UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE A Within-Person Approach to Understanding Daily ...

174 Pages·2014·1.09 MB·English

by  Mike Russell

UC Irvine
UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
A Within-Person Approach to Understanding Daily Experiences and Well-Being among
Adolescents in Socioeconomic Disadvantage: Vulnerability and Opportunity in vivo
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Russell, Michael Arthur
Publication Date
2014

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA,
IRVINE

A Within-Person Approach to Understanding Daily Experiences and Well-Being among
Adolescents in Socioeconomic Disadvantage: Vulnerability and Opportunity in vivo

DISSERTATION

submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in Psychology and Social Behavior

by

Michael A. Russell

Dissertation Committee:
Carol K. Whalen, Ph.D., Chair
Susan T. Charles, Ph.D.
Chuansheng Chen, Ph.D.
Candice L. Odgers, Ph.D.

2014
© 2014 Michael A. Russell
DEDICATION

To my family and friends,
For all the love and support they’ve given me over the years;
I am truly grateful.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

LIST OF FIGURES v

LIST OF TABLES vi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii

CURRICULUM VITAE viii

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION xi

PREFACE 1

CHAPTER 1: Antisocial Behavior among Children in Poverty: Understanding 6
Environmental Effects in Daily Life

A bstract 7
I ntroduction 8
W hat is the Environment of Childhood Poverty? 11
H ow Can We Better Characterize and Understand 12
Environmental Effects?
D oes Poverty Have an Environmental Effect on Children’s 13
Antisocial Behavior?
H ow Poverty Affects Children: The Role of Everyday 15
Experience
N ext Steps: Can Mobile Technologies Help Identify 19
Environmental Effects on Antisocial Behavior?
Individual Differences in Environmental Effects: Why Are 36
Some Children More Reactive to Experience than
Others?
F uture Directions 39
S ummary 42

CHAPTER 2: Adolescents with, versus without, the DRD4-7R Allele are More 45
Reactive to Substance Use Exposure: Evidence for a
Gene-Environment Interaction in Daily Life
A bstract 46
I ntroduction 47
Method 55
R esults 62
D iscussion 67

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CHAPTER 3: Vulnerability and Opportunity in vivo: A Within-Person 88
Approach to Testing Differential Susceptibility in
Adolescents’ Daily Lives
Abstract 89
Introduction 90
Method 97
Results 106
Discussion 111

EPILOGUE 125

REFERENCES 130

iv
LIST OF FIGURES
Page

Figure 1.1: A hypothetical illustration of differential susceptibility to the 44
environment in daily life.

Figure 2.1: DRD4-7R x Daily ETS interaction predicting problem behavior 76

Figure 2.2: DRD4-7R x Home ETS interaction (panel A) and DRD4-7R x 81
Outside Home interaction (panel B) predicting problem
behavior in adolescents’ daily lives.

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LIST OF TABLES
Page

Table 2.1: Descriptives by DRD4 genotype 73

Table 2.2: Multilevel Logistic Models Testing Effects of DRD4-7R, Daily ETS, 74
and DRD4-7R X Daily ETS interactions on Problem Behavior in
Daily Life

Table 2.3: Multilevel Logistic Models Testing Effects of DRD4-7R, Daily Home 77
ETS, and DRD4-7R X Daily Home ETS interactions on Problem
Behavior in Daily Life

Table 2.4: Multilevel Logistic Models Testing Effects of DRD4-7R, Daily 79
Outside ETS, and DRD4-7R X Daily Outside ETS interactions on
Problem Behavior in Daily Life

Table 2.5: Descriptives by Ethnicity 83

Table 2.6: Multilevel Models Testing DRD4-7R x Exposure to Substances (ETS) 85
Interactions Predicting Problem Behavior, with Ethnicity Controls

Table 3.1: Intrainividual standard deviations (iSDs) and intraindividual means 118
(iMeans) for Daily Behavioral-Affective Measures

Table 3.2: Do Adolescents with Differential Susceptibility Markers Show More 119
Affective-Behavioral Lability in Daily Life?

Table 3.3: Multilevel Models Generating Negative and Positive Reactivity 121
Slopes

Table 3.4: Are Adolescents with Differential Susceptibility Markers More 123
Reactive to Positive and Negative Daily Events?

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Funding
The miLife Study was supported through funding awarded to Candice Odgers from the William T. Grant
Foundation and the Verizon Foundation. We are also grateful for the support of the University of
California Athletics Department. Genotyping costs were supported through the Institute for Translational
and Clinical Science and by the National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for
Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant UL1 TR000153. The
content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of
the NIH.

Dissertation Committee and Members
I would like to thank…
Dr. Carol Whalen for introducing me to the world of research and scientific discovery, for
nurturing and supporting my developing research interests since, and for setting the example for how
daily life research with children and their families should be done;
Dr. Chuansheng Chen for freely sharing his expertise in gene-behavior relationships and for his
inspiring lectures on evolution and human behavior;
Dr. Susan Charles for her discussions on measuring and conceptualizing affect and well-being in
daily life, and for her keen insights during the dissertation process;
And Dr. Candice Odgers for her constant guidance and superb mentorship over the past 6 years,
for her unparalleled generosity of time and resources, for being such a stellar professional role model, and
for always inspiring me to think differently, do better, and achieve more.

I would also like to thank Dr. Raymond Novaco for our many conversations about psychology,
philosophy, and current events, and for reminding me to live a balanced life.

A Personal Thank You
To…
Mom, for always being there when life gets tough, for helping me keep things in perspective, and
for teaching me to never give up;
Dad, for teaching me to see life’s obstacles as challenges rather than threats, for showing me what
hard work looks like, and for reminding me not to take myself too seriously;
Matt, for endless laughs, good times, and true friendship;
Phil, for lasting lessons about professionalism, dedication, and the importance of “coming up for
air” every now and then;
Jackie, for her kindness, support, and encouragement, and for providing an example of how you
truly do unto others;
Maya and Siegie, for their help at a time when I needed them most, for their generosity, and for
many great meals and good times together;
And Vanessa, for being the best friend, workout buddy, dancing partner, Mario and Zelda ally,
and intellectual comrade I could have hoped for, in addition to being my daily inspiration and my constant
reminder of all the wonderful things that life has to offer.

I would also like to thank Bon and Steve at Fit Body Boot Camp for giving me the energy, motivation,
and willpower to face challenges head on and to always be better than yesterday; Marvel studios for
providing the necessary escape now and again; and the Rocky movies for providing the inspirational
metaphors as well as the soundtrack to accompany my preparation for all of graduate school’s challenges.

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CURRICULUM VITAE

Michael A. Russell

EDUCATION

2014 Doctor of Philosophy (expected, in Psychology and Social Behavior),
University of California, Irvine
Concentration: Psychopathology and Behavioral Disorder
Minor specialization: Quantitative Psychology

2011 Master of Arts (Social Ecology)
University of California, Irvine

2008 Master of Arts (Psychology in Education)
Teacher’s College, Columbia University

2006 Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), Magna cum Laude
University of California, Irvine

HONORS AND AWARDS

2013 Social Ecology Dean’s Dissertation Writing Fellowship, for Winter Quarter 2014

2012 Carol Kupers Whalen Award for Research in Psychopathology ($1000 award)

2012 Society for Research in Child Development Student and Early Career Council
Dissertation Funding Award ($2000 research grant)

2012 American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) Basic Psychological
Science Research Grant ($1000 research grant)

2011 Graduate Mentor Award, Psychology and Social Behavior

2010 Travel Award to attend the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting

2010 Alison Clark Stewart Award for Outstanding Second-Year Project

2010 Graduate Mentor Award, Psychology and Social Behavior

2010 Travel Scholarship to Attend 2010 Summer Institute on Longitudinal Methods

2009 Association for Psychological Science Student Caucus (APSSC) Student Research
Award

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