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- All Subjects: Stress
- Creators: Department of Psychology
This hypothesis is supported by previous studies demonstrating that stress-induced elevation of glucocorticoids increases the transcription of C4. I propose that activated glucocorticoid receptors directly increase C4 protein expression as a transcription factor activator. Additionally, I propose that activated glucocorticoid receptors inhibit the expression of the transcription factor nuclear factor-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), thereby leading to decreased expression of the C4 inhibitor CUB and Sushi multiple domains 1 (CSMD1).
Glucocorticoid receptors and C4 are richly expressed in the hippocampus, a region critical in memory consolidation, spatial, and declarative memory. I propose that stress-induced upregulation of C4 activity in the hippocampus promotes excessive synaptic pruning, contributing to specific deficits and hippocampal shrinkage seen in schizophrenia. Stress exposure during fetal development and adolescence likely acts through the proposed mechanisms to increase hippocampal C4 activity and subsequent schizophrenia risk. These mechanisms may reveal novel interactions between environmental and genetic risk factors in the etiology of schizophrenia through complement activation.
Expectation for college attendance in the United States continues to rise as more jobs require degrees. This study aims to determine how parental expectations affect high school students in their decision to attend college. By examining parental expectations that were placed on current college students prior to and during the application period, we can determine the positive and negative outcomes of these expectations as well as the atmosphere they are creating. To test the hypothesis, an online survey was distributed to current ASU and Barrett, Honors College students regarding their experience with college applications and their parents' influence on their collegiate attendance. A qualitative analysis of the data was conducted in tandem with an analysis of several case studies to determine the results. These data show that parental expectations are having a significant impact on the enrollment of high school students in college programs. With parents placing these expectations on their children, collegiate enrollment will continue to increase. Further studies will be necessary to determine the specific influences these expectations are placing on students.
Executive functioning (EF) is the cognitive processing of goal-oriented actions that are predictive of important life functioning skills. Middle childhood is an important time for academic achievement and social development. Positive and negative parenting practices were examined in the prediction of several child executive functioning outcomes in middle childhood, this thesis further examined whether early life socioeconomic status moderated such associations. This sample consisted of 708 twins (32% monozygotic, 36% same-sex dizygotic, and 32% opposite-sex dizygotic) with ethnically and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds at two age points, 12 months old (M = 12.5 months, SD = 1.06) and 8 years old (M = 8.41, SD = .40).There was a significant negative main effect between negative parenting and CPT. Further, positive parenting interacted with SES to predict CPT and Digit Span Forward. A significant positive effect was identified between positive parenting and CPT in low SES families, but not high SES families. Interestingly, greater positive parenting was associated with lower Digit Span Forward in high SES families, but not low SES families. These findings suggest that while negative parenting was associated with worse EF across the entire sample, the relationship between positive parenting practices and executive functioning outcomes differed based on early life socioeconomic status. Future research should examine whether various domains of executive functioning may follow different developmental patterns.