Psychology
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2270
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Item Identifying Mechanisms Underlying the Association between Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Problematic Alcohol Use in College Students(2011) Rooney, Mary; Chronis-Tuscano, Andrea; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Students with ADHD represent a significant population on college campuses who have been found to be at risk for problematic alcohol use. Yet little is known about mechanisms underlying the association between ADHD and alcohol-related problems. We examined patterns and consequences of alcohol use in college students with and without ADHD, as well as three possible mediators of the association between ADHD and alcohol-related impairment: (1) self-reported difficulty stopping a drinking session, (2) cue dependency on a behavioral task of response inhibition, and (3) self-reported trait disinhibition. Participants with ADHD reported higher rates of negative consequences of alcohol use relative to the non-ADHD group, despite equivalent rates of alcohol use. In addition, the ADHD group had higher rates of difficulty stopping a drinking session. Difficulty stopping a drinking session mediated the relationship between ADHD and negative consequences of alcohol use. Cue dependency and trait disinhibition did not mediate this relationship. These findings indicate that college students with ADHD are experiencing higher rates of negative consequences of alcohol use relative to their peers without ADHD. Difficulty stopping a drinking session may be one mechanism that explains the relationship between ADHD and alcohol-related problems.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.