Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Measuring Women's Empowerment In Sub-Saharan Africa: Exploratory And Confirmatory Factor Analyses Of The Demographic And Health Surveys, Ibitola O. Asaolu, Halimatou Alaofè, Jayleen K. L. Gunn, Akosua K. Adu, Amanda J. Monroy, John E. Ehiri, Mary H. Hayden, Kacey C. Ernst

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: Women's status and empowerment influence health, nutrition, and socioeconomic status of women and their children. Despite its benefits, however, research on women's empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is limited in scope and geography. Empowerment is variably defined and data for comparison across regions is often limited. The objective of the current study was to identify domains of empowerment from a widely available data source, Demographic and Health Surveys, across multiple regions in SSA.

Methods: Demographic and Health Surveys from nineteen countries representing four African regions were used for the analysis. A total of 26 indicators across different dimensions (economic, …

Neural Mechanisms Of The Rejection-Aggression Link, David S. Chester, Donald R. Lynam, Richard Milich, C. Nathan Dewall

Psychology Faculty Publications

Social rejection is a painful event that often increases aggression. However, the neural mechanisms of this rejection–aggression link remain unclear. A potential clue may be that rejected people often recruit the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex’s (VLPFC) self-regulatory processes to manage the pain of rejection. Using functional MRI, we replicated previous links between rejection and activity in the brain’s mentalizing network, social pain network and VLPFC. VLPFC recruitment during rejection was associated with greater activity in the brain’s reward network (i.e. the ventral striatum) when individuals were given an opportunity to retaliate. This retaliation-related striatal response was associated with greater levels of …

The Influence Of Parental Control And Parent-Child Relational Qualities On Adolescent Internet Addiction: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study In Hong Kong, Daniel T. L. Shek, Xiaoqin Zhu, Cecilia M. S. Ma

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

This study investigated how parental behavioral control, parental psychological control, and parent-child relational qualities predicted the initial level and rate of change in adolescent internet addiction (IA) across the junior high school years. The study also investigated the concurrent and longitudinal effects of different parenting factors on adolescent IA. Starting from the 2009/2010 academic year, 3,328 Grade 7 students (M_age = 12.59 ± 0.74 years) from 28 randomly selected secondary schools in Hong Kong responded on a yearly basis to a questionnaire measuring multiple constructs including socio-demographic characteristics, perceived parenting characteristics, and IA. Individual growth curve (IGC) analyses …

Self-Reported Risk And Delinquent Behavior And Problem Behavioral Intention In Hong Kong Adolescents: The Role Of Moral Competence And Spirituality, Daniel T. L. Shek, Xiaoqin Zhu

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Based on the six-wave data collected from Grade 7 to Grade 12 students (N = 3,328 at Wave 1), this pioneer study examined the development of problem behaviors (risk and delinquent behavior and problem behavioral intention) and the predictors (moral competence and spirituality) among adolescents in Hong Kong. Individual growth curve models revealed that while risk and delinquent behavior accelerated and then slowed down in the high school years, adolescent problem behavioral intention slightly accelerated over time. After controlling the background socio-demographic factors, moral competence and spirituality were negatively associated with risk and delinquent behavior as well as problem …

The Role Of Stress In The Pathogenesis And Maintenance Of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Thomas G. Adams, Benjamin Kelmendi, C. Alex Brake, Patricia Gruner, Christal L. Badour, Christopher Pittenger

Psychology Faculty Publications

Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder often identify psychosocial stress as a factor that exacerbates their symptoms, and many trace the onset of symptoms to a stressful period of life or a discrete traumatic incident. However, the pathophysiological relationship between stress and obsessive-compulsive disorder remains poorly characterized: it is unclear whether trauma or stress is an independent cause of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms, a triggering factor that interacts with a preexisting diathesis, or simply a nonspecific factor that can exacerbate obsessive-compulsive disorder along with other aspects of psychiatric symptomatology. Nonetheless, preclinical research has demonstrated that stress has conspicuous effects on corticostriatal and limbic …

Modified Single Prolonged Stress Reduces Cocaine Self-Administration During Acquisition Regardless Of Rearing Environment, Rebecca S. Hofford, Mark A. Prendergast, Michael T. Bardo

Psychology Faculty Publications

Until recently, there were few rodent models available to study the interaction of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and drug taking. Like PTSD, single prolonged stress (SPS) produces hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction and alters psychostimulant self-administration. Other stressors, such as isolation stress, also alter psychostimulant self-administration. However, it is currently unknown if isolation housing combined with SPS can alter the acquisition or maintenance of cocaine self-administration. The current study applied modified SPS (modSPS; two hours restraint immediately followed by cold swim stress) to rats raised in an isolation condition (Iso), enrichment condition (Enr), or standard condition (Std) to measure changes in …

The Winding Road To Relapse: Forging A New Understanding Of Cue-Induced Reinstatement Models And Their Associated Neural Mechanisms, Mark D. Namba, Seven E. Tomek, M. Foster Olive, Joshua S. Beckmann, Cassandra D. Gipson

Psychology Faculty Publications

In drug addiction, cues previously associated with drug use can produce craving and frequently trigger the resumption of drug taking in individuals vulnerable to relapse. Environmental stimuli associated with drugs or natural reinforcers can become reliably conditioned to increase behavior that was previously reinforced. In preclinical models of addiction, these cues enhance both drug self-administration and reinstatement of drug seeking. In this review, we will dissociate the roles of conditioned stimuli as reinforcers from their modulatory or discriminative functions in producing drug-seeking behavior. As well, we will examine possible differences in neurobiological encoding underlying these functional differences. Specifically, we will …

Development Of Body Emotion Perception In Infancy: From Discrimination To Recognition, Alison Heck, Alyson Chroust, Hannah B. White, Rachel Lynn Jubran, Ramesh S. Bhatt

Psychology Faculty Publications

Research suggests that infants progress from discrimination to recognition of emotions in faces during the first half year of life. It is unknown whether the perception of emotions from bodies develops in a similar manner. In the current study, when presented with happy and angry body videos and voices, 5-month-olds looked longer at the matching video when they were presented upright but not when they were inverted. In contrast, 3.5-month-olds failed to match even with upright videos. Thus, 5-month-olds but not 3.5-month-olds exhibited evidence of recognition of emotions from bodies by demonstrating intermodal matching. In a subsequent experiment, younger infants …

Reproductive Steroids And Adhd Symptoms Across The Menstrual Cycle, Bethan A. Roberts, Tory Eisenlohr-Moul, Michelle M. Martel

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder shows (ADHD) male predominance, females are significantly impaired and exhibit additional comorbid disorders during adolescence. However, no empirical work has examined the influence of cyclical fluctuating steroids on ADHD symptoms in women. The present study examined estradiol (E2), progesterone (P4), and testosterone (T) associations with ADHD symptoms across the menstrual cycle in regularly-cycling young women (N=32), examining trait impulsivity as a moderator. Women completed a baseline measure of trait impulsivity, provided saliva samples each morning, and completed an ADHD symptom checklist every evening for 35 days. Results indicated decreased levels of E2 in the context of increased …

The Time Has Come For Dimensional Personality Disorder Diagnosis, Christopher J Hopwood, Roman Kotov, Robert F. Krueger, David Watson, Thomas A. Widiger, Robert R. Althoff, Emily B. Ansell, Bo Bach, R. Michael Bagby, Mark A. Blais, Marina A. Bornovalova, Michael Chmielewski, David C. Cicero, Christopher Conway, Barbara De Clercq, Filip De Fruyt, Anna R. Docherty, Nicholas R. Eaton, John R. Edens, Miriam K. Forbes, Kelsie T. Forbush, Michael P. Hengartner, Masha Y. Ivanova, Daniel Leising, W. John Livesley, Mark R. Lukowitsky, Donald R. Lynam, Kristian E. Markon, Joshua D. Miller, Leslie C. Morey

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Qualitative Analysis Of Gabapentin Misuse And Diversion Among People Who Use Drugs In Appalachian Kentucky, Rachel Vickers Smith, Elaine M. Boland, April M. Young, Michelle R. Lofwall, Alexa Quiroz, Michele Staton, Jennifer R. Havens

Center on Drug and Alcohol Research Faculty Publications

Gabapentin, an anticonvulsant and analgesic for postherpetic neuralgia, has been thought to have no abuse potential despite numerous published reports to the contrary. Gabapentin has been linked with impaired driving and opioid use, highlighting the need to more fully understand its risk profile. Thirty-three individuals reporting recent nonmedical use of gabapentin were recruited from two ongoing longitudinal studies of drug users in Appalachian Kentucky to participate in focus groups. Four sessions were held (two in the community and two in jail settings), during which participants responded to questions regarding their personal experiences with gabapentin misuse. Focus group participants were similar …

The Rewarding Nature Of Provocation-Focused Rumination In Women With Borderline Personality Disorder: A Preliminary Fmri Investigation, Jessica R. Peters, David S. Chester, Erin C. Walsh, C. Nathan Dewall, Ruth A. Baer

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Understanding why individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) ruminate on prior provocations, despite its negative outcomes, is crucial to improving interventions. Provocation-focused rumination may be rewarding in the short term by amplifying anger and producing feelings of justification, validation, and increased energy, while reducing self-directed negative affect. If provocation-focused rumination is utilized regularly as a rewarding emotion regulation strategy, it could result in increased activation in reward-related neural regions. The present pilot study examined neural correlates of provocation-focused rumination, relative to other forms of thought, in BPD.

Method: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was utilized to examine this theory …