Browsing by Subject "Adolescence"

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Beyond The Sum Score: A Multidimensional Examination Of Allostatic Load Using Principal Component Analysis And Latent Profile Analysis In Previously Institutionalized Youth
(2023-09) Zhong, Danruo
Allostatic Load (AL), the stress-related physiological toll on the body, has been significantly associated with long-term health in humans. In this dissertation study, I examined the impact of early institution care on allostatic load in adolescents, using 13 biomarker data collected from 97 previously institutionalized youth who were adopted internationally from orphanage-liked institutions (PI; 61 females and 36 males; age range 12.02 to 21.39 years; Mean age = 16.31, SD age= 2.4 years) and 96 youth born and raised by birth families (Non-adopted, NA; 50 females and 46 males; age range 12.11 to 21.82 years; Mean age = 15.24, SD age= 2.35 years). Three distinct statistical approaches, namely, the Group Allostatic Load Index (GALI), the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and the Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) were used to characterize the allostatic load. ANCOVA, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), and multinomial logistic regression were utilized to examine how AL was associated with the experience of early institutional care. Our findings revealed a significant association between early institutional care and elevated allostatic load in adolescents. The sex difference was also found, such that males were more vulnerable to elevated AL levels than females. Moreover, age was positively associated with allostatic load. Furthermore, the construct of AL transcended beyond a single sum score, as evidenced by the detected multi-dimensions of AL and various underlying AL profiles among the studied individuals. Finally, three methods in the present study each offered unique perspectives that collectively enriched our understanding of AL. Taken together, this dissertation study underlined early health risks in youths who experienced early institutional care, highlighting the need for early, targeted, and personalized intervention programs for the ELS-impacted, at-risk population.
Cannabis use and cognition from adolescence to young adulthood: exploring cause, consequence, and influencing factors
(2021-08) Bair, Jessica
There are two overarching themes of this dissertation. The first is to evaluate the robustness of unique relationships between nonacute cannabis use occurring across adolescence and young adulthood and young adult cognitive outcomes. The second is to explore possible alternative explanations for associations found and separate potential causal influences of cannabis on cognition from shared familial or environmental factors. Research in this area has predominantly relied upon cross-sectional studies, and critics have raised concerns regarding the impact of extraneous factors insufficiently addressed within research, leaving the true relationship between cannabis and cognition uncertain. To address this and other limitations in the literature, this dissertation was designed to examine the relationship between cannabis use across adolescence and young adulthood and young adult cognitive outcomes. We used a large population-based twin sample with longitudinal tracking of cannabis use along with extensive neuropsychological assessment and interviewing and a quasi-experimental research design to draw stronger causal inferences. Across the two studies, nonacute cannabis use was associated with deficits in neurocognitive outcomes. Study 1 highlighted the importance of controlling for confounding as many of the associations did not survive covariate analyses, such that cannabis did not uniquely predict cognitive outcomes. However, beyond other factors, heavier and early cannabis use was related to deficits in domains, such as decision-making, processing speed, visuospatial attention, and general cognitive abilities. A pattern of sex-specific effects emerged such that males performed more poorly than females on decision-making and processing speed tasks with cannabis use. Converging on Study 1 conclusions to explore the etiology of the most robust relationships, Study 2 found evidence that deficits in neurocognitive performance indexed pre-existing familial or environmental liability but may also in turn be adversely impacted by heavy and early cannabis use, specifically for IQ and, in males, decision-making performance. Collectively, this work suggests a complex relationship between nonacute cannabis use and cognition, with differences in cognition reflecting a mixture of premorbid familial risk factors and possible adverse consequences of cannabis exposure. This information has implications for shaping policy decisions and targeting prevention and intervention efforts to reduce negative consequences of cannabis exposure in youth.
Cognitive-Affective Strategies and Early Adversity as Modulators of Psychosocial Stress Reactivity in Children and Adolescents
(2013-09) Johnson, Anna
The transition to adolescence is a key period in the reshaping of systems central to emotion and stress, including maturation of neural networks involved in cognitive-affective regulation and neuroendocrine changes driven by pubertal hormones. Adolescents experience an increased prevalence of everyday stressful events and seem to exhibit increased biological stress reactivity in response to psychosocial stressors. However, there is limited developmental evidence regarding what strategies adolescents use to regulate responses to stressors and even less evidence regarding how these regulatory strategies impact physiological stress reactivity. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore cognitive-affective strategies and early life experiences as predictors of physiological reactivity to a social stressor before and after the pubertal transition. The first study examined associations between cognitive-affective strategies and cortisol reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Test for Children in typically developing children and adolescents. Across age and gender, higher trait levels of cognitive reappraisal of emotion predicted higher cortisol reactivity. The second study extended these findings by testing the impact of early life stress on the development of cognitive-affective and stress regulatory systems before and after the pubertal transition. In contrast to findings within the typically developing youth, cognitive-affective strategies did not predict cortisol reactivity in post-institutionalized internationally adopted youth. Findings are discussed in terms of future research directions and implications for the development of intervention efforts to promote self-regulation during the transition to adolescence.
Conceptions of Adolescent Friendship Quality in Sport and Music Domains
(2015-08) Phillips, Alison
Based on theory (Harter, 1978; Sullivan, 1953), the purposes of the present study were to (a) compare context-specific conceptions of friendship quality in youth sport and music, and (b) determine how friendship quality is related to motivational beliefs in sport and music. Adolescents (N = 366; Mage = 12.9, SD = 1.0) who were involved in both organized sport and music completed measures of domain-specific friendship quality, perceived competence, enjoyment, anxiety, and motivational orientation. For purpose one, a repeated-measures MANOVA revealed that (a) boys and girls rated their best sport friends higher in self-esteem enhancement and supportiveness than their best music friends, (b) boys rated their best sport friends higher in loyalty and intimacy, things in common, companionship and pleasant play, and conflict resolution than their best music friends, (c) girls rated positive friendship quality dimensions higher than boys, and (d) there were no domain or gender differences in perceived friendship conflict. For purpose two, structural equation modeling revealed that (a) for sport, positive friendship quality dimensions were directly associated with perceived competence and indirectly associated with enjoyment, anxiety, and motivational orientation, and (b) for music, positive friendship quality and conflict were related to competence motivation variables. Gender moderator analyses revealed slight differences between boys and girls in the pattern of relationships between friendship quality and competence motivation variables in sport and music. Collectively, findings extend the knowledge base by (a) using theoretical frameworks to compare conceptions of friendship quality in two popular extracurricular activities for youth, and (b) demonstrating the significance of friendship quality in motivational beliefs and orientations in sport and music.
CYFC Consortium Connections, Fall 1998, Vol 7, No 3
(Children, Youth & Family Consortium, 1998) Children, Youth & Family Consortium
CYFC Consortium Connections, Fall 2001, Vol 10, No 3
(Children, Youth & Family Consortium, 2001) Children, Youth & Family Consortium
CYFC Consortium Connections, Fall-Winter 2005, Vol 13, No 2
(Children, Youth & Family Consortium, 2005) Children, Youth & Family Consortium
CYFC Consortium Connections, Spring 2001, Vol 10, No 2
(Children, Youth & Family Consortium, 2001) Children, Youth & Family Consortium
CYFC Consortium Connections, Spring 2003, Vol 12, No 1
(Children, Youth & Family Consortium, 2003) Children, Youth & Family Consortium
CYFC Consortium Connections, Winter 1997, Vol 6, No 1
(Children, Youth & Family Consortium, 1997) Children, Youth & Family Consortium
CYFC Consortium Connections, Winter 2002, Vol 11, No 1
(Children, Youth & Family Consortium, 2002) Children, Youth & Family Consortium
Delay and probability discounting: a longitudinal study of neural, cognitive, and emotional processes contributing to adolescent development.
(2010-06) Olson, Elizabeth Ayer
Adolescence is a time of rapid change in neurobehavioral characteristics, including emotional functioning, cognitive performance, and brain structure and function. The development of decision-making was examined in a group of adolescents (age 9-23) followed longitudinally over a two-year period. Delay and probability discounting tasks were used to assess decision-making. Change in discounting was examined in relation to baseline intelligence, working memory performance, personality factors, and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. In addition, contributions of brain structural features to the development of discounting behavior were analyzed. These included cortical thickness, white matter volume, subcortical volume, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures including fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity. Delay discounting, but not probability discounting, showed significant maturation within individuals. Greater than expected maturation in delay discounting was seen in individuals with lower internalizing and externalizing psychopathology and higher positive emotionality. Brain structural factors predisposing toward greater than expected maturation included lower right frontal cortical thickness, larger cinguate and cuneate white matter volumes, larger hippocampal volumes, thicker parahippocampal gyrus cortical thickness, lower fractional anisotropy in the right temporal-parietal-occipital junction, and lower fractional anisotropy in the right amygdala/ pallidum/ hippocampus. Behavioral factors predisposing toward greater than expected change in probability discounting included female sex (for younger participants) and working memory performance (for males). Brain structural factors predisposing toward greater than expected change included cingulate white matter volume and higher mean diffusivity in the left parieto-occipital area. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for development of decision-making processes during adolescence.
Developing interactions between executive function and emotion during adolescence.
(2010-10) Cohen, Julia E.
Adolescence is reputed to be a time of heightened emotionality and limited impulse control. Furthermore, emotion is frequently cited as the instigator of impulsive actions within this developmental period. That is, adolescents' powerful emotions may disrupt efforts to self-regulate and lead to impulsive actions that do not, in fact, serve the individual's long-term goals. Additionally, poor decision-making during this age range frequently has serious negative consequences. Understanding the cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms underlying the developing relationship between emotion and cognitive control may ultimately help us encourage teens to avoid potentially dangerous decisions and actions. To this end, this dissertation presents four studies aimed at better understanding the influence of emotion on higher-level cognition and self-regulation during adolescence. The first study introduces a task that requires participants to ignore emotional images while exercising inhibitory motor control (a go-nogo task). The second study uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore age differences in brain activation during performance of the emotional-distraction go-nogo task introduced in the first study. The third study extends the emotional distraction paradigm to a second form of higher-level cognition by using emotional images as backgrounds in an n-back working memory task. The fourth study examines the influence of early institutional care and BDNF genotype on performance of the emotional-distraction go-nogo task. Together these studies inform us regarding developmental changes in the interface between emotion and cognition during adolescence.
The development of task switching in adolescence and relationships with externalizing symptoms.
(2010-06) Sullwold, Kristin Marie
Cognitive flexibility facilitates the ability to quickly change behavior to adjust to changing environmental contingencies by shifting attention away from one task and attending to another. This ability may be one of a number of executive functions that improves through childhood and into adulthood. This study was conducted to examine the development of task switching during adolescence. Specifically, the development of two cognitive processes, attention switching and processing speed, that may underlie task switching ability were examined within a single task. Additionally, the degree to which self-reported externalizing behavior impacts these aspects of task switching ability was investigated. Individuals (N = 177) ages 9 to 23 participated in the study. The results showed that the different cognitive components that underlie task switching ability develop at different rates. Attention switching ability appears to be mature by early adolescence; however, the ability to efficiently activate the upcoming task set, which is likely dependent on processing speed, continues to increase until mid-adolescence. There was limited evidence that externalizing behavior in a non-clinical sample impacts attention switching performance. Externalizing behavior does not appear to significantly influence processing speed. These data clarify the nature of task switching development in adolescence by revealing how age-related changes in two cognitive components that underlie task switching ability contribute to cognitive flexibility.
Developmental Pathways from Childhood Maltreatment to Adolescent Psychopathology, Substance Use, and Revictimization
(2019-06) Brown, Michelle Patrice
Decades of research have demonstrated the detrimental influence that childhood maltreatment has on various aspects of child development and it is important to gain a more complete understanding of the developmental pathways that confer risk for or protection from adverse outcomes. To examine this, the aim of the first study is to determine whether adolescent revictimization mediates the relationship between maltreatment and adolescent psychopathology and substance use. The second study examines whether the quality of relationships with close friends mediates the relationship between child maltreatment and adolescent revictimization, psychopathology, and substance use. Participants were 545 (295 maltreated, 250 non-maltreated) racially diverse (52.8% Black, 27.5% White, 12.8% Bi-racial) children and their families who participated in a weeklong summer camp in middle childhood (mean age= 7.6 years). They were followed up twice in early-mid adolescence (mean age = 13.8 years) and mid-late adolescence (mean age = 16.2 years). Maltreatment was coded using Department of Human Services records. Psychopathology, substance use, revictimization, and friendship quality were assessed using adolescent self-report questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze cross-lagged panel mediation models that allowed for examination of main effects, cross-lagged effects, and mediation simultaneously. Results of Study 1 revealed that revictimization occurring between early-mid and mid-late adolescence did not mediate the relationship between maltreatment and mid-late adolescent psychopathology or substance use. However, revictimization strongly and significantly predicted these outcomes whereas maltreatment was weakly related to psychopathology and unrelated to substance use. Results highlight the importance of further examining the mechanisms by which revictimization increases risk for psychopathology and substance use and whether the relationship between maltreatment and adverse outcomes is attenuated when later victimization is accounted for. Results for Study 2 demonstrated that relationship quality with close friends in early-mid adolescence did not mediate the relationship between maltreatment and later adolescent revictimization, psychopathology, or substance use. Furthermore, friendship quality was actually unrelated to maltreatment and each of the outcomes examined. Results suggest the critical need for future research to seek greater understanding of the unique nature of maltreated children’s friendships and the specific ways they may protect from, or even increase risk for, negative outcomes.
Envisioning adult lives: adolescent aspirations and expectations of work and family.
(2008-06) Copher, Ronda Marie
Adolescence provides a portal for understanding the life course, to examine how ideas for the future coalesce and potentially change during this time. The configurations of adolescent aspirations and expectations tell us how adolescents see adulthood, and to a lesser extent about the conceptualization of the roles they will later occupy. To further understand the process of life course formation, I examine the process of cognitive orientations toward work and family roles during adolescence. My dissertation addresses the larger question of life course formation, emphasizing the dynamic and multidimensionality of people's lives and the importance of the self in life course formation. With longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study, specifically survey data from 496 girls and 431 boys of the over 1000 adolescents survey annually since 1987, using latent class modeling, I investigate three issues: first, adolescent cognitive orientations, which are the configurations of adolescent aspirations and expectations during the adolescent period of the life course--specifically the first and last years of high school. Second, I assess the influence of precursors to and the outcomes at age 25 of the adolescent cognitive orientations. Third, I examine whether there are gender differences in the cognitive orientations of adolescent girls and boys, as well as differences in the effects of precursors and outcomes. Adolescent girls and boys exhibit both similarities and differences in their cognitive orientations. In 9 th grade, 5 different cognitive orientations characterized adolescent girls ( conventional, educationally uncertain, ambitious, occupationally ambitious, and uncertain ). In 12 th grade, adolescent girls revealed 5 cognitive orientations ( conventional, vocationally oriented, low aspirations, uncertain, and ambitious ). In contrast, 9 th grade boys had 4 cognitive orientations ( conventional, below average, uncertain, and occupationally ambitious ) and 12 th grade boys had 4 cognitive orientations ( ambitious, conventional, low aspirations, and uncertain ). Further, the effects of family, education and work experiences on the 12 th grade cognitive orientations are varied. Results additionally suggest a limited relationship of adolescent cognitive orientations to adult roles. From the empirical investigation of adolescent aspirations and expectations I derive four general conclusions which are discussed.
Factors related to the development, maintenance, and/or resolution of unresolved/disorganized states of mind regarding abuse in a sample of maltreated individuals.
(2010-05) Whaley, Gloria J. L.
This is the first prospective study of male and female child abuse survivors to investigate the rates of unresolved/disorganized states of mind with respect to abuse (U/d abuse) classifications and factors that increase or decrease the risk of being classified as U/d abuse during late adolescence and/or adulthood. Participants were drawn from an ongoing longitudinal study of families from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The present sample (n = 42; 19 males, 23 females) includes only individuals who were identified prospectively as having experienced childhood physical and/or sexual abuse by a caregiver and for whom scores from the Adult Attachment Interview for U/d abuse were available at age 19 and/or 26 years. The following constructs were included in analyses: infant attachment representations; maltreatment circumstances; dissociative symptoms across childhood and adolescence; relationships with parents, friends, and romantic partners over time. Based on findings from previous longitudinal studies and attachment theory, it was hypothesized that disorganized/disoriented (D/d) attachment classifications in infancy would relate significantly to U/d abuse classifications, but that the circumstances of abuse (type, chronicity, or age of onset) would not relate significantly to U/d abuse status. Dissociative symptoms over time were anticipated to predict U/d abuse classifications. Positive and supportive relationships with others over time were expected to predict lower rates of U/d abuse classifications. Finally, following a cumulative risk perspective, it was expected that the added influence of severe trauma, a history of D/d infant attachment, high degrees of dissociation, poor relationships over time, and insecure states of mind would significantly predict U/d abuse status. Results revealed that approximately 36 percent of participants received U/d abuse classifications at age 19 and 41 percent at age 26, with little stability between the two assessments. Cumulative risk was significantly predictive of U/d abuse classifications. D/d infant attachment was a strong predictor of U/d abuse at age 19 but not at age 26 years. The circumstances of abuse, dissociative symptoms, secure infant attachment status, or the quality of important relationships by themselves were not significantly related to U/d abuse status at either age. Findings and needed future areas of research are discussed.
Family Problem-Solving and its Relationship to Adolescent Risk-Taking Behavior
(2017-05) Holth, Angela
Close parent-child relationships have been found to be a protective factor against the development of delinquent behavior (Harris, Furstenberg, & Marmer, 1998). By having a close parent-child relationship, parents may positively influence their adolescent’s development by creating a context for open communication and trust, and fostering family problem-solving abilities.The current study examined the mediating effect of family problem-solving ability on the relationship between attachment and risk-taking behavior in a sample of parents and youth from a larger mentoring study (Campus Connections; N=540). Results show that attachment was negatively related to both parent and adolescent report of the adolescents risk-taking behaviors, after controlling for age, gender, and race/ethnicity; and attachment was positively related to family-problem solving, after controlling for age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Family problem-solving was not associated with parent or youth report of adolescent risk-taking behavior. Finally, family problem-solving ability did not mediate the effect of attachment on parent or youth report of adolescent risk-taking behavior. While family problem-solving did not significantly mediate the relationship between attachment and risk-taking, other family-level behaviors may prove useful for helping families prevent risk-taking during adolescence.
The impacts of social support and early life stress on stress reactivity in children and adolescents
(2013-08) Hostinar, Camelia Elena
The goal of the present study was to investigate the impacts of social support and early life stress on individual differences in HPA axis reactivity in children (ages 9-10) and adolescents (ages 15-16). The primary aims were: 1) to experimentally manipulate the provision of social support in the laboratory and examine its effect on levels of salivary cortisol in response to the Trier Social Stress Test for Children; 2) to investigate parenting quality variables that may moderate the social buffering effect based on coding of videotaped parent-child interactions; 3) to analyze the role of early life stress (orphanage-rearing versus birth family rearing) and current social network characteristics in predicting the cortisol response; and 4) to explore age and sex differences in stress reactivity and the social buffering of stress. A sample of 162 participants was recruited, roughly equally divided between the two age groups, experimental conditions (half were exposed to a parent support condition before the stress task, whereas half received support from a stranger), early life experience (adopted or non-adopted) and by gender. Analyses of cortisol stress responses revealed that in the non-adopted group parent support provided in the laboratory significantly dampened stress reactivity in children but not in adolescents when compared to the stranger support condition. Additionally, participants reared in orphanages showed atypical patterns of HPA reactivity and of responses to social support provided before the stressor. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Individual differences in adolescent and young adult daily mobility patterns and their relationships to big five personality traits: a behavioral genetic analysis.
(2022-05) Alexander, Jordan
Youth behavior changes and their relationships to personality have generally been investigated using self-report studies, which are subject to reporting biases and confounding variables. Supplementing these with objective measures, like GPS location data, and twin-based research designs, which help control for confounding genetic and environmental influences, may allow for more rigorous, causally informative research on adolescent behavior patterns. To investigate this possibility, this study aimed to (1) investigate whether behavior changes during the transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood are evident in changing mobility patterns, (2) estimate the influence of adolescent personality on mobility patterns, and (3) estimate genetic and environmental influences on mobility, personality, and the relationship between them. Twins aged Fourteen to twenty-two (N=709, 55% female) provided a baseline personality measure, the Big Five Inventory, and multiple years of smartphone GPS data from June 2016 - December 2019. Mobility, as measured by daily locations visited and distance travelled, was found via mixed effects models to increase during adolescence before declining slightly in emerging adulthood. Mobility was positively associated with Extraversion and Conscientiousness (r of 0.17 ̶ 0.25, r of 0.10 ̶ 0.16) and negatively with Openness (r of -0.11 ̶ -0.13). ACE models found large genetic (A = 0.56 ̶ 0.81) and small-moderate environmental (C of 0.12 ̶ 0.28, E of 0.07 ̶ 0.15) influences on mobility. A and E influences were highly shared across mobility measures (rg = 0.70, re= 0.58). Associations between mobility and personality were partially explained by mutual genetic influences (rg of -0.27 ̶ 0.53). Results show that as autonomy increases during adolescence and emerging adulthood, we see corresponding increases in youth mobility. Furthermore, the heritability of mobility patterns and their relationship to personality demonstrate that mobility patterns are informative, psychologically meaningful behaviors worthy of continued interest in psychology.

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