Matching Items (17)
Description
Studies have demonstrated that telomere length is influenced by a person’s perception of stressors and other studies suggest that interparental conflict is a stressor for children. The current study sought to determine if child perception of interparental conflict is a better predictor of telomere length than parent perception of interparental conflict. This study also sought to determine whether behavior problems are the medium for how child perception of conflict influences telomere length. Using multiple regression analyses between reports of interparental conflict, reports of child behavior problems, and child telomere length ratios, it was determined that child report of conflict was a better predictor of behavior problems and telomere length. Child report of behavior problems was the medium whereby child report of conflict predicted telomere length. While these results were not significant, it does provide the first evidence that child perception of interparental conflict influences telomere length more than parental report of interparental conflict. This suggests that intervention programs designed to reduce conflict between parents should include a method for helping children process their feelings about of interparental conflict to preserve telomere length.
ContributorsFuller, Austin David (Author) / Lindstrom-Johnson, Sarah (Thesis director) / Elam, Kit (Committee member) / Ruof, Ariana (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Adolescent mental health problems are predicative of future problems such as depression, anxiety, ADHD, compulsive disorder, and substance use. Previous studies show that in emerging adulthood, the high prevalence and associated burdens of psychopathology increase vulnerability to disorders. These diagnoses are less common but are more severe and chronic (Tanner et al., 2009). The causes of these disorders are still being explored with recent studies showing that these mental health problems are genetically influenced. This makes understanding which gene that corresponds to what biological system is important in determining mental health. From recent studies, genes that code for calcium channels are good candidates for mental health problems. These voltage-gated channels are important mediators for physiological functions in the central nervous system and their activation provides unique responses within the brain. In a previous study, it supports the association of polymorphisms in calcium and potassium channels with the genetic risk for bipolar disorders and other mental illness (Imbrici et al., 2013). The purpose of the study was to examine if calcium channel genes influence childhood psychiatric symptoms. The first goal of this study was to form a polygenic risk score representing genetic influence on calcium channels. The second goal was to use this risk score in genetic association analyses to understand genetic risk for childhood psychopathology. Overall, the study did accomplish the goal as a polygenic risk score was created and was used to examine genetic association with child psychopathology. Based on the results, the polygenic risk score was not correlated with either parent or child- reported symptoms; however, results did show that disorders were related to each other and differed by race.
ContributorsTang, Derek (Author) / Lemery, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Gipson-Reichardt, Cassandra (Committee member) / Elam, Kit (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Effortful Control (EC) is a person's ability to self-regulate when presented with an environmental stimulus (Rothbart, et al., 2003). It has been well-established that high levels of EC are associated with multiple positive social and academic outcomes in adolescence (Spinrad et al., 2009). Research suggests that parents have a strong impact on numerous child outcomes, such as EC, through both genetic and environmental pathways. Past research has also examined how parents diagnosed with psychopathology contribute to maladaptive outcomes in their children, including poor regulation, through both genetic and environmental processes (Ellis, et al., 1997). However, less is known about the longitudinal effects of parent dysfunction on the child's environment and regulatory abilities and potential mediators of those effects. The current study tested the hypotheses that parent Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) would specifically predict early adversity, biological mother conscientiousness, and child EC longitudinally and that early adversity and biological mother conscientiousness would predict child EC. Participants were from a longitudinal study of familial alcoholism (N = 195). Regression analyses indicated that parent AUD was not specifically associated with child EC or with biological mother conscientiousness. However, parent AUD was related to higher levels of early adversity. Additionally, biological mother conscientiousness was associated with higher levels of child EC and early adversity was associated with lower levels of child EC when controlling for earlier EC. Given these findings, future research should test mediation models in which parent AUD predicts child EC indirectly through early adversity.
ContributorsRuof, Ariana Kelsey (Author) / Chassin, Laurie (Thesis director) / Elam, Kit (Committee member) / Davis, Mary (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
Masculinity ideology has been found to negatively impact many educational,health, and psychological consequences for men and can be particularly consequential for their romantic relationships. Knowledge regarding how masculinity ideology impacts women’s relationship experiences is scant in the literature and there is limited research suggesting that partner’s masculinity ideology can impact women’s relationship experiences. Given the negative consequences of masculinity ideology on relationship experiences for men and women, I examined how masculinity impacts romantic relationship outcomes in two studies. Study 1 investigated the role of men’s and women’s masculinity ideology and men’s gender role conflict (GRC) on relationship self-efficacy. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that masculinity ideology was not associated with relationship self-efficacy and further gender was not a significant moderator. Men’s gender role conflict was found to relate to relationship self-efficacy significantly and negatively. In a new sample of emerging adults, Study 2 investigated how masculinity ideology impacts three relationship outcomes: relationship self-efficacy, relationship satisfaction, and sexual satisfaction. I further explored the association between women’s masculinity ideology and their perceived partner’s gender role conflict on women’s relationship outcomes. Masculinity ideology was negatively related to all relationship outcomes, but this association was stronger for women for relationship satisfaction and relationship self-efficacy. Women’s perceptions of their partner’s GRC negatively predicted all relationship outcomes. Specifically, the interaction of partner’s GRC and women’s masculinity ideology was significant for relationship self-efficacy, such that the association between women’s masculinity ideology and relationship self-efficacy was more positively related when women’s partners had greater GRC. Findings from the current dissertation study provide intriguing first steps in identifying the negative consequences of masculinity ideology for men and women and provide novel steps toward understanding how partner’s masculinity may impact women’s relationship outcomes.
ContributorsJenkins, Diana Leigh (Author) / Martin, Carol (Thesis advisor) / Rogers, Adam (Committee member) / Jager, Justin (Committee member) / Updegraff, Kim (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Latinxs are one of the largest ethnic-racial minoritized groups in the U.S., with children and youth serving as the driving force of the population’s growth. Latinx children and youth living in the U.S. navigate their development within sociocultural contexts that present unique stressors (e.g., discrimination) and assets (e.g., biculturalism) that shape their development. Thus, when studying Latinx youth and families, it is critical to consider important individual, developmental, and contextual factors that enhance Latinx youth development. This includes studying culture-specific family processes (e.g., familism) as well as more universal general parent-child processes that are developmentally salient (e.g., parent-child conflict regarding everyday issues). Therefore, my two-study dissertation focuses on the integration of cultural and developmentally relevant factors in studying parent-child relationships among Latinx families. In Study 1, I use longitudinal data from 246 Mexican-origin families to examine developmental trajectories of parent-child conflict regarding everyday issues across 12 to 22 years of age. In charting parent-youth conflict trajectories, I examine how youth and parent familism values may serve as important cultural factors that are associated with variation in parent-youth conflict. In Study 2, I use a person-centered approach to examine constellations of parental warmth, parent-child conflict, and parental ethnic socialization among Latinx families with children in middle childhood and explore how different patterns of parent-child relationships emerge and how these patterns relate to child adjustment (i.e., academic competence, peer competence, and depressive symptoms). Guided by a family systems theory, both studies consider important nuance in parent-child dyads by examining gender dynamics in mother-child and father-child relationships. Together, the studies make an important contribution to the understanding of culturally and developmentally salient processes of parent-child relationships in Latinx families and provide research and practice implications for enhancing the lives of Latinx youth and families.
ContributorsSon, Daye (Author) / Updegraff, Kimberly A (Thesis advisor) / Su, Jinni (Committee member) / Jager, Justin (Committee member) / Elliott, Steve (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Examinations of Racism in U.S. Pre-K-12th Grade Educational Contexts
Description
Racism primarily has been examined in United States (U.S.) educational contexts via survey and qualitative investigations, which reveal Black, Indigenous, and People of Colors’ (BIPOCs’) self-reported experiences of individual racism. Missing from this research is a focus on the perpetrators of racism and the institutional nature of racism in U.S. education. Experimental examinations of racism in U.S. education are efficacious in identifying perpetrators of racism and offer objective evidence of racism, which can underscore the importance of qualitative and survey findings. However, experimental examinations of racism in educational contexts are infrequent, examine a wide array of perpetrators (e.g., peers, teachers, principals) and educational domains (grading, diagnoses, liking), and reveal mixed findings. Thus, I utilized meta-analytic techniques to explore the magnitude of the effect of racism in pre-K-12th grade contexts as demonstrated by experimental examinations. In addition, I explore moderation of the effect of racism by 1) the type of experimental technique, 2) the specific perpetrator, 3) the BIPOC target, 4) the region of the US, and 5) the design of treatment assignment. Using 71 effect sizes from 57 studies, I found evidence that racism is present in U.S. pre-K-12th grade education for BIPOC [Cohen’s d=0.15, 95% CI(0.05, 0.25)]. Heterogeneity existed in the overall effect, and moderators included the U.S. region, and the level of racism (e.g., individual versus institutional) explained the heterogeneity of the effects. The findings are discussed in terms of theoretical and methodological implications and future directions for research.
ContributorsJanssen, Jayley (Author) / Seaton, Eleanor (Thesis advisor) / Miller, Cindy F (Committee member) / Causadias, Jose (Committee member) / Jager, Justin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Systems of oppression like racism and colonialism pose significant threats to Asian Americans’ development and mental health, and education has been used to perpetuate these oppressions worldwide. Ethnic Studies education, which focuses on the first-person perspectives of racially minoritized groups, is a promising anti-racist educational intervention that may yield two psychological benefits that can prepare Asian Americans to navigate and challenge systems of oppression: sociopolitical development and radical healing from oppression. As the sociopolitical climate around diversity education becomes increasingly polarized and as research on the developmental benefits of Ethnic Studies education grows, quantitative research is especially imperative to corroborate qualitative research, support research-driven educational policy, and explore the extent to which Ethnic Studies education contributes to anti-racist youth development and social transformation. This dissertation quantitatively explores Ethnic Studies education as an educational intervention for anti-racist youth development and mental health promotion among Asian American college students (N = 254). Asian American students enrolled in college Ethnic Studies courses in 2022 were surveyed at the beginning (i.e., pre-test) and end (i.e., post-test) of their Ethnic Studies course. Study 1 utilized latent transition analysis to examine Asian American critical consciousness development among Ethnic Studies students. Profiles were differentiated by Asian American-specific and general critical consciousness indicators. Profile membership was predicted by various demographic factors and prior familial and school racial-ethnic socialization. In terms of transitions over time, most students who were in pre-test latent profiles with high scores across critical consciousness indicators transitioned into post-test latent profiles with higher average scores on critical consciousness indicators. Study 2 applies the latent profiles identified at post-test in Study 1 and found that psychological assets related to radical healing help explain differences in psychological distress between latent profiles. Implications for future research and educational practice for promoting individual and collective well-being in the context of oppression are discussed. Taken together, these studies offer quantitative support for Ethnic Studies education’s potential as an intervention to bolster Asian Americans’ sociopolitical development and propensity for radical healing.
ContributorsSaavedra, Jean Abigail (Author) / Yoo, Hyung Chol (Thesis advisor) / Jager, Justin (Committee member) / Sacramento, Jocyl (Committee member) / Seaton, Eleanor (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
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
It is widely recognized that peer-directed aggression and victimization are pervasive social problems that impact school-aged children and adolescents. This study investigated the developmental course of aggression and victimization, and more specifically, addressed three primary aims. First, distinct subgroups of children were identified based on similarities and differences in their physical, verbal and relational aggression and victimization. Second, developmental stability (and instability) were assessed by examining the extent to which individuals remain (or change) subgroups throughout childhood and adolescence. Third, group classifications and transitions over time were assessed as a function of children’s individual characteristics and their relational and contextual experiences.
The sample for this longitudinal study consisted of 482 children (50% females) who were followed over time from grades 1 to 11. Multiple-informant data on children’s physical, verbal and relational aggression and victimization (peer-reports), individual characteristics including emotion dysregulation, withdrawn behaviors (teacher-reports), and hostile and self-blaming attributions (self-reports), and their relational and contextual experiences including peer rejection, friendships, social hierarchy and classroom aggression (peer-reports) were assessed in grades 1, 5, 8, and 11. Data analyses primarily consisted of a series of person-centered methods including latent profile and latent transition analyses.
Most of the identified subgroups (e.g., aggressors, victims and aggressive-victims) were distinguishable by their frequencies (i.e., levels) of aggression and victimization, rather than forms (physical, verbal and relational), with the exception of one group that appeared to be more form-specific (i.e., relational aggressive-victims). Among children in each group there was a modest degree of intra-individual stability, and findings elucidated how some groups appeared to be more stable than others as well as developmental differences. Although group stability was fairly common across all groups, and over time, patterns of instability also emerged.
The combination of trends reflecting both stability and instability support the perspective that the development of aggression in childhood and adolescence is characterized by heterogeneity. In contrast to perspectives that highlight the individual stability of aggression (e.g., that it is a stable behavioral style or individual disposition), findings elucidate the individual, relational and contextual mechanisms by which developmental stability and instability were more pronounced.
The sample for this longitudinal study consisted of 482 children (50% females) who were followed over time from grades 1 to 11. Multiple-informant data on children’s physical, verbal and relational aggression and victimization (peer-reports), individual characteristics including emotion dysregulation, withdrawn behaviors (teacher-reports), and hostile and self-blaming attributions (self-reports), and their relational and contextual experiences including peer rejection, friendships, social hierarchy and classroom aggression (peer-reports) were assessed in grades 1, 5, 8, and 11. Data analyses primarily consisted of a series of person-centered methods including latent profile and latent transition analyses.
Most of the identified subgroups (e.g., aggressors, victims and aggressive-victims) were distinguishable by their frequencies (i.e., levels) of aggression and victimization, rather than forms (physical, verbal and relational), with the exception of one group that appeared to be more form-specific (i.e., relational aggressive-victims). Among children in each group there was a modest degree of intra-individual stability, and findings elucidated how some groups appeared to be more stable than others as well as developmental differences. Although group stability was fairly common across all groups, and over time, patterns of instability also emerged.
The combination of trends reflecting both stability and instability support the perspective that the development of aggression in childhood and adolescence is characterized by heterogeneity. In contrast to perspectives that highlight the individual stability of aggression (e.g., that it is a stable behavioral style or individual disposition), findings elucidate the individual, relational and contextual mechanisms by which developmental stability and instability were more pronounced.
ContributorsEttekal, Idean (Author) / Ladd, Gary W (Thesis advisor) / Dumka, Larry (Committee member) / Jager, Justin (Committee member) / Kochel, Karen P (Committee member) / Kochenderfer-Ladd, Becky (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The central focus of this dissertation was to build on prior research that has underscored the significance of investigating culturally informed values and beliefs to promote racial-ethnic minority youths’ adjustment. In particular, Study 1 examined how Mexican-origin adolescents’ endorsements of familism values contributed to and moderated established theoretical associations within the achievement motivation process (i.e., contextual environment/individual factors, motivational beliefs, achievement-related strategies) and ultimately informed educational adjustment over time, or 5 years postpartum. Findings from Study 1 supported hypotheses regarding the dual role of familism values as both a promotive and protective factor throughout the achievement motivation process. Importantly findings highlight familism as an important cultural asset to consider as a potential facilitator of Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ postpartum educational attainment. In addition to examining the promotive and protective function of familism, Study 2 explored how constellations of culturally informed promotive and protective factors, based on familism values, familial ethnic socialization, mothers’ and adolescents’ education aspirations, and social support (from family, peers, and dating partners), directly informed Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ educational adjustment postpartum. Three distinct profiles emerged across social, aspirational, and familial domains, when adolescents were in their third trimester of pregnancy. Profiles were distinguished by unique patterns among study variables as a function of different levels of assets and resources. Furthermore, coresidency and economic hardship emerged as significant predictors of membership into latent profiles; and membership in specific profile groups significantly predicted educational attainment five years postpartum. Patterns of promotive/protective factors identified in the current study illustrate the importance of considering how the combination of multiple factors, across culturally salient domains, work in tandem to inform Mexican-origin adolescent mothers’ long-term educational attainment. Overall study findings offer a comprehensive insight into how familism values and other culturally informed factors contribute to the achievement motivation process and educational adjustment of pregnant and parenting Mexican-origin adolescent.
ContributorsBravo, Diamond Yvonne (Author) / Umaña-Taylor, Adriana J. (Thesis advisor) / Updegraff, Kimberly A. (Committee member) / Simpkins-Chaput, Sandra (Committee member) / Jager, Justin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016