Browsing by Author "Cash, Annah R."

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    Impacts of COVID-19 quarantine and isolation on adolescent social functioning
    Breaux, Rosanna; Cash, Annah R.; Lewis, Jasmine; Garcia, Katelyn M.; Dvorsky, Melissa R.; Becker, Stephen P. (Elsevier, 2023-06)
    This review discusses research conducted globally between March 2020 and March 2023 examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent social functioning, including their lifestyle, extracurricular activities, family environment, peer environment, and social skills. Research highlights the widespread impact, with largely negative effects. However, a handful of studies support improved quality of relationships for some young people. Study findings underscore the importance of technology for fostering social communication and connectedness during periods of isolation and quarantine. Most studies specifically examining social skills were cross-sectional and conducted in clinical populations, such as autistic or socially anxious youth. As such, it is critical that ongoing research examines the long-term social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ways to promote meaningful social connectedness via virtual interactions.
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    Prospective impact of COVID-19 on mental health functioning in adolescents with and without ADHD: protective role of emotion regulation abilities
    Breaux, Rosanna; Dvorsky, Melissa R.; Marsh, Nicholas P.; Green, Cathrin D.; Cash, Annah R.; Shroff, Delshad M.; Buchen, Natalie; Langberg, Joshua M.; Becker, Stephen P. (Wiley, 2021-02-04)
    Background: The impact of chronic stressors like the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to be magnified in adolescents with pre-existing mental health risk, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study examined changes in and predictors of adolescent mental health from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. Methods: Participants include 238 adolescents (132 males; ages 15–17; 118 with ADHD). Parents and adolescents provided ratings of mental health symptoms shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic and in spring and summer 2020. Results: Adolescents on average experienced an increase in depression, anxiety, sluggish cognitive tempo, inattentive, and oppositional/defiant symptoms from pre-COVID-19 to spring 2020; however, with the exception of inattention, these symptoms decreased from spring to summer 2020. Adolescents with ADHD were more likely than adolescents without ADHD to experience an increase in inattentive, hyperactive/impulsive, and oppositional/defiant symptoms. Adolescents with poorer pre-COVID-19 emotion regulation abilities were at-risk for experiencing increases in all mental health symptoms relative to adolescents with better pre-COVID-19 emotion regulation abilities. Interactive risk based on ADHD status and pre-COVID-19 emotion regulation abilities was found for inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, such that adolescents with ADHD and poor pre-COVID-19 emotion regulation displayed the highest symptomatology across timepoints. Lower family income related to increases in inattention but higher family income related to increases in oppositional/defiant symptoms. Conclusions: The early observed increases in adolescent mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic do not on average appear to be sustained following the lift of stay-at-home orders, though studies evaluating mental health across longer periods of time are needed. Emotion dysregulation and ADHD increase risk for sustained negative mental health functioning and highlight the need for interventions for these populations during chronic stressors. Results and clinical implications should be considered within the context of our predominately White, middle class sample.
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    The Role of Distress Tolerance and Emotion Regulation in the Health Risk Behaviors of College Students with and without ADHD
    Cash, Annah R. (Virginia Tech, 2022-10-28)
    Emerging adulthood is a developmental period associated with increased engagement in health risk behaviors, particularly in college students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a disorder characterized by low distress tolerance and significant difficulty managing emotions. However, research has not examined how these factors impact propensity to engage in health risk behaviors in college students with ADHD. Thus, this study examined the independent and joint effects of ADHD status, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance on the propensity of college students to engage in health risk behaviors (alcohol use, impulsive eating, and drug behaviors). Participants included 143 undergraduate students (81.8% female; 44.1% with ADHD) who completed an online questionnaire via REDCap. Individuals with ADHD reported significantly higher use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and lower levels of distress tolerance than the comparison sample. Moderation models using the PROCESS macro for SPSS examined whether the associations between emotion regulation abilities and distress tolerance with health risk behavior engagement were moderated by ADHD diagnostic history. The relation between distress tolerance and engagement in drug use behaviors was moderated by ADHD status, such that for individuals with ADHD, poorer distress tolerance was associated with more drug use. ADHD status also moderated the association between maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and cognitive restraint in eating. For individuals without ADHD, more maladaptive emotion regulation was marginally predictive of less engagement in cognitive restraint around food, but this relation, was not significantly for college students with ADHD. Findings from this study provide insight into intervention targets for college students with ADHD, ultimately resulting in significantly decreased societal and personal health costs.