Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Preadolescent Sensation Seeking And Early Adolescent Stress Relate To At-Risk Adolescents' Substance Use By Age 15, Nora E. Charles, Charles W. Mathias, Ashley Acheson, Donald M. Dougherty

Faculty Publications

Background and aims

Substance use during adolescence can lead to the development of substance use disorders and other psychosocial problems. These negative outcomes are especially likely for individuals who use substances at earlier ages and those who engage in heavier use during adolescence, behaviors which are both more common among youth at higher risk for developing a substance use disorder, such as those with a family history of substance use disorders (FH +). Factors such as increased sensation seeking and greater exposure to stressors among FH + youth may influence these associations. Therefore, the aim of this study was to …

Altered Developmental Trajectories For Impulsivity And Sensation Seeking Among Adolescent Substance Users, Nora E. Charles, Stacy R. Ryan, Bethany C. Bray, Charles W. Mathias, Ashley Acheson, Donald M. Doherty

Faculty Publications

A number of studies have associated impulsivity and sensation seeking with level of substance use and risk for developing a substance use disorder. These relationships may be particularly apparent during adolescence, when developmental changes in impulsivity and sensation seeking occur at the same time as increased opportunities for substance use. To examine this, the current study measured impulsivity and sensation seeking from pre-adolescence to mid-adolescence in a sample of youth, the majority of whom were identified as being at risk for developing a substance use disorder based on their family history of substance use disorders. Youth were separated into those …

Pubertal Maturation Compression And Behavioral Impulsivity Among Boys At Increased Risk For Substance Use, Charles W. Mathias, Nora E. Charles, Yuanyuan Lang, Ashley Acheson, Sarah L. Lake, Stacy R. Ryan, Rene L. Olvera, Donald M. Dougherty

Faculty Publications

Objectives: While early onset of puberty among girls has been related to substance use involvement and other adverse outcomes, less research has examined pubertal development and outcomes in boys. Further, research on puberty has not been conducted in the context of other risk factors for substance use involvement such as impulsivity. To address these gaps, this study characterized boys' pubertal development from preadolescence to mid adolescence and related it to substance use risk and behavioral impulsivity.

Methods: A sample of 153 boys completed the Pubertal Development Scale to assess perception of their pubertal development relative to same-age peers …

Psychometric Properties Of The Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale, Amy Storfer-Isser, Monique K. Lebourgeois, John Harsh, Carolyn J. Tompsett, Susan Redline

Faculty Publications

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale (ASHS), a self-report measure assessing sleep practices theoretically important for optimal sleep. Data were collected on a community sample of 514 adolescents (16–19; 17.7 ± 0.4 years; 50% female) participating in the late adolescent examination of a longitudinal study on sleep and health. Sleep hygiene and daytime sleepiness were obtained from adolescent reports, behavior from caretaker reports, and sleep-wake estimation on weekdays from wrist actigraphy. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated the empirical and conceptually based factor structure were similar for six of the eight proposed sleep hygiene domains. Internal …

Sleep Hygiene And Sleep Quality In Italian And American Adolescents, Monique K. Lebourgeois, Flavia Giannotti, Flavia Cortesi, Amy Wolfson, John R. Harsh

Faculty Publications

This study investigated cross-cultural differences in adolescent sleep hygiene and sleep quality. Participants were 1348 students (655 males; 693 females) aged 12-17 years from public school systems in Rome, Italy (n = 776) and Southern Mississippi (n = 572). Participants completed the Adolescent Sleep-Wake Scale and the Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale. Reported sleep hygiene and sleep quality were significantly better for Italian than American adolescents. A moderate linear relationship was observed between sleep hygiene and sleep quality in both samples (Italians: R =.40; Americans: R =.46). Separate hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that sleep hygiene accounted for significant variance in …