Eating disorders and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) are pervasive behaviors that typically begin in early to mid-adolescence. They commonly co-occur, resulting in increasingly negative psychological and physical outcomes than either behavior alone. Emotion reactivity and family functioning have been studied in relation to both eating disorders and NSSI. Both constructs have demonstrated strong relationships to these behaviors, but emotion reactivity appears to be more strongly associated with NSSI, while family functioning appears to be more strongly related to eating disorders. The current study sought to determine whether emotion reactivity and family functioning could differentiate between adolescents with only an eating disorder, only NSSI, or both behaviors. Data were collected from 229 adolescents in both inpatient and outpatient treatment programs who reported either a diagnosed eating disorder, past week NSSI, or both. Results indicated that increased emotion reactivity increased the likelihood that an individual was categorized in the NSSI only group compared to the eating disorder group and the comorbid group. There was no main effect for family functioning across all analyses. Based on these results, emotion reactivity may be an important variable to consider in distinguishing between adolescents with eating disorders who may or may not engage in NSSI, and may provide further insight when examined longitudinally

Estrogens seem to play a role in the locomotor activating effects of cocaine. Japanese quail provide a good model for hormonal manipulation as alterations of their photoperiod controls hormone levels. The current study aims to examine the role of early life photoperiod manipulation in cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization in quail. It was expected that if quail were raised on a short photoperiod, they would have a reduction in gonadal hormones and this reduction in hormones would affect the acquisition of cocaine-induced behavioral sensitization. Quail were raised on an 8L:16D or a 16L:8D light cycle. Following 2 days of habituation, quail were administered saline, 5 mg/kg, or 10 mg/kg cocaine for 10 days. Restricted photoperiods in early life were correlated to lower gonadal hormone levels in females and males. Male quail raised on the short-light cycle developed a sensitized response to 10 mg/kg cocaine. Female quail raised on the short- or long-photoperiod developed behavioral sensitization to 5 mg/kg cocaine. Furthermore, early life reduction in estradiol in females modulated the amount of activity on day 10 of cocaine treatment. The current research extends previous research by finding a possible early life gonadal hormone control of behavioral sensitization in the quail.

Multisensory environments facilitate behavioral functioning in humans. The redundant signal effect (RSE) refers to the observation that individuals respond more quickly to stimuli when information is presented as multisensory, redundant stimuli rather than as a single stimulus presented to either modality alone. Our studies show that the disinhibiting effects of alcohol are attenuated when stop signals are multisensory versus unisensory. The present study expanded on this research to test the degree to which multisensory stop signals could also attenuate the disinhibiting effects of alcohol in those with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a clinical population characterized by poor impulse control. The study compared young adults with ADHD with healthy controls and examined the acute impairing effect of alcohol on response inhibition to stop signals that were presented as a unisensory stimulus or a multisensory stimulus. For controls, results showed alcohol impaired response inhibition to unisensory stop signals but not to multisensory stop signals. Response inhibition of those with ADHD was impaired by alcohol regardless of whether stop signals were unisensory or multisensory. The failure of multisensory stimuli to attenuate alcohol impairment in those with ADHD highlights a specific vulnerability that could account for heightened sensitivity to the disruptive effects of alcohol.

Past research has indicated a significant relationship between physical fitness and standardized test scores; however, the relationship between physical fitness and other aspects of school performance has yet to be empirically examined in a population specifically composed of middle school girls. This study examined several factors that contribute to school success, such as classroom behavior, attendance, and grades, in relation to physical fitness among a group of adolescent girls. It was specifically designed to examine the statistical relationship between physical fitness, as measured by the Fitnessgram, and quantitative data on school performance including grades, standardized test scores, school behavior, and attendance among 280 middle school girls. The biopsychosocial theory was used as the basis of this study, with the biological factors of fitness levels and BMI, psychological factors of grades and test scores, and social factors of attendance and behavior. A 1-way between-subjects multivariate analysis of variance demonstrated that the psychological and social factors of school performance were significantly affected by the biological factor of physical fitness. A significant correlation was also found between BMI, grades, and attendance. Positive social change implications include informing school administrators on the importance of increasing the emphasis on physical activity instead of replacing physical activity with additional time in core academic subjects. In addition, the results demonstrate the important relationship between school performance and physical fitness in middle school girls and underscore the importance of fostering physical fitness within this distinct group of middle school-aged girls.

Translational research suggests that agonist replacement may be a viable treatment approach for managing methamphetamine dependence. This study sought to determine the effects of d-amphetamine maintenance on methamphetamine self-administration in stimulant using participants. A cognitive battery was used to determine the performance effects of methamphetamine alone and during d-amphetamine maintenance. During each maintenance condition, participants first sampled a dose of intranasal methamphetamine then had the opportunity to respond on a progressive ratio task to earn portions of the sampled dose. Subject-rated drug-effect and physiological measures were completed prior to and after sampling methamphetamine. Methamphetamine was self-administered as function of dose regardless of the maintenance condition. Methamphetamine produced prototypical subject-rated effects, some of which were attenuated by d-amphetamine maintenance. Methamphetamine was well tolerated during d-amphetamine maintenance and no adverse events occurred. The self-administration results are concordant with those of clinical trials that show d-amphetamine did not reduce methamphetamine use. Generally, there was no difference in cognitive performance after methamphetamine administration during both placebo and d-amphetamine maintenance. Overall d-amphetamine does not appear to be a viable treatment for preventing methamphetamine relapse, but translational literature suggests that other agonist medications or the combination of pharmacotherapy and behavioral therapies may be effective.

The purpose of the current project is to illustrate the application of advanced statistical techniques to address research questions about depression and anxiety in patients with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The first study, using data from 100 patients who were randomized into a clinical trial of cognitive behavioral therapy, used bivariate mixed models to determine trajectories of depression and anxiety after an ACS, to examine the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on depression and anxiety, and to determine if anxiety and depression symptoms change at the same rate with CBT treatment as indicated by joint modeling of these two psychiatric disorders. The findings suggest that depression and anxiety are highly correlated and persistent in patients with an ACS both at baseline and over time. The intervention used in the present investigation does not appear to uncouple the association between anxiety and depression, suggesting that CBT has comparable effects on both psychiatric disorders. The second study used latent transition analysis to identify symptomatology profiles of depression, anxiety, and functional impairment in patients with an ACS, describe changes over time (two, three and six-month follow-up) in patient’s acute symptom profiles, and determine if patients receiving CBT showed signs of remission in depression, anxiety and impaired function earlier than patients that received usual care. A three-class model was selected to identify and describe these acute symptom profiles. One class was characterized by patients with both psychiatric disorders and impaired function, the second by patients with psychiatric disorders but normal function, and the third by patients with anxiety but without depression, and having normal function. There was moderate improvement in depression, anxiety and functional status for control patients, but this improvement was less evident than in the treatment group. Women showed a better response to CBT than men. The third study used latent class and latent transition analysis to determine symptom profiles of depression and anxiety in patients with an ACS using the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale; a secondary study goal was to examine the effects of age and gender on these symptom patterns. A two-class model was selected to describe depression and anxiety symptomatology profiles. Class I (76% of patients at baseline) was labeled as “severe depression and some anxiety” whereas Class II (24% of patients at baseline) was labeled as “mild depression and distress anxiety”. More than 70% of older patients continued to have severe depression and anxiety at follow-up and a large proportion of these patients who reported mild depression and anxiety at baseline showed worsening of symptoms at follow-up. The current study demonstrates that patients with depression and anxiety after an ACS can be identified on the basis of the symptoms that they present. This is particularly important to identifying individuals at potential risk for developing clinical complications after an ACS.

Separate externalizing and internalizing pathways to problem drinking have been described. However, internalizing and externalizing are substantially correlated, thus, there is good reason to believe that these two forms of dysfunction behaviors do not operate independently. We tested an integrative developmental model of transactions among internalizing symptomatology, externalizing personality, and psychosocial learning in the prediction of both drinking problems and future internalizing symptoms. To do so, we studied a large sample (n = 1910, 49.9% female) of children over a critical developmental period, from the spring of 5th (last year elementary school) grade through the spring of 9th grade (first year of high school). Using a battery of self-report questionnaires, we assessed demographics, pubertal status, negative urgency, depressive symptoms, positive drinking expectancies, and drinking behavior. Specifically, the present study tested whether internalizing symptomatology (depressive symptoms) in elementary school predicts a classic externalizing pathway ( to problem drinking in middle school, and whether problem drinking in middle school predicts increased depressive symptomatology in highschool. Structural equation modeling yielded significant findings for hypothesized direct and indirect pathways, with overall good model fit (CFI = .94; SRMR = .05; RMSEA = .05, 90% CI .04-.05): elementary school depressive symptomatology predicted middle school drinking problems (mediated by negative urgency and psychosocial learning) and middle school drinking problems predicted increased risk for depressive symptoms in high school, pointing to a reciprocal relationship between internalizing and externalizing dysfunction. The present study incorporated internalizing symptomatology into a traditional externalizing model of drinking risk, and demonstrated a reciprocal relationship between internalizing and externalizing dysfunction during adolescence. These findings are particularly noteworthy when considered in a developmental framework. The present study highlights the need to integrate both internalizing and externalizing forms of dysfunction into models of substance use risk.

No description available.

Drug use during pregnancy is a growing concern in the US, as prenatal drug exposure (PDE) predicts negative outcomes in child development. One such outcome is physical, as existing research supports a relationship between PDE and head circumference at birth. Other outcomes include temperament-related behaviors, such as inhibitory control. Inhibitory control, which is the inability to resist impulses to heed a command, has been negatively correlated with PDE. Further, there is a small body of research suggesting a positive relationship between PDE and general fearfulness. Within this, research on social fear and PDE is even more limited. Findings from one study indicate infants with cocaine PDE experience more distress around others than infants without cocaine PDE. Following these lines of research, the current study investigated relationships among PDE, head circumference at birth, and temperament-related outcomes (e.g., social fear and inhibitory control). Participants consisted of 215 mothers from South-Central Appalachia. PDE was operationalized using scores on the self-report substance use questionnaire, which measures use of a broad range of drug use. Inhibitory control and social fear were operationalized using parental report TBAQ subscale scores. We hypothesized that there would be statistically significant differences between infants with PDE and those without PDE with regards to head circumference at birth, inhibitory control at 15 months of age, and social fear at 15 months of age. We also hypothesized that PDE would be negatively correlated with head circumference at birth, negatively correlated with inhibitory control at 15 months of age, and positively correlated with social fear at 15 months of age. Based on independent samples t-tests, after Bonferroni correction (p = .0125), no statistically significant differences were found between PDE and non-PDE infants with regards to head circumference at birth t(213) = -0.41, p = 0.68), parental report of social fear in children at 15 months of age t(213) = 2.24, p = 0.026), or parental report of inhibitory control in children at 15 months of age t(213) = -.204, p = .839). Bivariate Pearson product-moment correlations revealed a statistically significant negative relationship between amount of PDE and social fear at 15 months of age r(215) = -.187, p = .006. No statistically significant linear relationships were found between amount of PDE and inhibitory control r(215) = .005, p = .947, or between amount of PDE and head circumference at birth r(215) = -.027 p = .691. With the exception of the negative relationship between PDE and social fear, our hypotheses were not supported by our findings. The inverse relationship between social fear and PDE indicates a need for further research. The inconsistency between findings from the current study and existing literature may, to some degree, be accounted for by the limitations of retrospective self-report of substance use. Additionally, with a predominantly Caucasian sample, a more diverse sample is needed. Nonetheless, findings from the current study point to a need for additional research on the relationships among PDE, temperament-related behaviors, and physical outcome variables to further explore inconsistencies with existing research.

Mu-opioid receptor (MOR) agonists are effective agents for pain management, but are also limited by a number of undesirable effects. One approach to enhance the therapeutic effects and minimize the undesirable effects of MOR agonists may be to combine MOR agonists with an adjunct targeting a different receptor system. This targeted medical approach, known as “combination therapy”, aims to augment the desired effects of the MOR agonist (i.e. antinociception) and/or diminish the undesirable deleterious side effects of the MOR agonist. This dissertation investigated the utility of this approach in an assay of thermal nociception and schedule-controlled responding in male rhesus monkeys with three aims. One aim determined the utility of N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists to selectively enhance MOR agonist antinociception. A second identified the pharmacological determinants of antinociceptive interactions between a nociceptin opioid peptide (NOP) receptor agonist and MOR agonists. A third aim investigated the potential for fixed-proportion mixtures of a competitive MOR antagonist and MOR agonist to manipulate antinociceptive efficacy. Experimental results did not support the utility of NMDA antagonists as adjuncts to selectively enhance MOR agonist antinociception. Furthermore, the antinociceptive interactions between a NOP agonist and MOR agonists were modest and occurred under a narrow range of conditions. Finally, fixed proportion MOR antagonist-agonist mixtures were effective in manipulating antinociceptive in vivo efficacy. In conclusion, this dissertation does not provide strong empirical evidence that a combination therapy approach will result in clinically effective and selective enhancement of MOR agonist analgesia. The dissertation concludes with proposed strategies and novel preclinical methods to enhance preclinical-to-clinical translation of effective candidate analgesics.