Browsing by Author "Conner, Bradley T., advisor"
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Item Open Access Cumulative trauma and neuropsychological functioning: examining the role of resilience(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Essert, Deborah Pratt, author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Chavez, Ernest, committee member; Davalos, Deana B., committee member; Biringen, Zeynep, committee memberPrevious research has linked childhood trauma to a range of adverse psychological and behavioral consequences which affect a child's wellbeing and ability to be successful socially and academically. Previous studies have also found childhood trauma to be associated with deficits in neuropsychological functioning. It has been proposed that the experience of trauma at critical points disrupts a child's neurodevelopment and that the disruption and subsequent deficits in neuropsychological functioning in part explain the psychological and behavioral struggles exhibited by traumatized children. This study aimed to explore the relation between cumulative trauma and psychological, behavioral, and neuropsychological outcomes among system-involved youth. Resilience and age at onset were included in analyses as potential mediators. Results indicated that more trauma types experienced predicted more psychological symptoms, and more behavioral concerns among youth living with their biological parents. In addition, deficits in executive function, specifically in shifting, were predicted by cumulative trauma. These results demonstrate the importance of accounting for the number of traumas experienced by youth present with related symptoms and behavioral concerns, and highlight the need to continue to explore the influence of cumulative trauma on neuropsychological function.Item Open Access Deep transfer learning for prediction of health risk behaviors in adolescent psychiatric patients(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Kentopp, Shane, author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Prince, Mark A., committee member; Henry, Kimberly L., committee member; Anderson, Charles W., committee memberBinge drinking and non-suicidal self-injury are significant health-risk behaviors that are often initiated during adolescence and contribute to a host of negative outcomes later in life. Selective prevention strategies are targeted toward individuals most at-risk for developing these behaviors. Traditionally, selective interventions are tailored based on risk factors identified by human experts. Machine learning algorithms, such as deep neural networks, may improve the effectiveness of selective interventions by accounting for complex interactions between large numbers of predictor variables. However, their use in psychological research is limited due to the tendency to overfit and the need for large volumes of training data. Deep transfer learning can overcome this limitation by leveraging samples of convenience to facilitate training deep neural networks in small, clinically relevant samples. The author trained deep neural networks on data from a sample of adolescent psychiatric inpatients to retrospectively classify individuals according to their history of alcohol misuse and nonsuicidal self-injury. Next, the performance of these models was compared to deep neural networks that were pretrained in a convenience sample of college undergraduates and fine-tuned in the sample of psychiatric patients. Deep transfer learning did not improve classification accuracy but buffered against overfitting. The deep neural networks that were not pretrained maintained maximum classification accuracy for a very small number of training epochs before performance deteriorated due to overfitting the training data. Conversely, the pretrained networks maintained their maximum classification accuracy across many training epochs and performance was not hindered by overfitting. This suggests that convenience samples can be utilized to reduce the risk of overfitting when training complex deep neural networks on small clinical samples. In the future, this process may be employed to facilitate powerful predictive models that inform selective prevention programs and contribute to the reduction of health risk behavior prevalence amongst vulnerable adolescent populations.Item Open Access Development and initial validation of the comprehensive HIV adherence with treatment scale(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Rahm-Knigge, Ryan L., author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Luong, Gloria, committee member; Harman, Jennifer J., committee member; Prince, Mark A., committee memberHIV remains a significant public health concern despite decreasing rates of transmission in the U.S. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020c). Contributing factors include low rates of treatment adherence (de Bruin et al., 2010) and high rates of comorbidities with other medical and mental health conditions (Bing et al., 2001; Gallant et al., 2017; Lerner et al., 2020). Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has significantly improved HIV health outcomes and reduced AIDS diagnoses and AIDS-related mortality (Crum et al., 2006; Glass et al., 2008; Ickovics & Meade, 2002; Paterson et al., 2000; Stone, 2001; World Health Organization, 2015). Because of ART's effectiveness, HIV is considered a chronic rather than terminal health condition for people adherent with treatment (Aberg, 2006; Swendeman, Ingram, & Rotheram- Borus, 2009). Treatment for HIV as a chronic health condition includes several pro-health behaviors in addition to ART adherence to support overall wellness. To support future research and treatment recommendations, the current study developed a measure of adherence with pro- health behavior and conducted an initial analysis of the measure's psychometric properties with a sample of 118 people living with HIV. Structural equation modeling explored relations among antecedents (personality, treatment self-efficacy, treatment information, and treatment motivation) and health outcomes of pro-health behaviors and ART adherence. Regularly assessing engagement in, as well as antecedents and outcomes of, treatment behaviors can enhance communication between providers and people living with HIV, reinforce HIV's status as a manageable chronic condition, and link people living with HIV to appropriate interventions.Item Open Access Effects of personality and attachment on social connectedness: the role of shame proneness and shame aversion(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Eby, Rachel Elizabeth, author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Barrett, Karen C., committee member; Chavez, Ernest T., committee member; Davalos, Deana B., committee memberSocial-connectedness has many important implications for both psychological and physical health (Holt-Lunstad, Smith, & Layton, 2010; Stavrova & Luhmann, 2016). Given the importance of having social-connectedness needs met, it is important to understand the relations among variables that predict or influence social connectedness. Two of the earliest-in-life predictors of later social outcomes are personality and attachment tendencies (Haggerty, Hilsenroth, &Vala-Stewart, 2009; Lee, Dean, & Jung, 2008). Shame proneness has been linked to both attachment tendencies and social outcomes (Lutwak, Panish, & Ferrari, 2003; Muris et al., 2014). Shame aversion has been less studied but shows promise for being a more specific and powerful predictor than general trait-level shame (Schoenleber & Berenbaum, 2010). The literature to this point has not included these variables in a single multivariate model. In the current study, it was hypothesized that Personality and Attachment would predict Social Connectedness through Shame Proneness and Shame Aversion. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test this model. Data (n=1,386) were collected from an undergraduate student population in the Mountain region of the United States, and were randomly split to create two large samples – a testing and a confirmatory sample. Results revealed a good fit between the hypothesized model and the data for the Personality, Attachment, and Social Connectedness portions of the structural model. The hypotheses regarding the indirect effects of Shame Proneness and Shame Aversion in the model, however, were not supported. The modified model demonstrated good fit with the confirmatory sample, but the fit was significantly different between the two samples. Thus, a third study was conducted wherein the hypothesized model was tested and modified with the full sample. Implications of findings for theory and clinical intervention as well as directions for future research based on results from study 3 are discussed.Item Open Access "En frente de la batalla": centering the voices of Latine frontline workers in defining, understanding, and addressing community needs and solutions in tourist regions in Colorado during the COVID-19 pandemic(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Lucci-Rimer, Elizabeth, author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Muñoz, Susana M., committee member; Riggs, Nathaniel R., committee member; Henry, Kimberly L., committee memberLatine workers make up a significant proportion of the U.S. frontline workforce, with disproportionate representation in lower-earning positions that offer less job security. Throughout the pandemic, Latine frontline workers have faced disparate rates of COVID-19 illness, severe health impacts, death of loved ones, and economic losses. These circumstances have increased mental health difficulties, including chronic stress, depression, and anxiety. During the pandemic, Latine frontline workers in tourist communities in Colorado have suffered severe economic losses and ongoing health risks associated with frequent COVID-19 exposure and inequitable healthcare access. The present qualitative study used liberation psychology and Latino critical race theory to center the stories of Latine frontline workers in a tourist community in Colorado. Interviews were conducted with eight Latine frontline workers or spouses of frontline workers and five agency workers from nonprofits or the public sector in a tourist community in Colorado. Latine frontline community members were asked to share their stories of how their communities had experienced the pandemic, their definitions of the community's needs, and their ideas for solutions. Agency workers were asked to provide their perspectives and context. Analysis was conducted using critical qualitative inquiry and an interpretive analysis based on the theoretical frameworks. The resulting themes included community member's experiences and definitions of strengths, problems, and solutions. The results were shared in the community and recommendations were given to local agencies. This study advocates for employers, landlords, nonprofit and local government agencies, schools, and healthcare organizations to engage in equity-based structural and operational change and to assume an advocacy role in addressing underlying causes of health, mental health, educational, housing, and economic inequities.Item Open Access Evaluating gender/sex measures for inclusion of non-binary participants(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Schlechter, Thomas E., author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Dockendorff, Kari, committee member; Prince, Mark, committee member; Graham, Dan, committee memberWith the amount of research on Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender Expansive communities growing, there has been increasing attention paid to the methods used to collect and analyze gender/sex data from participants. Across fields, multiple methods of collecting gender/sex data have been used, but recently a large portion of the literature has highlighted the Two-Step Method (Tate et al., 2013; NASEM, 2022) as a current best practice. However, the Two-Step Method is not without flaws, notably the disagreement on inclusion of categories outside of man, woman, and transgender which may limit the extent to which Non-Binary participants feel included and represented by this approach. This study asked Non-Binary participants to respond to three different survey instruments used for gender/sex data collection and then asked to rate how well they understood the question(s) and if they felt included by the questions. Additionally, participants rated the accuracy of the category each measure assigned them to their own lived experience. Results found that all measures were comprehensible and inclusive, but that measures explicitly including Non-Binary as a category were more accurate to participants. Implications for these results in the inclusion of Non-Binary communities in research are discussed.Item Open Access Familial concern and adolescent simultaneous polysubstance use on American Indian reservations(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Smith, Joey K., author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Swaim, Randall C., committee member; Riggs, Nathaniel R., committee memberAmerican Indian (AI) adolescents are at increased risk for substance misuse and related problems. AI adolescents initiate consumption earlier compared to non-American Indian (non-AI) adolescents, and are three times more likely to be diagnosed with a substance use disorder than non-AI adolescents. AI families may be more tolerant of substance misuse than non-AI families, and are likely to employ parenting styles which emphasize modeling and the importance of extended family. There is considerable literature on AI substance misuse, but to date no studies have examined simultaneous polysubstance misuse (SPM) within this population. SPM is the ingestion of two or more substances within the same period of time, so that the effects of the substances overlap. The synergistic effects of SPM are related to increasingly problematic outcomes in adolescents, such as increased substance misuse. Based on previous research, 3 hypotheses were offered: (1) that four proposed subscales, Substance Misuse Concern, Substance Misuse Deterrence, Substance Misuse Discussion, and Parental Monitoring, would comprise the latent construct Familial Oversight; (2) that Familial Oversight would significantly negatively predict increased likelihood of SPM endorsement; and (3) that this relation would be significantly moderated by participant's self-identified race, such that, for AI individuals the relation between Familial Oversight and SPM would be stronger than for non-AI individuals. Data were collected from middle and high school students (n = 4661) attending schools on or near AI reservations. Structural equation modeling was utilized to test the hypothesized model. Results indicated that modeling Familial Oversight as a unidimensional latent variable resulted in excellent model fit, x2(2) =20.23, p < .05; CFI = 0.994; SRMR = .064; RMSEA = .044 (90% C.I. [.128 - .063]); however, the factor loadings supported a two-factor model. Following modifications, a two-factor model of parenting was created with Parental Monitoring as a separate latent construct and the three remaining factors indicating the latent variable Familial Attitudes on the Misuse of Substances (FAMS); the modified model demonstrated excellent fit, x2(8) =32.87, p < .05; CFI = 0.997; RMSEA = .026 (90% C.I. [.017 - .035]). The two-factor model indicated SPM was negatively associated with Parental Monitoring (b = -0.131, S.E. = 0.033, b = -4.04, p < .001) but not significantly related to FAMS (b = -0.044, S.E. = 0.025, b = -1.79, p = .07). Finally, a multigroup SEM was conducted to test invariance, which demonstrated strong fit, x2(32) = 91.42, p < .05; CFI = 0.980; RMSEA = .028 (90% C.I. [.022 - .035]); however, self-identified racial status did not moderate the relations (p > .05). Though the proposed construct was not successfully indicated, Parental Monitoring demonstrated that parental awareness was important in significantly reducing the risk of SPM. Given AI adolescents' increased risk of negative outcomes, the known relation of AI substance misuse to familial influences, and Parental Monitoring's ability to reduce risk, it is important to understand how these factors are related to SPM.Item Open Access Individual personality differences in adjustment to retirement(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Eby, Rachel E., author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Fisher, Gwenith G., committee member; Diehl, Manfred, committee memberRetirement is an important life event to study at present, because more people are entering their retirement years and are spending more time in retirement than ever before in our nation’s history. Historically, research has shown mixed results on effects of retirement that are not accurately explained by any one theory. These mixed results suggest the possibility of individual differences in retirement adjustment that may not be accounted for with aggregated data. Wang, Henkens, and Shultz (2011) proposed a comprehensive framework of retirement adjustment: the resource-based dynamic perspective, which reasons that adjustment is influenced by antecedent variables, via level of resources possessed by the individual at a given time. The current study seeks to assess the relation between personality as an antecedent variable and retirement adjustment in a longitudinal analysis of participants from the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study. Resources are also modeled as covariates in the analysis. Results should be interpreted with caution due to limitations in model fit. Results from the Growth Mixture Model (GMM) revealed two classes of retirement trajectories and certain personality traits were significant as predictors for these trajectories. Implications for both research and practice are discussed.Item Open Access Longitudinal panel networks of risk and protective factors in youth suicidality(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Wallace, Gemma T., author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Henry, Kimberly L., advisor; Merz, Emily C., committee member; Riggs, Nathaniel R., committee memberRates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) are increasing among youth in the United States. Younger age at onset for STBs confers higher vulnerability to lifetime mental health concerns, yet relatively few studies have investigated STBs during the critical developmental period as youth transition from childhood into early adolescence. Several domains of risk and protective factors have been identified, however accurate prediction of STBs remains poor. Network analyses that can examine pairwise associations between many variables may provide information about complex pathways of risk for STBs, thereby improving the timing and targets of interventions. The present study applied a longitudinal panel network approach to elucidate potential risk and protective pathways for STBs across early adolescence. Data came from 9,854 youth who participated in the population-based Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (Mage = 9.90 ± .62 years, 63% white, 53% female at baseline). Youth and their caregivers completed an annual measurement battery from when participants were ages 9-10 through 11-12 years (i.e., three timepoints). 1,699 youth reported past or present STBs at one or more study timepoints. Panel Graphical Vector Autoregressive models evaluated temporal within-person, contemporaneous within-person, and between-person relations between several previously identified risk and protective factors for youth STBs, including mental health symptoms, socioenvironmental factors, life stressors, and substance use. An autoregressive effect was observed for STBs in the temporal network. In the contemporaneous and between-subjects networks, STBs had consistent direct associations with internalizing symptoms, low-level substance use, family conflict, lower parental monitoring, and lower school protective factors. Possible indirect pathways were also observed, in which other mental health symptoms and stressful life events might contribute to STBs through internalizing. Results emphasize that family and school experiences are salient social risk factors for early adolescents. Age-specific interventions may benefit from prioritizing targeting internalizing symptoms and early substance use, as well as promoting positive school and family support. Results support the use of longitudinal network approaches to understand the complex interplay between STBs and different domains of risk and protective factors.Item Open Access Marijuana use impacted by legalization and individual factors(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Parnes, Jamie E., author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Chavez, Ernest, committee member; Coatsworth, Doug, committee memberIn 2014, marijuana became legal for recreational use for adults 21 and older in Colorado (Colorado Const. art XVIII § 16., 2012). There are potential health risks related to marijuana dependence, which are more prominent in adolescent users (Volkow, Baler, Compton, & Weiss, 2014). Medical marijuana legalization has not been shown to increase marijuana use or prevalence of dependence (Cerdá, Wall, Keyes, Galea, & Hasin, 2012). Changes related to legalization may include increased availability and social acceptance, as well as decreased price and perceived harm of use (Hopfer, 2014). There also may be increased interest in moving to Colorado related to the changes in marijuana laws (United States Census Bureau, 2015; Institutional Research & Analysis, 2014). The facets of sensation seeking, risk seeking and experience seeking, influence marijuana use (Zuckerman, 2007; Conner & Henson, 2011). Sexual orientation has a quadratic relation to marijuana use (Ford & Jasinski, 2006). Use among bisexuals is higher than use at either end of the spectrum (Eisenberg & Wechsler, 2003). Based on these findings, several hypotheses were made. First, marijuana use would increase in college students after legalization, however just for those 21 and older. Next, risk seeking and experience seeking would both uniquely moderate marijuana use before and after legalization and in underage and of-age students. Third, sexual orientation would have a quadratic relation with marijuana use. Finally, the relation between the influence of marijuana leglislation on non-residents decisions to attend a Colorado college and marijuana use was examined. Data was collected from undergraduate students (N = 5241) at a Colorado university. Participants were assessed for marijuana use behavior, sensation seeking, sexual orientation, and influence of marijuana laws on non-resident decision to attend Colorado schools. Pearson’s Chi-square, analysis of variance, negative binomial regressions, and polyserial correlations were used to test the hypotheses. Results indicated that marijuana use has increased since legalization for all students, but moreso for those over 21 (p < .001). No differences in frequency of past month use was found between pre and post legalization (p = .615). Regression analysis found experience seeking to be a significant predictor of past 30 day use (p <.05). Additionally, risk seeking predicted use for those under 21 (p <.01). A quadratic relation was found between sexual orientation and past month use, where use increased at a decreasing rate from the homosexual end of the spectrum to the heterosexual end (p <.01). Correlations were found between degree of marijuana law influence and both past 30 and lifetime use among non-resident college students (ρ = 0.29, p < .001; ρ = 0.17, p < .001). Overall, legalization, experience seeking, underage risk seeking, sexual orientation, and legislation influence on decision making all predicted marijuana use. These findings may help inform other states considering legalization of potential outcomes and groups at higher risk of marijuana use. Future research should examine longer term effects of legalization, as well as effective interventions.Item Open Access Optical imaging of emotional responding to sensational stimuli in high and low risk-seeking individuals(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Kentopp, Shane, author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Rojas, Donald C., committee member; Riggs, Nathaniel R., committee memberSensation seeking is a reward-based personality construct linked to engagement in risky behavior. A neural and conceptual overlap between emotion and reward suggests there is an emotional component to sensation seeking. The current study sought to assess the theorized emotional component of sensation seeking by measuring a distinct pattern of visual cortex activation that accompanies the induction of emotion via visual stimuli. Undergraduate participants were recruited based on a prescreening personality assessment. Thirty-five participants were sorted into groups with either high or low scores on risk seeking (a facet of sensation seeking) and exposed to emotional, sensational, and neutral video stimuli. Participants rated their emotional response and reward valuation following each video. Activation in the primary visual cortex was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Activation during the sensational conditions was assessed for similarity to the emotional conditions and compared between risk seeking groups. Imaging results revealed no significant differences between conditions or groups. Participant responses to stimuli indicated that individuals high in risk seeking experienced a more positive emotional response to sensational videos than individuals low in risk seeking. Participant responses to stimuli also indicated that individuals high in risk seeking endorsed a stronger approach response to sensational stimuli. The study encountered methodological challenges, which limited its statistical power and ability to measure the hypothesized effects. Stimulus response data, however, provided preliminary support for the role of emotional processes in risky behavior amongst individuals high in sensation seeking. These findings suggest that targeting emotion regulation processes in individuals who are high in sensation seeking may be an effective approach to reducing engagement in risky behavior.Item Open Access Sensation seeking, impulsivity, and Big Five personality factors as predictors of risky behavior following concussion(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Gardner, Megan M., author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Seger, Carol, committee member; Stephens, Jaclyn, committee memberSports-related concussion is a growing public health concern. With 30-50% of concussions remaining undiagnosed for a variety of reasons, it is crucial to identify risk factors and establish appropriate prevention and harm reduction strategies to prevent the risk of multiple concussions. Few studies have investigated personality factors as predictors of concussion and continued participation following an initial injury. However, research has concluded that personality likely plays a role in symptom reporting and post-injury behaviors that may put one at risk of additional injury and premature return to play. Most research on personality and health risk behaviors has focused on substance use, gambling, and criminal behavior, with little research done on personality, risky sports, and injury. The limited work in this area has concluded that the personality construct of sensation seeking is predictive of engagement in sports that have an increased risk for injury, while other constructs like impulsivity, are more predictive of injury once already participating in risky sports. The Big Five factors of personality differentially predict injury during sport such that openness to experience and extraversion predict risk-taking overall, while low levels of neuroticism and low levels of conscientiousness predict risky behavior during sport to different degrees depending on the sport studied. The current study found that sensation seeking dimensions, experience seeking and risk seeking, were positively associated with returning to play more quickly than others in the sample. Further, both of these dimensions were negatively predictive of use of protective behavioral strategies against incurring sports-related concussion. Risk seeking, attentional impulsivity, motor impulsivity, and non-planning impulsivity were found to be positively predictive of likelihood of reporting repeat sports-related concussions. Regarding the Big Five, conscientiousness was associated with taking longer to return to play, more protective behavioral strategy use, and a lower likelihood of reporting more than 1 sports-related concussion. These findings may be used in implementing individualized targeted prevention and intervention efforts for athletes. Future work should investigate the mechanisms underlying these relations, as well as include additional sports-related concussion risk factors.Item Open Access Social interaction anxiety and personality traits predicting engagement in risky sexual behavior(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Rahm-Knigge, Ryan L., author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Steger, Michael F., committee member; Luong, Gloria, committee memberSocial anxiety disorder is a prevalent psychiatric condition, especially among adolescents (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 204). Individuals with social interaction anxiety, which pertains to interpersonal exchanges with others, ruminate on perceived failures in past interactions, withdraw from or avoid social encounters, and engage in coping behaviors in response to negative feelings (Clark & Wells, 1995; Hoffman, 2007; Kashdan, 2004; Leary, 2001). While the majority of individuals with social interaction anxiety avoid risky situations, a subset engages in risky behaviors, including more frequent sexual encounters and unprotected sex (Kashdan, Elhai, & Breen, 2008; Kashdan & Hoffman, 2008; Kashdan, McKnight, Richey, & Hoffman, 2009). The personality constructs sensation seeking, emotion dysregulation, and impulsivity predict engagement in risky sexual behavior and have been suggested in previous studies to explain the relation between social interaction anxiety and risky sexual behavior (Arnold, Fletcher, & Farrow, 2002; Gullette & Lyons, 2005, 2006; Hoyle, Fejfar, & Miller, 2000; Kalichman et al., 1994; Kashdan et al., 2008; Kashdan et al., 2009; Kashdan & Hoffman, 2008; Kashdan & McKnight, 2010; Parent & Newman, 1999). Therefore, the present study hypothesized that latent classes of social interaction anxiety and personality traits would be identified that distinguish engagement in risky sexual behaviors. Finite mixture modeling was used to discern latent heterogeneous classes of social interaction anxiety and facets of sensation seeking, emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, behavioral approach, and behavioral inhibition. Risky sexual behaviors were treated as auxiliary variables. Four classes were discerned: two low social interaction anxiety classes distinguished by facets of emotion dysregulation, positive urgency, and negative urgency (Low SIAS High Urgency and Low SIAS Low Urgency) and two high social interaction anxiety classes distinguished by positive urgency, negative urgency, risk seeking, and facets of emotion dysregulation (High SIAS High Urgency and High SIAS Low Urgency). Of importance to this study were the findings that the High SIAS High Urgency class was significantly more likely to engage in all identified risky sexual behaviors than the High SIAS Low Urgency class and that the High SIAS High Urgency class did not significantly differ from the Low SIAS High Urgency and Low SIAS Low Urgency classes in engagement in risky sexual behaviors. This study extends previous findings on the heterogeneity of social interaction anxiety by identifying the effects of social interaction anxiety and personality on engagement in risky sexual behaviors.Item Open Access The effects of personality and social determinants of health on sports-related concussion risk: an examination of symptom reporting, concussion incidence, and return to play(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Weishaar, Megan Gardner, author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Prince, Mark A., committee member; Davalos, Deana B., committee member; Stephens, Jaclyn A., committee memberSports-related concussion (SRC), a form of mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) that occurs during sport participation or recreation, has emerged as a public health concern among adolescent athletes in the United States in recent decades due to increasing knowledge of high incidence rates. Important factors such as return to play (RTP) timeline and symptom reporting behaviors have been shown to contribute to SRC incidence. As a result, recent research has called for work that identifies a parsimonious group of variables that are salient in identifying athletes most at risk of outcomes such as early RTP, higher SRC incidence, and symptom nondisclosure. A small body of work has established that certain personality characteristics and social determinants of health are associated with these SRC outcomes. However, few specific personality and social determinants of health factors have been examined, few studies have investigated predictors of SRC incidence and RTP outcomes specifically, and a small number of these studies have investigated these research questions among adolescent athletes despite high rates of athletic participation and SRC incidence. The current study sought to expand previous work to further elucidate relations between a myriad of personality and social determinants of health predictors, and time to RTP, diagnosed SRC, and symptom reporting outcomes among adolescent athletes (N = 317, ages 14-19). The ultimate goal of the study was to identify personality and social determinants of health factors most salient in SRC outcomes to inform practical tailoring of prevention and intervention strategies. Participants were adolescents who were currently enrolled in high school or college or were enrolled in high school within the past calendar year, participated in a high school or club sport in the past year, and either denied sustaining a diagnosed SRC in the past year (N = 156) or endorsed sustaining a diagnosed SRC in the past year (N = 161). Data were collected through a one-time online survey that took participants 20-30 minutes to complete. Participants were compensated via an online gift card or course credit. Recruitment methods included outpatient medical clinics, high school athletic trainers, sports gyms and tournaments, Twitter, and university research pools. Analyses included a series of Cox proportional hazards and logistic regression models investigating associations between personality and social determinants of health predictors and time to RTP, diagnosed SRC incidence, and symptom reporting outcomes (i.e., honesty and comfort in symptom reporting). Overall, study results bolstered the conclusion that 1. Personality and social determinants of health factors are important in predicting SRC outcomes and 2. The relations between personality and SRC outcomes are highly nuanced, depending upon specific personality facets, outcome, and sample characteristics. Study results inform athletes, peers and family of athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, and other medical professionals about which personality and social determinants of health variables are most salient in SRC risk, thus informing prevention and intervention efforts for SRC such that they can be more personalized and tailored at the individual, environmental, and systems levels.Item Open Access You can feel good: positive outcomes of marijuana use(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Parnes, Jamie E., author; Conner, Bradley T., advisor; Prince, Mark A., committee member; Swaim, Randall C., committee member; Riggs, Nathaniel R., committee memberTo date, limited marijuana research has focused on identifying reinforcing outcomes related to use, often perceived as positive outcomes. Operant conditioning and social learning theories suggest that the reinforcing aspects of substance use are a primary contributor to maintained use, and in turn, risk of dependence. Individuals who use marijuana report expecting positive outcomes which motivates use; however, the occurrence of such positive outcomes are rarely examined. Moreover, research has yet to develop a reliable, validated measure of positive marijuana-related outcomes. The present study sought to develop and psychometrically evaluate such a measure. I hypothesized that: 1) positive outcomes would be positively associated with marijuana use, positive expectancies, and negative outcomes, 2-3) positive outcomes would be unrelated to alcohol use and positive alcohol outcomes, and 4) positive outcomes would account for unique variance in recent use, controlling for expectancies and negative outcomes. Scale items were developed using inductive and deductive methods. College students (N = 883) and community adults (N = 214) completed a survey measuring marijuana use frequency, positive outcomes, expectancies, and negative consequences. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested scale dimensionality and structure in the college sample and community sample. The final factor structure achieved excellent model fit (CFI = .96-.97, RMSEA = .03-.05) and internal consistency (ω = .84-.90). Four factors emerged from the data: Social Enhancement, Mood Enhancement and Relaxation, Perceptual Enhancement, and Sexual Enhancement. Invariance testing supported configural invariance between the two samples. Study hypotheses supporting scale validity were largely upheld. Positive outcomes were positively associated with recent use, controlling for expectancies and negative outcomes. Positive outcomes were also either unassociated or negatively associated with alcohol use, and unassociated or weakly associated with alcohol positive outcomes. Positive outcomes were also differentiated from positive expectancies and more influential in predicting typical use frequency. Findings implicate that positive outcomes are an important factor in explaining recent marijuana use, necessitating the need for future longitudinal use to understand their role in maintained use and dependence. Additionally, positive outcomes can be a target for clinical interventions by informing replacement behaviors or enhancing motivational interviewing techniques.