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- All Subjects: psychology
- Creators: Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn
Description
The hypothalamus pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis and the human genome are important components of the biological etiology of externalizing disorders. By studying the associations between specific genetic variants, diurnal cortisol, and externalizing symptoms we can begin to unpack this complex etiology. It was hypothesized that genetic variants from the corticotropine releasing hormone receptor 1 (CRHR1), FK506 binding protein 51 (FKBP5), catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT), and dopamine transporter (DAT1) genes and diurnal cortisol intercepts and slopes would separately predict externalizing symptoms. It was also hypothesized that genetic variants would moderate the association between cortisol and externalizing. Participants were 800 twins (51% boys), 88.5% Caucasian, M=7.93 years (SD=0.87) participating in the Wisconsin Twin Project. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to separate the variance associated with state and trait cortisol measured across three consecutive days and trait cortisol measures were used. There were no main effects of genes on externalizing symptoms. The evening cortisol intercept, the morning cortisol slope and the evening cortisol slope predicted externalizing, but only in boys, such that boys with higher cortisol and flatter slopes across the day also had more externalizing symptoms. The morning cortisol intercept and CRHR1 rs242924 interacted to predict externalizing in both boys and girls, with GG carriers significantly higher compared to TT carriers at one standard deviation below the mean of morning cortisol. For boys only there was a significant interaction between the DAT1 variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) and the afternoon slope and a significant slope for 9/9 carriers and 9/10 carriers such that when the slope was more steep, boys carrying a nine had fewer externalizing symptoms but when the slope was less steep, they had more. Results confirm a link between diurnal trait cortisol and externalizing in boys, as well as moderation of that association by genetic polymorphisms. This is the first study to empirically examine this association and should encourage further research on the biological etiology of externalizing disorder symptoms.
ContributorsSwann, Gregory (Author) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Chassin, Laurie (Committee member) / Doane-Sampey, Leah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Low-income Mexican American women face significant risk for poor health during the postpartum period. Chronic stressors are theorized to negatively impact mental and physical health outcomes. However, physiological factors associated with increased self-regulatory capacity, such as resting heart rate variability, may buffer the impact of stress. In a sample of 322 low-income Mexican American women (mother age 18-42; 84% Spanish-speaking; modal family income $10,000-$15,000), the interactive influence of resting heart rate variability and three chronic prenatal stressors (daily hassles, negative life events, economic stress) on maternal cortisol output, depressive symptoms, and self-rated health at 12 weeks postpartum was assessed. The hypothesized interactive effects between resting heart rate variability and the chronic prenatal stressors on the health outcomes were not supported by the data. However, results showed that a higher number of prenatal daily hassles was associated with increased postpartum depressive symptoms, and a higher number of prenatal negative life events was associated with lower postpartum cortisol output. These results suggest that elevated chronic stress during the prenatal period may increase risk for poor health during the postpartum period.
ContributorsJewell, Shannon Linda (Author) / Luecken, Linda J. (Thesis advisor) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Perez, Marisol (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
ABSTRACT
What does it mean to feel an emotion? The nature of emotional
experience has often been described in terms overall conscious experience, termed affect. However, even within affective research there are multiple contradicting theories about the nature and structure of affect. I propose that these contradictions are due to methodological issues in the empirical research examining these underlying dimensions. Furthermore, I propose that subjective emotional experience should be examined separately from overall affect. The current study attempts to address past methodological issues by focusing solely on emotional experiences, developing a comprehensive list of emotion items, and including a broad range of emotional experiences. In Study 1, participants were asked to recall an emotional experience and then report their experience of 76 different emotions during that experience. A factor analysis of the emotion ratings revealed a 5-factor categorical structure with categories of Joy, Anger, Sadness, Fear, and Shame/Jealousy. In Study 2, the 76 emotion words from Study 1 were compared in a semantic space derived from a large collection of text samples in an attempt to compare to the results of Study 1. A semantic space derived from a broad range of texts would reflect relationships of emotional concepts. Study 2 revealed a 1-factor structure, drastically different from the structure in Study 1. The implications from Study 2, however, are limited because of the limited range of literature that was used to create the semantic space in which the words were compared. Overall, the results from these studies suggest that subjective emotional experience should be treated as categorical.
What does it mean to feel an emotion? The nature of emotional
experience has often been described in terms overall conscious experience, termed affect. However, even within affective research there are multiple contradicting theories about the nature and structure of affect. I propose that these contradictions are due to methodological issues in the empirical research examining these underlying dimensions. Furthermore, I propose that subjective emotional experience should be examined separately from overall affect. The current study attempts to address past methodological issues by focusing solely on emotional experiences, developing a comprehensive list of emotion items, and including a broad range of emotional experiences. In Study 1, participants were asked to recall an emotional experience and then report their experience of 76 different emotions during that experience. A factor analysis of the emotion ratings revealed a 5-factor categorical structure with categories of Joy, Anger, Sadness, Fear, and Shame/Jealousy. In Study 2, the 76 emotion words from Study 1 were compared in a semantic space derived from a large collection of text samples in an attempt to compare to the results of Study 1. A semantic space derived from a broad range of texts would reflect relationships of emotional concepts. Study 2 revealed a 1-factor structure, drastically different from the structure in Study 1. The implications from Study 2, however, are limited because of the limited range of literature that was used to create the semantic space in which the words were compared. Overall, the results from these studies suggest that subjective emotional experience should be treated as categorical.
ContributorsOsborne, Elizabeth (Author) / Shiota, Michelle N. (Thesis advisor) / Glenberg, Arthur (Committee member) / Neuberg, Steven (Committee member) / Becker, David V. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic musculoskeletal disorder characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, and a variety of other comorbid physiological and psychological characteristics, including a deficit of positive affect. Recently, the focus of research on the pathophysiology of FM has considered the role of a number of genomic variants. In the current manuscript, case-control analyses did not support the hypothesis that FM patients would differ from other chronic pain groups in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and mu-opioid receptor (OPRM1) genotype. However, evidence is provided in support of the hypothesis that functional single nucleotide polymorphisms on the COMT and OPRM1 genes would be associated with risk and resilience, respectively, in a dual processing model of pain-related positive affective regulation in FM. Forty-six female patients with a physician-confirmed diagnosis of FM completed an electronic diary that included once-daily assessments of positive affect and soft tissue pain. Multilevel modeling yielded a significant gene X environment interaction, such that individuals with met/met genotype on COMT experienced a greater decline in positive affect as daily pain increased than did either val/met or val/val individuals. A gene X environment interaction for OPRM1 also emerged, indicating that individuals with at least one asp allele were more resilient to elevations in daily pain than those homozygous for the asn allele. In sum, the findings offer researchers ample reason to further investigate the contribution of the catecholamine and opioid systems, and their associated genomic variants, to the still poorly understood experience of FM.
ContributorsFinan, Patrick Hamilton (Author) / Zautra, Alex (Thesis advisor) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Presson, Clark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
In the present research, two interventions were developed to increase sun protection in young women. The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of intervention content eliciting strong emotional responses to visual images depicting photoaging and skin cancer, specifically fear and disgust, coupled with a message of self-efficacy and benefits of sun protection (the F intervention) with an intervention that did not contain an emotional arousal component (the E intervention). Further, these two intervention conditions were compared to a control condition that contained an emotional arousal component that elicited emotion unrelated to the threat of skin cancer or photoaging (the C control condition). A longitudinal study design was employed, to examine the effects of condition immediately following the intervention, and to examine sun protection behavior 2 weeks after the intervention. A total of 352 undergraduate women at Arizona State University were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions (F n = 148, E n = 73, C n = 131). Several psychosocial constructs, including benefits of sun protection, susceptibility to and severity of photoaging and sun exposure, self-efficacy beliefs of making sun protection a daily habit, and barriers to sun protection were measured before and immediately following the intervention. Sun protection behavior was measured two weeks later. Those in the full intervention reported higher self-efficacy and severity of photoaging at immediate posttest than those in the efficacy only and control conditions. The fit of several path models was tested to explore underlying mechanisms by which the intervention affected sun protection behavior. Experienced emotion, specifically fear and disgust, predicted susceptibility and severity, which in turn predicted anticipated regret of failing to use sun protection. The relationship between this overall threat component (experienced emotion, susceptibility, severity, and anticipated regret) and intentions to engage in sun protection behavior was mediated by benefits. The present research provided evidence of the effectiveness of threat specific emotional arousal coupled with a self-efficacy and benefits message in interventions to increase sun protection. Further, this research provided additional support for the inclusion of both experienced and anticipated emotion in models of health behavior.
ContributorsMoser, Stephanie E (Author) / Aiken, Leona S. (Thesis advisor) / Shiota, Michelle N. (Committee member) / Kwan, Sau (Committee member) / Castro, Felipe (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Externalizing behaviors are pervasive, widespread, and disruptive across a multitude of settings and developmental contexts. While the conventional diathesis-stress model typically measures the disordered end of the spectrum, studies that span the range of behavior, from externalizing to competence behaviors, are necessary to see the full picture. To that end, this study examined the additive and nonadditive relations of a dimension of parenting (ranging from warm to rejecting), and variants in dopamine, vasopressin, and neuropeptide-y receptor genes on externalizing/competence in a large sample of predominantly Caucasian twin children in toddlerhood, middle childhood, and early adolescence. Variants within each gene were hypothesized to increase biological susceptibility to both negative and positive environments. Consistent with prediction, warmth related to lower externalizing/higher competence at all ages. Earlier levels of externalizing/competence washed out the effect of parental warmth on future externalizing/competence with the exception of father warmth in toddlerhood marginally predicting change in externalizing/competence from toddlerhood to middle childhood. Warmth was a significant moderator of the heritability of behavior in middle childhood and early adolescence such that behavior was less heritable (mother report) and more heritable (father report) in low warmth environments. Interactions with warmth and the dopamine and vasopressin genes in middle childhood and early adolescence emphasize the moderational role gene variants play in relations between the rearing environment and child behavior. For dopamine, the long variant related to increased sensitivity to parent warmth such that the children displayed more externalizing behaviors when exposed to rejection but they also displayed more competence behaviors when exposed to high warmth. Vasopressin moderation was only present under conditions of parental warmth, not rejection. Interactions with neuropeptide-y and warmth were not significant. The picture that emerges is one of gene-environment interplay, wherein the influence of both parenting and child genotype each depend on the level of the other. As genetic research moves forward, gene variants previously implicated as conferring risk for disorder should be reexamined in conjunction with salient aspects of the environment on the full range of the behavioral outcome of interest.
ContributorsO'Brien, T. Caitlin (Author) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Committee member) / Enders, Craig (Committee member) / Nagoshi, Craig (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Envy may be an emotion shaped by evolution to resolve large resource disparities in zero-sum ancestral environments. Previous research has found evidence for two types of envy: benign envy, which drives greater effort and self-improvement; and malicious envy, which drives hostility toward the better-off target. We predicted that perceived resource scarcity would stoke either type, moderated by individual differences. Specifically, we predicted that high self-esteem would steer people toward benign envy and self-improvement, whereas narcissism would spark malicious envy. After completing the Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the Narcissism Personality Inventory (NPI-16), participants were randomly assigned to either read an article detailing severe cuts to university financial aid budgets (scarcity) or an article summarizing various forms of financial aid (control). Each article ended with the same envy-inducing paragraph about a particularly affluent scholarship-winner, after which participants completed a measure of both envy types, capturing feelings, appraisals, and behavioral tendencies. Results show that self-esteem predicts less malicious envy, while narcissism and scarcity predict more. Self-esteem and narcissism interact such that self-esteem dampens the effect of narcissism on malicious envy. Self-esteem predicted benign envy when narcissism was low, but not when it was high.
ContributorsDuarte, Jose L (Author) / Shiota, Michelle N. (Thesis advisor) / Kwan, Sau Y (Committee member) / Kenrick, Douglas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The interplay of genes and environment on children's development is a complex dynamic process. As behavior geneticists begin to model protective as well as risk factors, and interactive as well as main effect influences, development is elucidated. It was hypothesized that positive parenting, a quality home environment, and high family cohesion would moderate the heritability of three components of temperament: Effortful Control, Negative Affectivity, and Extraversion/Surgency. Participants were drawn from the Wisconsin Twin Project and consisted of 1573 twins (51% boys), 88.5% Caucasian, M=7.93 years (SD=0.87). Higher order composites for the parenting and family environment moderators were formed from mother and father reports of Behavior Management Self-Assessment, Child Rearing Practices Report, Family Assessment Device, and Family Conflict Scale. Measures of the home environment (LEOS Living Environment Observation Scale and CHAOS Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale) were not composited due to the nature of the variables. Correlational analyses showed a majority of the temperament and environmental measures to be correlated (rs = -.49-.57). For Effortful Control, Negative Affectivity, and Extraversion/Surgency, estimates for the heritability and nonshared environment were 0.60 and 0.40, 0.80 and 0.20, and 0.59 and 0.41, respectively, with no significant main effects of the shared environment. Models incorporating environmental moderation of these estimates yielded parenting as a significant moderator for Negative Affectivity, LEOS for Effortful Control and Extraversion/Surgency, and CHAOS for Effortful Control and Extraversion/Surgency. Results suggest that the quality of the family environment may act as a permissive or determinative influence on the heritability and expression of temperament. Future analyses include the examination of interactive genetic influences. These findings underscore the importance of shared environment, and support the recent literature on the benefits of positive influences on children's development.
ContributorsKao, Karen (Author) / Bradley, Robert H. (Thesis advisor) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Nagoshi, Craig (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Traditional perspectives on sexual prejudice typically focus on the distinction between heterosexual ingroup and homosexual outgroup. In contrast, I focus on an affordance-management paradigm which views prejudices as resulting not from ingroup/outgroup relations, but instead from perceptions of the threats and opportunities posed by members of different groups. Past research has demonstrated that non-heterosexual target groups are perceived to pose a variety of threats, including threats to the socialization of young children, of child molestation, of disease, and to values. My research, however, suggests sexual prejudices arise for college students from beliefs that certain sexual orientation groups pose threats of unwanted sexual interest. For young adults, mating concerns are salient and should define relevant threats and opportunities--including those that might drive prejudices. For individuals with different active motivations, however, different threats and opportunities and threats are salient, and so the threats driving sexual prejudices may also differ. I extend my past research to consider how activating different fundamental goals (e.g., disease avoidance, parenting) alters patterns of sexual prejudice. I posit that activating disease concerns will increase prejudice specifically toward non-heterosexuals associated with disease (gay and bisexual me)--but not other non-heterosexuals (lesbians and bisexual women)--whereas activating offspring care will increase prejudice toward all non-heterosexual target groups, as all are perceived to pose socialization threats. To test this, heterosexual participants were randomly assigned to a parenting or disease-avoidance goal activation, or control condition, and then rated their general negativity towards heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual male and female targets. They also rated their perceptions of the extent to which each target posed unwanted sexual interest, socialization, and disease threats. Contrary to predictions, activating parenting and disease avoidance systems failed to affect sexual prejudices. Furthermore, although the pattern of observed data was largely consistent with previously observed patterns, women's attitudes towards gay men in the control condition were more negative than that found in previous studies, as were men's attitudes towards bisexual and lesbian women. Multiple mechanisms underlie sexual prejudices, and research is needed to better understand the circumstances under which alternative mechanisms are engaged and have their effects.
ContributorsPirlott, Angela (Author) / Neuberg, Steven L. (Thesis advisor) / Kenrick, Douglas T. (Committee member) / Mackinnon, David P. (Committee member) / Shiota, Michelle N. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
An emerging body of literature suggests that humans likely have multiple threat avoidance systems that enable us to detect and avoid threats in our environment, such as disease threats and physical safety threats. These systems are presumed to be domain-specific, each handling one class of potential threats, and previous research generally supports this assumption. Previous research has not, however, directly tested the domain-specificity of disease avoidance and self-protection by showing that activating one threat management system does not lead to responses consistent only with a different threat management system. Here, the domain- specificity of the disease avoidance and self-protection systems is directly tested using the lexical decision task, a measure of stereotype accessibility, and the implicit association test. Results, although inconclusive, more strongly support a series of domain-specific threat management systems than a single, domain- general system
ContributorsAnderson, Uriah Steven (Author) / Kenrick, Douglas T. (Thesis advisor) / Shiota, Michelle N. (Committee member) / Neuberg, Steven L. (Committee member) / Becker, David V (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011