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- Genre: Academic theses
Description
Though it is a widespread adaptation in humans and many other animals, parental care comes in a variety of forms and its subtle physiological costs, benefits, and tradeoffs related to offspring are often unknown. Thus, I studied the hydric, respiratory, thermal, and fitness dynamics of maternal egg-brooding behavior in Children's pythons (Antaresia childreni). I demonstrated that tight coiling detrimentally creates a hypoxic developmental environment that is alleviated by periodic postural adjustments. Alternatively, maternal postural adjustments detrimentally elevate rates of egg water loss relative to tight coiling. Despite ventilating postural adjustments, the developmental environment becomes increasingly hypoxic near the end of incubation, which reduces embryonic metabolism. I further demonstrated that brooding-induced hypoxia detrimentally affects offspring size, performance, locomotion, and behavior. Thus, parental care in A. childreni comes at a cost to offspring due to intra-offspring tradeoffs (i.e., those that reflect competing offspring needs, such as water balance and respiration). Next, I showed that, despite being unable to intrinsically produce body heat, A. childreni adjust egg-brooding behavior in response to shifts in nest temperature, which enhances egg temperature (e.g., reduced tight coiling during nest warming facilitated beneficial heat transfer to eggs). Last, I demonstrated that A. childreni adaptively adjust their egg-brooding behaviors due to an interaction between nest temperature and humidity. Specifically, females' behavioral response to nest warming was eliminated during low nest humidity. In combination with other studies, these results show that female pythons sense environmental temperature and humidity and utilize this information at multiple time points (i.e., during gravidity [egg bearing], at oviposition [egg laying], and during egg brooding) to enhance the developmental environment of their offspring. This research demonstrates that maternal behaviors that are simple and subtle, yet easily quantifiable, can balance several critical developmental variables (i.e., thermoregulation, water balance, and respiration).
ContributorsStahlschmidt, Zachary R (Author) / DeNardo, Dale F (Thesis advisor) / Harrison, Jon (Committee member) / McGraw, Kevin (Committee member) / Rutowski, Ronald (Committee member) / Walsberg, Glenn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Purpose: To examine: (1) whether Non-Hispanic Blacks (NHB) and Non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) with diagnosed arthritis differed in self-reported physical activity (PA) levels, (2) if NHB and NHW with arthritis differed on potential correlates of PA based on the Social Ecological Model (Mcleroy et al., 1988), and (3) if PA participation varied by race/ethnicity after controlling for age, gender, education, and BMI. Methods: This study was a secondary data analysis of data collected from 2006-2008 in Chicago, IL as part of the Midwest Roybal Center for Health Promotion. Bivariate analyses were used to assess potential differences between race in meeting either ACR or ACSM PA guidelines. Comparisons by race between potential socio-demographic correlates and meeting physical activity guidelines were assessed using Chi-squares. Potential differences by race in psychosocial, arthritis, and health-related and environmental correlates were assessed using T-tests. Finally, logistic regression analyses were used to examine if race was still associated with PA after controlling for socio-demographic characteristics. Results: A greater proportion of NHW (68.1% and 35.3%) than NHB (46.5% and 20.9%) met both the arthritis-specific and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommendations for physical activity, respectively. NHB had significantly lower self-efficacy for exercise and reported greater impairments in physical function compared to NHW. Likewise, NHB reported more crime and less aesthetics within their neighborhood. NHW were 2.56 times more likely to meet arthritis-specific PA guidelines than NHB after controlling for age, gender, education, marital status, and BMI. In contrast, after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, age and gender were the only significant predictors of meeting ACSM PA guidelines. Discussion: There were significant differences between NHB and NHW individuals with arthritis in meeting PA guidelines. After controlling for age, gender, education, and BMI non-Hispanic White individuals were still significantly more likely to meet PA guidelines. Interventions aimed at promoting higher levels of physical activity among individuals with arthritis need to consider neighborhood aesthetics and crime when designing programs. More arthritis-specific programs are needed in close proximity to neighborhoods in an effort to promote physical activity.
ContributorsChuran, Christopher (Author) / Der Ananian, Cheryl (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Marc (Committee member) / Campbell, Kathryn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Human-induced rapid environmental change (HIREC) influences nearly all of Earth's ecosystems through processes such as urbanization. Previous studies have found that urbanization influences biodiversity patterns, often yielding an increase in the abundance of a few urban-adapted taxa at the expense of native species diversity. The western black widow spider, Latrodectus hesperus, is a medically-important pest species that often forms dense urban subpopulations (i.e., infestations) relative to the low-density subpopulations found throughout undisturbed, desert habitat. Here, I employ field and laboratory studies to examine the population ecology and stoichiometry of this urban pest to increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying its success. The population ecology of ten black widow subpopulations spread across metropolitan Phoenix, AZ was examined during the peak breeding season (June-August). This study revealed that arthropod prey abundance, female mass and population density of females showed significant spatial variation across the ten subpopulations. Additionally, prey abundance and foraging success, measured as the number of carcasses found in webs, were a strong determinant of female mass and population density within each subpopulation. To test the mechanisms that drive black widow infestations, I used ecological stoichiometry to examine the nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) composition of spiders and arthropod prey from urban habitat, desert habitat and a laboratory diet regime. These studies revealed that (1) spiders are more nutrient rich than cricket prey in the field, (2) spider subpopulations exhibit significant spatial variation in their nitrogen composition, (3) nutrient composition of urban spider subpopulations does not differ significantly from Sonoran desert subpopulations, (4) laboratory-reared spiders fed a diet of only laboratory-reared crickets are more nitrogen and phosphorus limited than field-captured spiders, and (5) cannibalism by laboratory-reared spiders alleviated phosphorus limitation, but not nitrogen limitation, when compared to field-captured spiders. This work highlights the need to examine the population ecology of species relationships, such as predator-prey dynamics, to fully understand the fecundity and population growth of urban pest species. Moreover, the integration of population ecology and stoichiometry illustrates the need to address mechanisms like nutrient limitation that may explain why urban pest populations thrive and native species diversity suffers following HIREC.
ContributorsTrubl, Patricia (Author) / Johnson, James C. (Thesis advisor) / Rutowski, Ronald (Thesis advisor) / McGraw, Kevin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Parental care provides many benefits to offspring. One widely realized benefit is enhanced regulation of offspring's thermal environment. The developmental thermal environment during development can be optimized behaviorally through nest site selection and brooding, and it can be further enhanced by physiological heat production. In fact, enhancement of the developmental thermal environment has been proposed as the initial driving force for the evolution of endothermy in bird and mammals. I used pythons (Squamata: Pythonidae) to expand existing knowledge of behavioral and physiological parental tactics used to regulate offspring thermal environment. I first demonstrated that brooding behavior in the Children's python (Antaresia childreni) is largely driven by internal mechanisms, similar to solitary birds, suggesting that the early evolution of the parent-offspring association was probably hormonally driven. Two species of python are known to be facultatively thermogenic (i.e., are endothermic during reproduction). I expand current knowledge of thermogenesis in Burmese pythons (Python molurus) by demonstrating that females use their own body temperature to modulate thermogenesis. Although pythons are commonly cited as thermogenic, the actual extent of thermogenesis within the family Pythonidae is unknown. Thus, I assessed the thermogenic capability of five previously unstudied species of python to aid in understanding phylogenetic, morphological, and distributional influences on thermogenesis in pythons. Results suggest that facultative thermogenesis is likely rare among pythons. To understand why it is rare, I used an artificial model to demonstrate that energetic costs to the female likely outweigh thermal benefits to the clutch in species that do not inhabit cooler latitudes or lack large energy reserves. In combination with other studies, these results show that facultative thermogenesis during brooding in pythons likely requires particular ecological and physiological factors for its evolution.
ContributorsBrashears, Jake (Author) / DeNardo, Dale (Thesis advisor) / Harrison, Jon (Committee member) / Deviche, Pierre (Committee member) / McGraw, Kevin (Committee member) / Smith, Andrew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Objective: Increasing fruit/vegetable (FV) consumption and decreasing waste during the school lunch is a public health priority. Understanding how serving style of FV impacts FV consumption and waste may be an effective means to changing nutrition behaviors in schools. This study examined whether students were more likely to select, consume, and waste FV when FVs were cut vs. whole. Methods: Baseline data from the ASU School Lunch Study was used to explore associations between cut vs. whole FV serving style and objectively measured FV selection, consumption, and waste and grade level interactions among a random selection of students (n=6804; 47.8% female; 78.8% BIPOC) attending Arizona elementary, middle, and high schools (N=37). Negative binomial regression models evaluated serving style on FV weight (grams) selected, consumed, and wasted, adjusted for sociodemographics and school.
Results: Students were more likely to select cut FVs (IRR=1.11; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.18) and waste cut FVs (IRR=1.20; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.39); however, no differences were observed in the overall consumption of cut vs. whole FVs. Grade-level interactions impacted students’ selection of FVs. Middle school students had a significantly higher effect modification for the selection of cut FVs (IRR=1.18; p=0.006) compared to high school and elementary students. Further, high school students had a significantly lower effect modification for the selection of cut FVs (IRR=0.83; p=0.010) compared to middle and elementary students. No other grade-level interactions were observed.
Discussion: Serving style of FV may impact how much FV is selected and wasted, but further research is needed to determine causality between these variables.
ContributorsJames, Amber Chandarana (Author) / Bruening, Meredith (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Marc (Thesis advisor) / Koskan, Alexis (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Meditation app usage is associated with decreases in stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms. Many meditation app subscribers, however, quickly abandon or reduce their app usage. This dissertation presents three manuscripts which 1) determined the behavioral, demographic, and socioeconomic factors associated with the abandonment of a meditation app, Calm, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2) determined which participant characteristics predicted meditation app usage in the first eight weeks after subscribing, and 3) determined if changes in stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms from baseline to Week 8 predicted meditation app usage from Weeks 8-16. In Manuscript 1, a survey was distributed to Calm subscribers in March 2020 that assessed meditation app behavior and meditation habit strength, and demographic information. Cox proportional hazards regression models were estimated to assess time to app abandonment. In Manuscript 2, new Calm subscribers completed a baseline survey on participants’ demographic and baseline mental health information and app usage data were collected over 8 weeks. In Manuscript 3, new Calm subscribers completed a baseline and Week 8 survey on demographic and mental health information. App usage data were collected over 16 weeks. Regression models were used to assess app usage for Manuscripts 2 and 3. Findings from Manuscript 1 suggest meditating after an existing routine decreased risk of app abandonment for pre-pandemic subscribers and for pandemic subscribers. Additionally, meditating “whenever I can” decreased risk of abandonment among pandemic subscribers. No behavioral factors were significant predictors of app abandonment among the long-term subscribers. Findings from Manuscript 2 suggest men had more days of meditation than women. Mental health diagnosis increased average daily meditation minutes. Intrinsic motivation for meditation increased the likelihood of completing any meditation session, more days with meditation sessions, and more average daily meditation minutes. Findings from Manuscript 3 suggest improvements in stress increased average daily meditation minutes. Improvements in depressive symptoms decreased daily meditation minutes. Evidence from this three-manuscript dissertation suggests meditation cue, time of day, motivation, symptom changes, and demographic and socioeconomic variables may be used to predict meditation app usage.
ContributorsSullivan, Mariah (Author) / Stecher, Chad (Thesis advisor) / Huberty, Jennifer (Committee member) / Buman, Matthew (Committee member) / Larkey, Linda (Committee member) / Chung, Yunro (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Young adult collegiate women, particularly students with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and who have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization, report a myriad of adverse mental health and academic difficulties. Practicing yoga has demonstrated promising findings among adults as a healing modality in the aftermath of interpersonal violence victimization and traumatization. Less known are the associations between collegiate women’s yoga participation and their mental health, body connection, and academic well-being examined through a yoga feminist- trauma conceptual framework. Among young adult collegiate women, this study examined (1) associations amongst socio-demographics, mental health service use, IPV types, and yoga participation (2) the strength and direction of associations on measures of ACEs, mental health, body connection, and academic well-being, (3) whether yoga participation predicted students’ mental health, body connection, and academic well-being after controlling for confounding variables, including ACEs and IPV victimization, and (4) whether socio-demographics, mental health service use, ACEs, and IPV types predicted yoga participation. This study was observational, cross-sectional, and gathered self-report quantitative data. Eligible participants were current collegiate women enrolled at an urban, public university in the southwestern United States who were 18 to 24 years of age. The main sub-sample (n = 93) included students who were ever in an intimate relationship and practiced yoga within the past year. IRB approval was obtained. Findings demonstrated that yoga participation was not a significant predictor of students’ mental health, body connection, or academic well-being. Socio-demographics, mental health service use, ACEs, and IPV did not predict yoga participation. However, women with greater ACEs fared worse on measures of mental health (i.e., depression and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms), and women with experiences of IPV harassment reported greater post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Further, employed women reported fewer depression symptoms and were less likely to experience emotional IPV. Lastly, students with greater body connection (more awareness) fared better academically. This research supports prior literature on the adverse mental health outcomes among young adult collegiate women with histories of interpersonal violence. Further examination is warranted into employment and body connection, particularly related to yoga, as protective factors of students' health, safety, and academic well-being.
ContributorsKappas Mazzio, Andrea Alexa (Author) / Messing, Jill T (Thesis advisor) / Mendoza, Natasha (Committee member) / Huberty, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
The Association Between Time to Eat and Students Fruit & Vegetable Consumption, Selection, and Waste
Description
Background: Studies have examined student fruit/vegetable (FV) consumption, selection, and waste related to lunch duration and found that longer duration at lunch was associated with greater consumption, selection, and reduced waste. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between time to eat and FVs. The aim of this research is to analyze the relationship between objective time to students took to eat (“time to eat”) as it relates to their fruit and vegetable consumption, selection, and plate waste.in elementary, middle, and high schools. Methods: A secondary analysis of cross-sectional study of 37 Arizona schools to discover the differences in the selection, consumption, and waste of FVs from students (Full N = 2226, Elementary N = 630, Middle School N = 699, High School N = 897) using objective time to eat measures. Zero-inflated negative binomial regressions examined differences in FV grams selected, consumed, and wasted adjusted for sociodemographics including race, ethnicity, eligibility for free or reduced lunch, academic year, and sex and clustering for students within schools. Results are presented across school level (elementary, middle, and high school).
Results: The average time taken to eat ranged from 10-12 minutes for all students. The association of time to eat and lunch duration were not closely related (r=0.03, p = 0.172). In the count model for every additional minute spent, there was a 0.5% greater likelihood of selecting FVs for elementary kids among those who took any FVs. In the zero-inflated model, it was found that there was a statistically significant relationship between time spent eating and the selection of fruits and vegetables. For the total sample and high schoolers, a minute more of eating time was associated with a 4.3% and 8.8% greater odds of selecting FV. This means that longer eating time increased the likelihood of choosing fruits and vegetables. The results indicated that the longer students took to eat, the higher the likelihood of consuming more of FVs. Each 10 more minutes spent eating (i.e., time to eat) is associated with a 5% increase in grams of FV selected relative to mean (for those that chose FV) over 1 week this equates to 32 g increase of FV selected. However, for middle schoolers, the time to eat was not found to be significant in relation to the grams of fruits and vegetables consumed. There was some significance in the sociodemographic factors such as gender (all) and other (middle school). There was a relationship between time taken to eat and waste as a proportion for fruits and vegetables. For example, among those among the students who wasted something (as a proportion of selection), each additional 10 minutes of eating time was associated with a .6% decrease in waste relative to the mean (for those who chose fruits and vegetables) over a week, resulting in a decrease in waste percentage of 16.5%. Among high schoolers, males had a slightly higher odds of wasting a proportion of fruits and vegetables.
Conclusions: This study aimed to examine the association between the time students take to eat during lunch and their fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption, selection, and plate waste. The findings revealed that the time to eat was related to FV consumption, depending on the school level. However, it was not significantly associated with FV selection or waste. The study emphasized the need for further research on time to eat, distinguishing it from the duration of lunch. Longer lunch periods and adequate time could influence better food choices, increased FV consumption, and reduced waste. The study highlighted the importance of interventions and school policies promoting healthier food choices and providing sufficient time for students to eat. Future research should validate these findings and explore the impact of socialization opportunities on promoting healthier eating habits. Understanding the relationship between lunch duration, time to eat, and students' dietary behaviors can contribute to improved health outcomes and inform effective strategies in school settings.
ContributorsDandridge, Christina Marie (Author) / Adams, Marc (Thesis advisor) / Whisner, Corrie (Committee member) / Bruening, Meg (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Tools designed to help match people with behaviors they identify as likely to lead to a successful behavioral outcome remain under-researched. This study assessed the effect of a participant-driven behavior-matching intervention on 1) the adoption of a new behavior related to fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption, 2) study attrition, and 3) changes in F&V consumption. In this two-arm randomized controlled trial, 64 adults who did not meet standard F&V recommendations were allocated to an intervention (n=33) or control group (n=31). Participants in the intervention group ranked 20 F&V-related behaviors according to their perceived likelihood of engagement in the behavior and their perception of the behavior’s efficacy in increasing F&V consumption. Participants in the intervention group were subsequently shown the list of 20 behaviors in order of their provided rankings, with the highest-ranked behaviors at the top, and were asked to choose a behavior they would like to perform daily for 4 weeks. The control group chose from a random-order list of the same 20 behaviors to adopt daily for 4 weeks. During the study period, text messages were sent to all participants 90 minutes before their reported bedtime to collect Yes/No data reflecting successful behavior engagement each day. The binary repeated-measures data collected from the text messages was analyzed using mixed-effects logistic regression, differences in attrition were assessed using log-rank analysis, and change scores in F&V consumption were compared between the two groups using the Man-Whitney U test. P<0.05 indicated significance. The rate of successful behavior adoption did not differ significantly between the two groups (b=0.09, 95%CI= -0.81, 0.98, p=0.85). The log rank test results indicated that there was no significant difference in attrition between the two groups (χ2=2.68, df=1, p=0.10). F&V consumption increased significantly over the 4 weeks in the total sample (Z=-5.86, p<0.001), but no differences in F&V change scores were identified between the control and intervention groups (Z=-0.21, p=0.84). The behavior-matching tool assessed in this study did not significantly improve behavior adoption, study attrition, or F&V intake over 4 weeks.
ContributorsCosgrove, Kelly Sarah (Author) / Wharton, Christopher (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Marc (Committee member) / DesRoches, Tyler (Committee member) / Grebitus, Carola (Committee member) / Johnston, Carol (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
College students experience a considerable amount of stress. Unmanaged stress is associated with poor academic performance, health risk behaviors (i.e., inadequate sleep and physical activity, alcohol consumption, poor dietary behaviors), and poor mental health. Coping with stress has become a priority among universities. The most tested stress-related programs to date have been mindfulness-based and face-to-face. These programs demonstrated significant improvements in stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion among college students. However, they may be burdensome to students as studies report low attendance and low compliance due to class conflicts or not enough time. Few interventions have used more advanced technologies (i.e., mobile apps) as a mode of delivery. The purpose of this study is to report adherence to a consumer-based mindfulness meditation mobile application (i.e., Calm) and test its effects on stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion in college students. We will also explore what the relationship is between mindfulness and health behaviors.
College students were recruited using fliers on college campus and social media. Eligible participants were randomized to one of two groups: (1) Intervention - meditate using Calm, 10 min/day for eight weeks and (2) Control – no participation in mindfulness practices (received the Calm application after 12-weeks). Stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion and health behaviors (i.e., sleep disturbance, alcohol consumption, physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption) were measured using self-report. Outcomes were measured at baseline and week eight.
Of the 109 students that enrolled in the study, 41 intervention and 47 control participants were included in analysis. Weekly meditation participation averaged 38 minutes with 54% of participants completing at least half (i.e., 30 minutes) of meditations. Significant changes between groups were found in stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion (all P<0.001) in favor of the intervention group. A significant negative association (p<.001) was found between total mindfulness and sleep disturbance.
An eight-week consumer-based mindfulness meditation mobile application (i.e., Calm) was effective in reducing stress, improving mindfulness and self-compassion among undergraduate college students. Mobile applications may be a feasible, effective, and less burdensome way to reduce stress in college students.
College students were recruited using fliers on college campus and social media. Eligible participants were randomized to one of two groups: (1) Intervention - meditate using Calm, 10 min/day for eight weeks and (2) Control – no participation in mindfulness practices (received the Calm application after 12-weeks). Stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion and health behaviors (i.e., sleep disturbance, alcohol consumption, physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption) were measured using self-report. Outcomes were measured at baseline and week eight.
Of the 109 students that enrolled in the study, 41 intervention and 47 control participants were included in analysis. Weekly meditation participation averaged 38 minutes with 54% of participants completing at least half (i.e., 30 minutes) of meditations. Significant changes between groups were found in stress, mindfulness, and self-compassion (all P<0.001) in favor of the intervention group. A significant negative association (p<.001) was found between total mindfulness and sleep disturbance.
An eight-week consumer-based mindfulness meditation mobile application (i.e., Calm) was effective in reducing stress, improving mindfulness and self-compassion among undergraduate college students. Mobile applications may be a feasible, effective, and less burdensome way to reduce stress in college students.
ContributorsGlissmann, Christine (Author) / Huberty, Jennifer (Thesis advisor) / Sebren, Ann (Committee member) / Larkey, Linda (Committee member) / Lee, Chong (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018