Browsing by Author "Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor"
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Item Open Access Adverse childhood experiences and allostatic load in adolescence and emerging adulthood(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) French, Kate M., author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Graham, Dan, committee member; Shomaker, Lauren, committee memberAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which include experiences of abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction, have been shown to be associated with increased occurrence of a number of diseases and risk behaviors in later adulthood (Felitti et al., 1998). In an effort to explain how adversity in childhood is related to later disease, the theoretical framework of allostasis and allostatic load (AL) is often employed (Danese & McEwen, 2012). In this context, it is postulated that the body responds adaptively to a variety of psychosocial stressors in a multi-systemic fashion (McEwen, 1998). The nervous, endocrine, and immune systems act and interact to respond to stressors in a way that allows the body to mobilize the resources necessary to remain safe in the face of threats and recover from that mobilization in a way that promotes physiologically balanced state of allostasis. However, repeated or chronic stressors can overwhelm the body's ability to respond toward long-term adaptation, and the body enters a state of AL. Dysregulated stress responses are a hallmark of allostatic load and can impair the body's ability to mobilize resources or recover from stressors efficiently leading to an imbalance of multiple physiologic responses. This imbalance is thought to cause "wear and tear" on the body, leading to later disease (McEwen, 1998). Although these dysregulated stress responses and the resulting physiological imbalances are thought to begin in childhood and continue throughout adolescence and emerging adulthood as well as in adults, little empirical research has been done with participants in these developmentally sensitive periods. In this study, a community sample (n = 114) of adolescents and emerging adults self-reported the ACEs they had experienced. An AL summary score was calculated by assigning scores to the highest risk quartiles of body mass index, blood pressure, self-rated health, baseline heart rate, and change in heart rate in response to a psychosocial stressor. ACE scores were compared with AL indices and the AL summary score along with age, sex, ethnicity, family income, and maternal support. Bivariate analyses indicated that ACEs were positively associated with body mass index, baseline heart rate, and age; and negatively associated with maternal support. When controlling for age, sex, ethnicity, family income, and maternal support in a multiple regression analysis, the positive association between ACEs and baseline heart rate remained such that participants who reported more ACEs had higher baseline heart rates. The results of this study indicate a need for further investigation between ACEs and AL indices including indications of dysregulated stress responses. Additionally, the negative association between ACEs and maternal support deserves further research attention.Item Open Access An investigation of mindfulness, adolescent psychopathology and regulatory emotional self-efficacy(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Miller, Reagan L., author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Coatsworth, J. Douglas, advisor; Prince, Mark, committee memberA robust body of literature suggests that mindfulness benefits mental health and psychological well-being, but the majority of this research has only been conducted among adults; also, mechanisms that link these two concepts are not fully understood. Mindfulness is theoretically expected to reduce psychopathology through more effective emotion regulation and, as a result, greater beliefs about one's ability to regulate their own emotions; therefore, regulatory emotional self-efficacy (RESE) is a likely mediator of this relationship. In order to comprehensively understand the relationship between the variables, however, two theoretical models were tested; RESE was first tested as a meditator and secondarily tested as a predictor of mindfulness. Among a sample of 149 adolescents (14-21 years old), bias-corrected bootstrapped estimates revealed that RESE was not found to be a mediator in the relationship between mindfulness and adolescent psychopathology. RESE was, however, a better predictor of mindfulness and subsequent reductions in adolescent psychopathology. These results suggest that mindfulness and RESE work together to reduce adolescent psychopathology and that adolescents may need to have effective management of their emotions before being able to practice mindfulness. Going forward, the investigation of additional mediators, as well as multiple facets of mindfulness among a more diverse and longitudinal sample, warrants further investigation.Item Open Access Attention bias as a mediator of the association between interparental conflict and cortisol reactivity(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Obstfeld, Maya, author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Faw, Meara, committee member; Quirk, Kelley, committee memberThe current study aimed to explore whether attention bias mediated the relationship between adolescents' appraisals of interparental conflict (IPC) and cortisol reactivity (CR). There is a robust literature on the relationship between attention bias and anxiety in children and adults (Bar-Haim et al., 2007; Cisler & Koster, 2011), and an emerging literature on how interparental conflict is associated with an attention bias toward angry interactions (Lucas-Thompson et al., 2020). While there is a robust association in the literature between interparental conflict and cortisol reactivity (Davies et al., 2007; Lucas-Thompson, 2012; Koss et al., 2012), the results of this study found no association between the two variables. Similarly, the results of this study indicated no associations between attention bias and any other variables. The results of this study suggest that attention bias may be a moderator, or risk factor in the relationship between IPC and CR. Additionally, further research is needed to determine whether a conflict specific stressor should be used to elicit more variability in cortisol reactivity. Further research should continue to aim to link neurobiological processes to clinically relevant topics, as it is essential to bridge the gap between the medical field and the psychotherapy process.Item Open Access Do mentor-mentee self-reported relationship quality measures differ or overlap from observed measures?(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Prabhu, Neha, author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Zimmerman, Toni, advisor; Haddock, Shelley, committee member; Henry, Kimberly, committee memberMentoring programs have been rapidly growing in the United States since the mid-1990s. Studies have revealed significant positive associations between mentoring programs and increases in at-risk youths' socio-emotional, cognitive, and identity development. Specifically, the relationship quality between mentor and mentee has been identified as central to outcomes for youth positive development trajectory. Many studies have examined mentor-mentee relationship quality using self-report measures (Dutton, Deane, & Bullen, 2018; Karcher, Nakkula, & Harris, 2005; Rhodes, Schwartz, Willis, & Wu, 2017). This study utilized both self-report measures and methodological tools to naturalistically collect data to examine mentor-mentee relationship quality. By assessing both the mentor and mentee perception of the relationship quality with self-report and observed measures, researchers will be able to identify differences or overlap between these two measures. We hypothesize both mentor and mentee observed relationship qualities will be related to self-reported mentor-mentee relationship quality in small to moderate amounts. Specifically, we anticipate a positive association between the two.Item Open Access Does mindfulness moderate the association between interparental conflict and depressive symptoms in adolescents?(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Carson, Jana, author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Shomaker, Lauren, committee member; Stallones, Lorann, committee memberThe main goal of this study was to examine the interactions between perceived interparental conflict dimensions (i.e., threat, conflict property, and self-blame) and trait mindfulness in relation to depressive symptoms among adolescents. Age was also tested as a moderator of these associations. One hundred and fifty adolescents (range: 14-21 years old) visited the laboratory at the Colorado State University campus where they completed various questionnaires on a computer. Results indicated that depressive symptoms were significantly and negatively associated with mindfulness. Of the perceived interparental conflict variables, threat was the only dimension significantly—and negatively—associated with mindfulness. There were no significant interactions between conflict dimensions and mindfulness in relation to depressive symptoms, and age was not a significant moderator. Although causality cannot be determined, the results indicate that perceived threat may be a risk factor for adolescent depression, and the results are in line with evidence that mindfulness based treatments may reduce depression for adolescents. Future research may want to examine whether other aspects of trait mindfulness (i.e., self-compassion and non-judgement) are more effective for buffering depressive symptoms in adolescents perceiving interparental conflict.Item Open Access Does youth mentorship quality moderate or mediate the association between insecure parent child attachment and externalizing behaviors?(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Trotta, Naomi, author; Haddock, Shelley, advisor; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Faw, Meara, committee memberPast literature has indicated that youth externalizing behaviors are associated with negative outcomes in adolescence, such as violence and drug use, however it is unclear if mentorship quality acts as a buffer for these behaviors. The current study examined the interactions between parent-child attachment, mentorship quality, and externalizing behaviors in the context of a youth mentoring program. Specifically, this study assessed 1) the association between parent-child attachment and youth anger, delinquency, and school behavior, 2) the extent to which mentorship quality moderated this association, and 3) the extent to which there are indirect effects of mentorship quality on the main association. Participants (N = 676; 58.4% male, 58.6% White; Mage=14.21) self-reported on the measures at baseline and again at program post-test. Findings showed parent-child attachment security was significantly associated with anger but was not significantly associated with delinquency or school behavior. Secondly, there were no significant interactions between parent-child attachment and mentorship quality in relation to any of the externalizing symptoms found. Lastly, the study found significant indirect effects of attachment security on anger, delinquency, and school behavior at the end of the mentorship program through mentee-reported mentorship quality. These results show promise for possible positive impacts of a strong mentorship quality on youth.Item Embargo Ecological momentary assessment of mechanisms of change during a mindfulness-based intervention for adolescents exposed to chronic stressors(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Miller, Reagan L., author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Shomaker, Lauren, advisor; Haddock, Shelley, committee member; Prince, Mark, committee memberAdolescents exposed to chronic stressors (e.g., financial instability) are at heightened risk for developing mental health problems. Chronic stressors may contribute to greater mental health problems by interfering with adolescents' ability to effectively regulate emotions. According to the mindfulness stress buffering hypothesis, mindfulness acts as a buffer against the deleterious effects of life stressors by ameliorating maladaptive stress appraisals and by improving emotion regulation. However, an assumption of this hypothesis is that individuals can maintain mindfulness and regulate their emotions during periods of stress. These two papers explore this assumption by first investigating the real-time, dynamic relationship between life stressors, mindfulness, and emotion regulation difficulties (Study 1) and then by exploring if mindfulness training may help to ameliorate the negative effects of life stressors on mindfulness and emotion regulation (Study 2). Eighty-one participants who were 10-18 years of age (Mage=13.75 years, SD=2.17; 56% male; 57% Caucasian; 24% Hispanic/Latino; 7% Native American; 7% more than race; and 5% Asian/Pacific Islander or Black/African American) completed ecological momentary assessments (EMA) three times a day for seven days at three different intervals (baseline, mid-intervention and post-intervention) throughout the study, contributing to a total of 3,178 EMA reports. Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed that the presence (versus absence) of stressors and the greater severity of stressors both were associated with lower mindfulness and greater emotion regulation difficulties concurrently in the same moment, but not prospectively from one moment to the next. In other words, life stressors may only be more immediately associated with lower mindfulness and greater emotion regulation difficulties as short-term, delayed effects from one moment (T1) to the next moment (T2) were not observed. Also, mindfulness training, compared to an active control group, was protective at post-intervention against the negative (concurrent) effects of stressors on mindfulness and emotion regulation (Study 2). Findings highlight that adolescents' life stressors may degrade untrained mindfulness and emotion regulation at given moments, but mindfulness training may help to buffer against these negative impacts of life stressors. Going forward, it will be helpful to investigate these relationships in the context of mental and physical health outcomes and to include longer periods of follow-up to determine the sustainable benefits of mindfulness training for adolescent health.Item Open Access Examining parents' cognitive coping as a mediator or moderator of parents' trait mindfulness and children's behavior(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Krause, Jill T., author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Brown, Samantha, committee member; MacPhee, David, committee memberChildren's behavior problems, whether internalizing or externalizing, are a risk factor for later mental, emotional, and behavioral health problems, and can be seen as the onset of a negative developmental cascade for both parents and children. Parent's mindfulness has been associated with lower levels of behavior problems, though the processes by which this pathway operates have yet to be thoroughly examined, let alone in diverse populations. One pathway through which mindfulness might operate is parents' cognitive coping; mindful parents are better able to maintain present moment awareness and nonjudgment, and thus are better able to cope with the stressors of being a parent, and thereby have better behaved children. This study sought to investigate this pathway and examine patterns in coping behaviors in a sample typically excluded from research: welfare-adjacent families with elevated levels of risk. Analyses revealed that cognitive coping could be characterized by four factors: adaptive, maladaptive, positive refocusing, and self-blame. Contrary to the hypotheses of the study, adaptive and maladaptive coping factors did not act as a mediator or moderator. However, the study did replicate findings of an association between parents' trait mindfulness and children's behavior, such that parents who are more mindful report children with fewer internalizing and externalizing problems. Limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed.Item Embargo Exploring the pathway between family chaos, stress reactivity, and emotion regulation(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Najman, Jonathan I., author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; MacPhee, Dave, committee member; Faw, Meara, committee memberFamily chaos is the cumulative exposure to disorienting environments (Fiese & Winter, 2010), and is associated with poor academic outcomes, health problems, and adjustment problems (e.g., Evans & Kim, 2013). Two distinguishable elements of family chaos are a) instability, or unpredictable events that disrupt continuity of the household, and b) disorganization, or enduring experiences that contribute to overwhelming disorder (Garrett-Peters et al., 2019). Although a relatively new distinction, it appears critical, in that instability is a stronger predictor of executive functioning than disorganization (Andrews et al., 2021). Our goal was to provide an investigation of this model to other key outcomes: stress reactivity and emotion regulation. A total of 153 adolescents (10-17yrs) completed the stress test and reported emotion regulation (Zeman et al., 2001; Garnefski et al., 2001). Family instability was significantly but weakly associated with disorganization, r = .16, r2 = .03, p < .05. Generalized Estimating Equations controlling for age, income, and race revealed that family instability, but not disorganization, significantly negatively predicted cortisol reactivity (b= -4.65, SE= 4.17, p<.05). The distinction of family chaos into instability and disorganization requires further research to elucidate the relationship between family chaos and poor developmental outcomes.Item Open Access Exploring the relationship between parent and adolescent dispositional mindfulness and adolescent mental health(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Friedman, Terra S., author; Shomaker, Lauren, advisor; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Johnston, Sarah, committee memberInternalizing symptoms, including depression and anxiety symptoms, increase during adolescence, a sensitive life stage for forming coping strategies for handling stress. Adolescent internalizing symptoms have been related to a host of negative health outcomes, yet dispositional mindfulness, the propensity for present-moment, non-judgmental attention, has been associated with lower levels of internalizing symptoms. From a social learning framework, parents' own dispositional mindfulness is anticipated to relate to adolescent's degree of dispositional mindfulness. In the current thesis, I conducted secondary data analyses to explore the hypotheses that parental and adolescent dispositional mindfulness would be positively related, that there would be inverse relationships of parent dispositional mindfulness with adolescent perceived stress and anxiety/depression symptoms, and that parent mindfulness would contribute uniquely to variability in adolescent mental health indicators, even when accounting for adolescents' own mindfulness. Participants were 90 healthy adolescents (50% female), 12–17 years old (Mean = 14.3, SD = 1.7 years). Parental and adolescent dispositional mindfulness were evaluated using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Adolescents reported stress on the Perceived Stress Scale and anxiety symptoms using the State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children – Trait Version. They reported depression symptoms on the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). Results of correlation and regression analysis found expected relationships based on prior literature between parent internalizing symptoms and parent mindfulness, and adolescent internalizing symptoms and adolescent mindfulness, but found no statistically significant connection between parent dispositional mindfulness and adolescent internalizing symptoms. Findings suggest more research needs to be conducted in this area to understand the mechanisms of dispositional mindfulness and internalizing symptoms in the context of family functioning. Future studies should focus on including more comprehensive measures of mindfulness and integrating an attachment framework into the research design.Item Open Access Intergenerational transmission of gender ideology: the unique associations of parental gender ideology and gendered behavior with adolescents' gender beliefs(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Bishop, Amy, author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Haddock, Shelley, committee member; Canetto, Silvia, committee memberParents' modeled behavior of shared or non-egalitarian division of labor does not always reflect their gender ideology. I examined whether parents' modeled behavior or their own gender ideology was a better predictor of adolescents' egalitarian or non-egalitarian gender beliefs. Parents and their adolescent children were assessed in terms of gender ideology and perceptions of parent marital equality. Bivariate correlations showed that parent gender ideology was a significant predictor of adolescent gender ideology but parent marital equality behavior was not. Furthermore, in multivariate regression analyses, there were interactions between parent gender ideology and adolescent sex: parent gender ideology was significantly associated with gender ideology for male adolescents but was not significantly associated with gender ideology for female adolescents. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.Item Open Access Investigating links between family factors and adolescent authenticity(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Siler, Katherine Lovisa, author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Zimmerman, Toni, committee member; Kees, Nathalie, committee memberThis study used Kernis and Goldman's (2006) conceptualization of authenticity to examine family level factors associated with adolescent authenticity. Previous research has indicated that adolescence is an important developmental period to examine authenticity. Studies have suggested that family level, and marital factors may predict adolescent authenticity. It was hypothesized that adolescent authenticity would be associated with parent authenticity, parent-adolescent relationship quality, and marital equality. It was anticipated that adolescent authenticity would be predicted by interactions between relationship quality and parent authenticity, as well as interactions between gender ideology and marital equality. Adolescents (n = 153) completed questionnaires about authenticity and relationship quality; mothers (n = 98) and fathers (n = 98) completed questionnaires about authenticity, gender ideology and perception of marital inequality. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine hypotheses. Adolescent authenticity was significantly associated with father's authenticity and parent-adolescent relationship quality. However, the multivariate analysis indicated that mother-adolescent relationship quality was the only significant predictor of adolescent authenticity. Future research should use a longitudinal study design with a larger sample size. Studies should examine child's perceptions of parent authenticity, parent-adolescent conflict and indirect effects of parent gender ideology on adolescent authenticity.Item Open Access LGBTQ+ adolescent and young adult mental and physical wellbeing: examining the effects of non-adapted versus adapted mindfulness-based interventions(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Klimo, Kasey D., author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Shomaker, Lauren, advisor; Brown, Samantha, committee member; Carlson, Laurie, committee memberLesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other gender and sexual minority identified (LGBTQ+) adolescents and young adults face mental and physical health disparities compared to their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts. These disparities in health are often due to minority stressors, like experiencing discrimination and oppression. Adolescence and emerging adulthood are vulnerable developmental periods for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults due to the prevalence of minority stressors while also navigating developmental tasks. Mindfulness based interventions (MBI) may be a potential method to intervene upon health disparities in this population, as the mindfulness stress-buffering hypothesis posts MBI may be the most beneficial in populations that experience high levels of stress. Chapter one explores the acceptability, feasibility, and effects of an online MBI, L2B, on sexual minority participants compared to heterosexual participants. Sixty-two college-aged participants completed baseline and post-test questions assessing mental health, mindfulness, self-compassion, emotion regulation, and substance usage (Mage=21.28, SD=4.17, 82.3% Caucasian, 85.5% Non-Hispanic/Latinx, 71% female, 37% LGBQ+). Results from chapter one indicated L2B was acceptable, but feasibility, as indicated by attendance and drop- out rates, could be improved. Furthermore, sexual minority participants saw statistically meaningful improvements in all outcomes except for substance usage and consequences of alcohol use. sexual minority participants may benefit more greatly from MBI related to mental health, internalized shame, consequences of Marjana use, accessing regulation strategies, and with goal-oriented behavior from just as much, or greater than heterosexual participants when related to mental health. However, further research is needed to explore the effects of MBI on substance use among sexual minority participants. Study two explores the initial acceptability and feasibility, along with the effects of an online MBI, L2B-Q, that was adapted specifically to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ adolescents. Twenty adolescents completed baseline and post-test assessments on mental health symptoms, mindfulness, stress-related health behaviors, and identity constructs. Participants also participated in a focus group to provide qualitative feedback on L2B-Q. Results from study two indicate L2B-Q was feasible and accepted, however further adaptations (e.g., changes in timing, and activity modifications) would be beneficial to the program. Furthermore, results indicate than an adapted MBI is highly effective in reducing mental health and stress, while increasing mindfulness and identity related variables. In the final chapter, I compare the effects found in chapter one and chapter two and discuss the ways in which each program differed from one another, and which program may be more effective among LGBTQ+ participants.Item Open Access Mindful partnering: implications of a novel theoretical construct for predicting reduced reactivity to marital conflict, greater physical health, and lower mortality risk(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Seiter, Natasha, author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Quirk, Kelley, committee member; Prince, Mark, committee member; Haddock, Shelley, committee memberAccording to the theory of allostatic load, chronic stress leads to damage on the body that contributes to problems with physical health and early mortality. A large body of research suggests that mindfulness reduces stress, health problems, and mortality risk. In addition, stressful relationships with intimate partners have the power to cause frequent and/or intense physiological responses that, over time, contribute to allostatic load and thus negative health and mortality outcomes. However, previously identified predictors of relational and thus physical health lack a unifying concept to synthesize them. Study 1 presents the conceptualization of a novel theoretical construct, mindful partnering, as interpersonal mindfulness with ones' romantic partner, as well as initial validation of the Mindful Partnering Measure (MPM). Participants were 599 individuals from: 1) an undergraduate student sample recruited from a university subject pool [used for exploratory factor analyses (EFA), N= 335] and 2) a sample of married adults recruited through Mechanical Turk [used for confirmatory factor analyses (CFA), N= 264, subsets used for construct validity N= 147, and test-retest analyses N= 53]. Results of the EFA and CFA supported a five-factor structure. Tests of internal consistency, construct validity, and test-retest reliability in the sample of married adults provided evidence for reliability and validity of the total MPM to assess mindful partnering, as well as the Mindful awareness and Acceptance/compassion subscales. However, the other subscales did not demonstrate adequate test-retest reliability. Use of this measure in further research will allow for the study of the potential correlates and benefits of mindful partnering to further our understanding of this novel construct, and the following studies utilized the total and validated subscales of the MPM. Study 2 investigated whether higher levels of mindful partnering would be associated with lesser biological stress to relationship conflict. Seventeen couple pairs (N= 34) visited the laboratory to complete several tasks, including questionnaires (e.g., the MPM) and a conflict discussion. Participants had their Respiratory Sinus Arrythmia (RSA), a measure of parasympathetic nervous system activation, measured during the baseline period and conflict discussion. Regression analyses suggested that MPM-Mindful awareness significantly predicted partners' greater RSA during the discussion task, with a small effect, suggesting greater physiological relaxation. No other results were significant, however, there were greater-than-trivial effects for several associations between mindful partnering variables and RSA, as discussed. In general, results suggested that when one's partner is more mindful, it may soothe the nervous system and relieve the potential stress of marital disagreement, however, practicing mindful partnering may actually be associated with biological stress. Study 3 examined associations among mindful partnering and physical health as well as telomere length, an indicator of cellular aging. Eighty-three (N= 166) couples completed questionnaires (including the MPM as well as an item to measure overall physical health), and 43 (N= 86) of these couples gave a saliva sample which was assayed for telomere length. Results of regression analyses demonstrated that self-health was associated with total mindful partnering as well as MPM-Acceptance/compassion, which was also associated at trend levels with partner health. Links between total mindful partnering and MPM-Acceptance/compassion with health variables, as well as between MPM-Mindful awareness and partner health also demonstrated greater-than-trivial/small, positive effect sizes. Associations between mindful partnering and telomere length did not reach significance, however, there were greater-than-trivial effect sizes for associations between self telomere length and MPM-Mindful awareness in the negative direction and MPM-Acceptance/compassion in the positive direction, and partner telomere length showed a small positive effect with MPM-Mindful awareness. These findings suggest that long-term health may be improved through mindful partnering, with implications for couples therapy and other interventions for couples.Item Open Access Mindfulness training and the mindfulness-stress buffering hypothesis: implications for adolescent stress(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Allen, Margot, author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Prince, Mark, committee member; Quirk, Kelley, committee memberThe importance of addressing health outcomes associated with stress through managing stress is widely documented. The mindfulness-stress buffering hypothesis offers a potential solution for mitigating health outcomes associated with stress, but research examining mindfulness-stress buffering hypothesis in adolescent populations yields mixed results. To address inconsistency in the association between stress and mindfulness found in previous research, the current study examined whether participating in a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) allowed adolescents to remain mindful under stress through examining the association between stress and mindfulness both within and between-person before, after, and during an MBI. Between-person results indicated that, at baseline, there was a significant negative relationship between stress and mindfulness but that there was no significant association between stress and mindfulness after completion of an MBI; however, these associations were not significantly different from each other. Within-person, during the first three weeks of an MBI, there was a non-significant trend level positive relationship between mindfulness and stress; during the final three weeks, this positive association was significant. Results generally supported previous research that hypothesized that adolescents may not have the innate capacity to remain mindful when stressed, effectively using it as a buffer. Additionally, results indicated that adolescents may display more mindfulness when stressed, compared to their average levels of stress.Item Open Access Parenting styles and the intergenerational transmission of gender ideology(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Jones, Kaitlin, author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Harvey, Ashley, committee member; Canetto, Silvia, committee memberThe present study investigated the similarity between parents and children in gender ideology, and whether parenting style moderated the intergenerational transmission (i.e. similarity) of gender ideology between parents and children. Past research suggests that parents and children are similar in terms of overall gender ideology and that authoritative parenting promotes the best outcomes for children. Given this knowledge, the present study sought to investigate the relationship between these two concepts while examining whether the relations between gender ideology and parenting style differ based on parent and child gender. A sample of 76 adolescents from the United States and their parents were asked to complete questionnaires surveying parenting style and gender ideology. Analyses assessed the similarity of parents and their children in terms of gender ideology as well as examined parenting style as a moderator of this association. Results indicated that parent and child gender ideologies are similar, but parenting style does not consistently moderate the transmission of gender ideology from parent to child. Results also revealed that paternal gender ideology is more consistently related to teen, particularly male, gender ideology than maternal gender ideology.Item Open Access Partner communication behaviors and diurnal cortisol patterns(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Seiter, Natasha, author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Quirk, Kelley, committee member; Henry, Kim, committee memberPrevious research suggests that diurnal cortisol patterns are associated with marital communication behaviors reported in naturalistic settings (e.g., Stawski, Cichy, Piazza, & Almeida, 2013), and observed communication behaviors are associated with acute cortisol responses to marital conflict laboratory tasks (e.g., Feinberg et al., 2013). However, it is unclear how observed marital communication behaviors are linked to individuals' typical diurnal cortisol patterns. The goal of this study was to investigate whether partners' ratios of observed positive to negative communication behaviors, self-reported marital conflict, and/or self-reported resolution predict diurnal cortisol patterns. Participants were heterosexual couples (n=124) who engaged in a conflict discussion which was videotaped and coded for negative and positive communication behaviors and reported marital conflict. Cortisol samples were taken across two days for each individual. Results of structural equation model analyses suggested that men's greater observed communication quality predicted women's higher cortisol intercepts and men's steeper slopes, men's greater self-reported marital conflict predicted women's lower intercepts, and, in some models, women's greater reported resolution predicted women's lower intercepts and men's steeper slopes. Overall, these findings suggest that less positive and more negative marital conflict is a stressor that contributes to dysfunctional functioning of the stress system. Implications of this research for couples' therapy practice are discussed.Item Open Access Positive parenting as a mediator of the association between mindful parenting and adolescent adjustment(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Adams, Melanie S., author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; MacPhee, David, committee member; Brown, Samantha, committee memberMindful parenting is characterized by parents paying intentional, present-centered, and nonjudgmental attention to their children and their own parenting. Empirical and theoretical support points to mindful parenting as a protective factor associated with lower incidence of adolescent behavioral problems and mental health issues such as externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Likewise, positive parenting behaviors that engender close and secure parent-child relationships have been shown to be a protective factor in reducing adolescent maladjustment. The current study was guided by three aims. The first aim was to examine whether adolescent reports of mindful parenting are negatively associated with adolescent reports of internalizing and externalizing behaviors, as has been found to be the case with parent reports. The associations between mindful parenting and adolescent adjustment were found to be negative and statistically significant across parent gender and adjustment outcome. The second aim was to examine whether adolescent reports of positive parenting practices mediate the association between mindful parenting and adolescent adjustment. The third aim was to examine whether mediation differs for reports of mothers' and fathers' mindful parenting. The interrelated positive parenting behaviors of parental autonomy granting, overcontrol, trust, and reaction to adolescent disclosure were analyzed as a factor variable and entered in the model as the mediator. Associations were examined at baseline without intervention and from an adolescent perspective rather than the more common parent perspective. Structural equation modeling was conducted using Mplus to test whether positive parenting practices mediate the association between parental mindfulness and adolescent adjustment. Adolescents' perception of mindful parenting on part of their mothers versus their fathers was found to make a larger perceived contribution to overall positive parenting in the household. Results of analyzing four separate models indicated that associations differed by parent gender and adolescent adjustment outcome, with significant mediation for all models with the exception of fathers' mindful parenting paired with the outcome of adolescent internalizing behavior. The finding of no significant direct pathways in the presence of significant indirect pathways of mediation models across outcomes and for either mothers or fathers is a consistent finding bolstering preliminary indications that the contribution of mindful parenting on adolescent adjustment may indeed be mediated. Overall, results provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that positive parenting mediates the association between mindful parenting and adolescent adjustment, while providing support for the notion that patterns may differ by parent gender. A better understanding of whether positive parenting practices might act as mediators of the benefits of mindful parenting has implications for parenting intervention work that could consider pairing mindfulness instruction with lessons on these specific positive parenting behaviors to optimize the buffer to adolescent maladjustment.Item Open Access Romantic conflict, interpersonal mindfulness, and cellular aging(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Rigsby, Brock A., author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Brown, Samantha, committee member; Faw, Meara, committee memberInterpersonal relationships can affect health (Ellison et al., 2016, Laurent et al., 2013) including biological and cellular aging processes measured through telomere length (Rentscher et al., 2020). Despite established associations between romantic conflict and health outcomes (Cummings et al., 2007), empirical evidence has yet to emerge supporting a link between romantic conflict and telomere length. Given the frequency with which adults may experience romantic conflict (Papp et al., 2002), it is important to understand how multi-faceted romantic conflict experiences impact health so that targeted interventions can be developed. Mindfulness has well-established benefits for health (Lucas-Thompson et al., 2019) and close personal relationships (Pratscher et al., 2018; Townshend et al., 2016), thus mindful partnering (Seiter et al., 2021) may be a fruitful avenue for such intervention. Using a community sample of 30 couples, this study explored hypothesized associations between romantic conflict and telomere length, as well as the moderating effects of mindful partnering, through self-reported and observational data. A small but non-significant association was found between romantic conflict and telomere length, and no significant moderating effect of mindful partnering emerged.Item Open Access Sibling relationships and the Campus Connections program(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Grossklaus, Olivia, author; Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, advisor; Krafchick, Jen, advisor; Carlson, Laurie, committee memberCampus Connections (CC) is an award-winning, therapeutic, one-on-one mentoring program created to promote the resilience and life success of youth (Haddock et al., 2020; Weiler et al., 2015). The robust existing literature on the positive impact of CC demonstrates a need to identify other factors that can continue to improve outcomes for youth. This study looks at the impact of sibling participation on the intended impacts of CC, specifically self-reported anxiety, self-reported depression, and self-reported belongingness within CC moderated by age gap between sibling participants. Participants included 654 youth (range = 10 to 18, 59% female, 58.2% Caucasian) enrolled in CC, with 25% of the youth having completed the program with a sibling. Results found that there was no evidence for significant differences in change in key outcomes (anxiety, depression, belongingness in CC) based on whether youth participated with a sibling within this study. Age gap between siblings was also not a significant moderator of these associations. While this study was limited based on its use of mostly self-report measures and change being only considered via immediate pre-test post-test differences, the results imply that sibling relationship quality may matter more than merely the participation of a sibling within CC.