was directly linked to lower levels of all forms of psychopathology in early adulthood. Results also indicated that authenticity fully mediated the link between profiles of parent-adolescent relationship quality (e.g., grade 12) and internalizing, externalizing, and substance abuse disorders in early adulthood (e.g., four years post-college). In conclusion, the current study demonstrated the influence of affective dimensions of parenting profiles in adolescence on the development of psychopathology in early adulthood via the mediating mechanism of authenticity. Moreover, findings from the current study suggest that authenticity is a critical feature shared in common among various forms of psychopathology. Finally, clinical implications are discussed regarding the potential effectiveness of evidence-based psychotherapies aimed at the promotion of authenticity as a mechanism for improving mental health and well-being.
ContributorsEbbert, Ashley Marie (Author) / Infurna, Frank J (Thesis advisor) / Luthar, Suniya S (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin J (Committee member) / Krasnow, Aaron D (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021