Biomedical subjects

Daniel Nagin

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel Nagin.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Heart rate response to alcohol and intoxicated aggressive behavior.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the elevated heart rate (HR) response to alcohol intoxication, thought to reflect an increased sensitivity to alcohol-induced reward, as a potential factor in the increased likelihood of alcohol-induced aggression. METHODS: Three groups, intoxicated high (n=37) and low (n=37) HR responders and sober controls (n=73), participated in a laboratory measure of physical aggression, the Taylor Aggression Paradigm. RESULTS: Results revealed that intoxicated high HR responders were more aggressive than the intoxicated low HR responders and sober controls. CONCLUSIONS: These findings are interpreted within a hypothetical model relating increased alcohol-induced aggression to a dysregulation in the motivational system responding to rewards.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Racial differences in trajectories of cigarette use.

This study examined racial differences in developmental trajectories of cigarette smoking from childhood into young adulthood. We used data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study, a prospective, longitudinal study of high-risk males. We developed trajectories of cigarette smoking from age 10 through age 25. Models were estimated separately for African-Americans (N = 562) and Whites (N = 421) because preliminary analyses indicated that there were significant racial differences in onset, levels and patterns of cigarette use. Three trajectory groups emerged for both races: nonsmokers, light/occasional smokers and heavy/regular smokers. Significantly more Whites were in the heavy/regular smoker group and more African-Americans were in the nonsmoker group. White compared to African-American heavy/regular smokers began smoking earlier and reached higher mean quantities of cigarettes per day. In addition, there were racial differences in the timing and rapidity of the development of regular smoking over time. Race remained a significant predictor of cigarette use even after controls for socioeconomic status. Overall, the results indicate that developmental trends in smoking differ by race and that cigarette smoking remains more prevalent and more frequent for White than African-American males, at least through young adulthood.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Cognitive-neuropsychological function in chronic physical aggression and hyperactivity.

Histories of violence and of hyperactivity are both characterized by poor cognitive-neuropsychological function. However, researchers do not know whether these histories combine in additive or interactive ways. The authors tested 303 male young adults from a community sample whose trajectories of teacher-rated physical aggression and motoric hyperactivity from kindergarten to age 15 were well defined. No significant interaction was found. In a 1st model, both histories of problem behavior were independently associated with cognitive-neuropsychological function in most domains. In a second model controlling for IQ, General Memory, and test motivation, none of the three Working Memory tests (relevant to executive function) remained associated with physical aggression or hyperactivity. These results support an additive model but no specificity to executive function [corrected].

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Developmental trajectories of boys' delinquent group membership and facilitation of violent behaviors during adolescence.

Being part of a delinquent group has been shown to facilitate the expression of an individual's own delinquent propensities. However, this facilitation effect has not been investigated from a developmental perspective within a population heterogeneity model. Using a semiparametric mixture model with data from the Montreal Longitudinal Experimental Study, this article addresses important issues in the developmental trends of membership to delinquent groups. We explore how the rate of violent behaviors follows delinquent peer group trajectories and investigate a differential facilitation effect of delinquent peers on violence across multiple developmental pathways. Results suggest that 25% of males followed a childhood or an adolescence delinquent group affiliation trajectory. These two groups account far most of the violent acts assessed during adolescence. In addition, the rate of violent behaviors follows these developmental trajectories. Controlling for these delinquent group trajectories, we also found that being involved in a delinquent group at any specific time during adolescence is associated with an increased rate of violent behaviors, and that leaving these groups results in a decrease in violent behaviors. This facilitation effect appears homogeneous over time and across developmental trajectories. Results are discussed from a social interactional perspective.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Aggressiveness, family history of alcoholism, and the heart rate response to alcohol intoxication.

Some sons of male alcoholics (SOMAs) are characterized by an increased heart rate (HR) response to alcohol intoxication, which is thought to reflect increased sensitivity to alcohol-induced reward. Such a response has also been related to increased physical aggression. However, the confounding effect of aggression in SOMAs may be obscuring the interpretation of these findings. The HR response to alcohol was therefore assessed in 4 groups: high/low aggressive SOMAs and high/low aggressive non-SOMAs. Results indicate that aggressive SOMAs had the highest intoxicated HR response and that they reported the most alcohol consumption. This suggests that in some cases the high comorbidity between alcohol misuse and aggression is related to an increased sensitivity to alcohol-induced reward.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

A longitudinal study of pain sensitivity and blood pressure in adolescent boys: results from a 5-year follow-up.

A growing literature has observed a significant reduction in pain sensitivity among hypertensive animals and humans. It is uncertain whether a reduced sensitivity to pain can be observed in nonnotensive individuals who go on to develop high blood pressure. Blood pressure (BP) was reassessed in one hundred fifteen 19-year-old boys initially tested at age 14, when they were also presented with a pain stimulus (mechanical finger pressure). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that information regarding pain tolerance improved prediction of changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure beyond that afforded by differences in BP at age 14, parental history of hypertension, and body mass index. These analyses suggest that pain sensitivity may be associated with physiological processes involved in the development of sustained high blood pressure.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

The development of impulsivity, fearfulness, and helpfulness during childhood: patterns of consistency and change in the trajectories of boys and girls.

BACKGROUND: The objective of the present study was to describe the development of boys and girls during the elementary-school years on three dimensions that conceptually and empirically represent risk for maladjustment. METHOD: Every year between kindergarten and grade six, teachers rated the impulsivity, fearfulness, and helpfulness dimensions among a sample of 1,865 children representative of kindergarten boys and girls in the province of Quebec (Canada) in 1986-87. A group-based trajectory method was used to 1) identify groups of boys and girls following distinct-level trajectories of behaviours (on each dimension) during the elementary-school years; 2) estimate the proportion of children in each of the identified trajectory groups; and 3) estimate the patterns of consistency and variations in trajectories. RESULTS: The results indicated that the best models comprised three distinct-level trajectory groups on fearfulness and helpfulness (a low, moderate, and high group) and four distinct-level trajectory groups on impulsivity. The helpfulness and fearfulness trajectory groups were generally more stable than the impulsivity groups. The broad patterns of development were similar across sexes. However, there were more boys on the higher impulsivity trajectories and low helpfulness trajectory, while there were more girls on the high fearfulness trajectory. CONCLUSION: We found that behavioural consistency over middle childhood varied across trajectory groups and across dimensions, and we identified sex differences in the distribution of children in the different trajectory groups that may reflect gender-specific risks for psychopathology.

Child↗