Psychology Commons^™

Indirect Effects Of Hpa Axis Dysregulation In The Association Between Peer Victimization And Depressed Affect During Early Adolescence, Ryan E. Adams, Jonathan Santo, William M. Bukowski

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective

Previous research has identified a link between peer victimization and depressive symptoms during adolescence. The goal of the current study is to examine the possible indirect effects of HPA axis dysregulation in the link between adolescent peer victimization and depressive symptoms.

Method

A total of 113 boys (n = 61) and girls (n = 52) participants from grade 5 (M age = 10.31 years) and grade 6 (M age = 11.33 years) who were predominantly European-Canadian completed self-report measures of peer victimization and depressed affect as well as, measures of salivary cortisol and self-reports of …

Bullying Victimization And Friendship As Influences On Sleep Difficulty Among Brazilian Adolescents, Thiago Henrique Roza, Vitor Atsushi Nozaki Yano, Sarah Aline Roza, Jonathan Santo, Josafa M. Da Cunha

Psychology Faculty Publications

Bullying victimization is associated with poor health-related outcomes, including sleeping problems. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of bullying victimization on sleep difficulty, and the moderating effect of the number of close friends on this association, also exploring differences across genders. The study was based on a nationally-representative survey on adolescent health conducted in Brazilian schools, involving a total of 109,104 participants, enrolled at the 9th year in 2012. The measures used in the analysis included socio-demographic characteristics, bullying victimization, sleep difficulty, and number of close friends. In the multilevel models, reporting more peer victimization was associated with …

A Longitudinal Study Of The Reciprocal Relationship Between Ever Smoking And Urgency In Early Adolescence, Jessica L. Burris, Elizabeth N. Riley, Gabriella E. Puleo, Gregory T. Smith

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background—Among early adolescents in the United States (U.S.), the prevalence of cigarette smoking is at its lowest level in recent decades. Nonetheless, given the risks of smoking in early development, it remains critically important to study both risk factors for smoking and risks from smoking. This longitudinal study with U.S. early adolescents examines smoking initiation and tests a model of reciprocal prediction between ever smoking and the personality trait of urgency (i.e., mood-based impulsivity), a trait that increases risk for multiple forms of dysfunction.

Methods—Participants (n=1906; 90% 10–11 years old, 50% female, 39% racial minorities at …

Impulsivity Symptoms As Core To The Developmental Externalizing Spectrum, Michelle M. Martel, Cheri A. Levinson, Christine A. Lee, Tess E. Smith

Psychology Faculty Publications

Impulsivity is posited to be a key part of the externalizing spectrum during childhood, but this idea has received minimal empirical attention. The goal of the present investigation was to utilize network analysis to determine whether behavioral impulsivity symptoms are key components of the externalizing network across several developmental periods from preschool into adolescence. Participants were 109 preschoolers (64 % male) ages 3 to 6, 237 children (59 % male) ages 6 to 9, 372 children (59 % male) ages 10 to 13, and 357 adolescents (59 % male) ages 13 to 17 and their parents. Parents completed ratings of …

Bisphenol-A Exposure During Adolescence Leads To Enduring Alterations In Cognition And Dendritic Spine Density In Adult Male And Female Rats, Rachel E. Bowman, Victoria N. Luine, Samantha Diaz Weinstein, Hameda Khandaker, Sarah Dewolf, Maya Frankfurt

Psychology Faculty Publications

We have previously demonstrated that adolescent exposure of rats to bisphenol-A (BPA), an environmental endocrine disrupter, increases anxiety, impairs spatial memory, and decreases dendritic spine density in the CA1 region of the hippocampus (CA1) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) when measured in adolescence in both sexes. The present study examined whether the behavioral and morphological alterations following BPA exposure during adolescent development are maintained into adulthood. Male and female, adolescent rats received BPA, 40 μg/kg/bodyweight, or control treatments for one week. In adulthood, subjects were tested for anxiety and locomotor activity, spatial memory, non-spatial visual memory, and sucrose preference. Additionally, …

What Develops In Moral Identities? A Critical Review, Tobias Krettenauer, Steven Hertz

Psychology Faculty Publications

According to the standard model of moral identity development, moral identities emerge during adolescence and early adulthood. Contrary to this assumption, however, moral identity research has consistently failed to demonstrate any age-related change in this developmental period. The present paper discusses implications of this non-finding. It is argued that researchers need to broaden the scope of inquiry and include developmental aspects of the moral identity construct that have been neglected in the past. Three areas are identified where moral identity development likely occurs in adolescence and beyond: (1) context-dependent differentiation and integration of the self-importance of moral values, (2) growth …

Domestication Affects The Structure, Development And Stability Of Biobehavioural Profiles, Sylvia Kaiser, Michael B. Hennessy, Norbert Sachser

Psychology Faculty Publications

Domestication is an evolutionary process during which the biobehavioural profile (comprising e.g. social and emotional behaviour, cognitive abilities, as well as hormonal stress responses) is substantially reshaped. Using a comparative approach, and focusing mainly on the domestic and wild guinea pig, an established model system for the study of domestication, we review (a) how wild and domestic animals of the same species differ in behaviour, emotion, cognition, and hormonal stress responses, (b) during which phases of life differences in biobehavioural profiles emerge and (c) whether or not animal personalities exist in both the wild and domestic form. Concerning (a), typical …

Time Doesn’T Change Everything: The Longitudinal Course Of Distress Tolerance And Its Relationship With Internalizing And Externalizing Symptoms During Early Adolescence, Jenna R. Cummings, Marina Bornovalova, Tiina Ojanen, Elizabeth Hunt, Laura Macpherson, Carl W. Lejuez

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although distress tolerance is an emerging construct of empirical interest, we know little about its temporal change, developmental trajectory, and prospective relationships with maladaptive behaviors. The current study examined the developmental trajectory (mean- and individual-level change, and rank-order stability) of distress tolerance in an adolescent sample of boys and girls (N = 277) followed over a four-year period. Next we examined if distress tolerance influenced change in Externalizing (EXT) and Internalizing (INT) symptoms, and if EXT and INT symptoms in turn influenced change in distress tolerance. Finally, we examined if any of these trends differed by gender. Results indicated …

Changes In Genetic And Environmental Influences On Trait Anxiety From Middle Adolescence To Early Adulthood, Sarah Garcia, Erin C. Tully, Nick Tarantino, Susan South, William G. Iacono, Matt Mcgue

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Middle adolescence to early adulthood is an important developmental period for the emergence of anxiety. Genetically-influenced stable traits are thought to underlie internalizing psychopathology throughout development, but no studies have examined changes in genetic and environmental influences on trait anxiety during this period.

Method: A longitudinal twin study design was used to study same-sex twin pairs (485 monozygotic pairs, 271 dizygotic pairs) at three ages, 14, 18, and 21 years, to examine developmental shifts in genetic and environmental effects on trait anxiety.

Results: The heritability of trait anxiety increased with age, particularly between ages 14 and 18, no significant …

Parental Distress, Parenting Practices, And Child Adaptive Outcomes Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Jackie L. Micklewright, Tricia Z. King, Kathleen O'Toole, Christopher C. Henrich, Frank J. Floyd

Psychology Faculty Publications

Moderate and severe pediatric traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are associated with significant familial distress and child adaptive sequelae. Our aim was to examine the relationship between parental psychological distress, parenting practices (authoritarian, permissive, authoritative), and child adaptive functioning 12–36 months following TBI or orthopedic injury (OI). Injury type was hypothesized to moderate the relationship between parental distress and child adaptive functioning, demonstrating a significantly stronger relationship in the TBI relative to OI group. Authoritarian parenting practices were hypothesized to mediate relationship between parental distress and child adaptive functioning across groups. Groups (TBI n=21, OI n=23) did not differ significantly on …

Neural Responses To Peer Rejection In Anxious Adolescents: Contributions From The Amygdala-Hippocampal Complex, Jennifer Y.F. Lau, Amanda E. Guyer, Erin Tone, Jessica Jenness, Jessica M. Parrish, Daniel S. Pine, Eric E. Nelson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Peer rejection powerfully predicts adolescent anxiety. While cognitive differences influence anxious responses to social feedback, little is known about neural contributions. Twelve anxious and 12 age-, gender- and IQ-matched, psychiatrically-healthy adolescents received ‘not interested’ and ‘interested’ feedback from unknown peers during a Chatroom task administered in a neuroimaging scanner. No group differences emerged in subjective ratings to peer feedback, but all participants reported more negative emotion at being rejected (than accepted) by peers to whom they had assigned high desirability ratings. Further highlighting the salience of such feedback, all adolescents, independent of anxiety levels, manifested elevated responses in the amygdala-hippocampal …

In Search Of The Neurobiological Substrates For Social Playfulness In Mammalian Brains, Stephen M. Siviy, Jaak Panksepp

Psychology Faculty Publications

Play behavior is a fundamental and intrinsic neurobehavioral process in the mammalian brain. Using rough-and-tumble play in the juvenile rat as a model system to study mammalian playfulness, some of the relevant neurobiological substrates for this behavior have been identified, and in this review this progress. A primary-process executive circuit for play in the rat that includes thalamic intralaminar nuclei, frontal cortex and striatum can be gleaned from these data. Other neural areas that may interact with this putative circuit include amygdala, ventral hypothalamus, periaqueductal gray (PAG), and deep tectum, as well as ascending dopamine systems which participate in all …

Positively Versus Negatively Charged Moral Emotion Expectancies In Adolescence: The Role Of Situational Context And The Developing Moral Self, Tobias Krettenauer, Megan Johnston

Psychology Faculty Publications

The study analyses adolescents' positively charged versus negatively charged moral emotion expectancies. Two hundred and five students (M = 14.83 years, SD = 2.21) participated in an interview depicting various situations in which a moral norm was either regarded or transgressed. Emotion expectancies were assessed for specific emotions (pride, guilt) as well as for overall strength and valence. In addition, self-importance of moral values was measured by a questionnaire. Results revealed that positively charged emotion expectancies were more pronounced in contexts of prosocial action than in the context of moral transgressions, whereas the opposite was true for negatively charged …

Effects Of Chlordiazepoxide On Predator Odor-Induced Reductions Of Playfulness In Juvenile Rats, Stephen M. Siviy, Courtney L. Steets, Lauren M. Debrouse

Psychology Faculty Publications

The extent to which a non-sedative dose of chlordiazepoxide (CDP) is able to modify the behavioral responses toward a predator odor was assessed in juvenile rats. Play behavior was suppressed and defensive behaviors were enhanced in the presence of a collar previously worn by a cat, when tested 24 hours later in the same context as that where the exposure occurred, and when tested in a context different than that in which the exposure occurred for up to 3 hours after exposure. CDP had no effect on the ability of cat odor to suppress play when rats were tested in …

High Cortisol Levels In The Offspring Of Parents With Bipolar Disorder During Two Weeks Of Daily Sampling, Mark A. Ellenbogen, Jonathan Santo, Anne-Marie Linnen, Claire-Dominique Walker, Sheilagh Hodgins

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objectives: The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is compromised in major depression, bipolar disorder (BD), and in the offspring of parents with major depression. Less is known about the offspring of parents with BD (FH+). The present project provides follow-up to a previous study showing that the adolescent (mean age 16.7 years) FH+ offspring had higher salivary cortisol levels than the offspring of parents with no mental disorder (FH−) throughout the day in their natural environment, and that girls had higher cortisol levels than boys (Ellenbogen MA, Hodgins S, Walker C-D, Adam S, Couture S. Daytime cortisol and stress reactivity in the …

Behavioral And Neural Representation Of Emotional Facial Expressions Across The Lifespan, Leah Somerville, Fani Negar, Erin Tone

Psychology Faculty Publications

Humans’ experience of emotion and comprehension of affective cues varies substantially across the lifespan. Work in cognitive and affective neuroscience has begun to characterize behavioral and neural responses to emotional cues that systematically change with age. This review examines work to date characterizing the maturation of facial expression comprehension, and dynamic changes in amygdala recruitment from early childhood through late adulthood while viewing facial expressions of emotion. Recent neuroimaging work has tested amygdala and prefrontal engagement in experimental paradigms mimicking real aspects of social interactions, which we highlight briefly, along with considerations for future research.

Adolescents' Self-Attributed Moral Emotions Following A Moral Transgression: Relations With Delinquency, Confidence In Moral Judgment, And Age, Tobias Krettenauer, Dana Eichler

Psychology Faculty Publications

The study investigates adolescents' self-attributed moral emotions following a moral transgression by expanding research with children on the happy-victimizer phenomenon. In a sample of 200 German adolescents from Grades 7, 9, 11, and 13 (M = 16.18 years, SD = 2.41), participants were confronted with various scenarios describing different moral rule violations and asked to judge the behavior from a moral point of view. Subsequently, participants' strength of self-evaluative emotional reactions was assessed as they were asked to imagine that they had committed the moral transgression by themselves. Results indicate that the intensity of self-attributed moral emotions predicted adolescents' …

On The Measurement Of Nicotine Dependence In Adolescence: Comparisons Of The Mftq And A Dsm-Iv–Based Scale, Denise Kandel, Christine Schaffran, Pamela Griesler, Jessica Samuolis, Mark Davies, Rosaria Galanti

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: To compare nicotine-dependent smokers identified by the modified Fagerström Tolerance Questionnaire (mFTQ) and a scale based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV), in a multiethnic adolescent sample. Methods: A school survey was conducted on 6th- to 10th-grade students (N= 15,007) in a large urban public school system. Results: The two scales formed two distinct factors. The concordance between the two classifications of nicotine dependence was low. The DSM identified a much larger number of nicotine-dependent smokers than the mFTQ, mostly because smokers met dependence criteria at much lower levels of …