Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Contextualizing The Neural Vulnerabilities Model Of Obesity, Timothy D. Nelson, Eric Stice

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In recent years, investigators have focused on neural vulnerability factors that increase the risk of unhealthy weight gain, which has provided a useful organizing structure for obesity neuroscience research. However, this framework, and much of the research it has informed, has given limited attention to contextual factors that may interact with key vulnerabilities to impact eating behaviors and weight gain. To fill this gap, we propose a Contextualized Neural Vulnerabilities Model of Obesity, extending the existing theory to more intentionally incorporate contextual factors that are hypothesized to interact with neural vulnerabilities in shaping eating behaviors and weight trajectories. We …

Early Executive Control Buffers Risk For Adolescent Psychopathology During The Covid‐19 Pandemic, Lauren M. Laifer, Cara C. Tomaso, Olivia D. Chang, Eric Phillips, Tiffany D. James, Jennifer Nelson, Kimberly Andrews Espy, W. Alex Mason, Timothy D. Nelson

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has had a global impact on youth mental health, and there is a critical need for research examining individual factors that contribute to increased psychopathology during the pandemic. The current study explored whether executive control (EC) abilities in early childhood interact with COVID‐related stress to attenuate risk for adolescent psychopathology during the first 6 months of the pandemic.

Methods: Participants were 337 youth (49% female) living in a small midwestern city in the United States. Participants completed EC tasks when they were approximately 4.5 years old as part of a longitudinal …

A Comparison Of Task-Based And Questionnaire Assessments Of Executive Control Aspects In Relation To Adolescent Marijuana Initiation, Ying Guo, Charles B. Fleming, Irina Patwardhan, Tiffany D. James, Jennifer Nelson, Kimberly A. Espy, Timothy D. Nelson, W. Alex Mason

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Prior research has linked deficits in executive control (EC) to marijuana use in adolescents but has relied either primarily on adolescent self-report of EC or tasked-based EC, and focused on limited aspects of EC, usually inhibitory control. We examined unique associations of three established aspects of EC (inhibitory control, working memory, and flexible shifting) assessed with both performance on laboratory tasks and self-report in relation to marijuana initiation. Participants were 260 youth (ages 14–18 years) from a small Midwestern city in the United States enrolled in the adolescent phase (beginning in 2017) of an ongoing study of EC development recruited …

Preschool Executive Control, Temperament, And Adolescent Dietary Behaviors, Katherine M. Kidwell, Tiffany D. James, Rebecca L. Brock, Amy L. Yaroch, Jennie L. Hill, Jennifer Mize Nelson, W. Alex Mason, Kimberly Andrews Espy, Timothy D. Nelson

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background Child temperament styles characterized by increased emotionality or pleasure seeking may increase risk for less healthful eating patterns, while strong executive control (EC) may be protective. The interaction of these characteristics with longitudinal outcomes has not yet been examined.

Purpose The aim of this study was to examine the association of preschool temperament and EC, as well as their interaction with adolescent eating.

Methods Preschoolers (N = 313) were recruited into a longitudinal study, with behavioral measurement of EC at age 5.25 years, temperament assessed multiple times across preschool, and eating outcomes assessed in adolescence (mean age = …