Abstracts
1. Kiara Alvarez, Ed.M., Kirk von Sternberg, Ph.D., & Mary M. Velasquez, Ph.D.: Risk Behavior Patterns and Response to Behavioral Intervention Among HIV-Positive Men Who Have Sex With Men
Interventions targeting separate but related risk behaviors, such as substance use and sexual risk-taking, have been found to be effective across multiple domains. However, less is known about how subgroups representing different behavioral patterns within at-risk populations respond to treatment. This study seeks to identify risk-behavior subgroups based on patterns of alcohol use and risky sexual behavior in a sample of HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) participating in a behavioral intervention trial. Subgroups identified at baseline will then be used to determine if response to treatment varies depending on group membership. Method: Latent Class Analysis (LCA) will be used to analyze data collected in a behavioral intervention study targeting alcohol use and risky sexual behavior among HIV-positive MSM (Velasquez, von Sternberg, Johnson, Green, Carbonari, & Parsons, 2009). An ethnically diverse sample of 253 HIV-positive MSM participated in the study, which found treatment effects for overall alcohol use, binge drinking, and binge drinking combined with unprotected sex. Baseline alcohol use and incidence of unprotected sex over a 30-day period will be used to identify latent classes. Differential response to treatment for alcohol use and condom use will then be examined in relation to the latent class membership.
2. Angela Bell & Abraham M. Rutchick: Thin cyberslices of personality: Impression formation based on minimal Internet profiles
People form fairly accurate impressions of others based on limited information about them (“thin slices”), including short video clips, photographs, and Facebook profiles. The current project examined impression formation based on minimal slices of information contained online. In Study 1, judges rated the personality traits of 88 students who constructed profiles to complete a class project; the profiles contained a username and, in some cases, a small amount of additional information. In Study 2, judges rated the personality traits and political and religious beliefs of 56 players of an online boxing game, based on their usernames only. In both studies, although judges’ impressions were not very accurate (they did not correlate strongly with targets’ self-reported personalities), they were quite consistent (they correlated strongly with one another). These findings suggest that thin slices of people's online presence are sufficient to generate consistent, if inaccurate, impressions about their personalities.
3. Ayesha Delany-Brumsey, M.A.; Vickie M. Mays, Ph.D., M.S.P.H.: Social Capital and Depression among Latina Parents
Greater neighborhood economic disadvantage will be associated with greater depression scores. Higher levels of neighborhood social capital will be associated with lower levels of depression. Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (LA FANS) was used. Stratified random sample of 65 Neighborhoods or census tracts. Over sample of poor neighborhoods and households with children under age 18; 1,157 Latina primary caregivers.
4. Darrell M. Hull, PhD, Terrill F. Saxon, PhD, Danielle D. Fearon, Lincoln O. Williams, & Jimmy Tindigarukayo, PhD: Positive youth development in unattached Jamaican young adults: A longitudinal randomized controlled trial of the National Youth Service Corps of Jamaica
A longitudinal randomized controlled trial of the National Youth Service (NYS) Corps Program research study was conducted in Jamaica among youth aged 17-24 from July 2008 to September 2009. The study consisted of 1100 participants and had four time points with an overall retention rate of 62%. Participants were either in the treatment group, a matched control group or a non-equivalent group. The study was designed to determine the extent to which the program altered and sustained improved life outcomes of unattached youth in Jamaica on a variety of social, psychological, cognitive, and employment-related measures that the program was purported to address. Results revealed that youth in the NYS Corps program maintained stronger self-efficacy with respect to career decision making than the control group, and while still in the program during the internship retained youth assets, i.e. youth assets do not decline as rapidly as they do with the control groups’ overtime. Several other important findings relating to personality, cognitive ability, workplace skills and socio-economic status were found. The present results demonstrated the importance of positive youth development programs in working with youth in particular unattached youth.
5. Adia S. Gooden, Susan D. McMahon, & Yan Li: Ecological and Individual Factors Associated with Gang-Related Attitudes and Affiliations
Research demonstrates there is an array of individual and ecological factors that promote gang involvement or make it less likely. Using a transactional-ecological framework, this study proposes and tests a theoretical model in which a distal ecological factor (poverty), in combination with proximal (exposure to violence, parental support) and individual (religiosity) factors, influence adolescent gang-related attitudes and affiliations. African American middle school students (N=174) from two schools in a poor, disadvantaged community completed self-report surveys. Path analysis demonstrates the proposed model produced a good fit with the data. Significant pathways suggest poverty is associated with lower parental support, exposure to violence is related to positive gang-related attitudes and affiliations, and religiosity is related to less positive gang-related attitudes and affiliations. These findings point to the importance of examining models that identify how factors at different ecological levels relate to gang involvement and suggest ways to reduce societal problems associated with gangs.
6. Deborah E. Laurin, B.F.A. & Kevin A. Linares, B.A. : Proposing a Model for Culture and Health Services Use among Latinos
Few U.S. health policies and interventions account for cultural variations among ethnic minorities. Most minority literature fails to elucidate cultural and psychological processes and apply these findings to health behaviors. Examining these underlying mechanisms may provide insight into current Latino health disparities. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of distal population categories on proximal determinants of health behaviors (e.g. cultural values and psychological processes) utilizing Flynn and Betancourt’s (2006) model for culture and health disparities. Participants consisted of 2554 Latinos (males =1127, age M= 40, SD= 15.7 years), represented by 23% Cuban, 19% Puerto Rican, 34% Mexican, and 24% Other Latino. Findings supported the culture and health disparities model using a Structural Equation Model on Mplus 6.0; χ2(399) = 2259.92, p<.001, RMSEA=.043, CFI=.989, TLI=.988. Population categories of naturalization had direct effects on cultural factors, more specifically family belongingness and ethnic identity. Cultural factors influenced psychological processes, namely the amount of confidence when speaking English. Moreover, this psychological process influenced the frequency of medical services and alternative therapy services utilized within the past year.
7. Darrin L. Rogers, Ph.D., Susan Troncoso Skidmore, PhD, Gary Montgomery, Ph.D., Van Reidhead, Ph.D., & Mary Ann Reidhead, Ph.D: The Impact of Spiritual Integration on Physical and Mental Health
With the recent burgeoning interest in measuring the relationship between religiosity/spirituality and mental health (e.g., Hill & Pargament, 2008), we moved the inquiry forward to include the relationship between spirituality and physical and mental health. Specifically we examined the impact of the newly-specified spiritual integration (SI) on SF Physical Health and SF Emotional Health via a structural model. Quality of life, number of hours spent on religious activities, age, sex, religious affiliation, affect, and depression were controlled for. The SI scale’s relationship with perceived emotional and physical health suggests that spiritual integration may play an important role in the way individuals respond to their physiological and psychological functioning.
8. James E. Taylor, M.A.: The Effect of Ethnicity on Perceived Ethnic Discrimination
Perceived ethnic discrimination has been associated with an array of physical and psychological detriments including high blood pressure, stress, anxiety, anger, trait negative affect, depression, sadness, and suicide (Anderson & Armstead, 1995; Anderson, McNeilly, & Myers, 1991; Brondolo et al., 2005; Clark, Anderson, Clark, & Williams, 1999; Hwang & Goto, 2006; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2000; National Institute of Health, 2000; Salomon & Jagusztyn, 2008; Williams & Collins, 1995). These associations have been made in a limited number of monoethnic studies, leaving the majority of other ethnicities (e.g., Multiethnic individuals) unexamined. This study analyzed perceived ethnic discrimination in Multi- and monoethnic adults with use of the community version of the Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire (PEDQ-CV). Results of the examination bequeath important findings to the literature on perceived ethnic discrimination in addition to the literature on ethnicities involved in the investigation (i.e., Asians, Blacks, Latinos, Multiethnic individuals, and Whites). Multiethnic individuals were found to perceive significantly more ethnic discrimination than Whites, yet significantly less ethnic discrimination than Blacks. Furthermore, Multiethnic individuals with White descent perceived significantly less ethnic discrimination than Multiethnic individuals without White descent. Blacks additionally perceived significantly more ethnic discrimination than Latinos and Whites.
9. Zamora, R., Morgan, C.D., & Murphy, C.: BMI Correlates with Olfactory Processing Speed in Older Adults
Olfactory loss is present with increased age and may be accompanied by a change in eating habits, along with an overall decrease in food enjoyment. Participants, in past studies, with olfactory dysfunction reported less satisfaction with food, and consumed more in hopes to achieve fulfillment. Thus individuals with olfactory loss may have increased food intake, thereby resulting in a higher BMI. Behavioral olfactory tests have found a relationship between BMI and olfaction, suggesting individuals with higher BMI tended to have lower olfactory scores. There is however little research that examines BMI in relation to olfactory event-related potentials (OERPs). The objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between BMI and P3 amplitudes and latency. Twenty eight adults (two age groups: 18-25 and 65+) from the San Diego Community participated in the study. Fourteen odor stimuli were randomly delivered twice through an olfactometer as participants focused on a crosshair on a computer screen. The stimuli were followed by a change in the screen that displayed four odor identification choices. Participants were instructed to press a button on a response pad corresponding with the correct choice out of 4 possible options. OERPs were recorded at Fz, Cz, and Pz electrode sites; the latencies and amplitudes were averaged. In a bivarate analysis with all participants included, a positive correlation for BMI and latency was present for all electrode sites indicating that as BMI increased latencies also increased. In further analyses, each age group was separately examined. The correlation between BMI and latency remained statistically significant at all electrode sites for older adults but not for young adults. Thus this study indicates that BMI has a significant relationship with olfactory function as measured with event-related potentials in older adults. The results raise interesting questions regarding the role of chemosensory function in the development of obesity.