Psychology
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Item Examining Associations between Neural Sensitivity to Social Feedback with Trait and State Loneliness in Adolescents(2024) Alleluia Shenge, Victoire; Redcay, Elizabeth; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Loneliness can be defined as the negative emotional response to an experience of discrepancy between the desired and actual quality or quantity of one’s relationships. Loneliness is associated with many negative outcomes, including depression and self-harm. This phenomenon tends to increase in adolescence and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at even greater risk for developing loneliness during this time than their neurotypical peers. The present study examined how neural sensitivity to both positive and negative feedback from peers is related to loneliness and social experiences among adolescents with and without autism. In a sample of 94 adolescents (22 autistic and 72 non-autistic) ages 11-14, we used an innovative ecologically valid paradigm for fMRI task along with real-world experience sampling to assess self-reported interaction quality and state loneliness, as well as surveys to examine reports of “trait” (or stable levels of) loneliness.The results indicated group differences in both state and trait loneliness, with the autistic group showing high levels of loneliness. In addition, the autistic group had lower interaction quality compared to their non-autistic peers. However, we did not find support for associations between neural sensitivity to feedback and interaction quality or loneliness across our full group. This work provides an important first step in understanding the relation between loneliness, neural sensitivity to social feedback and social experiences and can further inform intervention for adolescents at risk for negative mental health outcomes depending on which mechanism shows an association effect on social experiences and lonelinessItem Effect Of Neural Sensitivity to Social Reward on Naturalistic Social Motivation in Autistic and Non-Autistic Adolescents(2024-04-19) Nelson, Sarah E.; Redcay, ElizabethBackground: Social engagement differences are a core diagnostic feature of autism, though there is debate as to whether they reflect a decreased intrinsic motivation for social interaction due to neural differences in social reward processing. Much of the research in this area has methodological limitations, such as the lack of behavioral measurements of social motivation and non- ecologically relevant social reward stimuli. This is a particularly important topic to research in an adolescent age group, as peer bonds become integral to social and emotional development in this developmental stage. Objective: Assess how neural sensitivity to social reward is related to social motivation to engage with a peer in autistic and non-autistic adolescents. Method: 52 adolescents (11 autistic, 41 non-autistic, age 11-14) completed an fMRI task where they learned about commonalities and differences they had with an anonymous peer as well as randomized responses from a computer. Our primary measure of neural sensitivity to social reward is the differential activation in nucleus accumbens (NAc), a brain region that is often involved in reward processing, between positive peer responses and positive computer responses. Activation was also measured in Heschl's gyrus, an auditory processing area not closely related to reward, as a control comparison. Additionally, secondary exploratory analyses also included assessment of activation in the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), which are also involved in reward processing, to the peer versus the computer responses. Some time afterwards, the participants returned to have an in person interaction in a dyad with an age and gender matched peer in the study. After the interaction, the participants separately completed a behavioral measure of social reward, where they had the opportunity to choose between learning more about their peer partner or about non-social trivia. Each choice corresponded to different amounts of monetary reward (1-4 cents), meaning participants chose whether or not to forgo some monetary reward in order to learn more about their preferred topics. Social motivation was measured based on the proportion of responses where the participants chose to learn more about their partner compared to trivia. Results: The data was analyzed using mixed effects models that take into account neural activation, gender, age, and autism diagnosis status as fixed effects and dyad membership as a random intercept. We found a significant relationship between activation in the NAc (p=.019) and social motivation in the behavioral task. The secondary analyses did not reach significance after correcting for multiple comparisons, with amygdala (p=.033) and OFC (p=.5193) activation not significantly predicting social motivation. There was no significant relationship between activation in Heschl’s gyrus and social motivation (p=.635). Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that heterogeneity in autistic and non autistic adolescents' social motivation relates to their neural sensitivity to social reward in the NAc. The lack of a relationship between activation in Heschl’s gyrus and social motivation provides more support that this relationship is specifically related to differences in reward related regions. This finding can help us better understand and accommodate the social differences found in autism.Item Positive and Negative Reinforcement Underlying Risk Behavior in Early Adolescents(Springer Nature, 2010-03-23) MacPherson, Laura; Reynolds, Elizabeth K.; Daughters, Stacey B.; Wang, Frances; Cassidy, Jude; Mayes, Linda C.; Lejuez, C. W.The goal of the current study was to examine the combined influence of positive reinforcement processes using a behavioral task measuring risk taking propensity (RTP) and negative reinforcement processes using a behavioral task measuring deficits in distress tolerance (DT) on a range of risk taking behaviors among early adolescents. Participants included a community sample of 230 early adolescents (aged 9–13) who completed two behavioral tasks assessing reinforcement processes as well as reported on past year risk behavior involvement as assessed by items from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System at a baseline and a 1-year follow-up assessment. Data indicated that at the Wave 2 assessment, RTP was positively related to number of risk-taking behaviors in the past year but only for those with low DT, with this finding persisting after controlling for the significant influence of male gender and higher sensation seeking. Results of the present study highlight the importance of considering both positive and negative reinforcement processes in combination when investigating vulnerability factors for early risk behavior engagement in youth.Item Predicting unprotected sex among adolescents: Parental knowledge and callous-unemotional traits(2017) McCauley, Katherine Long; Lejuez, Carl W; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Risky sexual behavior, including engagement in sexual intercourse without a condom, is common among adolescents and can result in many negative consequences. The aim of the present study was to conduct a longitudinal investigation of predictors of adolescents’ likelihood of engaging in sex without a condom. Past research has established that parental knowledge, or the extent to which parents know information about their children’s peers, whereabouts, and activities, robustly predicts youth’s engagement in risky sexual behavior. However, among youth with elevated levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., the callous use of others, absence of empathy, lack of guilt, and constricted emotions), parenting practices and parent-focused interventions are typically less potent as predictors of subsequent behavior. Across three different logistic regression models which each conceptualized “parental knowledge” in a different way (though adolescent-report, parent-report, and through the discrepancy across reporters), this study examined parental knowledge, CU traits, and the interaction between these variables as predictors of adolescents’ subsequent engagement in sex without a condom. It was hypothesized that CU traits would moderate the relation between parental knowledge and engagement in sex without a condom, such that parental knowledge would be protective against engaging in unprotected sex only for those adolescents with lower levels of CU traits. Results indicated that, regardless of level of CU traits, adolescents who perceived their parents to possess greater knowledge were less likely to engage in unprotected sex. A higher parent report of parental knowledge was also related to decreased likelihood of engaging in unprotected sex, but, counter to the study’s hypothesis, parent-reported parental knowledge was only significant for adolescents with the highest levels of CU traits. This finding remained significant after controlling for adolescents’ engagement in unprotected sex in the year prior. The discrepancy between parent- and adolescent- reports of parental knowledge and the interaction between discrepancies and CU traits were not significant predictors of adolescents’ subsequent engagement in sex without a condom. Results from this study highlight the importance of considering both parent and adolescent perceptions of parental knowledge and have important implications for future prevention and intervention efforts.Item The Effects of Natural Sleep Debt on Current Mood, Working Memory, and Risk-Taking Propensity(2008-04-24) Hall Brown, Tyish S; Lejuez, Carl W; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)It has been established that, as a whole, adolescents receive inadequate amounts of sleep due to both biological and environmental influences. As a result of this sleep loss, daytime impairment may occur in both cognitive and affective domains. Recent evidence suggests that inadequate sleep may also play a role in increased risk taking behavior, however, these studies are primarily descriptive in nature. Given that adolescents may be at particular risk for engagement in increased risky behaviors due to chronic insufficient sleep, more rigorous studies focusing on this relationship may be useful. To address this need, the current study provides a laboratory-based examination of sleep debt and risk-taking behavior using a multi-modal assessment approach. This association will be evaluated directly using a behavioral assessment task that measures risk-taking propensity as well as indirectly by examining several dimensions of the construct of disinhibition, which is purported to underlie risk-taking behaviors. Additionally, this study seeks to replicate past findings that suggest a link between sleep debt and daytime impairment in the form of decrements in working memory and disturbance of current mood states. It is expected that this research will provide a better understanding of the relationship between sleep debt and risk-taking behaviors, setting the stage for future studies.