Matching Items (8)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Anxiety
- All Subjects: Developmental Psychology
- Creators: Chassin, Laurie
Description
Although research has documented robust prospective relationships between externalizing symptomatology and subsequent binge drinking among adolescents, the extent to which internalizing symptoms increase risk for drinking remains controversial. In particular, the role of anxiety as a predictor of binge drinking remains unclear. Recent evidence suggests that one possible reason for these mixed findings is that separate dimensions of anxiety may differentially confer risk for alcohol use. The present study tested two dimensions of anxiety - worry and physiological anxiety -- as predictors of binge drinking in a longitudinal study of juvenile delinquents. Overall, results indicate that worry and physiological anxiety showed differential relations with drinking behavior. In general, worry was protective against alcohol use, whereas physiological anxiety conferred risk for binge drinking, but both effects were conditional on levels of offending. Implications for future research examining the role of anxiety in predicting drinking behavior among youth are discussed.
ContributorsNichter, Brandon (Author) / Chassin, Laurie (Thesis advisor) / Barrera, Manuel (Committee member) / Presson, Clark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Mexican American adolescents report high rates of internalizing symptomatology and alcohol use. However, very little research has explored to what extent internalizing distress may contribute to alcohol use among this population. The current study utilized longitudinal data from a community sample of Mexican American adolescents (n=626, 51% female) to test a series of hypotheses about the role of internalizing distress on alcohol use and misuse. Specifically, this study used a bifactor modeling approach to investigate (1) whether different forms of internalizing distress are composed of common and unique components; (2) whether and to what extent such components confer risk for alcohol use; and (3) whether youth cultural orientation plays a role in these associations. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a bifactor model with a general factor and three specific factors (depressed mood, general worry, social anxiety) provided good fit to the data. The general distress factor was significantly associated with past month alcohol use but not binge drinking. However, these effects were conditional based on level of acculturation. Differential relations were found between the specific factors of internalizing distress and alcohol use. Depressed mood predicted past month alcohol use among girls; social anxiety negatively predicted past three month binge drinking among boys. Overall, results highlight the multidimensional nature of internalizing distress and suggest that both common and unique components of internalizing distress may be relevant to the etiology of alcohol use among Mexican-American adolescents. Findings underscore the importance of considering cultural orientation as a moderating factor when investigating substance use among Hispanic youth. Implications for future research examining the etiological relevance of the internalizing pathway to alcohol use among Hispanic adolescents are discussed.
ContributorsNichter, Brandon (Author) / Gonzales, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Chassin, Laurie (Committee member) / Barrera, Manuel (Committee member) / Tein, Jenn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Anxiety disorder diagnosis is a risk factor for alcohol use disorders (AUDs), but mechanisms of risk are not well understood. Studies show that anxious individuals receive greater negative reinforcement from alcohol when consumed prior to a stressor, but few studies have examined whether anxious individuals receive greater negative (or positive) reinforcement from alcohol in a general drinking context (i.e., no imminent stressor). Previous studies have also failed to examine possible moderating effects of specific drinking contexts (e.g., drinking in a group or alone). Finally, no studies have investigated mediating variables that might explain the relationship between anxiety and reinforcement from alcohol, such as physiological response to alcohol (e.g., cortisol response). Data for this study were drawn from a large alcohol administration study (N = 447) wherein participants were randomized to receive alcohol (target peak BAC: .08 g%) or placebo in one of four contexts: group simulated bar, solitary simulated bar, group sterile laboratory, solitary sterile laboratory. It was hypothesized that anxiety would be associated with positive subjective response (SR) under alcohol (above and beyond placebo), indicating stronger reinforcement from alcohol. It was also hypothesized that social and physical drinking context would moderate this relationship. Finally, it was hypothesized that anxiety would be associated with a blunted cortisol response to alcohol (compared to placebo) and this blunted cortisol response would be associated with stronger positive SR and weaker negative SR. Results showed that anxiety was not associated with positive SR in the full sample, but drinking context did moderate the anxiety/SR relationship in most cases (e.g., anxiety was significantly associated with positive SR (stimulation) under placebo in solitary contexts only). There was no evidence that cortisol response to alcohol mediated the relationship between anxiety and SR. This study provides evidence that anxious drinkers expect stronger positive reinforcement from alcohol in solitary contexts, which has implications for intervention (e.g., modification of existing interventions like expectancy challenge). Null findings regarding cortisol response suggest alcohol’s effect on cortisol response to stress (rather than cortisol response to alcohol consumption) may be more relevant for SR and drinking behavior among anxious individuals.
ContributorsMenary, Kyle Robert (Author) / Corbin, William (Thesis advisor) / Chassin, Laurie (Committee member) / Meier, Madeline (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The tendency for psychopathology to aggregate within families is well-documented, though little is known regarding the level of specificity at which familial transmission of symptomology occurs. The current study first tested competing higher-order structures of psychopathology in adolescence, indexing general and more specific latent factors. Second, parent-offspring transmission was tested for broadband domain specificity versus transmission of a general liability for psychopathology. Lastly, genetic and environmental mechanisms underlying the familial aggregation of psychopathology were examined using nuclear twin-family models. The sample was comprised of five hundred adolescent twin pairs (mean age 13.24 years) and their parents drawn from the Wisconsin Twin Project. Twins and parents completed independent diagnostic interviews. For aim 1, correlated factors, bifactor, and general-factor models were tested using adolescent symptom count data. For aim 2, structural equation modeling was used to determine whether broadband domain-specific transmission effects were necessary to capture parent-offspring resemblance in psychopathology above and beyond a general transmission effect indexed by the latent correlation between a parental internalizing factor and offspring P-factor. For aim 3, general factor models were fitted in both generations, and factor scores were subsequently extracted and used in nuclear twin-family model testing. Results indicated that the bifactor model exhibited the best fit to the adolescent data. Familial aggregation of psychopathology was sufficiently accounted for by the transmission of a general liability. Lastly, the best fitting reduced nuclear twin-family model indicated that additive genetic, sibling-specific shared environmental, and nonshared environmental influences contributed to general psychopathology. Parent-offspring transmission was accounted for by shared genetics only, whereas co-twin aggregation was additionally explained by sibling-specific shared environmental factors. Results provide novel insight into the specificity and etiology of the familial aggregation of psychopathology.
ContributorsOro, Veronica (Author) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Chassin, Laurie (Committee member) / Doane, Leah D (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The current study utilized data from two longitudinal samples to test mechanisms in the relation between a polygenic risk score indexing serotonin functioning and alcohol use in adolescence. Specifically, this study tested whether individuals with lower levels of serotonin functioning as indexed by a polygenic risk score were vulnerable to poorer self-regulation, and whether poorer self-regulation subsequently predicted the divergent outcomes of depressive symptoms and aggressive/antisocial behaviors. This study then examined whether depressive symptoms and aggressive/antisocial behaviors conferred risk for later alcohol use in adolescence, and whether polygenic risk and effortful control had direct effects on alcohol use that were not mediated through problem behaviors. Finally, the study examined the potential moderating role of gender in these pathways to alcohol use.
Structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Results from an independent genome-wide association study of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid were used to create serotonin (5-HT) polygenic risk scores, wherein higher scores reflected lower levels of 5-HT functioning. Data from three time points were drawn from each sample, and all paths were prospective. Findings suggested that 5-HT polygenic risk did not predict self-regulatory constructs. However, 5-HT polygenic risk did predict the divergent outcomes of depression and aggression/antisociality, such that higher levels of 5-HT polygenic risk predicted greater levels of depression and aggression/antisociality. Results most clearly supported adolescents’ aggression/antisociality as a mechanism in the relation between 5-HT polygenic risk and later alcohol use. Deficits in self-regulation also predicted depression and aggression/antisociality, and indirectly predicted alcohol use through aggression/antisociality. These pathways to alcohol use might be the most salient for boys with low levels of socioeconomic status.
Results are novel contributions to the literature. The previously observed association between serotonin functioning and alcohol use might be due, in part, to the fact that individuals with lower levels of serotonin functioning are predisposed towards developing earlier aggression/antisociality. Results did not support the hypothesis that serotonin functioning predisposes individuals to deficits in self-regulatory abilities. Findings extend previous research by suggesting that serotonin functioning and self-regulation might be transdiagnostic risk factors for many types of psychopathology.
Structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Results from an independent genome-wide association study of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid were used to create serotonin (5-HT) polygenic risk scores, wherein higher scores reflected lower levels of 5-HT functioning. Data from three time points were drawn from each sample, and all paths were prospective. Findings suggested that 5-HT polygenic risk did not predict self-regulatory constructs. However, 5-HT polygenic risk did predict the divergent outcomes of depression and aggression/antisociality, such that higher levels of 5-HT polygenic risk predicted greater levels of depression and aggression/antisociality. Results most clearly supported adolescents’ aggression/antisociality as a mechanism in the relation between 5-HT polygenic risk and later alcohol use. Deficits in self-regulation also predicted depression and aggression/antisociality, and indirectly predicted alcohol use through aggression/antisociality. These pathways to alcohol use might be the most salient for boys with low levels of socioeconomic status.
Results are novel contributions to the literature. The previously observed association between serotonin functioning and alcohol use might be due, in part, to the fact that individuals with lower levels of serotonin functioning are predisposed towards developing earlier aggression/antisociality. Results did not support the hypothesis that serotonin functioning predisposes individuals to deficits in self-regulatory abilities. Findings extend previous research by suggesting that serotonin functioning and self-regulation might be transdiagnostic risk factors for many types of psychopathology.
ContributorsWang, Frances Lynn (Author) / Chassin, Laurie (Thesis advisor) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Committee member) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / MacKinnon, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Anxiety is one of the most common mental illnesses in the United States. In this project, I chose to explore how food is one of the most accessible and inexpensive ways of treating anxiety. This creative project examines the major key components of gut health including the balance of neurotransmitters and bacteria in the gut, restoring hydrochloric acid through celery juice, removing heavy metal toxins through food, eating fermented foods, and limiting refined carbohydrates, and high-sugar consumption. Additionally, this creative project explores my own personal journey through the implementation of foods that influence anxiety revealed in a systemic review over the course of a 6-week period.
ContributorsHunter, Madelyn Grace (Author) / Hart, Teresa (Thesis director) / Barth, Christina (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Pediatric chronic pain is pervasive and associated with myriad adverse consequences, yet due consideration has not been given to the mental health disturbances that often present alongside chronic pain and the etiological mechanisms that potentially underlie both. The current study examined the etiology underlying chronic pain and internalizing symptomology in middle childhood, considering both independent and co-occurring symptom presentations. Phenotypic parent-offspring associations across chronic pain and internalizing symptomology were also examined. Lastly, nuclear twin family models were tested to determine the extent to which genetic and environmental factors underlie parent-offspring transmission. The sample comprised 795 children (399 families; Mage= 9.7 years; SD = 0.92) and their parents drawn from the Arizona Twin Project. Results indicated that chronic pain was highly heritable (78%), whereas internalizing symptomology was modestly heritable (32%) and further subject to moderate shared environmental influence (50%). Moreover, 9% of the variance in chronic pain was explained by additive genetic factors shared with internalizing symptomology. Maternal chronic pain and internalizing symptomology were positively associated with both child chronic pain and internalizing symptomology. The association between maternal chronic pain and child chronic pain was more pronounced for girls than boys, whereas the association between maternal internalizing symptomology and child internalizing symptomology was more pronounced for boys than girls. Paternal chronic pain was not significantly associated with child chronic pain but was unexpectedly associated with lower child internalizing symptomology. The negative association between paternal chronic pain and child internalizing symptomology was more pronounced for boys than girls. Paternal internalizing symptomology was not significantly associated with child chronic pain but was positively associated with child internalizing symptomology. Lastly, the best fitting reduced nuclear twin family models for both chronic pain and internalizing symptomology retained additive genetic, sibling-specific shared environmental, and nonshared environmental parameters, where parent-offspring transmission was solely explained by shared genetics and sibling-specific shared environmental factors further accounted for co-twin resemblance. Results provide novel insight into common liabilities underlying chronic pain and internalizing symptomology in middle childhood, parent-offspring associations across chronic pain and internalizing symptomology, and the etiological mechanisms that explain symptom aggregation across generations.
ContributorsOro, Veronica (Author) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Chassin, Laurie (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Su, Jinni (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
This study aimed to advance understanding of the relation between social media and adolescent alcohol use while accounting for offline peer alcohol use, exploring offline peer alcohol use separately as a covariate and as a moderator, with an additional exploratory analysis of the relation between social media and alcohol use without offline peer alcohol use in the model. A total of 868 students (55% female) in grade 7 (n = 468) and grade 8 (n = 400) at wave 1, self-reported on alcohol use, binge drinking, and social media use as well as nominated friends from their school and grade. Data from nominated peers who also completed the questionnaires were used for peer-report of alcohol use. Data were collected annually from students at grades 8, 9, 10, and 11 were used in analyses. Final structural models consisted of a cross-lagged panel design with saved factor scores for social media and peer alcohol use predicting a categorical alcohol use variable or a binary binge drinking variable. With offline peer alcohol use as a covariate in the model, social media did not prospectively relate to subsequent grade alcohol use or binge drinking. However, without offline peer alcohol use, the path from social media use to subsequent grade alcohol use was significant but not the path to binge drinking. Offline peer alcohol use did not significantly moderate the relation between social media and subsequent grade alcohol use or binge drinking.
ContributorsCurlee, Alexandria Stephanie (Author) / Corbin, William R. (Thesis advisor) / Chassin, Laurie (Committee member) / Doane, Leah D (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020