Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Rates of vaping among high school students have increased significantly over the past decade. Prior research has found significant associations between youth vaping and substance use. However, little is known about how vaping is associated with various patterns of polysubstance use and asthma in youth. We aimed to identify how youth are best categorized into classes based on co-occurring vaping and polysubstance use behaviors, how these classes are associated with youth background and demographic characteristics, and if these classes significantly predict asthma outcomes. Our sample consisted of nationally representative data from the 2017 and 2019 waves of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N = 28,442). We utilized Latent Class Analysis, multinomial logistic regression analyses, and binary logistic regression analyses to examine relationships between youth vaping, polysubstance use, and asthma. Three latent classes of substance use were identified: Polysubstance Users, Lifetime Alcohol and Vape Users, and Abstainers. Age, gender, grade and race were all significantly associated with odds of membership in the Polysubstance Users class, compared to the Abstainers class. Sexual identity was not associated with class membership. Membership in the Polysubstance Users class was significantly associated with higher odds of asthma, as compared to membership in the other two classes. These findings indicate that recent vaping is associated with high probabilities of recent polysubstance use. They also suggest that youth with high probabilities of vaping and polysubstance use are at significantly high risk for asthma compared to other classes vi of youth users and non-users. We recommend that future youth intervention strategies be tailored differently toward different classes of substance use and vaping. Future research should examine how the classes of vaping and substance use that we identify emerge in youth and what social factors (e.g., peer behavior, parental connectedness, etc.) influence their development.

No description available.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of an appearance-focused intervention to reduce the risk of skin cancer by decreasing indoor tanning, examine potential heterogeneity in tanning across this time, and correlate the subtypes with predictors collected at baseline. Design: Randomized controlled trial with 379 female college students measured at 6 monthly time points. Main Outcome Measure: Self-reported indoor tanning frequency. Results: The intervention was effective at decreasing tanning over the period between the fall and spring. Longitudinal latent class analysis found 3 patterns of tann1ers among the treatment individuals: abstainers, moderate tanners, and heavy tanners. These classes appeared in both the treatment and control conditions, and the intervention had a harm reduction effect by reducing levels of exposure within the moderate and heavy tanner classes. Participant age and self-reported tanning patterns were found to be predictive of class membership. Conclusions: This research suggests that brief intervention approaches can be effective at reducing risk for skin cancer and illustrates several ways in which these protective effects can be enhanced.

Background For the 1.2 million older adults residing in U.S. nursing homes, little is known about their experience with physical frailty and cognitive impairment, two critical interrelated aging conditions. Methods Minimum Data Set 3.0 was used. Physical frailty was measured by FRAIL-NH and cognitive impairment by Brief Interview for Mental Status and Cognitive Performance Scale. Demographic and clinical characteristics were adjusted accordingly. Aim 1 described the prevalence of physical frailty and cognitive impairment and longitudinally examined the association between two conditions with the non-proportional odds model. Aim 2 used latent class analysis to identify physical frailty subgroups and estimated their association with cognitive impairment using multinomial logistic regression. Aim 3 fitted group-based trajectory models to identify physical frailty trajectories and cognitive impairment trajectories and quantified the association between the two sets of trajectories. Main Results Around 60% of older residents were physically frail and 68% had moderate/severe cognitive impairment, with improvement and worsening observed in both conditions, particularly in the first three months. Older residents with moderate/severe cognitive impairment were consistently and increasingly more likely to be frail. Three physical frailty subgroups were identified at admission. Greater cognitive impairment was associated with higher odds to belong to “severe physical frailty”. Five physical frailty trajectories and three cognitive impairment trajectories were identified over the first six months. One in five older residents were “Consistently Frail” and “Consistently Severe Cognitive Impairment”. Conclusion Findings emphasized the need for care management tailored to the heterogeneous presentations and progression trajectories of physical frailty and cognitive impairment.

With a higher number of nocturnal tornado events, I surveyed residents of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee (N = 487 for each sample) to determine the time, in minutes, it took to reach a decision on shelter-seeking. I utilized latent class analysis (LCA) to create class memberships, based on diurnal and nocturnal scenarios, to associate with time intervals. Four actors were identified for each scenario: Tech Users, Typical Actors, Non-Reactors, and Social Actors for the day sample, Tech Users, Typical Actors, Passive Actors, and Non-Reactors for the night sample. Time intervals were created and applied to each class. All class assignments except one, Traditional Actors in the night sample, used more time than allotted in an average tornado warning lead time (~15 minutes). Future studies may be necessary to determine a reduction in time needed for decision-making, such as establishing the most impactful warning sources.

No description available.

No description available.

Research has shown that there are a number of risk factors that increase the odds of youth joining gangs, from individual- to family- to neighborhood-level risks. Studies have identified child abuse and other childhood traumatic experiences as influences on gang membership. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) provide a framework for how to measure and identify these traumatic events. This dissertation study uses longitudinal data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study (PYS) to inform the relationship between early life events and later gang membership. First, the count of total ACEs experienced by gang involved youth were compared to nongang youth. Then, latent class analysis was used to create groupings of ACEs to determine if particular classes of adverse events are associated with higher odds of gang membership during later adolescence. Using the longitudinal data structure of the PYS, additional latent classes were developed when breaking up the adversity into separate age ranges. ACE categories for the youngest cohort were able to be divided into early school entry (elementary school), early adolescence (middle school), and later adolescence (high school) due to their earlier age of first survey, and then these age-graded categories were added into the latent class model to determine if age specific adversity increased odds of gang membership. Lastly, covariates were added into the model to test if time-stable elements increased odds of belonging to one of the classes identified in the initial latent class analysis. The methods described above produced results, showing that gang involved youth have significantly more childhood adversity than nongang involved youth on average. When the latent class analysis was conducted, a three-class solution was found to be the most appropriate model, with classes with higher odds of adversity leading to greater odds of gang membership. There was no significant difference between two classes that had higher odds of adversity, though both included high rates of community violence experiences and parental separation. There were mixed findings on the impact of age specific adversity. Lastly, covariates were added into the model finding early school achievement plays a large role in predicting class membership, while familial financial strain does not. The findings from this dissertation have important implications for policy and practice around gang prevention and intervention in that they can help pinpoint constellations of risk factors. Evidence-based school intervention programs, such as The Fourth R-- an in-school intervention designed to reduce delinquency through positive relationship building with teachers, parents, and pro-social peers (Crooks et al., 2011)-- are important for reducing the odds of experiencing higher odds of adversity. Additionally, programs that work with youth who experience adversity can help reduce the hurt they perpetrate on others. / Criminal Justice

Heterogeneity in the profile of HIV-associated neuropsychological disorder (HAND) may obscure understanding of its etiology and prognosis. Despite longstanding acknowledgement of this heterogeneity, HAND diagnostic approaches such as the Frascati criteria characterize neuropsychological function based on the level of impairment, without regard to the pattern of strengths and weaknesses. Attention to these patterns may enhance etiologic and prognostic specificity. We used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify relatively homogeneous subtypes of neurocognitive function in adults with well-treated HIV infection. We compared the diagnostic agreement of latent classes and Frascati categories, as well as their associations with demographics, HIV markers and antiretroviral factors, comorbid medical and psychiatric conditions, and everyday functioning. LCA identified four classes, whose cognitive profiles are depicted in Figure 1: cognitively intact, mild-to-moderate motor/speed impairment, mild-to-moderate memory/visuoconstruction impairment, and moderate mixed impairment. Latent classes and Frascati categories demonstrated good agreement in the overall classification of impaired cognition but more disagreement regarding subtypes of impairment. Both latent classes and Frascati categories demonstrated unique associations with etiologic factors and significant associations with functional outcomes. However, only latent classes, not Frascati categories, were associated with HIV variables. Additionally, functional difficulties were significantly elevated in the motor impairment class but not the memory impairment class despite similar levels of cognitive impairment in the two groups. Findings support the utility of a diagnostic approach that accounts for both the level and pattern of neurocognitive impairment. Future research should examine the neuropathological mechanisms, longitudinal trajectories, and treatments of empirically identified HAND subtypes. / Psychology

Although there has been a recent surge in research examining comorbidity between externalizing and internalizing disorders in childhood, relatively less work has examined relations between specific externalizing conditions (i.e., oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms) and their co-occurrence with specific internalizing conditions (i.e., depressive symptoms). Furthermore, little empirical work has evaluated potential underlying processes, such as emotion dysregulation, which may explain relations between co-occurring ODD and depressive symptoms. There is also a paucity of research examining developmental patterns of co-occurring ODD and depressive symptoms. In the present study, I used latent class and latent transition analyses to (a) identify groups of children based on ODD and depressive symptom levels, (b) determine whether emotion dysregulation predicted co-occurring ODD and depressive symptoms, and (c) examine developmental patterns of change and continuity in groups across middle childhood within a community-based sample. Children were characterized by three latent classes based on ODD and depressive symptom severity: a group with very low levels of ODD or depressive symptoms, an ODD-only group with low levels of symptoms, and a co-occurring ODD and depressive symptom group with moderate levels of ODD and low levels of depressive symptoms. Furthermore, emotion dysregulation predicted to the class with moderate levels of ODD and low levels of depressive symptoms, although prediction from emotion dysregulation to class membership depended on the methodology used to index emotion dysregulation. Results of the LTA analyses suggested that symptom severity was relatively stable across middle childhood, with little evidence of changes in developmental patterns of ODD and depressive symptoms. Overall, the results of this study provide an important foundation for more sophisticated empirical inquiry regarding co-occurring ODD and depressive symptoms in childhood and potential processes that may explain their onset and development. / Psychology