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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Description
Using data from an eight-year longitudinal study of 214 children's social and emotional development, I conducted three studies to (1) examine patterns of agreement for internalizing (INT) and externalizing (EXT) symptomatology among different informants (mothers, fathers, teachers, and adolescents) using a recently developed structural equation modeling approach for multi-trait, multi-method data; (2) examine the developmental trajectories for INT and EXT and predict individual differences in symptom development using temperament and parenting variables; and (3) describe patterns of INT and EXT co-occurrence and predict these patterns from temperament and parenting. In Study 1, longitudinal invariance was established for mothers', fathers' and teachers' reports over a six-year period. Sex, age, and SES did not substantially moderate agreement among informants, although both sex and age were differentially related to symptomatology depending on the informant. Agreement among teachers and mothers, but not among mothers and fathers, differed by domain of symptomatology, and was greater for EXT than for INT. In Study 2, latent profile analysis, a person-centered analytic approach, did not provide easily interpretable patterns of symptom development, a failure that is likely the result of the relatively modest sample size. Latent growth curve models, an alternative analytic approach, did provide good fit to the data. Temperament and parenting variables were examined as predictors of the latent growth parameters in these models. Although there was little prediction of the slope, effortful control was negatively related to overall levels of EXT, whereas impulsivity and anger were positively related. Mutually responsive orientation, a measure of the parent-child relationship, was a more consistent predictor of EXT than was parental warmth. Furthermore, the relation between mutually responsive orientation and EXT was partially mediated by inhibitory control. Across informants, there were few consistent predictors of INT. In Study 3, latent profile analysis was used to classify individuals into different patterns of INT and EXT co-occurrence. In these models, a similar class structure was identified for mothers and for teachers. When temperament and parenting were examined as predictors of co-occurring symptomatology, few significant interactions were found and results largely replicated prior findings from this data set using arbitrary symptom groups.
ContributorsSulik, Michael John (Author) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Spinrad, Tracy L (Thesis advisor) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Wolchik, Sharlene A (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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