Matching Items (95)
Description
Research has shown that a developmental process of maturing out of alcohol involvement occurs during young adulthood, and that this process is related to both young adult role transitions (e.g., marriage) and personality developmental (e.g., decreased disinhibition and neuroticism). The current study extended past research by testing whether protective marriage and personality effects on maturing out were stronger among more severe late adolescent drinkers, and whether protective marriage effects were stronger among those who experienced more personality development. Parental alcoholism and gender were tested as moderators of marriage, personality, and late adolescent drinking effects on maturing out; and as distal predictors mediated by these effects. Participants were a subsample (N = 844; 51% children of alcoholics; 53% male, 71% non-Hispanic Caucasian, 27% Hispanic; Chassin, Barrera, Bech, & Kossak-Fuller, 1992) from a larger longitudinal study of familial alcoholism. Hypotheses were tested with latent growth models characterizing alcohol consumption and drinking consequence trajectories from late adolescence to adulthood (age 17-40). Past findings were replicated by showing protective effects of becoming married, sensation-seeking reductions, and neuroticism reductions on the drinking trajectories. Moderation tests showed that protective marriage effects on the drinking trajectories were stronger among those with higher pre-marriage drinking in late adolescence (i.e., higher growth intercepts). This might reflect role socialization mechanisms such that more severe drinking produces more conflict with the demands of new roles (i.e., role incompatibility), thus requiring greater drinking reductions to resolve this conflict. In contrast, little evidence was found for moderation of personality effects by late adolescent drinking or for moderation of marriage effects by personality. Parental alcoholism findings suggested complex moderated mediation pathways. Parental alcoholism predicted less drinking reduction through decreasing the likelihood of marriage (mediation) and muting marriage's effect on the drinking trajectories (moderation), but parental alcoholism also predicted more drinking reduction through increasing initial drinking in late adolescence (mediation). The current study provides new insights into naturally occurring processes of recovery during young adulthood and suggests that developmentally-tailored interventions for young adults could harness these natural recovery processes (e.g., by integrating role incompatibility themes and addressing factors that block role effects among those with familial alcoholism).
ContributorsLee, Matthew R. (Author) / Chassin, Laurie (Thesis advisor) / Corbin, William R. (Committee member) / Mackinnon, David P (Committee member) / Presson, Clark C. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Past literature has indicated that the majority of people with alcohol problems never seek treatment and that this is especially true of women. Relatively few studies have investigated how different types of alcohol-related consequences longitudinally predict men and women's perceived need for treatment and their utilization of treatment services. The current study sought to expand the literature by examining whether gender moderates the links between four frequently endorsed types of consequences and perceived need for or actual utilization of treatment. Two-hundred thirty-seven adults ages 21-36 completed a battery of questionnaires at two time points five years apart. Results indicated that there were four broad types of consequences endorsed by both men and women. Multiple-group models and Wald chi square tests indicated that there were no significant relationships between consequences and treatment outcomes. No gender moderation was found but post-hoc power analyses indicated that the study was underpowered to detect moderation. Researchers need to continue to study factors that predict utilization of alcohol treatment services and the process of recovery so that treatment providers can better address the needs of people with alcohol-related consequences in the areas of referral procedures, clinical assessment, and treatment service provision and planning.
ContributorsBeltran Gonzalez, Iris (Author) / Chassin, Laurie (Thesis advisor) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Barrera, Jr., Manuel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Including a covariate can increase power to detect an effect between two variables. Although previous research has studied power in mediation models, the extent to which the inclusion of a mediator will increase the power to detect a relation between two variables has not been investigated. The first study identified situations where empirical and analytical power of two tests of significance for a single mediator model was greater than power of a bivariate significance test. Results from the first study indicated that including a mediator increased statistical power in small samples with large effects and in large samples with small effects. Next, a study was conducted to assess when power was greater for a significance test for a two mediator model as compared with power of a bivariate significance test. Results indicated that including two mediators increased power in small samples when both specific mediated effects were large and in large samples when both specific mediated effects were small. Implications of the results and directions for future research are then discussed.
ContributorsO'Rourke, Holly Patricia (Author) / Mackinnon, David P (Thesis advisor) / Enders, Craig K. (Committee member) / Millsap, Roger (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Juvenile offenders suffer from substance use disorders at higher rates than adolescents in the general public. Substance use disorders also predict an increased risk for re-offending. Therefore, it is important that these juveniles, in particular, receive the appropriate substance use disorder treatment. The present study used logistic regression to test whether race/ethnicity would moderate the match between substance use disorder diagnosis and the receipt of a substance use disorder related service in a sample of male, serious juvenile offenders. Results showed that among those with a substance use disorder diagnosis, there were no race/ethnicity differences in the receipt of the appropriate service. However, among those without a substance use disorder diagnosis, non-Hispanic Caucasians were more likely to receive substance use service than were Hispanics or African-Americans. Post-hoc analyses revealed that when using a broader definition of substance use problems, significant differences by race/ethnicity in the prediction of service receipt were only observed at low levels of substance use problems. These findings shed light on how race/ethnicity may play a role in the recommendation of substance use disorder services in the juvenile justice system.
ContributorsMansion, Andre (Author) / Chassin, Laurie (Thesis advisor) / Dishion, Thomas (Committee member) / Knight, George (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Possible selves researchers have uncovered many issues associated with the current possible selves measures. For instance, one of the most famous possible selves measures, Oyserman (2004)'s open-ended possible selves, has proven to be difficult to score reliably and also involves laborious scoring procedures. Therefore, this study was initiated to develop a close-ended measure, called the Persistent Academic Possible Selves Scale for Adolescents (PAPSS), that meets these challenges. The PAPSS integrates possible selves theories (personal and social identities) and educational psychology (self-regulation in social cognitive theory). Four hundred and ninety five junior high and high school students participated in the validation study of the PAPSS. I conducted confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to compare fit for a baseline model to the hypothesized models using Mplus version 7 (Muthén & Muthén, 2012). A weighted least square means and a variance adjusted (WLSMV) estimation method was used for handling multivariate nonnormality of ordered categorical data. The final PAPSS has validity evidence based on the internal structure. The factor structure is composed of three goal-driven factors, one self-regulated factor that focuses on peers, and four self-regulated factors that emphasize the self. Oyserman (2004)'s open-ended questionnaire was used for exploring the evidence of convergent validity. Many issues regarding Oyserman (2003)'s instructions were found during the coding process of academic plausibility. It was complicated to detect hidden academic possible selves and strategies from non-academic possible selves and strategies. Also, interpersonal related strategies were over weighted in the scoring process compared to interpersonal related academic possible selves. The study results uncovered that all of the academic goal-related factors in the PAPSS are significantly related to academic plausibility in a positive direction. However, self-regulated factors in the PAPSS are not. The correlation results between the self-regulated factors and academic plausibility do not provide the evidence of convergent validity. Theoretical and methodological explanations for the test results are discussed.
ContributorsLee, Ji Eun (Author) / Husman, Jenefer (Thesis advisor) / Green, Samuel (Committee member) / Millsap, Roger (Committee member) / Brem, Sarah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Random Forests is a statistical learning method which has been proposed for propensity score estimation models that involve complex interactions, nonlinear relationships, or both of the covariates. In this dissertation I conducted a simulation study to examine the effects of three Random Forests model specifications in propensity score analysis. The results suggested that, depending on the nature of data, optimal specification of (1) decision rules to select the covariate and its split value in a Classification Tree, (2) the number of covariates randomly sampled for selection, and (3) methods of estimating Random Forests propensity scores could potentially produce an unbiased average treatment effect estimate after propensity scores weighting by the odds adjustment. Compared to the logistic regression estimation model using the true propensity score model, Random Forests had an additional advantage in producing unbiased estimated standard error and correct statistical inference of the average treatment effect. The relationship between the balance on the covariates' means and the bias of average treatment effect estimate was examined both within and between conditions of the simulation. Within conditions, across repeated samples there was no noticeable correlation between the covariates' mean differences and the magnitude of bias of average treatment effect estimate for the covariates that were imbalanced before adjustment. Between conditions, small mean differences of covariates after propensity score adjustment were not sensitive enough to identify the optimal Random Forests model specification for propensity score analysis.
ContributorsCham, Hei Ning (Author) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Thesis advisor) / Enders, Stephen G (Thesis advisor) / Enders, Craig K. (Committee member) / Mackinnon, David P (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The purpose of this dissertation was to develop a Compassionate Communication Scale (CCS) by conducting a series of studies. The first study used qualitative data to identify and develop initial scale items. A series of follow-up studies used exploratory factor analysis to investigate the underlying structure of the CCS. A three-factor structure emerged, which included: Compassionate conversation, such as listening, letting the distressed person disclose feelings, and making empathetic remarks; compassionate touch, such as holding someone's hand or patting someone's back; and compassionate messaging, such as posting an encouraging message on a social networking site or sending a sympathetic email. The next study tested convergent and divergent validity by determining how the three forms of compassionate communication associate with various traits. Compassionate conversation was positively related to compassion, empathetic concern, perspective taking, emotional intelligence, social expressivity, emotional expressivity and benevolence, and negatively related to verbal aggressiveness and narcissism. Compassionate touch was positively correlated with compassion, empathetic concern, perspective taking, emotional intelligence, social expressivity, emotional expressivity, and benevolence, and uncorrelated with verbal aggressiveness and benevolence. Finally, compassionate messaging was positively correlated with social expressivity, emotional expressivity, and uncorrelated with verbal aggressiveness and narcissism. The next study focused on cross-validation and criterion-related validity. Correlations showing that self-reports of a person's compassionate communication were positively related to a friend or romantic partner's report of that person's compassionate communication provided cross-validation. The test for criterion-related validity examined whether compassionate communication predicts relational satisfaction. Regression analyses revealed that people were more relationally satisfied when they perceived themselves to use compassionate conversation, when they perceived their partner to use compassionate conversation, and when their partner reported using compassionate conversation. This finding did not extend to compassionate touch or compassionate messaging. In fact, in one regression analysis, people reported more relational satisfaction when they perceived that their partners used high levels of compassionate conversation and low levels of compassionate touch. Overall, the analyses suggest that of the three forms of compassionate communication, compassionate conversation is most strongly related to relational satisfaction. Taken together, this series of studies provides initial evidence for the validity of the CCS.
ContributorsRamos Salazar, Leslie (Author) / Guerrero, Laura (Thesis advisor) / Roberto, Anthony (Committee member) / Millsap, Roger (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Levels of heavy episodic drinking peak during emerging adulthood and contribute to the experience of negative consequences. Previous research has identified a number of trait-like personality characteristics that are associated with drinking. Studies of the Acquired Preparedness Model have supported positive expectancies, and to a lesser extent negative expectancies, as mediators of the relation between trait-like characteristics and alcohol outcomes. However, expectancies measured via self-report may reflect differences in learned expectancies in spite of similar alcohol-related responses, or they may reflect true individual differences in subjective responses to alcohol. The current study addressed this gap in the literature by assessing the relative roles of expectancies and subjective response as mediators within the APM in a sample of 236 emerging adults (74.7% male) participating in a placebo-controlled alcohol challenge study. The study tested four mediation models collapsed across beverage condition as well as eight separate mediation models with four models (2 beverage by 2 expectancy/subjective response) for each outcome (alcohol use and alcohol-related problems). Consistent with previous studies, SS was positively associated with alcohol outcomes in models collapsed across beverage condition. SS was also associated with positive subjective response in collapsed models and in the alcohol models. The hypothesized negative relation between SS and sedation was not significant. In contrast to previous studies, neither stimulation nor sedation predicted either weekly drinking or alcohol-related problems. While stimulation and alcohol use appeared to have a positive and significant association, this relation did not hold when controlling for SS, suggesting that SS and stimulation account for shared variability in drinking behavior. Failure to find this association in the placebo group suggests that, while explicit positive expectancies are related to alcohol use after controlling for levels of sensation seeking, implicit expectancies (at least as assessed by a placebo manipulation) are not. That the relation between SS and stimulation held only in the alcohol condition in analyses separate by beverage condition indicates that sensation seeking is a significant predictor of positive subjective response to alcohol (stimulation), potentially above and beyond expectancies.
ContributorsScott, Caitlin (Author) / Corbin, William (Thesis advisor) / Shiota, Michelle (Committee member) / Chassin, Laurie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Although social learning and attachment theories suggest that parent-adolescent relationships influence adult romantic relationships, research on this topic is limited. Most research examining relations between mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationship quality and young adult romantic relationship quality has found significant effects of mother-adolescent relationship quality. Findings on fathers have been less consistent. These relations have not been examined among youth who experienced parental divorce, which often negatively impacts parent-child relationships and romantic outcomes. Further, no prior studies examined interactive effects of mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationship quality on romantic attachment. The current study used longitudinal data from the control group of a randomized controlled trial of a preventative intervention for divorced families to examine unique and interactive effects of mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationship quality on young adult romantic attachment. The 72 participants completed measures of mother-adolescent relationship quality and father-adolescent relationship quality during adolescence (ages 15-19), and completed a measure of romantic attachment (anxiety and avoidance) during young adulthood (ages 24-28). Findings revealed significant interactive effects of mother-adolescent and father-adolescent relationship quality on young adult romantic anxiety. The pattern of results suggests that having a high quality relationship with one's father can protect children from negative effects of having a low quality relationship with one's mother on romantic anxiety. These results suggest the importance of examining effects of one parent-adolescent relationship on YA romantic attachment in the context of the other parent-adolescent relationship. Exploratory analyses of gender revealed that father-adolescent relationship quality significantly interacted with gender to predict romantic avoidance; this relation was stronger for males. These results suggest that nonresidential fathers play an important role in adolescents' working models of relationships and their subsequent romantic attachment.
ContributorsCarr, Colleen (Author) / Wolchik, Sharlene A (Thesis advisor) / Doane, Leah (Committee member) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
It is well-established that maternal depression is significantly related to internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems and psychopathology in general. However, research suggests maternal depression does not account for all the variance of these outcomes and that other family contextual factors should be investigated. The role of fathers beyond their simple presence or absence is one factor that needs to be further investigated in the context of maternal depression. The proposed study used prospective and cross-sectional analyses to examine father effects (i.e., paternal depression, alcohol use, involvement, and familism) on youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms within the context of maternal depression. The sample consisted of 405 Mexican-American families who had a student in middle school. Data were collected when the students were in 7th and 10th grade. Results from path analyses revealed that maternal depression significantly predicted concurrent youth internalizing symptoms in 7th and 10th grade and externalizing symptoms in 10th grade. In contrast, paternal depression was not related to adolescent symptomatology at either time point, nor was paternal alcoholism, and analyses failed to support moderating effects for any of the paternal variables. However, paternal involvement (father-report) uniquely predicted youth internalizing and externalizing symptoms over and above maternal depression in 7th grade. Youth report of paternal involvement uniquely predicted both internalizing and externalizing in 7th and 10th grade. Paternal familism uniquely predicted youth externalizing symptoms in 7th grade. The present findings support that maternal depression, but not paternal depression, is associated with concurrent levels of youth symptomatology in adolescence. The study did not support that fathers adjustment moderated (exacerbate or buffer) maternal depression effects. However, paternal involvement and paternal familism showed compensatory effects on youth symptomatology in concurrent analyses.
ContributorsMontano, Zorash (Author) / Gonzales, Nancy A. (Thesis advisor) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Roosa, Mark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013