Bradley Hospital

Parents influence their children's media habits, yet parenting research has lagged behind the growing influence of social media. This study characterized how parents perceive and implement social media-specific strategies with early adolescents. A total of 102 parents of adolescents (ages 12-15), recruited from primary care clinics and online advertisements, completed baseline assessments, including parent-child interaction tasks and qualitative interviews. Parents completed 15 daily diary assessments of their social media-specific parenting strategies, including: communication, limit-setting, co-use, technical mediation, and monitoring. Quantitative results indicate nearly two-thirds of parents (64.8%) used at least four of the five strategies, with communication being the most frequent. Nearly all parents (96.6%) communicated with their adolescent about social media at least once during the 15-day study period, and the majority also reported using limit-setting (85.2%), co-use (84.1%), and nontechnical monitoring (71.6%), with a smaller proportion (44.3%) using technical mediation. Results of the parent-child interaction task indicate that parents discussed more risks of social media than benefits with their adolescents, and that teens were more likely to engage when parents provided a rationale for their viewpoints and encouraged teens to share their own perspectives. Qualitative results highlighted the range of strategies parents use and provided insight into how strategies were implemented. Overall, findings underscored the diversity and complexity of social media-specific parenting strategies.

Background: As cannabis use in the U.S. has continued to rise among young adults, research is necessary to understand the reinforcing aspects of use. While there are several established demographic indicators of young adult cannabis use, including age, male sex, and sexual orientation, no studies have examined relations between these indicators and facets of cannabis-related positive consequences (i.e., social, mood, cognitive, and sexual enhancement). Objectives: The present study examined associations between age, sex, and sexual orientation with facets of cannabis-related positive consequences. College students (N = 615; age M = 19.98, SD = 1.97; 68.3% female; 27.5% sexual minority) completed self-report questionnaires of demographics, cannabis use frequency, and positive and negative consequences of use. Using exploratory path analysis, we examined associations between common indicators of cannabis use (i.e., age, sex, sexual orientation) and positive consequence facets (i.e., social, mood, cognitive, and sexual enhancement), controlling for cannabis use frequency and negative consequences. We tested models for frequency (i.e., how often) and valence (i.e., how strongly) of positive consequences. Results: Sexual minority orientation was significantly positively associated with several facets of positive consequence frequency and valence, while age was significantly negatively associated with social enhancement consequences. Sex was not associated with positive consequences. Exploratory sensitivity analyses noted similar associations between bisexual/pansexual identity and positive consequence frequency and valence. Conclusions/Importance: The observed associations may help explain use disparities between sexual minorities and their heterosexual peers. Future research is needed to elucidate the role of positive consequences in cannabis use initiation and escalation, which may inform individual tailoring of cannabis prevention and intervention efforts.

Structural inequities in the United States limit access to prenatal parenting education and supports for many pregnant people and their partners. This pilot trial aimed to evaluate the impact of a novel partner-inclusive intervention on new parents' knowledge of developmentally appropriate early parenting practices. Forty-two participants were assigned to the 6-week group intervention and 38 participants were assigned to a usual care comparison group. The sample was racially and ethnically diverse and participants were required to meet study income restrictions. Participants were interviewed at three time points: Time 1 (pre-intervention; 12-18weeks gestation), Time 2 (post-intervention;18-24weeks gestation), and Time 3 (6weeks postnatal) to assess knowledge regarding infant development and parenting practices, parenting self-competence, parenting stress, and the coparenting relationship. Dyadic Hierarchical Linear Models were used to test whether the intervention was associated with changes and levels in parenting readiness. Results revealed that parent dyads reported increased knowledge of infant development, increased parenting self-competence, and less parenting stress following the intervention relative to comparison group participants. No significant intervention effects were observed for the coparenting relationship. The accessible nature of the PREParing for Parenthood program makes it a promising intervention to promote parenting readiness among pregnant people and their partners.

Abstract Introduction Circadian rhythms may be translationally relevant to adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD). Laboratory assessment of dim-light-melatonin-onset (DLMO) can be burdensome and prohibitive in youth with more severe ADHD presentations. Conversely, at-home protocols, while beneficial, may be impacted by the heterogeneity of ADHD. Here we examined the success of an at-home DLMO protocol in adolescents with lesser and greater ADHD severity. Methods Sixty adolescents (28M; age: 11.76±1.24 years, age-range: 10-15 years) in R01HD103665 ranging in ADHD presentation completed at least five nights of a fixed sleep schedule (10hr fixed to family-optimal rise time) followed by an evening DLMO assessment. Each was provided a collection kit including instructions, salivettes (Sarstedt AG & Co. KG), a 0.1-gram scale, log, ice pack, and light-blocking glasses. On the evening of assessment, staff described procedures over a video call and youth provided 10 saliva samples over 4.5hrs extending 1-hour past scheduled bedtime. Saliva was collected using salivettes and weighed by participants (targeting 9g; a second sample requested if weight< 8.7g). Staff called participants every 30 minutes to prompt sampling, and to log start and end-times and sample weight. Samples were stored in an insulated bag with an ice-pack and retrieved the next morning. Melatonin was measured by radioimmunoassay. DLMO phase was computed by interpolation (absolute threshold of 4 pg/ml). Indeterminate DLMO phases were resolved via consensus. We examined success of DLMO determination and whether it varied by ADHD symptoms (participants grouped by Conners-3-Parent ADHD Index Probability score as high (ADHDy; ≥50%ile; n=28) or low (ADHDn; < 50%ile n=32)). Results DLMO determination was successful in 92% of youth (n=55); five participants’ data required adjudication (e.g., interpolation between two threshold crossings). We failed to identify DLMO in 5 participants (8%) for persistent suprathreshold melatonin values (n=3) or measurement error (n=2). ADHD status did not moderate measurement success (χ2=0.69, p=.44, Cramer’s V=0.16). DLMO was identified in 96% of the ADHDy group (n=27) and 87% of the ADHDn group (n=28). Conclusion This work indicates the success of capturing at-home melatonin onset phase in our young sample on a fixed sleep schedule. ADHD status did not moderate the success of measurement. Support (if any) R01HD103655 (JMS); P20GM139743 (MAC)

Abstract Introduction Research indicates that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may be associated with later circadian rhythms, particularly an evening phase preference. It remains unclear whether biological circadian parameters index ADHD symptoms. Here we investigated preliminary associations of ADHD symptoms in early adolescents with circadian phase preference, dim-light-melatonin onset (DLMO) phase, and phase angle to sleep onset. Methods We analyzed data from 50 adolescents in R01HD103655 with complete data on all measures (28F; age: 12.3±1.2yrs, range: 10-15yrs). ADHD symptoms were assessed with the Conners-3 Parent and age/sex-adjusted t-scores revealed a range of inattention (59.29±14.75, range=40-90) and hyperactivity/impulsivity (61.83 ±16.82, range=41-90) symptoms. Participants were off psychostimulants or exogenous melatonin and completed at least five nights of sleep stabilization (10h time-in-bed aligned to family-optimal risetime) prior to at-home DLMO collection. Each wore light-blocking glasses and provided one sample every 30 minutes for 4.5 hours extending 1 hour past bedtime—10 samples in total. DLMO phase was determined by interpolation (4 pg/mL threshold), and phase angle to sleep onset was calculated as the average actigraphy-estimated sleep onset of the 5 nights before DLMO – DLMO phase. We measured child self-reported phase preference (eveningness[low]-morningness[high]; 29.16±5.08; range: 12-38) and puberty status (categories 1-5; mode=3, range=1-4) using measures previously established by our group. Results More mature pubertal category and older age were associated with greater self-reported eveningness (r(46)=-.38, p<.01; r(47)=-.41, p<.01). No associations were found between puberty category or age and DLMO phase (|r|’s≤.011, p’s ≥.90,) or phase angle (|r|’s≤.02, p’s>.88). Higher inattention t-scores were marginally associated with eveningness (r(45)=-.27, p=.07) but did not index DLMO phase or phase angle (|r|’s≤.01, p’s>.81). There were no associations of circadian variables and hyperactivity/impulsivity (|r|’s≤.06, p’s≥.68). Conclusion Despite perceptions of later circadian rhythms in ADHD, we found weak evidence linking ADHD symptoms with delayed circadian rhythms. Higher inattention symptoms were associated with a trend towards self-reported eveningness, however, neither inattention nor hyperactivity/impulsivity, was linked to biological DLMO phase or the phase angle of melatonin to sleep onset. These results indicate that altered circadian timing may not be a stable phenotype of ADHD when youth are placed on a stabilized sleep schedule. Support (if any) R01HD103655 (JMS); P20GM139743 (MAC).

Objective:Alcohol outcome expectancies (AOEs), formed in early childhood, are correlates of future alcohol consumption and related problems. Social cognitive theories suggest that AOEs become activated in specific social and physical location contexts. Prior research, primarily among university students, has aimed to identify situational influences on specific AOEs, as indexed by reports of AOEs in hypothetical drinking scenarios. This study aims to deepen understanding of AOE activation in real-world settings by examining social and physical situational correlates of AOE activation among adolescents ages 15 to 17, in daily life.Method:Adolescents (evaluable n = 102), reporting any drinking in the past month, completed smartphone reports for 24 days. Adolescents indicated their social setting (e.g., solitary, peers, family), physical location (e.g., home, friend’s place, elsewhere), and strength of AOEs (tension-reduction, enhancement, sociability) just prior to drinking in daily life.Results:Adolescents’ AOE activation prior to drinking was associated with their immediate social context and physical location. Specifically, drinking with peers present was associated with higher ratings of enhancement and sociability AOEs. In contrast, drinking with family members present and drinking at home were associated with lower ratings of enhancement and sociability AOEs.Conclusions:Our findings provide new information about social-contextual correlates of specific AOE domains in naturalistic settings among adolescents. Identifying situational relations with AOE activation in daily life is important to build social-cognitive models of alcohol-consumption behavior, particularly during adolescence as drinking experiences broaden.