Digital Commons Network^™

Parental Perceptions Of Body Mass Index Referrals And Overweight School-Age Children, Misty Schwartz

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

It is well documented that there is a worldwide epidemic of obesity in children. To address obesity in children, emphasis must be on factors within family, school, and community environments. Although most parents and school officials are aware of the problem of overweight children, there is little data available to guide decision making about the acceptability of school-based Body Mass Index (BMI) screening and referral programs. As states mandate BMI screening and referral, parental insight is essential to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of BMI notification.

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the perceptions of parents …

Understanding Child Sexual Behavior Problems: A Developmental Psychopathology Framework, Natasha Elkovitch, Robert D. Latzman, David J. Hansen, Mary Fran Flood

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

entific community. While a heterogeneous group, children with sexual behavior problems consistently demonstrate a number of problems related to adjustment and overall development. In order to appropriately intervene with these children, a comprehensive understanding of etiology is imperative. The overarching goal of the present paper is to review the extant research on mechanisms associated with the development of problematic sexual behavior in childhood within a developmental psychopathology framework. What is known about normative and nonnormative sexual behavior in childhood is reviewed, highlighting definitional challenges and age-related developmental differences. Further, the relationship between child sexual abuse and child sexual behavior problems …

Thoughts Of Suicidality And Self-Harm In Middle Childhood: Relationship With Child Maltreatment And Maternal Substance Abuse And Depression, Tara K. Cossel, Natasha Elkovitch, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Presentations

Child maltreatment victims are at increased risk for a multitude of symptoms, including: internalizing problems (e.g., depression, anxiety), behavior problems (e.g., aggression) and post-traumatic stress symptoms (Paolucci, Genuis, & Violato, 2001). Not all maltreated children present with the same outcomes, and research consistently demonstrates child abuse does not have an inevitable pattern or a unified presentation of symptoms. Some youth may be asymptomatic following abuse; others display a myriad of symptoms at varying levels of severity (Kendall-Tackett, Williams, & Finkelhor, 1993). A small percentage of this group becomes suicidal.

Recent studies have presented accumulating evidence that suicidality and self-harm warrant …

Personality And Psychosocial Factors Of College Drinking Amount And Frequency, Lindsay A. Vuchetich, Tara K. Cossel, Laura C. Herschl, Dennis E. Mcchargue Ph.D.

Department of Psychology: Presentations

Despite laws in every State that make it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to purchase or possess alcohol, young people report that alcohol is easy to obtain and that many high school and college students drink with one goal – to get drunk. Binge drinking is defined as consuming six or more drinks in a row for boys and four or more in a row for girls. In this exploratory research, several articles were gathered in order to integrate previous findings in the current study. One factor that was looked at in the current study was if …

The Early Development Of Gender Differences, Matthew H. Mcintyre, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This article reviews findings from anthropology, psychology, and other disciplines about the role of biological factors in the development of sex differences in human behavior, including biological theories, the developmental course of sex differences, and the interaction of biological and cultural gendering processes at different ages. Current evidence suggests that major biological influences on individual differences in human gender, to the extent that they exist, operate primarily in early development, during and especially prior to puberty. Biological effects are likely to be mediated by relatively simple processes, like temperament, which are then elaborated through social interactions (as with mother and …

Correlated And Coupled Within-Person Change In Emotional And Behavior Disturbance In Individuals With Intellectual Disability, Scott M. Hofer, Kylie M. Gray, Andrea M. Piccinin, Andrew Mackinnon, Daniel E. Bontempo, Stewart L. Enfield, Lesa Hoffman, Trevor Parmenter, Bruce J. Tonge

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Individual change and variation in emotional/behavioral disturbance in children and adolescents with intellectual disability has received little empirical investigation. Based on 11 years of longitudinal data from the Australian Child to Adult Development Study, we report associations among individual differences in level, rate of change, and occasion-specific variation across subscales of theDevelopmental Behavior Checklist (DBC) with 506 participants who had intellectual disability and were ages 5 to 19 years at study entry. Correlations among the five DBC subscales ranged from .43 to .66 for level, .43 to .88 for rate of change, and .31 to .61 for occasion-specific variation, with …

Social Networks, Social Identities, And Mindset Of At-Risk College Students, Troy A. Romero

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Success in higher education is typically measured by retention and graduation, and traditionally the students who are least likely to succeed are at-risk students. At-risk students are characterized by one or more of the following: being from underrepresented ethnicities and cultures, having low socioeconomic status, being educated in poorly funded primary and secondary education systems, being first-generation college students, or being otherwise marginalized in society. This study was designed to test how at-risk students differ from other students in terms of the size of their academic social networks, the strength of their academic identities, and their mindset, and to what …

Web-Based Nutrition Education For University Middle-Aged Female Staff, Wan-Ju Yen

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Researchers have described women as facing a dramatic increase in the risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, stroke, and Alzheimer’s, the onset of these as the result of the impact of changing hormone levels, particularly the decline in estrogen. The purpose of this two-phase study was to determine if web-based nutrition education could be used to increase the consumption of food groups in MyPyramid, omega-3 fatty acids and selfefficacy in middle-aged female. Phase one was a qualitative study to identify middleaged female’s beliefs and interests around the topic of nutrition. Data were collected using audiotaped semi-structured individual interviews. Eight female staff …

The Role Of The Peer Group In Adolescence: Effects On Internalizing And Externalizing Symptoms, Glen J. Veed

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

An adolescent’s peer group has been theorized to influence the development of psychopathology. However, little research has examined the adolescent peer group using information obtained directly from peers in a longitudinal framework. Research has also been limited on peer group influence on the development of internalizing disorders. The study used Social Network Analysis to examine self-reported anxiety, depression, aggression, and delinquency in the fall and spring of one school year for students in a rural high school. In addition to examining the effect of the peer group on individual reports of psychopathology, the strength of this relation was compared to …

Prevalence Of Rural Intimate Partner Violence In 16 Us States, 2005, Matthew J. Breiding, Jessica S. Ziembroski, Michele C. Black

Public Health Resources

Context: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health problem that affects people across the entire social spectrum. However, no previous population-based public health studies have examined the prevalence of IPV in rural areas of the United States. Research on IPV in rural areas is especially important given that there are relatively fewer resources available in rural areas for the prevention of IPV.

Methods: In 2005, over 25,000 rural residents in 16 states completed the first-ever IPV module within the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The BRFSS is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-sponsored annual random-digit-dialed …

Neuropsychological Effects Of The Traumatic Stress Response In Sexually Abused Adolescents Throughout Treatment, Kathryn R. Wilson

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Child maltreatment is a pervasive problem in our society that has long-term detrimental consequences to the development of the affected child such as future brain growth and functioning. The alteration of the biochemical stress response system in the brain that changes an individual’s ability to respond efficiently and efficaciously to future stressors is conceptualized as the traumatic stress response. The purpose of this research was to explore the effects of the traumatic stress response on sexually abused adolescents’ through a two-tiered study of neuropsychological functioning throughout treatment. It was determined that there are measurable differences in neuropsychological processing in sexually …

Food Exemplar Salience: What Foods Do People Think Of When You Tell Them To Change Their Diet?, Carolyn R. Brown-Kramer, Marc T. Kiviniemi, Julie A. Winseman

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Understanding which specific foods easily come to mind when individuals consider categories of dietary behavior may help explain observed patterns of dietary intake. We examined which specific behavioral exemplars are most easily retrieved from memory when individuals consider broad dietary categories. Participants reported specific foods that come to mind when considering high fat foods, low fat foods, and fruits/vegetables. Salient foods differed from those suggested in dietary guidelines, were distinct from those known to be major diet components, and showed a non-trivial number of incorrect responses. These findings have implications for understanding how individuals respond to dietary guidelines and devising …

Gambling Interacts With Trauma To Predict Alexithymia Scores Among College Students, Tara K. Cossel, María José Herrera, Dennis E. Mcchargue

Department of Psychology: Presentations

Gambling is fairly common among college age students, with estimates ranging from 15% (Kerber, 2005) to 42% (LaBrie, Shaffer, LaPlante, & Wechslet, 2003). Furthermore, gambling among college students is associated with a variety of negative consequences, particularly for men (Engwall, Hunter, & Steinberg, 2004). Despite this, less is known about psychological factors linking gambling among college age students. In a recent study conducted among college students, the relationship between pathological gambling and psychological variables (e.g., alexithymia) was examined. Findings indicate that psychological variables like alexithymia might be a noteworthy risk factor to problem gambling (Parker, Wood, Bond, & Shaughnessy, 2005). …

What Matters, And What Matters Most, For Change In Life Satisfaction In The Oldest-Old? A Study Over 6 Years Among Individuals 80+, Anne Ingeborg Berg, Lesa Hoffman, Linda Björk Hassing, Gerald M. Mcclearn, Boo Johansson

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: The study investigates whether markers of life satisfaction identified in a cross-sectional study – quality of social network, self-rated health, depressive symptoms, locus of control and widowhood, in addition to financial satisfaction and the personality traits of extraversion and neuroticism - predict change in life satisfaction (LSI-Z) across four measurement occasions during a 6-year period in individuals aged 80+. Method: Data were drawn from the Swedish OCTO-Twin-study of individuals aged 80 and older. Results: Growth curve analysis showed a relatively consistent significant linear decline in life satisfaction, but certain markers predicted change in life satisfaction. The …

Motivation To Self-Harm In Middle Childhood: Relationship To Emotional Symptomotology And Home Environment, Tara K. Cossel, Natasha Elkovitch, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Presentations

Self-harm in childhood is an important, though neglected area of empirical research. Research has, however, investigated the emotional and environmental factors associated with self-harm in adolescent and adult populations. This research provides a foundation from which to investigate desire to self-harm in child populations.

With regard to emotional factors, self-injurers report having a negative affect they wish to avoid (Polk & Liss, 2007). Further, distraction from emotional pain has been identified as the most prevalent motivation for self-harm across genders (Swannell, Martin, Scott, Gibbons, & Gifford, 2008). Briere and Gil (1998) found self-injury is used in an attempt to decrease …

Age-Related Differences In Reaction Time Task Performance In Young Children, Sergey Kiselev, Kimberly A. Espy, Tiffany Sheffield

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory: Faculty and Staff Publications

Performance of reaction time (RT) tasks was investigated in young children and adults to test the hypothesis that age-related differences in processing speed supersede a “global” mechanism and are a function of specific differences in task demands and processing requirements. The sample consisted of 54 4-year-olds, 53 5-year-olds, 59 6-year-olds, and 35 adults from Russia. Using the regression approach pioneered by Brinley and the transformation method proposed by Madden and colleagues and Ridderinkhoff and van der Molen, age-related differences in processing speed differed among RT tasks with varying demands. In particular, RTs differed between children and adults on tasks that …

Acquired Appetitive Responding To Intravenous Nicotine Reflects A Pavlovian Conditioned Association, Jennifer E. Murray, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Recent research examining Pavlovian appetitive conditioning has extended the associative properties of nicotine from the unconditioned stimulus or reward to include the role of a conditional stimulus (CS), capable of acquiring the ability to evoke a conditioned response. To date, published research has used presession extravascular injections to examine nicotine as a contextual CS in that appetitive Pavlovian drug discrimination task. Two studies in the current research examined whether a nicotine CS can function discretely, multiple times within a session using passive iv infusions. In Experiment 1, rats readily acquired a discrimination in conditioned responding between nicotine and saline infusions …

Viewing Preschool Disruptive Behavior Disorders And Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Through A Developmental Lens: What We Know And What We Need To Know, Anil Chacko, Lauren Wakschlag, Carri Hill, Barbara Danis, Kimberly A. Espy

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory: Faculty and Staff Publications

Although DSM-defined DBDs and ADHD manifest during early childhood in meaning¬ful ways, the emphasis of extending the DBD and ADHD nosology, which is based on studies of older youth, to younger children potentially limits the utility of these symptoms. Given that it is clear that DBDs and ADHD often emerge during early childhood and that early intervention is most efficacious, developing a more refined understanding of the clinical phenomenology of behavior disorders in early childhood is a critical next step. We contend that an approach that emphasizes the developmental specification of symptoms has the potential to address several long-standing issues …

Epistatic Interaction Between Comt And Dat1 Genes On Eating Behavior: A Pilot Study, Samantha L. Hersrud, Scott F. Stoltenberg

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Problems related to food and weight in women may be influenced by the (DA) dopamine system. Catechol-o-methyl transferase (COMT) and the dopamine transporter (DAT) exert control on concentrations of extracellular DA. High and low functioning alleles of the COMT Val158Met and DAT1 3’ UTR VNTR polymorphisms have been identified, and their associations with reward and cognition suggest a role in the modulation of eating behavior. A sample of undergraduate college women (N = 71) was characterized for binge eating and eating psychopathology and genotyped for the COMT and DAT1 markers. Results revealed a significant epistatic interaction between COMT and DAT1 …

Severity Of Child Sexual Abuse And Revictimization: The Mediating Role Of Coping And Trauma Symptoms, Michelle A. Fortier, David Dilillo, Terri L. Messman-Moore, James Peugh, Kathleen A. Denardi, Kathryn J. Gaffey

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Child sexual abuse (CSA) has consistently been associated with the use of avoidant coping; these coping methods have been associated with increased trauma symptoms, which have, in turn, been linked to increased risk for adult sexual revictimization. Given these previous findings, the purpose of the current study was to test a model that conceptualized the relationships among these variables. Specifically, CSA severity was conceptualized as leading to the use of avoidant coping, which was proposed to lead to maintenance of trauma symptoms, which would, in turn, impact severity of revictimization indirectly. This comprehensive model was tested in a cross-sectional study …

Gene–Environment Interactions Across Development: Exploring Drd2 Genotype And Prenatal Smoking Effects On Self-Regulation, Sandra A. Wiebe, Kimberly Andrews Espy, Christian Stopp, Jennifer Respass, Peter Stewart, Travis R. Jameson, David G. Gilbert, Jodi I. Huggenvik

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Genetic factors dynamically interact with both pre- and postnatal environmental influences to shape development. Considerable attention has been devoted to gene–environment interactions (G × E) on important outcomes (A. Caspi & T. E. Moffitt, 2006). It is also important to consider the possibility that these G × E effects may vary across development, particularly for constructs like self-regulation that emerge slowly, depend on brain regions that change qualitatively in different developmental periods, and thus may be manifested differently. To illustrate one approach to exploring such developmental patterns, the relation between variation in the TaqIA polymorphism, related to D2 dopamine receptor …

Daily Negative Mood Affects Fasting Glucose In Type 2 Diabetes, Marilyn M. Skaff, Joseph T. Mullan, David M. Almeida, Lesa Hoffman, Umesh Masharani, David Mohr, Lawrence Fisher

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective: To examine the relationship between mood and blood glucose in a 21-day daily diary study.
Design: During a home visit, information was gathered from 206 persons with Type 2 diabetes regarding demographics, disease characteristics and treatment, and depressive symptoms. They had blood drawn at a laboratory, yielding HbA1C. The participants were then telephoned each evening for 21 days and were asked about their positive and negative mood during the past 24 hours. They also tested their blood glucose upon rising in the morning.
Main Outcome Measures: The main outcomes measures were positive and negative affect and fasting glucose.
Results: …

Responding To Societal Devaluation: Effects Of Perceived Personal And Group Discrimination On The Ethnic Group Identification And Personal Self-Esteem Of Latino/Latina Adolescents, Brian E. Armenta, Jennifer S. Hunt

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The Rejection-Identification model (Branscombe, Schmitt, & Harvey, 1999) posits that perceived discrimination may lead to increased ingroup identification, which can help maintain psychological well-being in the face of societal devaluation. To address unknown aspects of this model, we examined the effects of perceived per¬sonal and group discrimination on the group identification and personal self-esteem of Latino/Latina adolescents. Results showed that perceived group discrimination was related to higher personal self-esteem via direct and indirect routes (i.e. through group identification). However, perceived personal discrimination was directly and indirectly associated with lower personal self-esteem. Moreover, these two levels of discrimination showed interactive effects …

What’S Fair In Foul Weather And Fair? Distributive Justice Across Different Allocation Contexts And Goods, John T. Scott, Brian H. Bornstein

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The Gulf coast hurricanes of a few years ago vividly highlighted important questions concerning the fair distribution of resources that are of continual concern in the more mundane distributive policies of the modern state. We present an experimental study of allocation decisions across two allocation contexts—nonemergency and emergency (flood) conditions—and with regard to qualitatively different goods—money, prescription medicine, and food. Distributive behavior is likely to vary across context and good depending on how individuals weigh distinct and competing allocation principles—merit, need, and equality here—in different circumstances. We find that allocation behavior is complex but structured, with context and good having …

Child Maltreatment History Among Newlywed Couples : A Longitudinal Study Of Marital Outcomes And Mediating Pathways, David Dilillo, James Peugh, Kate Walsh, Jillian Panuzio, Emily Trask, Sarah Evans

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Participants included 202 newlywed couples who reported retrospectively about child maltreatment experiences (sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect) and whose marital functioning was assessed 3 times over a 2-year period. Decreased marital satisfaction at T1 was predicted by childhood physical abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect for husbands; only neglect predicted lower satisfaction for wives. Increased maltreatment of various types was also related to T1 difficulties with marital trust and partner aggression. Dyadic growth curve analyses showed that the marital difficulties reported at T1 tended to remain over the course of the study. Further, in several instances, maltreatment exerted …

Impulsivity And Cigarette Craving: Differences Across Subtypes, Neal Doran, Jessica Werth Cook, Dennis E. Mcchargue, Bonnie Spring

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Rationale: Cigarette smoking has been linked to a number of personality characteristics, including impulsivity. Smokers tend to endorse high levels of impulsivity, and more impulsive smokers have greater difficulty quitting, but little is known about potential explanatory mechanisms. Although indirect evidence suggests craving as a candidate mechanism, direct evidence has been mixed.
Materials and methods: This study assessed whether specific aspects of impulsivity (sensation seeking, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and urgency) were associated with cue-induced craving. Regular smokers (n= 60; 50% female) were exposed to a smoking cue and a neutral cue in a repeated measure …

Daily Negative Mood Affects Fasting Glucose In Type 2 Diabetes, Marilyn M. Skaff, Joseph T. Mullan, David M. Almeida, Lesa Hoffman, Umesh Masharani, David C. Mohr, Lawrence Fisher

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective—To examine the relationship between mood and blood glucose in a 21 day daily diary study.

Design—During a home visit, information was gathered from two hundred six persons with type 2 diabetes regarding demographics, disease characteristics and treatment, and depressive symptoms. They had blood drawn at a laboratory, yielding HbA1C. The participants were then telephoned each evening for 21 days and were asked about their positive and negative mood during the past 24 hours. They also tested their blood glucose upon rising in the morning.

Main Outcome Measures—The main outcomes measures were positive and negative affect and fasting glucose.

Results—Multilevel …

Children’S Exposure To Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey, David Finkelhor, Heather Turner, Richard Ormrod, Sherry Hamby, Kristen Kracke

Public Health Resources

This Bulletin discusses the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (NatSCEV), the most comprehensive nationwide survey of the incidence and prevalence of children’s exposure to violence to date, sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Conducted between January and May 2008, it measured the past-year and lifetime exposure to violence for children age 17 and younger across several major categories: conventional crime, child maltreatment, victimization by peers and siblings, sexual victimization, witnessing and indirect victimization (including exposure to community violence and family violence), school …

Dieting, Restraint, And Disinhibition Predict Women's Weight Change Over 6 Y, Jennifer S. Savage, Lesa R. Hoffman, Leann L. Birch

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: Although disinhibited eating is positively associated with higher weight in women, it is not known whether restrained eating and dieting moderate the influence of disinhibited eating on weight change.

Objective: The objective was to investigate over 6 y the interactive effects of restrained and disinhibited eating and self-reported dieting to lose weight as predictors of weight gain in women.

Design: Data were collected from non-Hispanic white women (n = 163) every 2 y. Height and weight were measured in triplicate. Dietary restraint and disinhibition were assessed by using the Eating Inventory. Participants were also asked if they were …

Children's Behavioral Traits And Risk Of Injury: Analyses From A Case-Control Study Of Agricultural Households, Kathleen F. Carlson, Susan G. Gerberich, Bruce H. Alexander, Ann S. Masten, Timothy R. Church, John M. Shutske, Andrew D. Ryan, Colleen M. Renier

Public Health Resources

Problem: Children on family agricultural operations have high risk of injury. The association between children's behavioral traits and their risk of injury is not well understood. Method: Data from the Regional Rural Injury Study-II were used to assess behavioral risk factors for injury to children ages six to <20 years. A total of 379 injury events (cases) and 1,562 randomly selected controls were identified. Adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), calculated using logistic regression, were used to estimate injury risk in reference to behavioral traits. Results: Injury risks were greater for children with high levels of depressive symptoms (OR=1.9, CI=1.0-3.7) and aggression (OR=1.6, CI=0.9-2.7), and low levels of careful/cautious behavior (OR=1.8, CI=1.1-2.9). Children with low levels of self-regulation had reduced risks (OR=0.4, CI=0.2-0.8). Discussion: Results suggest that children's behaviors affect their risk of agricultural injury. Additional research …