Somatic Symptoms in Mexican-Origin Children: The Role of Familism and Family Conflict in the Context of COVID-19

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Description
Mexican-origin families (MO) have been more negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic compared to White European-Americans. Latinx youth also reported increased concern about somatic symptoms (i.e. bodily symptoms) during the pandemic compared to non-Latinx peers. Current research on the pandemic

Mexican-origin families (MO) have been more negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic compared to White European-Americans. Latinx youth also reported increased concern about somatic symptoms (i.e. bodily symptoms) during the pandemic compared to non-Latinx peers. Current research on the pandemic indicates that cohesive and supportive families fare better than families within high-conflict households. However, no research has directly examined parent-child conflict during the pandemic in relation to youth somatic symptoms. Previous studies considered cultural proxies as predictors of somatic symptoms in Latinx children, the specific influence of prominent cultural values like familism remains less explored. Familism, emphasizing family well-being, is considered protective for Latinx youth, but evidence suggests it may pose risks in high parent-child conflict households. Utilizing Qualtrics panel, I collected data from 301 MO parents reporting on a target child (Mage= 11.4 years, SD= 3.7; 50.2% female) between March and June 2022. Approximately 40% of parents completed the survey in Spanish. Parental familism dimensions (support, family as referent, and obligations) were assessed as well as youth somatic symptoms. Changes in parent-child conflict and changes in social and family contacts due to the pandemic were also measured. Logistic regression models revealed that greater increases in conflict significantly predicted the presence of youth somatic symptoms (OR = 0.52, 95% CI= [0.27, 1.00]. Unexpectedly, total familism did not significantly moderate the relation between change in parent-child conflict and the presence of somatic symptoms (RR = 1.16, 95% CI= [0.99, 1.36]. However, post hoc analyses revealed that parental familism support was the only dimension of familism that was directly associated with the count of child somatic symptoms (RR= 0.81, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]= 0.71, 0.93). Parental familism as a referent significantly moderated the relation between change in parent-child conflict and the count of somatic symptoms (RR= 1.19, 95% CI = [1.01, 1.41]), such that higher familism values strengthened the positive relationship of change in parent-child conflict and higher count of somatic symptoms. Findings emphasize the need for future longitudinal research, considering medical conditions, to understand how parental familism values, particularly support, may buffer against somatic symptoms for Latinx youth.
Date Created
2024
Agent

Capturing the Fundamental Motives to Use Social Media

Description
The specific and concrete motives to use social media are likely to grow as social media multiplies. Study 1 was conducted to identify the hierarchical structure of motives of using social media that explain a wide range of previously identified

The specific and concrete motives to use social media are likely to grow as social media multiplies. Study 1 was conducted to identify the hierarchical structure of motives of using social media that explain a wide range of previously identified motives from Uses and Gratification theory (Katz & Blumler, 1974). College students (N = 948) completed previously established measures of social media motives and a range of social media behaviors. Findings revealed two higher-order factors: (1) “Instrumental” motivation captures motives to achieve a specific aim by using social media (e.g., for information, self-expression, social interaction) and these motives are positively correlated with private self-conscious on social media, and (2) “Experiential” motivation captures motives to escape from reality by using social media (e.g., for entertainment, passing time, convenience) and these motives are positively correlated with social media addiction. Study 2 aimed to determine if the higher order structure, “Instrumental” and “Experiential”, emerge across a wider range of motivations to use social media. College students (N = 216) completed a survey on the 7 social media motivations from study 1 and 16 more social media motivations found in the two pilot studies. Findings from the confirmatory factor analysis revealed the 23-factor model was the better predictor to use social media than the higher order factors. The predictive validity of the higher order factors suggests “Instrumental” motivation is the better predictor of personality and “Experiential” motivation is positively correlated with social media addiction.
Date Created
2024-05
Agent

The Intergenerational Transmission of Depressive and Anxiety Problems: Bidirectional Associations, Racial/Ethnic Differences, and the Mediating Role of Family Processes

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Description
Depression and anxiety are among the most prevalent psychiatric disorders for adults and adolescents and can be intergenerationally transmitted from parents to their children. Moreover, depressive and anxiety disorders often develop during adolescence. Additionally, family environment and the parent-child relationshi

Depression and anxiety are among the most prevalent psychiatric disorders for adults and adolescents and can be intergenerationally transmitted from parents to their children. Moreover, depressive and anxiety disorders often develop during adolescence. Additionally, family environment and the parent-child relationship are significant predictors of mental health among adolescents. Yet, few studies have considered how adolescent depression and anxiety problems may influence the family environment and mental health of parents. Moreover, even fewer studies have examined how depressive and anxious intergenerational pathways may vary by racial/ethnic status. As such, bidirectional effects of parent and adolescent depressive and anxiety problems were investigated using data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study at Time 1 (T1)(Mage = 9.92, n=11,861), Time 2 (T2), and Time 3 (T3). Each follow-up was approximately one-year apart. Multiple path analysis models were used to examined bidirectional associations between parent and adolescent A) depressive problems B) anxiety problems and C) depressive and anxiety problems from T1 to T3 and how family conflict and adolescent-reported parental acceptance at T2 mediated these associations. Measurement invariance testing and multigroup analyses were conducted across non-Hispanic White, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Black participants to examine if depressive and anxious pathways or measurement differed by racial-ethnic status. Findings revealed that both adolescent and parent depression problems at T1 predicted increases in depression at T3. Greater adolescent or parent anxiety problems at T1 predicted increases in adolescent and parent anxiety problems at T3. Greater family conflict and lower perceived parental acceptance at T2 predicted increases in adolescent depressive problems but did not predict adolescent anxiety problems over time. Parental depressive and anxiety problems at T1 did not predict adolescent-reported parental acceptance at T2 but did predict greater family conflict. Measurement noninvariance was found for family conflict and adolescent depressive problems. Multigroup analyses revealed that the association between both depressive and anxiety problems from T1 to T3 was weaker among Black adolescents compared to White and Hispanic adolescents. In summary, this research contributes valuable insights into the measurement of and relationship between parent and adolescent mental health, family dynamics, and adolescent perceived parental acceptance.
Date Created
2024
Agent

Sleep and Sibling Relationships in Middle Childhood: Potential Bidirectional Associations?

Description
The interconnection between family contexts and sleeping patterns play a crucial role in childhood development, with disturbances in either being indicative of future health outcomes in adulthood. It is unclear whether sibling relationships and sleep would have a similar effect

The interconnection between family contexts and sleeping patterns play a crucial role in childhood development, with disturbances in either being indicative of future health outcomes in adulthood. It is unclear whether sibling relationships and sleep would have a similar effect as there are not many studies that have examined these links by using subjective sleep and sibling relationship assessments. Given this gap in the literature, the present studied aimed to 1) examine potential bidirectional relations between sibling relationships (warmth, conflict) and sleep variables (duration, efficiency, and sleep midpoint variability) across ages 8 and 10, and 2) test whether a novel sibling interaction task with measures of sharing and competition conducted at age 8 predicts sleep variables both cross sectionally and two years later at age 10. Data are from the Arizona Twin Project which includes a racially and socioeconomically diverse representation of children in Arizona. Twins wore an actigraph watch at both age 8 and age 10 to capture sleep duration and efficiency. Primary caregivers also reported sibling relationships via a questionnaire during both waves. Twins completed a marble pulling task to measure negotiation and cooperation behaviors at age 8 only. We tested cross-lagged prospective associations between sleep and sibling contexts. My study identified a longitudinal, positive association with sibling warmth at age 8 and sleep duration at age 10 and another concurrent, positive association with sibling conflict at age 8 and sleep midpoint variability at age 8. A negative association was identified between sibling warmth and sleep efficiency at age 10. Stability over time was also identified in both sleep variables and sibling relationships. Future studies can further investigate the different ways siblings may influence sleep behaviors, or vice versa, by taking into consideration the quality of the relationship, age, gender, and overall family dynamics. Due to the complexity of sibling relationships, the relations between sleep and siblings may vary among different individuals and families. These additional factors may need to be considered when evaluating the effects of sibling relationships and sleep on child development and well-being.
Date Created
2023-12
Agent

Childhood Adversity in Adolescent Custodial Grandchildren: A Study of Daily Stressors, Emotional Dynamics, and the Efficacy of a Mobile Socio-Emotional Program

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Description
Guided by the Risky Families model and Daily Process methods, the present study examined how daily stressors are related to emotional well-being at the between- and within-person levels among adolescent grandchildren raised by grandmothers. This study also examined whether risk

Guided by the Risky Families model and Daily Process methods, the present study examined how daily stressors are related to emotional well-being at the between- and within-person levels among adolescent grandchildren raised by grandmothers. This study also examined whether risk (i.e., adverse childhood experiences/ACES) and resilience (i.e., socio-emotional skills) factors were linked to differences in daily well-being, stressor exposure, and emotional reactivity, and evaluated the efficacy of an online social intelligence training (SIT) program on daily stressor-emotion dynamics. Data came from a subsample (n = 188) of custodial adolescents who participated in an attention-controlled randomized clinical trial and completed 14-day daily surveys prior to and following intervention. Analyses were conducted with dynamic structural equation modeling. Daily stressors, on average, and experiencing above average stressors, were associated with higher negative emotions and lower positive emotions and social connection. Those with more ACEs, on average, reported higher daily stressors and worse well-being, whereas those with higher socio-emotional skills, on average, reported lower daily stressors and better well-being. At the within-person level, more ACEs were associated with higher daily negative emotions. Nonverbal processing was linked to higher daily positive emotions and social connection. Conversational skills were associated with higher daily positive emotions and social connection, and lower, more inert daily negative emotions. Neither ACEs nor socio-emotional skills were associated with within-person reactivity to stressors. Also, the SIT program did not demonstrate efficacy for any outcome. My discussion focused on how findings extend the literature on custodial adolescents by showing that daily stressors impact well-being, offer knowledge of how ACEs and socio-emotional skills shape daily stressor-emotion dynamics, and considers reasons why the online, self-guided SIT program failed to show efficacy on key outcomes.
Date Created
2023
Agent

How High are You? An EMA Comparison of Subjective Effects After Edible and Smoked Cannabis

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Description
Introduction: Edibles, THC-infused food products, are a popular type of cannabis. However, there is limited research on how acute effects of edibles differ from more traditional cannabis types, such as smoked flower (e.g., dried bud). The current study examined the

Introduction: Edibles, THC-infused food products, are a popular type of cannabis. However, there is limited research on how acute effects of edibles differ from more traditional cannabis types, such as smoked flower (e.g., dried bud). The current study examined the subjective response of cannabis between smoked flower and edibles using a two-week long ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Sex differences were also examined.Method: Individuals (n=101) using both edibles and flower at least once weekly completed a cannabis report within 30 minutes (T1) of first cannabis use each day as well as two follow-up reports sent 1.5 (T2) and 3 hours (T3) after initial use. Participants additionally completed assessments throughout the day for fourteen consecutive days to examine daily affect. Multi-level models examined whether overall high, low-arousal negative effects, high-arousal negative effects, and general positive effects differed by edibles and flower. Given time differences in effects between cannabis types, subjective effects were examined at T1, T2, and T3, as well as for the peak effects across the three-hour time window. Covariates included demographics, variant- and invariant- cannabis use characteristics, and daily affect. Results: At T1, edibles produced lesser positive effects (b=-0.60, S.E.=0.16, p=0.001) and overall high (b=-2.00, S.E.=0.27, p<0.001) relative to flower. At T2, edibles produced greater positive effects (b=0.52, S.E.=0.21, p=0.01) relative to flower. At T3, edibles produced greater low-arousal negative effects (b=0.63, S.E.=0.23, p=0.01) relative to flower. Edibles produced greater peak low-arousal effects relative to flower (b=0.59, S.E.=0.21, p=0.01), With respect to sex differences, there was an interaction between sex and cannabis type at T1 for positive effects (b=-0.99, S.E.=0.31, p=0.001), such that males reported greater positive effects for flower. Males additionally reported lesser low-arousal effects at T1 (b=-0.60, S.E.=0.30, p=0.05) and greater overall high at T3 relative to females (b=1.24, S.E.=0.56, p=0.03). Discussion: Smoked flower produced greater effects immediately and edibles produced greater delayed effects. Edibles appear to have greater peak levels of low-arousal effects (e.g., sluggish, drowsy, slow) relative to smoked flower. Males may be more sensitive to the rewarding effects of cannabis, particularly when smoking flower.
Date Created
2023
Agent

Hostility Versus Benevolence: Evocative Language as a Moderator of Knowledge Revision on Twitter

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Description

I studied how hostile and benevolent language influences one’s ability to change their misconceptions. Participants were less likely to revise their misconceptions when reading tweets with hostile language than those exposed to benevolent language, which stresses adopting a neutral or

I studied how hostile and benevolent language influences one’s ability to change their misconceptions. Participants were less likely to revise their misconceptions when reading tweets with hostile language than those exposed to benevolent language, which stresses adopting a neutral or benevolent tone to increase the likelihood of successful revision. This may be due to a shift of memory resources from the less engaging Tweet information to the more engaging, evocative hostile language.

Date Created
2023-05
Agent

The Effects of Remote vs. In-Person Socializing on Well-Being in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Description

Early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic introduced a change in communication norms in regard to well-being. People traversed through different forms of communication to adapt to policies and regulations that limited in-person interactions to prevent the spread of the COVID-19

Early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic introduced a change in communication norms in regard to well-being. People traversed through different forms of communication to adapt to policies and regulations that limited in-person interactions to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Social interactions have been found to be an innate human need, important to one’s health and well-being. The study looked at the relationship between socializing and well-being during the state of the COVID-19 pandemic. Socializing variables consisted of remote and in-person socializing which in-person socializing was divided into two distinct categories. In-person socializing was divided into in-person safe socializing, indicating socializing that was safe from the risk of contracting the virus, and in-person unsafe socializing which indicates that socializing was at risk of contracting the virus. Additionally, the current study also investigated how age moderates this relationship between socializing and well-being. SEM analyses reported that in-person unsafe socializing has a significant positive association with well-being outcomes: anxiety and depression which indicate high levels of anxiety and depression with increased in-person unsafe socializing. The study also found remote socializing to have a significant positive association with the well-being outcome: positive affect, indicating increased levels of positive affect with increased remote socializing. Regression analyses looked at moderation by age, finding no significant interactions of age between socializing and well-being. Findings suggest the beneficial role of remote socializing and although remote socializing cannot replace in-person interactions, it serves as a supplemental resource during unpredictable events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Date Created
2023-05
Agent

Religious Fundamentalism and Racial and Sexual Prejudice:
Comparing Religious Fundamentalism Scale and Intratextual Fundamentalism Scale

Description

Many studies indicate a positive relationship between fundamentalism and sexual and racial prejudice. Many of these studies use the Religious Fundamentalism Scale (RFS), the Attitudes Towards Homosexuals Scale (ATHS) and the Manitoba Scale. However, there appears to be overlap between

Many studies indicate a positive relationship between fundamentalism and sexual and racial prejudice. Many of these studies use the Religious Fundamentalism Scale (RFS), the Attitudes Towards Homosexuals Scale (ATHS) and the Manitoba Scale. However, there appears to be overlap between RFS and both ATHS and the Manitoba Scale, unaddressed by the literature. This study looked at possible overlaps between RFS and ATHS and between RFS and the Manitoba Scale that could inflate the correlation statistic of fundamentalism and sexual and racial prejudice. The Intratextual Fundamentalism Scale (IFS), a study without authoritarian or apparent prejudice-overlapping items, was also tested for overlap. Results showed two-factor structures—namely fundamentalism and prejudice—with only two items loading to the opposite factor. However, there were many near-zero item loadings. The discussion suggests ways to change these items to increase factor loadings and to change overall measures construct validity. The correlations between fundamentalism and sexual prejudice were not significant before modifying the measures and were small and negative after modifying (modifying measures means removing all crossloaded and near-zero loaded items). The modified fundamentalism and sexual prejudice measures correlations do not follow the literature. This may be due to the sample including sexual orientation minorities and a majority of atheist, agnostic, or ‘nothing in particular’ affiliations. The correlations between fundamentalism and racial prejudice were medium and positive before modifying and were small and positive after modifying. This falls in line with the literature of small and medium positive correlation statistics.

Date Created
2023-05
Agent

Impact of College Stress on Academic Motivation and Achievement: Examining Effortful Control and Economic Hardship as Moderators

Description

College students are exposed to stress accumulating from daily challenges, personal relationships, financial struggles, and academic pressure. Stressors can challenge an individual to perform better or serve as a hindrance to academic achievement, depending on the individual’s perception of stressors

College students are exposed to stress accumulating from daily challenges, personal relationships, financial struggles, and academic pressure. Stressors can challenge an individual to perform better or serve as a hindrance to academic achievement, depending on the individual’s perception of stressors and capacity to overcome them (Lepine et al., 2004). Optimal levels of stress are beneficial to managing responsibilities in a timely manner, while unmanageable levels of stress can negatively impact motivation and achievement. Higher levels of negatively perceived stress could have measurable consequences on academic outcomes, including lower motivation and lower achievement. This study focuses on examining the prospective relationship between levels of college stress and the academic outcomes, accounting for individual differences in vulnerability to stress. Specifically, I examined whether the associations between stress (T2) and academic outcomes (T3) were moderated by earlier (T1) levels of economic hardship and effortful control as risk and resilience factors, respectively. I predicted that higher levels of college stress would be associated with lower academic motivation and performance. I expected that higher effortful control would show a stronger association between higher academic motivation and achievement with lower college stress levels. I also predicted that higher levels of familial economic hardship would exacerbate the influence of college stress on lower academic motivation and achievement. This study utilized data collected from survey measures administered to students during the transition from high school to college. Results demonstrated a significant negative association between increased college stress and higher academic outcomes. A lack of significant interactions propose that economic hardship does not have negative effects on academic outcomes. The findings of this study will help universities to support students experiencing detrimental levels of stress to improve later academic outcomes.

Date Created
2023-05
Agent