Browsing by Author "Conner, Bradley, advisor"

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Open Access
An exploration of Latine experiences of school and college readiness during the COVID-19 pandemic: a LatCrit and cultural wealth perspective
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Joachin, Vanessa S., author; Conner, Bradley, advisor; Fisher, Gwen, committee member; Chavez, Ernest, committee member; Riggs, Nathaniel, committee member
Marginalized communities, including Latine people, have historically been denied access to post-secondary education. This is not surprising when one considers that U.S. institutions of education were not conceived for People of Color. While enrollment trends for Latine college-bound students are promising, disparities persist. Latine communities still have higher rates of school attrition than non-Latine populations and the increase in high school graduation and college enrollment still lags non-Latine communities. While LatCrit and Community Cultural Wealth literature provide a valuable and comprehensive approach to understanding the experience of Communities of Color, cultural and social capital scholarship and deficiency thinking continue to be prevalent in current Latine education and college preparation research. Most research places the dominant (school or program) narrative at the center of studies. Additionally, COVID-19 brought national concern and discourse around accessible childcare, student health, and education loss as well as the exacerbated inequity in these domains on low-income and BIPOC students and families. Given that systematically created education gaps have always existed and disproportionately hurt BIPOC communities, it is important to understand the impact of COVID-19 on those established gaps, how BIPOC students and families navigate school during the pandemic, and how communities and institutions are supportive or hostile toward BIPOC students in their pursuit of education. This study used Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis informed by LatCrit and Community Cultural Wealth frameworks to explore (a) how the pandemic has impacted the lives of Latine high school students, their families, and their communities (b) how the negative effects of the pandemic connect to systemic and historical oppression of the Latine community (c) the students' use of intrapersonal and community strengths to navigate school and post-school plans during the pandemic. The sample of Latine 11th and 12th grade students were predominantly low-income and self-identified as Latine. Data was analyzed by coding for meaning units and themes. Themes were organized using Nvivo software.
Open Access
Associations between number of standard doses of tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabis use motives and cannabis-related negative consequences
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Tyskiewicz, Alexander J., author; Conner, Bradley, advisor; Prince, Mark, committee member; Riggs, Nathaniel, committee member; Tompkins, Sara, committee member
Objective: Recently, the National Institutes of Health published a notice of information regarding the establishment of a standard unit of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to be used in research. To address this notice, the current study examined if associations between cannabis use and cannabis related consequences and cannabis use motives would differ when using standard dose as a measure of cannabis use compared to cannabis use frequency. I hypothesized that there would be a positive significant relation between each cannabis use motive and cannabis-related consequences. I hypothesized significant positive relations between motives and number of standard doses. I hypothesized that the positive relation between motives and cannabis-related consequences would be partially mediated by cannabis use as measured by standard dose but not cannabis use frequency. I also hypothesized that none of the cannabis use motives would significantly predict cannabis use frequency, cannabis use frequency would not predict cannabis-related negative consequences, and cannabis use frequency would not mediate the relation between cannabis use motives and cannabis-related negative consequences. Method: I conducted five path analyses to test study hypotheses in a sample of individuals (n=84) who reported regular to heavy cannabis use. I ran non-inferiority tests to test hypotheses of non-significance. Results: Coping motives significantly positively predicted cannabis-related consequences (b=0.376, SE=0.136, p=0.006), such that a one-unit increase in coping motives was expected to increase cannabis-related consequences by a factor of 1.45 (45%). Number of standard doses significantly positively predicted cannabis-related consequences (b=0.24, SE=0.122, p=0.046) such that a one-unit increase in number of standard doses was expected to increase cannabis-related negative consequences by a factor of 1.27. (27%). In the social motives model, social motives significantly positively predicted cannabis-related negative consequences (b=.358, SE=.133, p=.007) such that a one-unit increase in social motives was expected to increase cannabis related consequences by a factor of 1.43 (43%). Also, social motives significantly positively predicted number of standard doses (b=0.3, SE=0.097, p=0.002) such that a one-unit increase in social motives was expected to increase the number of standard doses by a factor of 1.349 (35%). Enhancement motives significantly positively predicted cannabis-related consequences (b=0.406, SE=0.161, p=0.012) such that a one-unit increase in enhancement motives was expected to increase cannabis related consequences by a factor of 1.50 (50%). Further, rate ratios (RR) revealed that one unit increases in number of standard doses ingested predicted larger increases in cannabis-related negative consequences than did one unit increases in cannabis use frequency across all models with significant results. All indirect effects were not significant. Conclusion: Previous research has reported mixed findings on the relations between cannabis use frequency and motives and cannabis use and consequences. Results suggest that number of standard doses and cannabis use frequency differ in the ways in which they predict both cannabis use motives and cannabis-related negative consequences. Further, results suggest that neither number of standard doses nor cannabis use frequency mediate relations between cannabis use motives and cannabis-related consequences.
Open Access
Examining personality dimensions, emotion dysregulation, and emotion regulation strategies as predictors of engagement in health-risk and self-injurious behaviors
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2019) Wallace, Gemma T., author; Conner, Bradley, advisor; Barrett, Karen, committee member; Henrry, Kim, committee member
Health-risk behaviors and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) have been associated with poor mental health outcomes, and some individuals seem more predisposed to engaging in these behaviors than others. However, the behavioral etiology of health-risk behaviors and SITBs is unclear. Emotion dysregulation, reliance on maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and the personality dimensions sensation seeking, impulsivity, neuroticism, and conscientiousness (inversely), have all been implicated in maladaptive behaviors, but these constructs have not been evaluated simultaneously. In addition, most research to date has focused on one or a few outcome behaviors, and few studies have examined underlying mechanisms for engagement in different types of health-risk behaviors and SITBs. The current study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify classes of individuals based on personality and emotion dysregulation dimensions. Differential engagement in seven behaviors (non-suicidal self-injury, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, disordered eating, drug use, heavy alcohol use, and unprotected sex), along with reliance on adaptive versus maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, were then evaluated across classes. Class membership was also evaluated as a moderator of the relations between emotion regulation strategies and each behavioral outcome. The LPA discerned three classes of participants. The Emotionally Regulated class displayed lowest levels of emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, neuroticism, and risk seeking and highest levels of conscientiousness and experience seeking. The Urgency Inclined class had middle-range scores on all indicators, with notably elevated scores in positive and negative urgency compared to the Emotionally Regulated class. The Dysregulation Inclined class reported highest levels of emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, neuroticism, and risk seeking and lowest levels of conscientiousness and experience seeking. Classes were primarily derived by emotion dysregulation, urgency facets of impulsivity, and neuroticism. Engagement in outcome behaviors generally increased across the Emotionally Regulated, Urgency Inclined, and Dysregulation Inclined classes, and results suggest that different behavioral phenotypes may underlie engagement in SITBs and disordered eating versus substance use. Reliance on maladaptive emotion regulation strategies increased and adaptive strategies decreased significantly across classes with increasing emotional instability, suggesting that interventions targeting emotion regulation skills may be especially valuable for individuals in the Urgency Inclined and Dysregulation Inclined classes. There was no evidence for moderation between class membership and emotion regulation strategies in predicting outcome behaviors. Results extend previous literature that identifies emotion-related behavioral traits as salient antecedents to engagement in health-risk behaviors and SITBs. Elucidating heterogeneity among individuals who engage in maladaptive behaviors has important implications for interventions among populations at risk of experiencing associated negative outcomes.
Open Access
Using machine learning and cohort-sequential modeling to predict suicide attempts among Colorado adolescents
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Arkfeld, Patrice A., author; Conner, Bradley, advisor; Prince, Mark, committee member; Riggs, Nathaniel, committee member; Amberg, Marti, committee member
Suicide has become a leading cause of death across the United States with adolescents posed at particular risk for engaging in self-harm and suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts. As the number of suicide attempts increases, the greater the likelihood that someone will continue attempting suicide, incur an injury during one of their attempts, or die by suicide also increases. Although researchers have identified individual predictors of suicide, very few have investigated the intersectional and interacting variables that predict suicide attempts while differentiating the predictors of multiple suicide attempts from predictors of single attempts and those who have not attempted suicide. The present study utilized the exploratory classification trees to identify these predictors of multiple suicide attempts across the 2015, 2017, and 2019 Healthy Kids Colorado Surveys, which assesses the health and safety of Colorado adolescents. The present study sought to identify if the predictors of multiple suicide attempts change over time and for participants with expansive transgender identities and/or sexual orientation. Models identified 26 predictors of multiple suicide attempts with creating a plan for suicide in the last year as the most predictive of multiple suicide attempts, followed by the number of times participants used heroin in their lifetime, the number of times in the past month when participant misused prescription medications, and the number of days in the last month when participants smoked cigarettes. Results support the use of classification trees in identifying risk factors for multiple suicide attempts though replication is necessary to support these findings.