Psychology Commons^™

Alcohol Use And Strenuous Physical Activity In College Students: A Longitudinal Test Of 2 Explanatory Models Of Health Behavior, Heather A. Davis, Elizabeth N. Riley, Gregory T. Smith, Richard S. Milich, Jessica L. Burris

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: To help clarify the effect of gender on the bidirectional relationship between alcohol use and strenuous physical activity in college students. Participants: Five hundred twenty-four (52% female) college students recruited in August 2008 and 2009 and followed up in April 2009 and April 2011, respectively. Methods: Participants reported their alcohol use and strenuous physical activity on 2 occasions (baseline and follow-up) spaced approximately 1 or 2 years apart. Results: For females, alcohol use quantity at baseline was associated with increased strenuous physical activity at 1- and 2-year follow-ups, and alcohol use frequency at baseline was …

Individual Differences In Intentional And Unintentional Exposure To Online Pornography Among Hong Kong Chinese Adolescents, Cecilia M. S. Ma, Daniel T. L. Shek, Catie C. W. Lai

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

The current study aimed to test how gender and religion affect unintentional and intentional exposure to online pornography in Chinese adolescents. A total of 1401 secondary school students (age range from 11 to 16 years) participated in the study. Findings from multivariate analyses show that males reported higher levels of unintentional and intentional exposure to online pornography than females. Significant differences were found in adolescents’ religiosity, with students who had religious beliefs reporting a lower level of unintentional exposure to online pornography than their counterparts without religious beliefs. In terms of intentional exposure to online pornography, adolescents were more likely …

Perceived Effectiveness And Satisfaction Of A Community-Based Positive Youth Development Program: Findings Based On High School Students, Daniel T. L. Shek, Janet T. Y. Leung, Moon Y. M. Law, Kles S. Y. Chan

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

This study examined participants’ perceptions of a community-based positive youth development (PYD) program (the Project P.A.T.H.S.) based on the responses of 16,420 junior secondary students who joined the program in 2015. Subjective outcome evaluation approach was adopted to examine the students’ views of program content, program instructors, and program effectiveness. Consistent with previous studies, results showed that students generally perceived the program positively, and positive relationships were found amongst the three domains of evaluation. Multiple regression analyses showed that perceived program content and instructor qualities were significant predictors and could explain 35% of the variance in program effectiveness perceived by …

Individual And Family Protective Factors Of Intentional And Unintentional Consumption Of Online Pornography In Hong Kong, Cecilia M. S. Ma, Daniel T. L. Shek, Catie C. W. Lai

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

The purpose of the current study was to explore how positive youth development and family functioning were related to unintentional and intentional exposure to online pornography in Chinese adolescents. A total of 1401 secondary school students (mean age=12.43) participated in the study. Findings suggested that positive youth development and family functioning were associated with lower exposure to online pornography. In particular, higher levels of spirituality, social competence, mutuality and communication were associated with lower levels of both types of exposure to online pornography. Discussion focuses on the importance of promoting positive youth development and family functioning as protective factors against …

Psychological Needs, Self-Regulation, And Motivation Profiles Among A Sample Of Hong Kong Chinese University Students: A Person-Centered Approach, Cecilia M. S. Ma, Daniel T. L. Shek, Catie C. W. Lai

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

To better understand factors that influence individuals’ motivation to engage in physical activity, this study aimed to identify the motivational profiles among the Chinese university students, compare the motivational profiles between genders, and explore whether satisfaction of various psychological needs vary with different motivational profiles. Two thousand and twenty-two Chinese university students completed a battery of self-report questionnaires assessing motivation regulation and psychological needs satisfaction. Three motivational profiles were identified for both genders. The overall patterns of the motivational profiles for both genders were similar. However, males (44%) were more likely than their female counterparts (19%) in self-determined profile group. …

Subjective Report Of Side Effects Of Prescribed And Nonprescribed Psychostimulant Use In Young Adults, Tess E. Smith, Michelle M. Martel, Alan D. Desantis

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Side effects of prescribed and nonprescribed psychostimulant use are understudied. Objectives: The study examined side effects of prescribed and nonprescribed psychostimulant use in a college sample with attention to possible gender differences. Methods: 2716 undergraduates (1448 male) between the ages of 17 and 57 years (M = 19.43 years, SD = 1.7 years) completed an online survey that included questions about the subjective side effects of prescribed and nonprescribed psychostimulant use. Results: Results suggested that prescribed users more frequently reported side effects, compared to nonprescribed users. For prescribed users, females more frequently reported appetite, somatic, and anxiety-related side …

Hope, Aspirations, And Resilience In Children And Adolescents: A Review Of Research On Measurement And Related Antecedents, Hildie Leung, Florence K. Y. Wu, Daniel T. L. Shek

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Hope, aspirations, and resilience are important developmental assets for children and adolescents. Based on the existing Western and Chinese literature, this review aims to identify instruments used to assess hope, aspirations, resilience, and conceptually related constructs as well as antecedents of the constructs in adolescents. A systematic literature search in the major databases was conducted. A total of 223 articles, with 144 being retrieved from international databases and 79 from China’s database, met the criteria and were included in the present review. Findings revealed that the majority of the existing scales were developed predominantly in the West and there were …

Dreams, Aspirations And Related Constructs In Children And Adolescents: A Literature Review, Daniel T. L. Shek, Florence K. Y. Wu, Hildie Leung

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Although children and adolescents are often asked about their “dreams” about life, scientific studies of “dreams” and related constructs are grossly inadequate. This paper describes the findings arising from a review study exploring the concepts of dreams, aspirations and related constructs in children and adolescents. Besides an overview of the concept of dream, conceptual features and unique underpinnings of other concepts commonly related to dream, such as “aspirations”, “hope”, “future orientation” and “resilience” are presented in this paper. The research questions surrounding “dream” and related constructs in children and adolescents are presented and future research directions are discussed.

Dreams, Aspirations And Related Behavior In Children And Adolescents: Impacts On Child Developmental Outcomes, Florence K. Y. Wu, Daniel T. L. Shek, Hildie Leung

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

“Dreams”, “aspirations” and related constructs are traditionally regarded as facilitators of adolescent educational attainment in the Chinese context. Besides, there is an emergent need to widen the understanding of such constructs and their impact on children and adolescent developmental outcomes. This paper discusses the developmental outcomes of dreams, aspiration and related concepts based on a thorough review of the literature. Besides outlining the impacts of aspirations, dreams and related constructs on children and adolescents, features of related intervention programs, including themes of the intervention programs, program participants, methods of implementation and evaluation in both Western and Chinese contexts are also …

A Network Analysis Of Developmental Change In Adhd Symptom Structure From Preschool To Adulthood, Michelle M. Martel, Cheri A. Levinson, Julia K. Langer, Joel T. Nigg

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although there is substantial support for the validity of the diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), there is considerable disagreement about how to best capture developmental changes in the expression of ADHD symptomatology. This article examines the associations among the 18 individual ADHD symptoms using a novel network analysis approach, from preschool to adulthood. The 1,420 participants were grouped into four age brackets: preschool (ages 3–6, n = 109), childhood (ages 6–12, n = 548), adolescence (ages 13–17, n = 357), and young adulthood (ages 18–36, n = 406). All participants completed a multistage, multi-informant diagnostic process, and self and informant …

Medical Cannabis: Miracle Or Myth?, Blair Henry, Arnav Agarwal, Edward Chow, Hatim A. Omar, Joav Merrick

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Pharmacology Of Cannabis, Mandakini Sadhir

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Cannabis has been used for recreational purposes around the world. It is derived from the plant cannabis sativa which has various other compounds known as cannabinoids. Most common form of cannabis used for recreational purpose is marijuana, which is prepared from dried flowering tops and leaves. The primary psychoactive component is delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (δ-9THC), which exerts its physiological and psychological effects through its interaction with CB1 and CB2 receptors. Smoking is the most commonly used method with onset of effects within minutes after inhalation. Oral ingestion of cannabis has varied absorption with delayed onset but longer duration of action. Urine …

Stuck In Time: Negative Income Shock Constricts The Temporal Window Of Valuation Spanning The Future And The Past, Warren K. Bickel, Arlington George Wilson, Chen Chen, Mikhail N. Koffarnus, Christopher T. Franck

Psychology Faculty Publications

Insufficient resources are associated with negative consequences including decreased valuation of future reinforcers. To determine if these effects result from scarcity, we examined the consequences of acute, abrupt changes in resource availability on delay discounting-the subjective devaluation of rewards as delay to receipt increases. In the current study, 599 individuals recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk read a narrative of a sudden change (positive, neutral, or negative) to one's hypothetical future income and completed a delay discounting task examining future and past monetary gains and losses. The effects of the explicit zero procedure, a framing manipulation, was also examined. Negative income …

Suboptimal Choice In Pigeons: Stimulus Value Predicts Choice Over Frequencies, Aaron P. Smith, Alexandria R. Bailey, Jonathan J. Chow, Joshua S. Beckmann, Thomas R. Zentall

Psychology Faculty Publications

Pigeons have shown suboptimal gambling-like behavior when preferring a stimulus that infrequently signals reliable reinforcement over alternatives that provide greater reinforcement overall. As a mechanism for this behavior, recent research proposed that the stimulus value of alternatives with more reliable signals for reinforcement will be preferred relatively independently of their frequencies. The present study tested this hypothesis using a simplified design of a Discriminative alternative that, 50% of the time, led to either a signal for 100% reinforcement or a blackout period indicative of 0% reinforcement against a Nondiscriminative alternative that always led to a signal that predicted 50% reinforcement. …

What Can Parents Do? Examining The Role Of Parental Support On The Negative Relationship Between Racial Discrimination, Depression, And Drug Use Among African American Youth, Tamika C. B. Zapolski, Sycarah Fisher, Wei-Wen Hsu, Jessica Barnes

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

African American youth who experience racial discrimination are at heightened risk to use drugs as a coping response to distress. Based on the buffer-stress hypothesis, we proposed that parental support would attenuate this effect. Participants were 1,521 African American youth between 4th and 12th grade. As hypothesized, a mediation pathway was observed among racial discrimination, depression symptoms, and drug use. This effect was observed for both genders, although the pathway was partially mediated for males. In addition, as hypothesized, parental support buffered the negative effect of depression symptomatology on drug use as a consequence of discrimination. Our findings highlight the …

Pruning Or Tuning? Maturational Profiles Of Face Specialization During Typical Development, Xun Zhu, Ramesh S. Bhatt, Jane E. Joseph

Psychology Faculty Publications

Introduction: Face processing undergoes significant developmental change with age. Two kinds of developmental changes in face specialization were examined in this study: specialized maturation, or the continued tuning of a region to faces but little change in the tuning to other categories; and competitive interactions, or the continued tuning to faces accompanied by decreased tuning to nonfaces (i.e., pruning). Methods: Using fMRI, in regions where adults showed a face preference, a face- and object-specialization index were computed for younger children (5-8 years), older children (9-12 years) and adults (18-45 years). The specialization index was scaled to each subject's maximum activation …

Learning From Texts: Activation Of Information From Previous Texts During Reading, Katinka Beker, Dietsje Jolles, Robert F. Lorch Jr., Paul Van Den Broek

Psychology Faculty Publications

Learning often involves integration of information from multiple texts. The aim of the current study was to determine whether relevant information from previously read texts is spontaneously activated during reading, allowing for integration between texts (experiment 1 and 2), and whether this process is related to the representation of the texts (experiment 2). In both experiments, texts with inconsistent target sentences were preceded by texts that either did or did not contain explanations that resolved the inconsistencies. In experiment 1, the reading times of the target sentences introducing inconsistencies were faster if the preceding text contained an explanation for the …

African American Female Offender's Use Of Alternative And Traditional Health Services After Re-Entry: Examining The Behavioral Model For Vulnerable Populations, Carrie B. Oser, Amanda M. Bunting, Erin L. Pullen, Danelle Stevens-Watkins

Sociology Faculty Publications

This is the first known study to use the Gelberg-Andersen Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations to predict African American women's use of three types of health services (alternative, hospitalization, and ambulatory) in the 18 months after release from prison. In the multivariate models, the most robust predictors of all three types of service utilization were in the vulnerable theoretical domains. Alternative health services were predicted by ethnic community membership, higher religiosity, and HIV/HCV. Hospitalizations were predicted by the lack of barriers to health care and disability. Ambulatory office visits were predicted by more experiences of gendered racism, a greater number …

Perspectives On Pediatric Pain, Donald E. Greydanus, Dilip R. Patel, Colleen Dodich, Hatim A. Omar, Joav Merrick

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Phantom Limb Pain, Stephanie J. Stockburger, Mandakini Sadhir, Hatim A. Omar

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Phantom limb pain is pain that is perceived in a part of the body which is no longer present. It is estimated that 80 percent of amputees experience phantom limb pain. Although the term is “phantom limb pain” the feeling is often more of a burning, twisting, itching, or pressure sensation than pain. The exact mechanism of phantom limb pain is unknown although proposed mechanisms include pain origination from either the central nervous system or the peripheral nervous system. Since the exact mechanism of phantom limb pain is unknown, treating this pain may be difficult. Treatments include pharmacological and nonpharmacological. …

Perceptions In Predicting Actor And Partner Sexual And Relational Satisfaction In Couple Relationships, Lucia Novakova

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

The present exploration of perceptual accuracy and bias in romantic relationships bridges a gap in the literature on the ability of partners to estimate one another’s level of relational and sexual satisfaction, and its impact on their own and their partner’s level of satisfaction. A sample of 50 couples, recruited internationally, in continuously monogamous relationships of at least six-months in length completed online assessments of their relationship. The degree of accuracy and bias of their perception was established by comparing actor’s estimates of their partner’s satisfaction with the partner’s actual, self-reported satisfaction scores. The actor-partner interdependence model (APIM; Kenny, Kashy, …

Attachment Quality And Sexual Satisfaction And Sexual Functioning In Romantic Relationships For Combat Veterans, Ilana S. Pinsky

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Previous literature has shown that combat veteran posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects attachment quality, as well as sexual satisfaction and functioning. This study used internet survey methods from 253 male combat veterans in committed relationships to analyze the correlations between PTSD symptoms, attachment quality, sexual satisfaction, and sexual functioning in romantic relationships. The results indicate that PTSD symptoms from combat veterans are correlated with attachment quality, sexual satisfaction, and sexual functioning in romantic relationships. Implications for professionals and future research are explored.

A Formative Evaluation Of A Smartphone Application For Couples: The Affectionate Gesture Planner, Patrick Robert Bortz

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

The Affectionate Gesture Planner (AGP) is a smartphone application (i.e., “app”) that aims to increase relationship satisfaction for couples in long-term relationships by prompting couples to complete loving acts for each other on a daily basis. The AGP app is informed by concepts from social exchange theory and the investment model (Rusbult, 1983), which predict that increasing the mutual exchange of beneficial investments to the relationship improves the quality and stability of the relationship. The present study is a formative evaluation on the prototype of the AGP app. Based on participant feedback, the AGP app will be improved prior to …

How Therapists Use And Choose Mindfulness To Treat Trauma, Jessica M. King

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This qualitative study used the phenomenological method to examine how therapists use mindfulness therapies and interventions to address trauma-salient issues with their clients. Specifically, it explored therapists’ use of and choices about mindfulness-based treatments when addressing post-traumatic stress symptoms, and trauma-relevant emotion dysregulation and attachment injury. Informants were associate and fully-licensed local therapists, recruited using convenience sampling and snowball sampling by word-of-mouth referrals. Data was collected by semi-structured interviewing. Interview data was analyzed with Moustakas’ (1994) recommended procedures for analysis of phenomenological data. Results, Discussion, Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research are described at the end.

Identifying The Trauma Recovery Needs Of Maltreated Children: An Examination Of Child Welfare Workers' Effectiveness In Screening For Traumatic Stress, Adrienne Whitt-Woosley

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Children in the child welfare system comprise a group characterized by their exposure to trauma via experiences of maltreatment, under circumstances presenting multiple risk factors for traumatic stress. High rates of posttraumatic stress have been observed in this population. However, there is currently no standard for the universal screening of children in child welfare for trauma exposure and traumatic stress. The purpose of this study was to analyze the trauma experiences of a sample of maltreated children and examine whether child welfare workers are effective screeners of traumatic stress symptoms with children from their caseloads. Method: A sample of children …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Continuous Client Feedback System For Parolees Referred To Treatment: Benchmarking Treatment Outcomes, Alyssa B. Grossl

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a group substance abuse program that incorporated continuous client feedback into treatment for parolees who had been referred to attend by the criminal justice system.

Method: The pre-post treatment outcomes, as measured by the Outcome Rating Scale (ORS; Miller & Duncan, 2000), of 1,112 diverse parolees participating in treatment from October 2014 to January 2015 were analyzed. The most up-to-date benchmarking methodology was utilized to compare treatment outcomes observed in the naturalistic setting with those observed in rigorous randomized controlled trials evaluating the Partners for Change Outcome …

The Mediating Role Of Cognitive Flexibility On The Relationship Between Cross-Race Interactions And Psychological Well-Being, Robert D. Cardom

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Counseling psychologists are tasked with understanding optimal psychological and cognitive functioning. Recent theoretical predictions (Crisp & Turner, 2011) and growing evidence suggest that cross-race interactions are important ways individuals might improve their cognitive and psychosocial functioning. However, the theoretical predictions from Crisp and Turner have not yet been tested in one model. Further, much of the empirical support for the theoretical predictions has been from studies using 1) undergraduate samples and 2) weak theory-measurement fit.

The present study used an online, community survey (N = 270) to test Crisp and Turner’s (2011) predictions that cognitive flexibility would mediate the …

Body Part Structure Knowledge In Infancy, Rachel Jubran

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Human faces, bodies, and hands convey critical social information (e.g., emotions, goals, and desires). Infants, like adults, are sensitive to such social information. Unlike infants’ knowledge of the structure of the human face and body, not much is known about infants’ knowledge of hands and feet. The current study tested infants for their preference between intact hand images and ones in which the same hands were distorted (i.e., location of at least one finger was altered to distort the typical structure of the hand). Infants at 3.5 months of age had a preference for the reorganized hand image, demonstrating that …

Loss Aversion In Cocaine Users: Influence Of Risk And Commodity Type, Justin Charles Strickland

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Numerous studies in behavioral economics have demonstrated that individuals are more sensitive to the prospect of a loss than a gain (i.e., loss aversion). Although loss aversion has been well described in healthy populations, little research exists in individuals with substance use disorders. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively evaluate loss aversion in cocaine users. Participants completed measures designed to assess loss aversion for drug and non-drug commodities under varying risk conditions. Cocaine demand was determined using a cocaine purchase task. Cocaine users showed a loss aversion score that was consistent across commodity and risk conditions. Compared to …

Categorical Perception Of Species In Infancy, Hannah B. White

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Although there is a wealth of knowledge on categorization in infancy, there are still many unanswered questions about the nature of category representation in infancy. For example, it is yet unclear whether categories in infancy have well-defined boundaries or what knowledge about species categories young infants have before entering the lab. Using a morphing technique, we linearly altered the proportion of cat versus dog in images and observed how infants reacted to contrasts between pairs of images that either did or did not cross over the categorical boundary. This was done while equating between-category and within-category similarity. Results indicate that …