acase@tulane.edu / The study explored young children’s perceptions of their social worlds by analyzing an archival dataset comprised of 122 ecomaps created by African American kindergarten and first grade public school children (45% female) in 2013. An ecomap is a graphic representation of a person’s phenomenology about his or her social network; children drew representations of key relationships, coding each as stressful, supportive, or ambivalent. Results of concurrent mixed methods analyses indicated children were most likely to include family members (both adults and children) on their ecomaps; children also included friends, animals, and teachers. A number of children coded themselves. Across all relationship types, most children (i.e., boys and girls, kindergartners and first graders) perceived most relationships to be supportive. First graders were more likely than kindergartners to report ambivalent feelings about relationships. This study informs school psychologists and other researchers and clinicians who seek developmentally and contextually appropriate methodologies for gathering phenomenological data from primary school-aged children. In addition, it may also provide insights into the specific social experiences of young African American children in New Orleans. Study limitations and implications are discussed. / 1 / Meredith Summerville

Although several studies have characterized common and unique neural circuitry associated with social and non-social emotions, none to date have attempted to differentiate between social emotions that occur in very different contexts. Grieving the death of a loved one and being a target of perceived discrimination may implicate potentially distinct social processes (e.g., attachment versus affiliation). When examined separately, prior neuroimaging research has shown that both grief and perceived discrimination involved diffuse brain regions implicated variously in social stress processing and emotion, however no studies to date have directly compared these experiences. In the present study, we examined neural correlates of grief and perceived discrimination among South Asian women (n = 10), using an idiographic emotional imagery task. Grief-related imagery elicited activation in the precuneus, midbrain, dorsal striatum, and thalamocingulate regions, consistent with previous neuroimaging studies of grief and attachment. Participants showed greater activation in the anterior cingulate, hippocampus, occipital cortex, and cerebellum during Grief relative to Discrimination. We observed dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) activation in Discrimination>Neutral, which may reflect greater self-regulatory effort involved in coping with discrimination experiences. Greater temporal pole and amygdala activation in the Discrimination condition were associated with greater lifetime perceived discrimination, poorer self-reported physical health, and more depressive symptoms. Results of this pilot study suggest that there are observable differences in the brain response to these two types of social stressors, suggesting future directions for a more fine-grained view of the mechanisms through which the social environment may influence health and well-being.

Undersökningens syfte har varit att studera och synliggöra social och studierelaterad stress i två professionsorienterade utbildningar samt att studera genusaspekter i anslutning till detta. Studien är grundad på kvantitativ ansats, baserad på gruppenkät och efterföljde statistiska bearbetningar. Resultatet redogör för studenternas sociala och studierelaterade stress med fokus på psykologstudenter och informationsteknologstudenter, inklusive genusaspekten. Enligt resultatet uppskattade respondenterna sina stressnivåer på en medelhog grad. Det finns en grupp individer (cirka 15 procent) som visar psykosomatiska symptom på långvarig stress. Studenterna upplever studierelaterade stressfaktorer, stressorer som rör studieteknik, prestation, kontroll över den egna studiesituationen och rädslan inför framtiden, samt stressorer som relateras till olika sociala förhållanden. De viktigaste stressfaktorerna är: ständig tidspress och tidsbrist i studierna, de går på ständigt högvarv och de känner sig aldrig lediga från studierna. De är ständigt trötta och de har svårt att använda PBL. Det förekom könsrelaterade skillnader: kvinnor uppvisar en högre stressnivå än män.

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), are adversely affected by both stress and inflammation. Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus infection is an excellent animal model of MS, allowing examination of central nervous system inflammation during the acute phase of infection. Social disruption stress exacerbates acute Theiler's virus infection. Both social disruption stress and Theiler's virus infection elevate the proinflammatory cytokine, Interleukin-6 (IL-6). The current study examined the necessity and sufficiency of IL-6 in mediating the negative effects of social disruption stress in acute Theiler's virus infection. Experiment 1 blocked IL-6 function with a neutralizing antibody administered simultaneously with social disruption stress. All mice were then infected, and measures of illness, motor impairment and physiological signs of disease were collected up to 21 d postinfection. Experiment 2 administered exogenous IL-6 for one week (replacing social disruption with the cytokine treatment), followed by infection. Measures identical to those collected in Experiment 1 were collected for up to 21 d postinfection. Results indicate that IL-6 is necessary for the development of the sickness, motor impairment, and immunological effects of social stress in acute Theiler's virus infection. In contrast, IL-6 alone can induce some, but not all, of the sickness behavior exacerbations, and was not sufficient for the development of either motor impairment or immunological effects previously associated with social disruption stress. These results have many important implications for further research in the effects of social stress on Theiler's virus infection, as well as clinical implications for both MS and other inflammatory mediated diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

The claim of some policymakers that education is the great equalizer of socioeconomic disparities in health (Low et al. 2005) has come under question in recent years. Higher education is related to better health for both immigrants and the Canadian-born. However, immigrants experience weaker health returns to their education than the native-born (Kennedy et al. 2006). Despite the importance of this issue, the reasons for this gap are not fully understood. This dissertation integrates the immigrant health, social stress, and immigrant integration literatures to better understand this issue, using Cycles 17 and 22 of the Statistics Canada collected General Social Survey (GSS). The analyses reveal that education has a diminished effect on the self-rated health (although not stress) of immigrants, the functional limitations of established immigrants, and the happiness of recent immigrants. The reasons for this gap vary depending on the health measure. The weaker relationship between education and the functional ability of established immigrants and the happiness of recent immigrants is explained by immigrants’ lower work-related returns (employment type, occupational skill, personal income) to education. For self-rated health, the nativity status differential in the effect of education on self-rated health is rooted in immigrants’ lower work-related and psychosocial returns (mastery and trust, although not social support) to education. Since work-related and psychosocial resources are integrally linked to health, immigrants experience lower health returns to their education than the native-born. These findings make three major contributions. First, they extend the traditional understanding of the relationship between education and health (Low et al. 2005), underscoring that immigrants do not experience the same level of health benefits to their education as the native-born. Second, they augment knowledge about why immigrants experience weaker health returns to their education than the native-born: because they receive diminished employment types, occupational levels, income, mastery, and trust relative to their levels of education. Third, the results highlight that foreign education is not linked to as high mastery and trust as that of the native-born – a new finding that underscores that foreign education is not just linked to diminished work-related resources and health, but psychosocial resources as well.

The claim of some policymakers that education is the great equalizer of socioeconomic disparities in health (Low et al. 2005) has come under question in recent years. Higher education is related to better health for both immigrants and the Canadian-born. However, immigrants experience weaker health returns to their education than the native-born (Kennedy et al. 2006). Despite the importance of this issue, the reasons for this gap are not fully understood. This dissertation integrates the immigrant health, social stress, and immigrant integration literatures to better understand this issue, using Cycles 17 and 22 of the Statistics Canada collected General Social Survey (GSS). The analyses reveal that education has a diminished effect on the self-rated health (although not stress) of immigrants, the functional limitations of established immigrants, and the happiness of recent immigrants. The reasons for this gap vary depending on the health measure. The weaker relationship between education and the functional ability of established immigrants and the happiness of recent immigrants is explained by immigrants’ lower work-related returns (employment type, occupational skill, personal income) to education. For self-rated health, the nativity status differential in the effect of education on self-rated health is rooted in immigrants’ lower work-related and psychosocial returns (mastery and trust, although not social support) to education. Since work-related and psychosocial resources are integrally linked to health, immigrants experience lower health returns to their education than the native-born. These findings make three major contributions. First, they extend the traditional understanding of the relationship between education and health (Low et al. 2005), underscoring that immigrants do not experience the same level of health benefits to their education as the native-born. Second, they augment knowledge about why immigrants experience weaker health returns to their education than the native-born: because they receive diminished employment types, occupational levels, income, mastery, and trust relative to their levels of education. Third, the results highlight that foreign education is not linked to as high mastery and trust as that of the native-born – a new finding that underscores that foreign education is not just linked to diminished work-related resources and health, but psychosocial resources as well.

The purpose of this dissertation study was to examine the impact of childhood obesity on levels of self-esteem, anxiety, social stress, interpersonal relationship satisfaction, and academic achievement on students in Grades 5, 6, and 7. Professional school counselors need to be aware of how childhood obesity impacts students and how they can help their students personally, socially, and academically. The present research study uses a comparative research design to determine the levels of self-esteem, anxiety, social stress, interpersonal relationship satisfaction, and academic performance among students in Grades in 5, 6, and 7 between two groups: (a) obese children and (b) non-obese children. Height and weight were obtained from each student and entered into a Body Mass Index (BMI) calculator. Students completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition and a demographic survey. Scores from the Mississippi Curriculum Test, Second Edition were obtained as well. Students were coded as obese or non-obese and scores from the two assessments were entered into SPSS. A multivariate analysis of variance found no statistically significant results for the overall model. However, self-esteem and interpersonal relationship satisfaction were statistically significant individually. Though there were no statistically significant differences between groups, the researcher found that the mean scores of dependent variables reflected differences between obese and non-obese groups. School counselors can use this information to utilize the American School Counselor National Model to build a program for these children. Responsive services such as individual counseling, group counseling, classroom guidance, and parent education workshops can all be applied throughout the schools. Research in the future should continue to focus on the mental health implications of childhood obesity. This study provided a new perspective for research on childhood obesity not only for school counselors, but all mental health professionals. By being aware of the possible risks associated with childhood obesity, school counselors can use early intervention and prevention strategies to make a difference not only with an obese child but also within the entire school.

Childhood adversity is often associated with devastating physical, cognitive, and psychosocial outcomes, and is a major public health problem in terms of its prevalence and economic cost. Childhood adversity is associated with increased risk for psychopathology, as well as with dysregulation of the neurobiological stress response. An additional factor known to alter neuroendocrine functioning and increase psychopathology risk is polymorphisms within the FKBP5 gene. The goal of the current study was to examine the gene-environment interaction of childhood adversity and variation in the FKBP5 gene on the cortisol response to a psychosocial stress task (i.e., the Trier Social Stress Test). The final sample consisted of 90 depressed and non-depressed adolescents and young adults (11 - 21 years). Childhood adversity was assessed using the Childhood Experience and Abuse Scale (CECA; Bifulco et al., 1994), and was defined as the presence versus absence prior to 18 years of age of severe physical, sexual, or emotional abuse or neglect, witness to domestic discord/violence, or peer-perpetrated bullying. Participants were genotyped at the rs1360780 site of the FKBP5 gene and grouped according to whether they had at least one risk T allele (i.e., TT or TC genotype versus the CC genotype). Controlling for depression and anxiety psychopathology, I found a significant interaction of FKBP5 and childhood adversity status such that individuals with the FKBP5 risk allele (i.e., TT or TC genotype) and a history of childhood adversity showed a distinct cortisol response pattern characterized by decreasing cortisol from baseline and less cortisol output compared to individuals without childhood adversity. This relationship was specific to the experience of severe adversity and appeared to be strongest when adversity was defined as witnessing domestic discord/violence. These results are consistent with a diathesis-stress model in which the FKBP5 risk allele leaves individuals vulnerable to neurobiological dysregulation in the face of severe adverse experience in childhood. The implications of this research for understanding stress-related psychopathology and the limitations of this gene-environment interaction design are discussed. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-05 11:24:45.764

Social stress is the most common stressor experienced by humans and exposure to social stress is thought to cause or exacerbate neuropsychiatric illness. Social stress also leads to behavioral and physiological responses in many animal models that closely mirror the symptoms of fear and anxiety in humans. Our laboratory uses Syrian hamsters to study behavioral responses to social stress. Hamsters are highly territorial, but after losing an agonistic encounter, hamsters exhibit a striking behavioral change, abandoning all territorial aggression and instead becoming highly submissive. This behavioral shift is termed conditioned defeat. Epigenetic modifications, such as changes in histone acetylation, are a possible molecular mechanism underlying such behavioral shifts. Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have been shown to enhance fear learning and conditioned place preference for drugs of abuse, while suppressing histone acetylation with histone acetyltransferase (HAT) inhibitors impairs long-term memory formation. The first goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that histone acetylation is a molecular mechanism underlying conditioned defeat. We found that animals given an HDAC inhibitor systemically before social defeat later exhibited increased conditioned defeat. This treatment also suppressed defeat-induced immediate-early gene activity in the infralimbic cortex but not the basolateral amygdala. Next, we demonstrated that administration of an HDAC inhibitor in the infralimbic cortex before defeat enhanced stress-induced behavioral responses while HAT inhibition blocked these behavioral changes. Although both males and females exhibit conditioned defeat, the behavioral expression is more pronounced in males. We next used transcriptomic analysis to investigate potential genetic mechanisms leading to this sexually dimorphic expression and to further delineate the role of acetylation in stress-induced behavioral changes. We sequenced the whole brain transcriptome of male and female hamsters as well as the transcriptome of basolateral amygdala, a nucleus necessary for the acquisition and expression of conditioned defeat, of dominant, subordinate, and control animals. Our analysis revealed that numerous genes relating to histone acetylation, including several HDACs, were differentially expressed in animals of different social status and between sexes. Together, these data support the hypotheses that histone modifications underlie behavioral responses to social stress and that some of these modifications are sexually dimorphic.

This study examines the relationship between social stress and gender role differentiation. Crowd and collective behavior literature suggests two competing hypotheses. Social contagion theories suggest that gender roles become dedifferentiated in crowds. Social structural theories suggest that gender roles in crowds parallel institutional gender roles. The case study format is used to assess the relationship. Six crowd events, representing varying levels of social stress, were observed. Data were gathered via systematic observations, interviews and document analysis. The findings indicate that gender roles in crowds parallel institutional gender roles. Culturally prescribed gender expectations endure across social stress settings.