Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Model-Based Methods To Translate Adolescent Medicine Trials Network For Hiv/Aids Interventions Findings Into Policy Recommendations: Rationale And Protocol For A Modeling Core (Atn 161), Anne M. Neilan, Kunjal Patel, Allison L. Agwu, Ingrid V. Bassett, K. Rivet Amico, Catherine M. Crespi, Aditya H. Gaur, Keith J. Horvath, Kimberly A. Powers, H. Jonathon Rendina, Lisa B. Hightow-Weidman, Xiaoming Li, Sylvie Naar, Sharon Nachman, Jeffrey T. Parsons, Kit N. Simpson, Bonita F. Stanton, Kenneth A. Freedberg, Audrey C. Bangs, Michael G. Hudgens, Andrea L. Ciaranello

Publications and Research

BACKGROUND: The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 60,000 US youth are living with HIV. US youth living with HIV (YLWH) have poorer outcomes compared with adults, including lower rates of diagnosis, engagement, retention, and virologic suppression. With Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN) support, new trials of youth-centered interventions to improve retention in care and medication adherence among YLWH are underway.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to use a computer simulation model, the Cost-Effectiveness of Preventing AIDS Complications (CEPAC)-Adolescent Model, to evaluate selected ongoing and forthcoming ATN interventions to improve viral load suppression …

Resting-State Functional Connectivity In Youth With Gender Dysphoria, Felix L. Garcia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Current developmental models of gender identity and gender dysphoria (GD) lack sex-specific profiles of brain function that differentiate between typically-developing and cross-gender identified youth, as postulated by models like the unified theory of the origins of sex differences (Arnold, 2009) and the neurobiological theory of the origins of transsexuality (Swaab & Garcia-Falgueras, 2009). Previously, investigators have used brain imaging modalities such as Resting-State functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (R-fMRI) to demonstrate differences in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) between typically-developing male and female youth, and between typically-developing and GID-diagnosed youth. In the present pilot study, I used R-fMRI to investigate differences in …

Adolescent Medicine Trials Network For Hiv/Aids Interventions Data Harmonization: Rationale And Development Of Guidelines, Micah Mccumber, Demetria Cain, Sara Legrand, Kenneth H. Mayer, Debra A. Murphy, Matthew A. Psioda, Arlene C. Seña, Tyrel J. Starks, Michael Hudgens

Publications and Research

Background: The Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions (ATN) research program aims to defeat the rising HIV epidemic among adolescents and young adults in the United States.

Objective: This study aims to optimize cross-study analyses and comparisons of standardized measures (variables) collected in the ATN. Methods: Guidelines were developed for harmonizing measures to be collected across ATN studies.

Results: Eight domains were identified for harmonization—Demographics and Socioeconomic Characteristics, Sexual Behavior and Risk, Substance Use and Abuse, HIV-Positive Cascade, HIV-Negative Cascade, Mental Health, Social Support and Isolation, and Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Cascade.

Conclusions: The collection of selected key measures in a …

Development And Validation Of Measures To Evaluate Adolescents' Knowledge About Human Papillomavirus (Hpv), Involvement In Hpv Vaccine Decision-Making, Self-Efficacy To Receive The Vaccine And Fear And Anxiety, A. S. Forster, K. A. Mcbride, C. Davies, T. Stoney, H. Marshall, K. Mcgeechan, Spring C. Cooper, S. R. Skinner

Publications and Research

Objectives: We describe the development and validation of measures of human papillomavirus (HPV)/HPV vaccination knowledge, fear/anxiety about vaccination, involvement in HPV vaccine decision-making, and self-efficacy with regard to getting the vaccine, designed to evaluate the efficacy of an intervention to affect these domains (collectively termed the HAVIQ: HPV Adolescent Vaccine Intervention Questionnaire). Study design: Literature search, cognitive interviews and cross-sectional survey.

Methods: A literature search identified existing items that were modified for the present measures. Experts reviewed draft measures for face and content validity. Cognitive interviews with adolescents were also used to assess content validity. Adolescents completed the measures and …

Taurine's Effect On Cocaine Reward And Neurogenesis In The Adolescent Male Rat Brain., Avery E. Villa-Gonzalez

Dissertations and Theses

Adolescence is a developmentally critical transition from childhood to adulthood including both maturation of the body and the brain. Neuroplastic changes result in dynamic organization of the brain during adolescence, leaving them vulnerable to development of mental illness and drug-seeking behavior. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the psychostimulant cocaine is the second most popular illicit drug in the world. Cocaine, amongst having many detrimental effects, has shown to also decrease hippocampal neurogenesis, resulting in decreased neuroplasticity and cognitive dysfunction. Previous students in our laboratory have shown that treatment of adult male rats with the essential …

Development Of A Technology-Based Behavioral Vaccine To Prevent Adolescent Depression: A Health System Integration Model, Benjamin W. Van Voorhees, Tracy Gladstone, Stephanie Cordel, Monika Marko-Holguin, William Beardslee, Sachiko Kuwabara, Mark Allan Kaplan, Joshua Fogel, Anne Diehl, Chris Hansen, Carl Bell

Publications and Research

Efforts to prevent depression have become a key health system priority. Currently, there is a high prevalence of depression among adolescents, and treatment has become costly due to the recurrence patterns of the illness, impairment among patients, and the complex factors needed for a treatment to be effective. Primary care may be the optimal location to identify those at risk by offering an Internet-based preventive intervention to reduce costs and improve outcomes. Few practical interventions have been developed. The models for Internet intervention development that have been put forward focus primarily on the Internet component rather than how the program …

No Rush To Motherhood: The Lived Experience Of African American Never Pregnant Sexually Active Female Teens, Monique Jenkins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of sexually active never pregnant African American female adolescents living in an underserved neighborhood including discussions on their thoughts about ways other teens can similarly avoid pregnancy. The study was conducted using a Hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative approach as described and outlined by Merleau-Ponty as well as the van Manen technique to analyze data obtained in this study. This study contributes to the nursing literature and was conducted to understand the essence and meaning of pregnancy avoidance as experienced by sexually active, never pregnant African American female teens within the context …