Matching Items (6)
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- All Subjects: Self-regulation
- Creators: Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn
Description
Prior research has established a relation between parenting behaviors and symptoms of child psychopathology, and this association may be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Gene-environment correlation, or the influence of a child’s genes on the environment they receive, represents one possible mechanism through which genes and environment combine to influence child outcomes. This study examined evocative gene-environment correlation in the relation between parenting and symptoms of child psychopathology in a sample of 676 twins (51.5% female, 58.5% Caucasian, 23.7% Hispanic/Latinx, primarily middle class, MAge=8.43, SD=.62) recruited from Arizona birth records. Using univariate ACE twin biometric models, genetic influences were found to moderately contribute to internalizing symptoms (A=.47, C=.25, E=.28), while externalizing (A=.86, E=.14) and ADHD (A=.84, E=.16) symptoms were found to be highly heritable. The genetic influences for positive (C=.54, E=.46) and negative (C=.44, E=.56) parenting were smaller and found to be nonsignificant. The correlations between parenting and types of psychopathology were examined and bivariate Cholesky decompositions were conducted for statistically significant correlations. Negative parenting was moderately positively correlated with externalizing and ADHD symptoms; the relation between externalizing symptoms and negative parenting was found to be due to shared genetics, whereas the relation between negative parenting and ADHD symptoms was due to the shared environment. The mixed results regarding the role of gene environment correlation in relations between parenting and child psychopathology indicate that further research on the mechanisms of this relation is needed.
ContributorsCarrizosa, Mya Grace (Author) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Corbin, William (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Oro, Veronica (Committee member) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between extracurricular activities and self-regulation in 400 five year old twin children. Extracurricular activities were assessed using the Health and Behavior Questionnaire, and self-regulation was assessed using the Children's Behavior Questionnaire. While there initially was a significant correlation between extracurricular activities and self-regulation, that correlation became non-significant when controlling for SES and sex in a mixed model regression model. Nearly all of the children who did not participate in extracurricular activities came from lower SES families, leading to a lack of a "control group" for the high SES families. When only taking into account the lower SES half of the sample, the correlation between extracurricular activities and self-regulation became stronger and the correlation between SES and self-regulation became non-significant. Extracurricular activities do appear to promote self-regulation in children coming from low SES families, yet their effects on children coming from high SES families is still unknown.
ContributorsMcdonald, Lauren Nicole (Author) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Doane, Leah (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
The ability to self-regulate is arguably the single most important skill a child develops early in life. Self-regulation skills are consistently linked to indices of health, success, and wellbeing. The predominating perspective in self-regulation developmental research has emphasized the role of the early caregiving environment, specifically maternal characteristics and behavior, in shaping infants’ emerging regulatory skills. Using two complementary studies, this dissertation draws from a longitudinal sample of 322 low-income, Mexican American mother-infant dyads to better understand mothers’ and infants’ unique roles in contributing to emerging infant regulatory processes. The first study explores the unique contributions of intrinsic (i.e., infant gaze) and extrinsic (i.e., maternal gaze) factors in understanding infant dysregulated emotion and behavior during mother-infant interactions. Using actor partner interdependent models (APIMs), the role of infant and maternal gaze in understanding infant dysregulation were examined longitudinally across three mother-infant interaction tasks (i.e., soothing, teaching, and peekaboo), as well as within task. The expected relations among gaze and dysregulation did not emerge in the longitudinal model; however, differential patterns of associations emerged by task. Findings are discussed within the intersection of risk, culture, and the dyadic interaction context.
The second study connects patterns of specific maternal behaviors (i.e., acknowledging, gaze, vocal appropriateness, appropriate range of affect, consistency of style, resourcefulness, and touch) associated with maternal sensitivity to infant cortisol reactivity and recovery. Latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed four distinct combinations of maternal sensitivity behaviors. One pattern emerged as a risk profile—differentiated by higher maternal stress—and was associated with significantly more infant cortisol recovery compared to other profiles. Both studies offer a more nuanced understanding of the respective roles of infant and maternal factors in the development of self-regulation. Further explication of developmental processes involved in early regulatory functioning has implications for advancing both scientific knowledge and improved targeting of prevention and early intervention efforts to promote optimal child outcomes, particularly in populations that at increased risk for developmental psychopathology.
The second study connects patterns of specific maternal behaviors (i.e., acknowledging, gaze, vocal appropriateness, appropriate range of affect, consistency of style, resourcefulness, and touch) associated with maternal sensitivity to infant cortisol reactivity and recovery. Latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed four distinct combinations of maternal sensitivity behaviors. One pattern emerged as a risk profile—differentiated by higher maternal stress—and was associated with significantly more infant cortisol recovery compared to other profiles. Both studies offer a more nuanced understanding of the respective roles of infant and maternal factors in the development of self-regulation. Further explication of developmental processes involved in early regulatory functioning has implications for advancing both scientific knowledge and improved targeting of prevention and early intervention efforts to promote optimal child outcomes, particularly in populations that at increased risk for developmental psychopathology.
Contributorsvan Huisstede, Lauren (Author) / Crnic, Keith A (Thesis advisor) / Spinrad, Tracy (Committee member) / Bradley, Robert (Committee member) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (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
It has been theorized that cultural variation within the family shapes children’s self-regulatory competence, yet there is a dearth of research examining the relation between culture and self-regulation. Family orientation refers to the emphasis on providing support, respect, and obligation to the family system, and is important for children’s functioning, yet existing literature on related constructs relies on parent-reported measures. Additionally, quantitative genetic research has neglected the role of culture in the genetic and environmental contributions on children’s self-regulation. There were three main aims of this study: 1) to propose novel coding schemes and factor analytic approaches to capture family orientation, 2) to examine the relation between family orientation and self-regulation in middle childhood, and 3) to examine whether family orientation moderates the genetic and environmental influences on self-regulation in middle childhood. The sample was drawn from the Arizona Twin Project (N=710) where children (49.1% female, 55.6% White, 28.3% Hispanic/Latino) were assessed at approximately eight years of age (Mage = 8.38 years, SD = 0.66). Family orientation values were indexed by parent-reported familism, whereas family orientation behaviors comprised coded measures of children’s family orientation and experimenter ratings of caregiver and child behavior. Outcome measures of self-regulation included the Continuous Performance Task, Flanker Task, Digit Span Backward, and parent- and teacher-reported effortful control (Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire). Higher family orientation behaviors predicted positively predicted children’s self-regulation, with the exception of Digit Span Backward performance, and associations were not moderated by child sex, family SES, or race/ethnicity. Twin models revealed that differences in family orientation behaviors could be attributed to genetic, shared, and nonshared environmental influences, and additive genetic and nonshared environmental influences explained the variation across measures of self-regulation. Finally, there was no evidence that family orientation values nor behaviors moderated the genetic or environmental influences on children’s self-regulation. This study highlights the complex nature of cultural variation within the family and its importance for children’s self-regulatory abilities.
ContributorsRea-Sandin, Gianna (Author) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Thesis advisor) / Doane, Leah D (Committee member) / Causadias, Jose (Committee member) / Grimm, Kevin J (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
This study aimed to utilize multiple informant reports to examine whether effortful control (EC) varies across the home and school context among ethnically diverse adolescents attending middle schools in low-income communities and how patterns of variation across context are differentiated by measures of academic functioning and risky behavior. 763 adolescents (50.2% male; Mage = 12 years), their primary caregivers, and two teachers completed measures of adolescents’ EC. Adolescents reported on aspects of academic functioning and risky behavior. Archival data on grade point average (GPA) were collected from schools and adolescents completed the Go/No-Go computer task. Latent profile analysis revealed three reporting patterns: Equal at Home and School (EHS; 43%), Higher at Home and Lower at School (HHLS; 35%), and Lower at Home and Higher at School (LHHS; 22%). Relative to EHS adolescents, HHLS adolescents were less likely to have greater levels of self-reported EC and LHHS adolescents were more likely to have greater self-reported levels of EC. Regarding academic functioning, compared to the EHS adolescents, HHLS adolescents were less likely to have a higher and LHHS adolescents were more likely to have a higher accuracy rate on the Go/No-Go task and have a higher GPA. Compared to HHLS adolescents, LHHS adolescents were more likely to have a higher accuracy rate and a higher GPA. Further, compared to EHS adolescents, HHLS adolescents were more likely to have higher levels of externalizing behavior and the LHHS adolescents were less likely to have higher levels of externalizing behavior. Compared to HHLS adolescents, LHHS adolescents were less likely to have higher levels of externalizing behavior. This study highlights the importance of considering context in the study of EC and the potential use of multiple informants to identify meaningful variation across contexts. In addition, findings from this study can help inform decision-making in prevention and intervention efforts in support of academic outcomes for marginalized youth.
ContributorsPerez, Vanesa Marie (Author) / Gonzales, Nancy (Thesis advisor) / Tein, Jenn-Yun (Committee member) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / De Los Reyes, Andres (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023