Matching Items (498)
Description
Research regarding social competence is growing rapidly, but there remain a few aspects of social development that merit more attention. The presented pair of studies were planned to address two such areas in the social development literature, specifically the longitudinal trajectories of social competence and the role of social competence in second language development in language minority (LM) students. The goal of the first investigation was to examine the developmental trends of interpersonal skills (IS) across the early childhood and elementary school years in a nationally representative, U.S. sample. The goal of the second study was to examine whether differing trajectories of IS development in language minority children in the U.S. were related to their language and literacy (LL) skills at grade 5. Both studies utilized data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 and modeled ratings of children's IS at five time points between fall of kindergarten and spring of fifth grade using latent class growth analyses in Mplus. In study 1, the best model was a quadratic two-class latent class growth analysis. Trajectory class 1 was a higher-level path with a marginally significant non-linear shape and class 2 was a primarily stable, moderate level path with a slight, non-significant increase over time. The same pattern of results emerged for both boys and girls separately as with the combined-sex model, and in all three final models the proportion of the sample in the higher-level class was greater than the moderate-level class. In study 2 a sample of U.S. children whose primary language at home was something other than English was utilized. LL at the start of kindergarten and sex were included as covariates and LL in fifth grade as a distal outcome. The best model for the data was a cubic two-class latent class growth analysis. Class 1 followed a higher-level path with small, incremental change over time and class 2 was a moderate-level path with greater undulation. Both covariates significantly predicted latent class and language and literacy scores at grade 5 differed significantly across classes.
ContributorsDiDonato, Alicia (Author) / Wilcox, M. Jeanne (Thesis advisor) / Bradley, Robert (Committee member) / Wilkens, Natalie (Committee member) / Valiente, Carlos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The current study delineated the developmental trajectories of early childhood externalizing and internalizing symptoms reported by mothers and fathers, and examined the role of the 18-month observed parenting quality × Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia
(RSA) interaction in predicting these trajectories. Child sex was tested as a covariate and moderator. It was found that children's low baseline RSA or high RSA reactivity , in comparison to high baseline RSA or low RSA reactivity , was more reactive as a function
of early parenting quality when predicting the development of early childhood problem symptoms. Differential patterns of the interaction between parenting quality and RSA were detected for mothers' and fathers' reports. Mother-reported models showed a diathesis-stress pattern, whereas the father-reported model showed a vantage-sensitivity pattern, especially for internalizing symptoms. This may imply the potential benefit of fathers' active engagement in children's early development. In addition, the effect of the parenting quality × RSA interaction in predicting the mother-reported models was found
to be further moderated by child sex. Specifically, the parenting quality × baseline RSA interaction was significantly predictive of girls' 54-month internalizing, and the parenting quality × RSA reactivity interaction significantly predicted boys' internalizing slope. Girls with low baseline RSA or boys with high RSA reactivity were vulnerable to the less positive parenting, exhibiting high levels of 54-month internalizing symptoms or slow decline in internalizing over time, respectively. Future research directions were discussed in terms of integrating the measures of SNS and PNS in psychopathology study,
exploring the mechanisms underlying the sex difference in parenting quality × RSA interaction, and comparing the findings of children's typical and atypical development.
(RSA) interaction in predicting these trajectories. Child sex was tested as a covariate and moderator. It was found that children's low baseline RSA or high RSA reactivity , in comparison to high baseline RSA or low RSA reactivity , was more reactive as a function
of early parenting quality when predicting the development of early childhood problem symptoms. Differential patterns of the interaction between parenting quality and RSA were detected for mothers' and fathers' reports. Mother-reported models showed a diathesis-stress pattern, whereas the father-reported model showed a vantage-sensitivity pattern, especially for internalizing symptoms. This may imply the potential benefit of fathers' active engagement in children's early development. In addition, the effect of the parenting quality × RSA interaction in predicting the mother-reported models was found
to be further moderated by child sex. Specifically, the parenting quality × baseline RSA interaction was significantly predictive of girls' 54-month internalizing, and the parenting quality × RSA reactivity interaction significantly predicted boys' internalizing slope. Girls with low baseline RSA or boys with high RSA reactivity were vulnerable to the less positive parenting, exhibiting high levels of 54-month internalizing symptoms or slow decline in internalizing over time, respectively. Future research directions were discussed in terms of integrating the measures of SNS and PNS in psychopathology study,
exploring the mechanisms underlying the sex difference in parenting quality × RSA interaction, and comparing the findings of children's typical and atypical development.
ContributorsLi, Yi (Author) / Eisenberg, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Spinrad, Tracy (Thesis advisor) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Wilkens, Natalie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The goal of this study is to contribute to the understanding of Mexican-American three- to five-year-old children’s effortful control (EC) and negative emotionality (NE) development by examining whether Mexican-American adolescent mothers’ parenting transacts with their three- to five-year-old children’s EC and NE and by exploring whether mothers’ familism acts as a protective factor. I hypothesized that mothers’ harshness and warmth would transact with EC and NE over time. I further hypothesized that mothers’ familism values would (a) positively predict mothers’ warmth and negatively predict mothers’ harshness, and (b) act as a buffer between low EC and high NE, and high harshness and low warmth. These hypotheses were tested within a sample of Mexican-American adolescent mother-child dyads (N = 204) and assessed longitudinally when children were 36, 48, and 60 months. Mothers were predominantly first generation (i.e., mothers’ parents were born in Mexico; 67%) and spoke English (65%). When children were 36 months, average family income (i.e., wages, public assistance, food stamps) was $24,715 (SD = $19,545) and mothers had started community college (13%) or completed high school/GED (30%), 11th grade (19%), 10th grade (8%), or less than 9th grade (14%). In this sample, transactions between harshness or warmth and EC or NE were not found, but a bidirectional association between NE and harshness was found. Familism marginally negatively predicted harshness, but not warmth. Familism moderated the relation between NE and harshness such that there was only a negative relation between NE and harshness when familism was high. However, familism did not moderate the relations between NE and warmth, or EC and harshness or warmth. The results of this study are discussed with respect to (a) current methodological limitations in the field, such as the need to test or develop parent-report measures of Mexican-American children’s temperament and value-driven socialization goals, (b) future avenues for research, such as person-centered studies of clusters of mothers’ values and how those relate to clusters of parenting behaviors, and (c) implications for interventions addressing parenting behavior of adolescent mothers.
ContributorsBerger, Rebecca H (Author) / Wilkens, Natalie (Thesis advisor) / Spinrad, Tracy (Committee member) / Updegraff, Kimberly (Committee member) / Crnic, Keith (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Rapidly growing research on mothers’ perinatal depression, has demonstrated significant links among mothers’ depressive symptoms during pregnancy and the first year postpartum, their parenting, and multiple aspects of children’s development. This prospective longitudinal study contributes to research on mothers’ perinatal depression by examining the mechanisms by which maternal perinatal depression is associated with children’s adjustment early in development in a sample of 204 Mexican-origin adolescent mothers (Mage at Wave 1 = 16.80, SD = 1.0) and their children (58% boys). I expected that adolescent mothers’ negative parenting behaviors would mediate the associations between mothers’ perinatal depressive symptoms and three child outcomes: internalizing symptoms, externalizing behaviors, and cognitive ability. I further hypothesized that mothers’ perceived social support from their family would modify the extent to which mothers’ perinatal depressive symptoms negatively impact their parenting behaviors and their children’s developmental outcomes. Mothers reported on their own depressive symptoms, their perceived social support from their family and their children’s internalizing and externalizing problems; negative parenting was assessed using observational methods; and children’s cognitive ability was assessed using standardized developmental assessments. In this sample, adolescent mothers’ negative parenting behaviors did not significantly mediate the relations between mothers’ perinatal depression and children’s developmental outcomes. Further, perceived social support did not significantly buffer the effects of mothers’ perinatal depression on mothers’ negative parenting or children’s developmental outcomes. However, in line with hypotheses, results indicated that mothers’ prenatal depression had a wider impact on children’s adjustment outcomes than mothers’ postpartum depression, which appeared more specific to children’s internalizing problems. Discussion focuses on implications for intervention addressing adolescent mothers’ perinatal depression, as well as the need to continue to explore protective factors that have the potential to disrupt the negative intergenerational transmission of risks.
ContributorsSeay, Danielle M (Author) / Elam, Kit (Thesis advisor) / Iida, Masumi (Thesis advisor) / Thompson, Marilyn (Committee member) / Wilkens, Natalie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Breast microcalcifications are a potential indicator of cancerous tumors. Current visualization methods are either uncomfortable or impractical. Impedance measurement studies have been performed, but not in a clinical setting due to a low sensitivity and specificity. We are hoping to overcome this challenge with the development of a highly accurate impedance probe on a biopsy needle. With this technique, microcalcifications and the surrounding tissue could be differentiated in an efficient and comfortable manner than current techniques for biopsy procedures. We have developed and tested a functioning prototype for a biopsy needle using bioimpedance sensors to detect microcalcifications in the human body. In the final prototype a waveform generator sends a sin wave at a relatively low frequency(<1KHz) into the pre-amplifier, which both stabilizes and amplifies the signal. A modified howland bridge is then used to achieve a steady AC current through the electrodes. The voltage difference across the electrodes is then used to calculate the impedance being experienced between the electrodes. In our testing, the microcalcifications we are looking for have a noticeably higher impedance than the surrounding breast tissue, this spike in impedance is used to signal the presence of the calcifications, which are then sampled for examination by radiology.
ContributorsWen, Robert Bobby (Co-author) / Grula, Adam (Co-author) / Vergara, Marvin (Co-author) / Ramkumar, Shreya (Co-author) / Kozicki, Michael (Thesis director) / Ranjani, Kumaran (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Breastfeeding has been shown by a number of studies to have numerous benefits on both the mother and the infant. Major health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), now agree that breastfeeding should be encouraged and supported in all countries. But like many things, the wheels of the law are slow to catch up with scientific evident. Although breastfeeding is supported, working women do not have the option of breastfeeding without consequences. For example, in 2003, Kirstie Marshall, a then member of parliament in Australia was ejected from the lower house chamber on February 23, for breastfeeding her baby [3]. According to standing order 30 at the time, "Unless by order of the House, no Member of this House shall presume to bring any stranger into any part of the House appropriated to the Members of this House while the House, or a Committee of the whole House, is sitting" [3]. The rules did not specify the age of strangers, so the then 11-day-old baby, Charlotte Louise and her mother were shown the exit door of parliament. She had to choose between being present at times of major discussions or leaving the house to breastfeed her child, she chose to leave. More recent statistics show that developed nations like the US and Australia which also have high rates of women employment had low rates of breastfeeding. This might mean that workplace policies do not favor breastfeeding or expressing milk at work. Fortunately, laws have since been introduced in both the United States and Australia that support breastfeeding at the workplace. The next step would be to access how these laws affect breastfeeding statistics and how variation between these two countries like the paid parental leave in Australia (which is not present in all US states) would affect these numbers.
ContributorsSakala, Lydia (Author) / Alison, Alison (Thesis director) / Reddy, Swapna (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Ketone bodies are produced in the liver from the acetyl CoA derived from fatty acids that cannot enter the Krebs cycle. This is a sub-analysis of a larger study which had numerous outcome markers. This analysis focuses on the relationship between ketone blood levels and cognition. The study looked at the relationship between Time Restricted Feeding (TRF), a method of intermittent fasting. TRF is something that can be easily adapted into an individual’s lifestyle and has been shown to have multiple advantages. This 8-week study began with 23 enrolled participants, but due to COVID-19 only 11 participants could be tested for cognition and blood ketone levels after week 4. All participants had similar ranges of weight, height, age, BMI, hip, and waist measurements at baseline. Moreover, these demographic variables were not related to ketone levels or cognition. The data indicate that ketone bodies increased in participants practicing TRF and that the increase in ketone bodies in the blood, specifically β-hydroxybutyrate was strongly correlated to increased cognitive function. This is consistent with theories that elevated ketone levels allowed for early hunter-gather communities and other mammals to survive prolonged periods of nutrient deprivation while keeping high cognitive function.
ContributorsTaha, Basel Mahmoud (Author) / Johnston, Carol (Thesis director) / Karen, Sweazea (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis experiment was to design and create an Acoustically Active Cannula (AAC), which is furnished by a piezoelectric crystal placed at its tip that produces an acoustic navigation signal. I tested the functionality of the cannula in vitro and demonstrated its navigational abilities in vivo in anesthetized pigs. This experiment was based upon ultrasound science and technology, and thus some practical experience with conventional (B-mode) and Doppler ultrasound was achieved as well. The results of bench and experimental animal studies indicated proper functionality of the AAC for identification and spatial navigation of its tip with color Doppler ultrasound imaging.
ContributorsShamsa, Kayvan (Author) / Tyler, William (Thesis director) / Belohlavek, Marek (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The academic study of eSports, or professional competition through the medium of video games, has tended to focus on players' motivations to play and watch eSports as well as marketing concerns of huge eSports corporations. Instead of utilizing marketing or psychology to analyze this phenomenon, I investigate three areas of focus in accordance with available literature: the fans and their characteristics, the design of the game itself, and the relationship between fans and the game's developer. This investigation was conducted by first examining existing literature surrounding eSports fans, then collecting public domain data such as Reddit posts, forum posts, and YouTube videos, and last by studying interviews with developers and players. With this thesis, I apply a fan studies approach to eSports by creating a series of indicators based in each of the three focus areas which can be utilized as a systematic method of evaluating an eSport's popularity and growth.
ContributorsHilliker, Noah Henry (Author) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Thesis director) / Schmidt, Peter (Committee member) / Anderson, Sky (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
DescriptionThis project is designed to generate enthusiasm for science among refugee students in hopes of inspiring them to continue learning science as well as to help them with their current understanding of their school science subject matter.
ContributorsSipes, Shannon Paige (Author) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Thesis director) / Gregg, George (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12