Health-compromising behavior is a leading cause of death among American Indian (Al) adolescents. Examples of these behaviors include: smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use, and lack of seatbelt use. Theories that predict which Al youth are most at risk for executing these behaviors are needed. Social learning theory (SL T) has shown adolescents' behaviors are sometimes highly correlated with their parents' behaviors across different ethnic groups. However, there has been little previous research done with Als. The present study attempted to determine if SL T was applicable to Al adolescents and their parents with regard to four health-related behaviors: cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, seatbelt use, and religiosity. The first three were chosen because of the high number of Al adolescent deaths associated with them. Religiosity was included because high religiosity scores have been shown to negatively correlate with health-compromising behaviors in some studies. The present study provided partial support for SL T when applied to Al youth. For example, there were positive correlations found between parents' smoking and if the youths have ever smoked regularly or smoke currently. Little support was found for SL T with regard to alcohol consumption (i.e., the overall correlation was not significant). The exception to this was when daughters were correlated with fathers. How often the father drank and if he binged were positively correlated with how often the daughter drank and if she ever binged. There were strong correlations between parents' seatbelt use and similar use of their adolescents, thus supporting the theory. Also, strong positive correlations were found between the religiosity of the parents' and the youth. Further, religiosity did show negative correlations with health-compromising behaviors among the youth. There was also a sex difference found, with female youth having stronger negative correlations than the male youth. There were 290 Al adolescents in this nationally representative sample, 136 mate and 154 female. All the behaviors were measured via self-report, as was the identification of the adolescent's ethnicity. Limitations of this research, implications for future research, and areas for prevention/intervention with Al youth at risk are discussed.

<p>During adolescence, both boys and girls confront a period of heightened risk for dissatisfaction with weight and shape and engagement in unhealthy appearance-related behaviors. For many adolescents, this risk coincides with involvement in a range of romantic partnerships. Although a considerable body of empirical work has investigated same-gender peer influences on weight- and shape-related attitudes and behaviors, very little research has examined the role of romantic partners in this socialization process. Derived from social norms and social rewards theories of influence, this study examined several distinct modes through which romantic partners may influence changes in gender-specific behaviors and attitudes over a 6-month period. Participants included 214 (56% female) male and female adolescents ages 16-17 who reported having a romantic partner (of varying seriousness and relationship length) at Time 1. Results from multiple group (by gender) longitudinal path analyses revealed that both boys and girls experienced weight-related influence from a romantic partner. The seriousness and length of a romantic partner relationship moderated some, but not all, influence effects. Findings suggest that romantic relationships are important contexts for changes in adolescents' appearance-related health. Future research should examine romantic partners as contributors to both health-risk and health-promoting behaviors and attitudes.</p> / Dissertation

The present study used a discounting task with differing contextual variables to examine how variables effect discounting between studies and future health related behaviors. Thirty nine participants completed two discounting questionnaires, each included hypothetical food choices paired with a weight loss or stable weight. Participants were instructed to complete each survey based on either their current weight or a gain of 75 pounds, and each survey included two identical hypothetical menu options. One menu incorporated low calorie foods, while the other incorporated moderately healthy foods, and participants were instructed to select the menu they preferred based on weight loss/no weight loss and hypothetical weight presented in instruction. Visual analysis of the results showed a difference in discounting across the conditions; participants appeared to be more impulsive at their current weight. At normal weight, visual analysis of the switch values show that the proportional value of the switch ranged from 1.0 at the lowest proportional delay level to .75 at proportional delay 1. In the hypothetical weight gain condition, this occurred at a level of .95 at the lowest proportional delay and .75 at delay 1. In a visual analysis of AUC comparisons, participants’ scores are higher in the 75 pound weight condition than the normal weight condition, and farther from 0 in the 75 pound weight condition.

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Research has demonstrated the crucial role fresh fruit and vegetable consumption plays in maintaining good health. However, most Americans do not consume adequate amounts, and low-income Americans consume the lowest quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables. The Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) and Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) attempts to rectify this situation by providing vouchers to low-income women, children, and elders that can be used only at farmers’ markets for the purchase of locally grown, fresh fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, FMNP and SFMNP exhibit variable and often low benefit utilization. This variable and often low benefit utilization is unique among all other federal food assistance programs. Given the importance of fresh fruit and vegetable consumption to health and the incomplete understanding of low-income food-related behaviors, this research endeavored to understand the unique benefit utilization patterns exhibited by FMNP. Utilizing the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu, benefit utilization was conceptualized as an inherently social activity occurring within the field of food acquisition. Through the use of extensive interviews with FMNP and SFMNP officials, field observations, and secondary data analysis, data was collected to determine the relevant capitals and features of the field contributing to benefit utilization. Cultural capital was deemed to be particularly important to benefit utilization vis-à-vis the requirement to enter the subfield of the farmers’ market to redeem their vouchers. Compared to SFMNP participants, FMNP participants exhibited lower and often multiple deficits of the types of cultural capital needed to successfully use the vouchers at farmers’ markets. However, the local fields in which the farmers’ markets operated also had a significant impact on benefit utilization. For example, Appalachian counties exhibited higher rates of benefit utilization that were statistically significant compared to non-Appalachian counties. This resulted in several policy recommendations including the distribution of recipes, interagency collaboration, and repeated opportunities to enter the subfield of the farmers’ market to encourage higher benefit utilization in FMNP and SFMNP.

Alcohol use disorder is a global health issue that affects a significant portion of the population, with affects including both negative mental and physical consequences. Currently, there are few treatment options available to those who suffer from alcohol use disorder, alcohol abuse, or alcohol dependence. Identifying candidate genes or environmental influences would therefore improve the means for possible treatments or identification of those people at risk for alcohol use disorder. Previous studies in humans have demonstrated an inverse association between initial sensitivity and risk for alcohol abuse. This connection allows investigators, and our laboratory, to investigate genetic and environmental factors that may influence initial ethanol sedation. Our laboratory utilizes Drosophila melanogaster (flies) as a model organism to identify these such factors influencing acute behavioral responses to alcohol. Our lab has found evidence for both environmental and genetic factors that influence initial alcohol sensitivity in flies. In one study, flies that are fed increased amounts of dietary yeast are resistant to ethanol. We have found that this ethanol resistance is related to the amount of nutrients that is consumed, which then affects alcohol uptake/metabolism, to influence initial alcohol sensitivity. Importantly, we found that serotonergic neuron function is essential for regulating the consumption of high dietary yeast media for the increased nutrient intake to occur. In two separate projects, we identified a role for myocyte enhancer factor 2 (Mef2) and nitric oxide synthase (Nos) in initial alcohol sensitivity. Mef2 was obtained via a GWAS study identifying genes with an association with initial sensitivity in humans. We found that decreasing or altering Mef2 expression, using mutants or Mef2 RNAi, resulted in flies having decreased sensitivity to alcohol. The gene Nos, came out of a previous genetic interaction screen in the laboratory. Multiple reagents to assess Nos’s role in alcohol behavior were obtained and consistent evidence from three piggyBac transposon insertion flies and, importantly, a Nos null fly, demonstrate that decreased Nos expression results in increased ethanol sensitivity. Other preliminary results suggest that Nos expression during adulthood, as well as the mechanism of S-nitrosation, may be important for ethanol sedation in Drosophila.

This study investigated the specific health-promoting behaviors employed by early adolescents (n = 246) and their subjective well-being (SWB) to provide an understanding of how mental and physical wellness relate in teens. Participants self-reported on their dietary habits, physical activity, sleep hygiene, safety habits, and attitudes toward substance use. A comprehensive assessment of SWB was also gathered (i.e., global life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect). The researcher hypothesized that each of the five health-promoting behaviors assessed in the current study would have significant, positive correlations with the SWB of early adolescents, in that youth who reported higher levels of engagement in these healthy behaviors also would report higher levels of happiness. Furthermore, demographic characteristics of gender, race, and socioeconomic status were hypothesized to play a moderating role in the relationship between health promotion and happiness. Findings demonstrated that two health-promoting behaviors were significantly correlated with SWB in the current study. Increased amount of sleep per night was linked to higher SWB, while attitudes toward substance use were negatively correlated with youth's SWB. A significant percentage of the variance in SWB (15%) was accounted for by the linear combination of health-promoting behaviors, although only one of the five health promoting behaviors (i.e., attitudes toward substance use) was a unique predictor of SWB. In addition, none of the interaction terms of gender, race, and SES with health-promoting behaviors were significant predictors of SWB, indicating that moderating effects were not found for this sample. Implications for further investigation of these findings include the use of other methods for reporting health-promoting behaviors in early adolescents as well as replication of moderating effects with a more ethnically diverse sample of youth. Findings call for integration of health promotion programming into school psychology practice from a prevention to targeted level of service delivery with youth.

Distinct alcohol self-administration behaviors are observed when comparing two F1 hybrid strains of mice: C57BL/6J x NZB/B1NJ (B6xNZB) show reduced alcohol preference (RAP) after experience with high concentrations of alcohol and abstinence periods and C57BL/6J x FVB/NJ (B6xFVB) show sustained alcohol preference (SAP), providing models of stable, high alcohol consumption and moderate drinking. The purpose of this dissertation is to characterize ethanol-related behaviors and define neurocircuits engaged by SAP and RAP. We performed a battery of behavioral tests to define behaviors that predict SAP and RAP. B6xFVB exhibited less severe ethanol-induced conditioned taste aversion and were less sensitive to ethanol-induced loss of righting reflex (LORR) than B6xNZB. Both hybrids demonstrated ethanol-induced place preference and low ethanol withdrawal severity. Hybrids differ in sensitivity to the aversive and sedative, but not rewarding, effects of ethanol. Results of elevated plus maze, mirror chamber, and locomotor tests reveal B6xFVB mice are less anxious and more active than B6xNZB mice. The validity of the SAP behavioral phenotype in B6xFVB mice was determined by testing whether chronic self-administration of ethanol produced tolerance or dependence. We measured responses from ethanol-naïve and ethanol-experienced mice in tests of ethanol-induced hypothermia, withdrawal severity, and LORR. Chronic ethanol self-administration resulted in tolerance to sedative and hypothermic effects of ethanol; however, physical dependence was not evident as measured by ethanol withdrawal severity. We tested the hypothesis that SAP and RAP behavioral differences are represented by differential production of the inducible transcription factor, FosB. FosB immunoreactivity was quantified in 16 brain structures after chronic ethanol consumption or only water. Neuronal activity (as measured by FosB levels) depended on ethanol experience, brain region, and genotype, further supporting the notion that neuronal circuitry underlies motivational aspects of ethanol consumption. For B6xNZB mice, ethanol consumption resulted in increased neuronal activity in the EW, VTA, and amygdala, known ethanol- reward-, and stress-related brain regions. In B6xFVB, ethanol consumption resulted in a larger network of correlated regional activity, whereas in B6xNZB ethanol consumption resulted in a smaller network. These studies characterized genetic models of stable, high consumption (SAP) and moderate drinking (RAP) in two hybrid mouse strains. / text

ABSTRACT MARY D. HILL Recalled fruit and vegetable intake while growing up and its association with adult fruit and vegetable intake among U.S. adults – analysis of the food attitudes and behaviors survey (Under the direction of DR. KYMBERLE STERLING) High dietary intake of fruits and vegetables (FVs) is associated with a lower risk for chronic disease including certain cancers, optimal child growth, and weight management. More than 72 million U.S. adults are obese; therefore, fruit and vegetable intake is important in weight management. Using data from the Food Attitude and Behavior survey, this study will address the following questions: is there a correlation between recalled fruit and vegetable intake during childhood and adult fruit and vegetable intake among U.S. adults? Secondly, is reported fruit and vegetable consumption associated with sociodemographic variables and other health-related behaviors? Results indicated there is a positive correlation between recalled FV intake and reported FV intake in adults. Therefore, public health practitioners should develop initiatives to increase the amount of FV intake in children so that these FV consumption habits may continue in adulthood.

Childhood obesity has increased significantly in the past decade. The same factors putting adults at risk for obesity apply to children as well. For children, the family environment may be one of the largest factors. Obesity affects both adults and children of low socioeconomic status. It also affects families living in the Appalachian region of the United States more frequently than other regions. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between obesity related behaviors and nutrition education among Appalachian participants in the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). For this study eleven educators from the Appalachian region who work with the EFNEP/SNAP-Education program were interviewed by telephone. Their responses to questions were coded according to a pre-prepared answer guide. From answers provided by staff there are some areas that the EFNEP program could focus on more. Some of these areas include educating participants on budgeting and family finance, cooking skill, parenting skills and physical activity. Answers provided by participants in this study suggest that educators feel fairly successful with making changes related to healthy eating but less successful with making changes in participant’s physical activity.