Matching Items (18)
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- All Subjects: psychology
- Genre: Academic theses
- Genre: Masters Thesis
- Creators: Tein, Jenn-Yun
Description
Each year, millions of aging women will experience menopause, a transition from reproductive capability to reproductive senescence. In women, this transition is characterized by depleted ovarian follicles, declines in levels of sex hormones, and a dysregulation of gonadotrophin feedback loops. Consequently, menopause is accompanied by hot flashes, urogenital atrophy, cognitive decline, and other symptoms that reduce quality of life. To ameliorate these negative consequences, estrogen-containing hormone therapy is prescribed. Findings from clinical and pre-clinical research studies suggest that menopausal hormone therapies can benefit memory and associated neural substrates. However, findings are variable, with some studies reporting null or even detrimental cognitive and neurobiological effects of these therapies. Thus, at present, treatment options for optimal cognitive and brain health outcomes in menopausal women are limited. As such, elucidating factors that influence the cognitive and neurobiological effects of menopausal hormone therapy represents an important need relevant to every aging woman. To this end, work in this dissertation has supported the hypothesis that multiple factors, including post-treatment circulating estrogen levels, experimental handling, type of estrogen treatment, and estrogen receptor activity, can impact the realization of cognitive benefits with Premarin hormone therapy. We found that the dose-dependent working memory benefits of subcutaneous Premarin administration were potentially regulated by the ratios of circulating estrogens present following treatment (Chapter 2). When we administered Premarin orally, it impaired memory (Chapter 3). Follow-up studies revealed that this impairment was likely due to the handling associated with treatment administration and the task difficulty of the memory measurement used (Chapters 3 and 4). Further, we demonstrated that the unique cognitive impacts of estrogens that become increased in circulation following Premarin treatments, such as estrone (Chapter 5), and their interactions with the estrogen receptors (Chapter 6), may influence the realization of hormone therapy-induced cognitive benefits. Future directions include assessing the mnemonic effects of: 1) individual biologically relevant estrogens and 2) clinically-used bioidentical hormone therapy combinations of estrogens. Taken together, information gathered from these studies can inform the development of novel hormone therapies in which these parameters are optimized.
ContributorsEngler-Chiurazzi, Elizabeth (Author) / Bimonte-Nelson, Heather A. (Thesis advisor) / Sanabria, Federico (Committee member) / Olive, Michael F (Committee member) / Hoffman, Steven (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
After natural menopause in women, androstenedione becomes the primary hormone secreted by the residual follicle deplete ovaries. Two independent studies, in rodents that had undergone ovarian follicular depletion, found that higher serum androstenedione levels correlated with increased working memory errors. This led to the hypothesis that androstenedione impairs memory. The current study directly tested this hypothesis, examining the cognitive effects of androstenedione administration in a rodent model. Middle-aged ovariectomized rats received vehicle or one of two doses of androstenedione (4 or 8 mg/kg daily). Rats were tested on a spatial working and reference memory maze battery including the water radial arm maze, Morris maze, and delay-match-to-sample task. Results showed that androstenedione at the highest dose impaired reference memory and working memory, including ability to maintain performance as memory demand was elevated. The latter was true for both high temporal demand memory retention of one item of spatial information, as well as the ability to handle multiple items of spatial working memory information. Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) levels were measured in multiple brain regions to determine whether the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system mediates androstenedione's cognitive impairments. Results showed that higher entorhinal cortex GAD levels were correlated with poorer Morris maze performance, regardless of androstenedione treatment. These findings suggest that androstenedione, the main hormone produced by the follicle deplete ovary, is detrimental to spatial learning, reference memory, and working memory, and that spatial reference memory performance might be related to the GABAergic system.
ContributorsCamp, Bryan Walter (Author) / Bimonte-Nelson, Heather A. (Thesis advisor) / Olive, Michael F (Committee member) / Conrad, Cheryl D. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Comorbidity is a significant problem for current classification systems of psychopathology (i.e., DSM-V). One issue is that the underlying mechanisms shared among comorbid disorders are poorly understood, especially potential psychosocial mechanisms such as family dynamics. The current study used latent class analysis to empirically classify patterns of psychopathology within a large community sample of late adolescents (age 18-19) based on their lifetime psychological adjustment measured using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Videotaped family interactions of adolescents (age 16-17) and their parents were micro and macro coded and the resulting family dynamics were compared across the three empirically defined groups of psychological adjustment which emerged from the latent class analysis: 1) an early onset, persistent antisocial behavior class; 2) an emotionally distressed and substance using class; and 3) a typically developing class. It was found that some directly observed family dynamics, including parental monitoring, dyadic positive engagement and coercive engagement discriminated among empirically derived classes. It was also found that particular tasks better discriminated among classes with regard to specific family dynamics (e.g., family activity task best discriminated among classes on dyadic positive engagement). Overall, findings suggest that novel methodologies like latent class analysis can be useful in attempting to map underlying transdiagnostic mechanisms onto the current diagnostic framework. The findings also highlight the importance of taking many variables into consideration when attempting to understand how family dynamics are associated with psychological adjustment.
ContributorsPanza, Kaitlyn E (Author) / Dishion, Thomas J (Thesis advisor) / Crnic, Keith A (Committee member) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Globally, addiction to stimulants such as methamphetamine (METH) remains a significant public health problem. Despite decades of research, no approved anti-relapse medications for METH or any illicit stimulant exist, and current treatment approaches suffer from high relapse rates. Recently, synthetic cathinones have also emerged as popular abused stimulants, leading to numerous incidences of toxicity and death. However, contrary to traditional illicit stimulants, very little is known about their addiction potential. Given the high relapse rates and lack of approved medications for METH addiction, chapters 2 and 3 of this dissertation assessed three different glutamate receptor ligands as potential anti-relapse medications following METH intravenous self-administration (IVSA) in rats. In chapters 4 through 7, using both IVSA and intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) procedures, experiments assessed abuse liability of the popular synthetic cathinones 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) , methylone, α-pyrrolidinovalerophenone (α-PVP) and 4-methylethylcathinone (4-MEC). Results from these seminal studies suggest that these drugs possess similar abuse potential to traditional illicit stimulants such as METH, cocaine, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Finally, studies outlined in chapter 8 assessed the potential neurotoxic or adverse cognitive effects of METH and MDPV following IVSA procedures for the purpose of identifying potential novel pharmacotherapeutic targets. However, results of these final studies did not reveal neurotoxic or adverse cognitive effects when using similar IVSA procedural parameters that were sufficient for establishing addiction potential, suggesting that these parameters do not allow for sufficient drug intake to produce similar neurotoxicity or cognitive deficits reported in humans. Thus, these models may be inadequate for fully modeling the adverse neural and psychological consequences of stimulant addiction. Together, these studies support the notion for continued research into the abuse liability and toxicity of METH and synthetic cathinones and suggest that refinements to traditional IVSA models are needed for both more effective assessment of potential cognitive and neural deficits induced by these drugs and screening of potentially clinically efficacious pharmacotherapeutics.
ContributorsWatterson, Lucas (Author) / Olive, Michael F (Thesis advisor) / Czyzyk, Traci (Committee member) / Neisewander, Janet (Committee member) / Sanabria, Federico (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Nicotine is thought to underlie the reinforcing and dependence-producing effects of tobacco-containing products. Nicotine supports self-administration in rodents, although measures of its reinforcing effects are often confounded by procedures that are used to facilitate acquisition, such as food restriction, prior reinforcement training, or response-contingent co-delivery of a naturally reinforcing light. This study examined whether rats acquire nicotine self-administration in the absence of these facilitators. A new mathematical modeling procedure was used to define the criterion for acquisition and to determine dose-dependent differences in rate and asymptote levels of intake. Rats were trained across 20 daily 2-h sessions occurring 6 days/week in chambers equipped with active and inactive levers. Each active lever press resulted in nicotine reinforcement (0, 0.015, 0.03, 0.06 mg/kg, IV) and retraction of both levers for a 20-s time out, whereas inactive lever presses had no consequences. Acquisition was defined by the best fit of a logistic function (i.e., S-shaped) versus a constant function (i.e., flat line) for reinforcers obtained across sessions using a corrected Akaike information criterion (AICc) as a model selection tool. The results showed an inverted-U shaped function for dose in relation to the percentage of animals that acquired nicotine self-administration, with 46% acquiring at 0.015 mg/kg, 73% at 0.03 mg/kg, and 58% at 0.06 mg/kg. All saline rats failed to acquire as expected. For rats that acquired nicotine self-administration, multiple model comparisons demonstrated that the asymptote (highest number of reinforcers/session) and half learning point (h; session during which half the assymptote had been achieved) were justified as free parameters of the reinforcers/session function, indicating that these parameters vary with nicotine dose. Asymptote exhibited an inverted U-shaped function across doses and half learning point exhibited a negative relationship to dose (i.e., the higher the dose the fewer sessions to reach h). These findings suggest that some rats acquire nicotine self-administration without using procedures that confound measures of acquisition rate. Furthermore, the modeling approach provides a new way of defining acquisition of drug self-administration that takes advantage of using all data generated from individual subjects and is less arbitrary than some criteria that are currently used.
ContributorsCole, Natalie (Author) / Neisewander, Janet L (Thesis advisor) / Sanabria, Federico (Thesis advisor) / Bimonte-Nelson, Heather A. (Committee member) / Olive, Michael F (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
In the present research, elements of the intra- (i.e., family dynamics) and extra-family (i.e., characteristics of parents' occupations) contexts were examined in a longitudinal design as associated, broadly, with individuals' mental health, relationship quality, and future orientations among Mexican American families with adolescent offspring in two separate studies. The first study reviewed the utility of applying dyadic data methods to the investigation of family processes, explored the strengths three different analytic approaches (i.e., the actor-partner interdependence model, a two-intercept model, and a difference model), and applied them to the study of marital relationships (N = 246 marital dyads). Results revealed that spouses' marital negativity was related to their own somatic symptoms, whereas, spouses' somatic symptoms were associated with both their own and their partners' marital negativity, with some variations by approach. This study suggested the three analytic approaches, though designed to answer slightly different questions, yielded a similar pattern of results with several important differences. The second study utilized a person-centered approach to identify family-level patterns of both mothers' and fathers' objective occupational characteristics (i.e., self-direction, hazardous conditions, physical activity), as well as the larger sociocultural context of these patterns (N = 160 dual-earner families). Results revealed three distinct occupational contexts: Differentiated High Physical Activity, Incongruent, and Congruent High Self-Direction. Results indicated that families in the Congruent High Self-Direction profile had the highest levels of youth career aspirations, whereas, educational aspirations were the highest among youth in both the Incongruent and Congruent High Self-Direction profiles. Youth-mother and -father conflict was highest in the Congruent High Self-Direction profile, and youth-father warmth was highest for families in the Differentiated High Physical Activity profile. This study suggested that Mexican American parents work in varied occupational contexts, and these contexts were differentially associated with family relationships and youth's orientations toward the future.
ContributorsWheeler, Lorey A (Author) / Updegraff, Kimberly A (Thesis advisor) / Umana-Taylor, Adriana (Committee member) / Christopher, Scott (Committee member) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Ethnic enclaves, or neighborhoods with high ethnic densities, have been linked with positive health outcomes and lower crime rates. Using data from the Pathways to Desistance project, this study tested whether neighborhood Latino concentration prospectively predicted re-offense rates among a sample of Mexican American juvenile offenders (n = 247). Further, I tested whether the effect of neighborhood Latino concentration on re-offense was moderated by ethnic identity, Mexican orientation, and generation status. Covariates included demographics and risk factors for offending. Results showed that neighborhood Latino concentration, ethnic identity, Mexican orientation, and generation status were not predictive of re-offense rates. Gender, risk for offending, and time spent supervised during the follow-up period predicted re-offense rates one year later. The results highlight the importance of risk assessment for this high risk group.
ContributorsBui, Leena (Author) / Chassin, Laurie (Thesis advisor) / Knight, George (Committee member) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / White, Rebecca (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Longitudinal data from European-American (EA) and Mexican-American (MA) families (n = 179 mothers, fathers, and youth; 41% MA) was used to test a bio-psycho-cultural model of the effect of non-responsive parenting on externalizing problems in young adult offspring through the effect on the stress response system. Parenting behavior (acceptance, rejection, harsh discipline) was assessed when children were in late childhood (12-13 years), cortisol samples were collected during late adolescence (18-19 years), and externalizing problems were measured in young adulthood (21-22 years). Latent profile analyses were used to examine patterns of parenting behavior in EA and MA families. A path analysis framework was used to examine how non-responsive parenting interacted with acceptance to predict adolescent stress response and subsequent externalizing problems in EA and MA young adults. Results showed different patterns of parenting behavior in EA versus MA families, with MA families demonstrating a profile of high acceptance and high non-responsiveness at higher rates than EA families. In MA families, youth adherence to the traditional cultural value of familismo related to more positive perceptions of parenting behavior. Across ethnic groups, parent rejection only predicted higher externalizing problems in young adults when acceptance was high. The effect of parent harsh discipline on offspring stress response differed by ethnicity. In MA families, harsh discipline predicted dysregulated stress response in youth when acceptance was low. In EA families, harsh discipline did not relate to youth stress response. Overall, results increase the understanding of normative and adaptive parenting behaviors in MA families. Findings inform the development of culturally-competent parenting-focused interventions that can better prevent dysregulated stress response and externalizing behavior problems in ethnically diverse youth.
ContributorsMahrer, Nicole Eva (Author) / Luecken, Linda (Thesis advisor) / Wolchik, Sharlene (Thesis advisor) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Pina, Armando (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Researchers who conduct longitudinal studies are inherently interested in studying individual and population changes over time (e.g., mathematics achievement, subjective well-being). To answer such research questions, models of change (e.g., growth models) make the assumption of longitudinal measurement invariance. In many applied situations, key constructs are measured by a collection of ordered-categorical indicators (e.g., Likert scale items). To evaluate longitudinal measurement invariance with ordered-categorical indicators, a set of hierarchical models can be sequentially tested and compared. If the statistical tests of measurement invariance fail to be supported for one of the models, it is useful to have a method with which to gauge the practical significance of the differences in measurement model parameters over time. Drawing on studies of latent growth models and second-order latent growth models with continuous indicators (e.g., Kim & Willson, 2014a; 2014b; Leite, 2007; Wirth, 2008), this study examined the performance of a potential sensitivity analysis to gauge the practical significance of violations of longitudinal measurement invariance for ordered-categorical indicators using second-order latent growth models. The change in the estimate of the second-order growth parameters following the addition of an incorrect level of measurement invariance constraints at the first-order level was used as an effect size for measurement non-invariance. This study investigated how sensitive the proposed sensitivity analysis was to different locations of non-invariance (i.e., non-invariance in the factor loadings, the thresholds, and the unique factor variances) given a sufficient sample size. This study also examined whether the sensitivity of the proposed sensitivity analysis depended on a number of other factors including the magnitude of non-invariance, the number of non-invariant indicators, the number of non-invariant occasions, and the number of response categories in the indicators.
ContributorsLiu, Yu, Ph.D (Author) / West, Stephen G. (Thesis advisor) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Thesis advisor) / Green, Samuel (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Although substantial research has examined individual, family, and peer factors that contribute to predicting adolescent alcohol use, limited attention has been devoted to the unique role of romantic partners and little consideration has been given to the potential importance of romantic relationship seriousness. Data from Waves I and II of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) were used to assess the relation between romantic relationship seriousness and binge drinking and drinking consequences one year later among 14-18 year-olds (n= 928 adolescents; 54.1% female). Main effects of relationship seriousness and moderating effects of adolescent age, partner age, adolescent age by partner age, parental alcoholism, and gender were examined separately for each drinking outcome using zero-inflated Poisson regression (ZIP) models. Relationship seriousness and study covariate interactions were also examined. ZIP models estimate (a) a logistic regression that distinguishes between individuals whose values can only be zero on the outcome (i.e., a structural zero class) and individuals with count values ranging from zero to any other positive integer (i.e., a non-structural zero class), and (b) a Poisson regression predicting count values among the non-structural zero class. Results showed trends towards significance for relations between relationship seriousness and binge drinking and drinking consequences among non-structural zero classes. As hypothesized, increased relationship seriousness predicted less frequent binge drinking and fewer drinking consequences. The relation between relationship seriousness and binge drinking was moderated by peer alcohol use; the negative relation between relationship seriousness and binge drinking frequency was significant among adolescents who reported 0-2, but not 3, close friends who drink. The relation between relationship seriousness and number of drinking consequences was moderated by gender, adolescent delinquency (covariate), peer alcohol use (covariate), and Wave I drinking consequences (control variable). Specifically, a significant relation between relationship seriousness and number of drinking consequences was revealed only for females and only for adolescents who reported high consequences at Wave I, and was significant among adolescents who reported 0-2 close friends who drink and low delinquency. Results indicate that relationship seriousness can protect adolescents in terms of drinking outcomes, which could have implications for prevention efforts.
ContributorsCarr, Colleen (Author) / Wolchik, Sharlene (Thesis advisor) / Chassin, Laurie (Thesis advisor) / Dishion, Thomas (Committee member) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016