This study investigated low regulatory flexibility as a mechanism of the associations of rumination with affect, internalizing symptoms, and substance use and problems. 403 first-year college students completed an online baseline survey assessing rumination, regulatory flexibility, internalizing symptoms, alcohol use, cannabis use, alcohol problems, and cannabis problems. Roughly 2.67 months later, 261 of these participants completed a follow-up survey assessing internalizing symptoms and substance use and problems. Additionally, 71 of the 403 participants completed an experimental study. Thirty-three participants were randomly assigned to undergo a rumination induction, and 38 were assigned to a control condition. All lab participants underwent an interpersonal stress task during which regulatory flexibility was observed and completed pre-test and post-role-play measures of positive and negative affect. Experimental study results showed regulatory flexibility did not mediate effects of rumination induction on positive (indirect effect: standardized beta (β)=-0.01, unstandardized beta (b)=-0.12, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) [-0.64, 0.41], p=.66) or negative affect (indirect effect: β=0.01, b=0.17, 95% CI [-0.29, 0.63], p=.48). Longitudinal study results showed regulatory flexibility did not mediate associations between baseline rumination and follow-up internalizing symptoms (indirect effect: b=0.01, 95% CI [-0.03, 0.05], p=.57), alcohol use (indirect effect: b=-0.03, 95% CI [-0.09, 0.04], p=.39), cannabis use (indirect effect: b=0.10, 95% CI [-0.06, 0.26], p=.21), alcohol problems (indirect effect: b=-0.05, 95% CI [-0.18, 0.07], p=.40), or cannabis problems (indirect effect: b=-0.10, 95% CI [-0.36, 0.16], p=.43). However, rumination predicted greater internalizing symptoms (Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR)=1.26, b=0.23, 95% CI [0.08, 0.37], p=.003) and cannabis problems (IRR=1.73, b=0.55, 95% CI [0.23, 0.87], p=.001). Regulatory flexibility predicted fewer alcohol use days (IRR=0.76, b=-0.27, 95% CI [-0.49, -0.05], p=.015) and problems (IRR=0.58, b=-0.55, 95% CI [-0.95, -0.15], p=.007), and less cannabis use for women (IRR=0.59, b=-0.53, 95% CI [-0.92, -0.14], p=.007) and fewer cannabis problems for men (IRR=0.21, b=-1.55, 95% CI [-2.50, -0.60], p=.001). Lack of agreement about how best to measure regulatory flexibility makes it unclear whether null associations were due to measurement problems or actual null effects. Research on how best to measure this construct is a priority. Findings indicate rumination and regulatory flexibility may be promising intervention targets.

Over 35% of multiracial college students fail to earn a degree, which can have significant economic and health costs over their lifespan. This study aimed to better understand college and psychological adjustment among multiracial college students of Hispanic/Latinx and White non-Hispanic descent by examining students’ racial identities and use of resilience resources. Latent profiles of identity were identified to better understand how different aspects of racial identity are clustered in this population. Multiracial college students (N=221) reported on racial identity as measured on multiple dimensions: Hispanic/Latinx identity, Hispanic/Latinx cultural orientation, White identity, identity integration, shifting expressions of identity, and identity malleability. Students also reported on their use of multiple resilience resources (personal mastery, social competence, perspective taking, coping flexibility, familism support values) and both college and psychological adjustment. Through regression and SEM analyses, results indicated that, of the resilience resources, only personal mastery was positively related to both college and psychological adjustment, while social competence was positively related to college adjustment. More shifting expressions of identity was related to poorer college and psychological adjustment, which was partially mediated via personal mastery. Stronger Hispanic/Latinx identity was related to higher perspective taking and coping flexibility, while stronger White identity was related to higher familism support values. Latent profiles of identity indicated a four-class solution, consisting of 1) “low identity”, 2) “integrated, low shifting”, 3) “integrated, shifting”, and 4) “high shifting, low integration”. Findings highlight the need for person-centered and ecological approaches to understanding identity development and resilience among multiracial college students, and can inform prevention and intervention efforts for multiracial college students of Hispanic/Latinx and White non-Hispanic descent. Results also demonstrate the importance of assessing multiracial identity via multiple dimensions including factors such as identity integration, shifting expressions of identity, and identity malleability.

Scant research examines the associations between parenting behaviors and the psychological health of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) American youth. Developmental research consistently demonstrates that an authoritarian parenting style (often characterized by rejecting and controlling behaviors, and a common style among MENA parents) is maladaptive for offspring health; however, no study has empirically tested the associations of these behaviors from mothers and fathers with the health of MENA American youth. Using survey data from 314 MENA American young adults (Mage = 20 years, range 18 – 25 years, 56% female), the current study tested the associations between commonly studied parenting behaviors - acceptance, rejection, harsh parenting, and control - with the mental (stress, depression, and anxiety) and physical health (general health perceptions, pain, and somatization) of MENA American youth. Confirmatory factor analysis tested new items informed by preliminary focus groups with original items from the Child Report Parenting Behavior Inventory (CRPBI) to create culturally-informed parenting factors. Results indicated that youth-reported higher maternal acceptance was associated with fewer mental health symptoms, higher maternal harsh parenting with higher mental health symptoms, and higher maternal rejection with worse physical health; father rejection was associated with higher mental health symptoms and worse physical health. Further, the associations between parenting and physical health were moderated by youth Arabic orientation, such that those with higher Arabic orientation showed the best physical health at higher levels of acceptance, and the worst physical health at higher levels of rejection, harsh parenting, and control. Associations between parenting and health did not differ by youth gender. The current findings suggest cross-cultural similarities in the beneficial functions of parental acceptance, and detrimental functions of parental rejection and harsh parenting, with MENA American youth. The associations between parenting and health were exacerbated, for better or for worse, for more Arabic-oriented youth, suggesting these youth may be more greatly impacted by perceptions of their parents’ behaviors. Findings have implications for family interventions working with MENA populations.

Latino children are more than twice as likely to live in poverty than their non-Latino, White peers (Kids Count Data Center, 2017), yet limited work has aimed to understand neighborhood influences on pathways of mental health among Latino children. Substantial work documents the deleterious effects of living in a disadvantaged neighborhood on mental health outcomes throughout the lifespan (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2000). Parental and familial variables may explain neighborhood influences on children’s mental health during the first few years of life (May, Azar, & Matthews, 2018). The current study evaluated the influence of three neighborhood indicators (concentrated disadvantage, residential instability, and the percentage of residents identifying as Hispanic/Latino) on maternal postpartum depressive symptoms and child behavior problems at 3 and 4.5 years via mediation and moderated mediation models among a sample of 322 low-income, Mexican American mother-child dyads. Contrary to hypotheses and existing literature, concentrated disadvantage and residential instability were not predictive of maternal or child mental health outcomes. The percentage of residents identifying as Hispanic/Latino emerged as a protective neighborhood factor for both mothers and children. The neighborhood ethnocultural context may be especially relevant to understanding pathways of mental health specific to Mexican American families. More research is needed to understand specific parental and familial mechanisms underlying this protective effect.

A record number of Latino students are enrolling in higher education in the U.S., but as a group Latinos are the least likely to complete a bachelor’s degree. Cultural factors theoretically contribute to Latino students’ success, including orientation toward ethnic heritage and mainstream cultures (i.e., dual cultural adaptation), feeling comfortable navigating two cultural contexts (i.e., biculturalism), and the degree of fit between students’ cultural backgrounds and the cultural landscapes of educational institutions (i.e., cultural congruity). In a two-part study, these cultural factors were examined in relation to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis stress response (indexed by salivary cortisol), a physiological mechanism that may underlie how psychosocial stress influences academic achievement and health. First, Latino students’ cortisol responses to stress were estimated in their daily lives prior to college using ecological momentary assessment (N = 206; 64.6% female; Mage = 18.10). Results from three-level growth models indicated that cortisol levels were lower following greater perceived stress than usual for students endorsing greater Latino cultural values (e.g., familism), compared to students endorsing average or below-average levels of these values. Second, cortisol and subjective responses to a standard public speaking stress task were examined in a subsample of these same students in their first semester of college (N = 84; 63.1% female). In an experimental design, viewing a brief video prior to the stress task conveying the university’s commitment to cultural diversity and inclusion (compared to a generic campus tour) reduced cortisol reactivity and negative affect for students with greater Latino cultural values, and also reduced post-task cortisol levels for students with greater mainstream U.S. cultural values (e.g., competition). These findings join the growing science of culture and biology interplay, while also informing initiatives to support first-year Latino students and the universities that serve them.

Each year, nearly three million dogs will enter one of over 13,000 animal shelters in the United States. The purpose of this dissertation is to better understand how breed identity and dog welfare in the shelter, in addition to post-adoption and fostering interventions out of the shelter, can contribute to the betterment of dog lives. In Chapter 2, I conducted the largest sampling of shelter dogs’ breed identities to-date to determine their breed heritage and compare shelter breed assignment by staff as determined by visual appearance to that of genetic testing. In Chapter 4, I examined the efficacy of a post-adoption intervention intended to reduce returns by encouraging physical activity between adopters and their dogs. In Chapter 6, I examined the effects of brief stays in a foster home on the urinary cortisol: creatinine ratios of dogs awaiting adoption compared to ratios collected before or after their stays; and in Chapter 7, I characterized the relationships between multiple physiological, health, and cognitive measures and the in-kennel behavior of shelter dogs.

Four suggestions from the findings of this dissertation that will likely better the lives of dogs living in animal shelters are: 1) Shelter dog breed heritage is complex and visually identifying multiple breeds in a mixed breed dog is difficult at best. Shelters should instead focus on communicating the morphology and behavior of the dogs in their care to best support adopters. 2) While encouraging walking did not influence owner behavior, adopters who reported higher obligation and self-efficacy in dog walking were more active with their dogs. Thus, post-adoption interventions that can effectively target owner perceptions of obligation and self-efficacy may be more successful in changing behavior. 3) Temporary fostering is an impactful intervention that reduces stress for dogs awaiting adoption; however addressing stressors present at shelters that are likely contributing to higher stress responding is also needed. 4) It is possible to predict the internal stress responding of shelter dogs by observing their overt, in-kennel behavior, and this study is a first step in assessing and improving the welfare of dogs living in animal shelters.

Research on attachment in adults began by assuming parallels from attachment as a behavioral system for using relationships to balance the tradeoff between safety and exploration in infants, to the same tradeoff function in adults. Perhaps more pressing, for adults, are the novel social tradeoffs adults face when deciding how to invest resources between themselves and their close relationship partners. The current study investigated the role of the attachment system in navigating two such tradeoffs, in a sample of ASU undergraduates. In one tradeoff condition, participants had the option of working on puzzles to earn either themselves or their closest friend a monetary reward. In the second tradeoff condition, participants worked to earn monetary rewards for a close or new friend. Analyses showed no evidence of attachment avoidance predicting prioritizing redistributing money to a close friend in either condition. While there was no effect of anxiety on prioritizing one’s close friend over one’s self, there was a marginal effect in both prioritizing one’s close friend over a new friend when redistributing money and starting on the close friend’s word search first. Although attachment style largely did not predict earning or redistributing monetary rewards in these two relationship tradeoffs, implications for how these results fit within the broader theoretical perspective are discussed.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is linked with poorer health outcomes across the range of SES. The Reserve Capacity Model (RCM) proposes that low SES fuels repeated and/or chronic exposure to elevated levels of stress, producing deleterious emotional, psychological, social, and physiological changes that result in development of disease over time. The RCM further asserts that a relative lack of social and psychological resources, including efficacy and social support, among low SES individuals accounts for their greater vulnerability to the effects of stress. Although the links between stress, reserve capacity, and health outcomes are framed in the RCM as an ongoing process that produces disease, the majority of investigations testing the model have not examined its utility in explaining 1) coping with daily stressors or 2) symptom flares among individuals managing a chronic illness. This study investigated the effects of SES, reflected in income level, on the: 1) levels of daily financial events and financial worry; 2) relations between daily financial worry and symptoms of pain and fatigue; and 3) extent to which daily coping efficacy and social support mediated the daily financial worry-symptom relation across 21 daily diary reports collected from 220 individuals with fibromyalgia (FM). Simple correlations showed that income was inversely related to frequency of financial events and level of financial worry across 21 days. Results from multilevel models indicated that daily increases in financial worry were unrelated to pain regardless of income level, but were related to increased fatigue among individuals with lower relative to higher income. Daily efficacy and support mediated the relations between financial worry and pain and fatigue, but the extent of mediation did not differ based on high versus low income level. Taken together, the findings suggest that individuals of low versus high income encounter more frequent financial stress and experience greater daily fatigue exacerbation related to that stress, in line with the RCM. Over time, the greater exposure and reactivity to financial strain may account for the inverse relation between income and disability among those with chronic pain.

Clinically meaningful emotional and behavioral problems are thought to be present beginning in infancy, and may be reliably assessed in children as young as 12 months old. However, few studies have investigated early correlates of emotional and behavioral problems assessed in infancy. The current study investigates the direct and interactive contributions of early infant and caregiver characteristics thought to play an important role in the ontogeny of behavior problems. Specifically, the study examines: (1) the links between temperamental reactivity across the first year of life and behavior problems at 18 months, (2) whether children high in temperamental reactivity are differentially susceptible to variations in maternal sensitivity, (3) the extent to which child temperamental risk or susceptibility may further be explained by mothers’ experiences of stressful life events (SLEs) during and before pregnancy. Data were collected from 322 Mexican American families during prenatal, 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-week home interviews, as well as during 12- and 18-month lab interviews. Mother reports of SLEs were obtained between 23-40 weeks gestation; temperamental negativity and surgency at 6 weeks and 12 months; and internalizing and externalizing behaviors at 18 months. Maternal sensitivity during structured mother-infant interaction tasks at the 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-week visits was assessed by objective observer ratings. Study findings indicated that maternal SLEs before birth were associated with more infant negativity across the first year of life, and that negativity in turn was associated with more internalizing problems at 18 months. Ecological stressors thought to be associated with sociodemographic risk factors such as low-income and ethnic minority status may begin to exert cascades of influence on children’s developmental outcomes even before birth.

Asian American (AA) adolescents and young adults are at risk for poor psychological adjustment and diminished health. Parental involvement and intergenerational gap in acculturation (IGA) have been independently associated with intergenerational acculturative conflict, a common stressor in the AA population. However, few studies have tested how the influence of parental involvement on intergenerational acculturative conflict/family cohesion and subsequent psychological adjustment may vary depending on IGA; and even fewer studies have investigated how such models apply to AA general health. The goals of the present study were, therefore, to identify pathways linking these acculturative family processes to AA young adult general health in a large sample of Filipino and Southeast Asian (SEA) families. Analyses utilized data from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS; Portes & Rumbaut, 2001), a national longitudinal study of children from immigrant families. Results suggested that although Filipino and SEA families may differ in the acculturative processes that contribute to intergenerational acculturative conflict and family cohesion, depressive symptoms are an important mechanism through which these family outcomes in adolescence influence young adult general health outcomes in both Filipino and SEA families. This investigation serves to inform future programs aimed at providing targeted interventions for AAs at risk for long-term psychological disorders and physical health problems.