Publications by authors named "Rebecca Andridge"

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the presence of two proteinopathies, amyloid and tau, which have a cascading effect on the functional and structural organization of the brain.

Methods: In this study, we used a supervised machine learning technique to build a model of functional connections that predicts cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) p-tau/Aβ (the PATH-fc model). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 289 older adults in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) were utilized for this model.

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  • Chemotherapy often leads to severe gastrointestinal issues in patients, with existing treatments failing to provide adequate relief.
  • Recent findings suggest that the gut microbiome influences the severity of these symptoms, prompting research into identifying pre-chemotherapy microbiome markers.
  • In a study of 59 breast cancer patients, lower microbiome diversity and specific microbial abundance predicted worse gastrointestinal symptoms during chemotherapy, indicating potential for personalized preventative strategies based on microbiome health before treatment.
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  • Chemotherapy can lead to cognitive and emotional issues in breast cancer survivors, negatively affecting their quality of life.
  • This study aimed to see if diets high in omega-3 fatty acids (EPA+DHA) and low in sucrose could help alleviate these effects in a mouse model.
  • Results suggested that low sucrose diets improved long-term memory despite chemotherapy, and EPA+DHA intake had a positive effect on insulin resistance, but more research is needed to fully understand the implications.
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Chemotherapy agents in breast cancer are associated with chemotherapy-related cognitive impairments (CRCI). Mechanisms are not fully clear, but alterations of glucose and lipid metabolism, neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration may contribute to CRCI. The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effects of a high fat (HF) diet combined with doxorubicin-based chemotherapy on glucose and lipid metabolism, neuroinflammation, and neurodegeneration in mice.

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  • The study explored how parenting stress impacts screen time, outdoor play, and sleep routines in children aged toddler to preschool over two years.
  • A sample of 300 families with 18-month-old toddlers was surveyed, measuring parenting stress and tracking screen time behavior, outdoor play, and sleep habits at age 36 months.
  • Results indicated that higher parenting stress correlated with more television being on without viewers and fewer rules regarding screen time, linking stress to less optimal child behaviors.
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Objective: Multiple sclerosis is associated with impairments in working memory functioning. Lifestyle physical activity interventions show promise in improving cognitive functioning; however, the evidence is limited. We examined the efficacy of a lifestyle physical activity intervention, involving step tracking and psychoeducational materials, on improving step counts, working memory functioning, and network strength in a whole-brain network of working memory.

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Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) may experience a variety of medical, behavioral, and educational concerns. The primary objective of this study was to assess barriers to health care for patients with WS, primarily using the Barriers to Care Questionnaire (BCQ), and to assess whether various demographic factors are correlated with these barriers. A REDCap survey was distributed using the Williams Syndrome Association Research Registry.

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Background: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a biomarker of vaginal semen exposure, is less susceptible to bias than self-reported condom use behaviors. We examined the agreement of self-reported recent condomless sex (RCS) within couples and how these reports related to PSA detection.

Methods: We analyzed data from a study conducted in Vietnam, 2017 to 2020, of 500 different-sex couples using condoms and no other contraceptive method to prevent pregnancy for 6 months.

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Background: This study examined how gut microbiota diversity and richness relate to T cell aging among 96 healthy adults of all ages. It also explored whether these links differed throughout the lifespan.

Methods: Peripheral blood was obtained from 96 study participants (N = 96, aged 21-72) to assess mRNA markers of T cell aging (p16ink4a, p14ARF, B3gat1, Klrg1) and DNA methylation.

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Purpose: To determine the prevalence of food insecurity (FI) among females with a history of breast cancer compared to females without cancer in the USA and the sociodemographic characteristics that may explain their FI.

Methods: Using the 2019 National Health Interview (NHIS) survey that included the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) 10-item Household Food Security Survey Module, participants with high/moderate food security were considered food secure and low/very low food security were considered food insecure. Analyses accounted for complex survey design and included descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, and multivariate regression analyses.

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Dietary intake of long-chain -3 PUFA (-3 PUFA), particularly EPA and DHA, has been associated with psychological well-being, but little is known about the -3 PUFA intake of homeless youth. The current study determined the association between depression and anxiety symptoms and -3 PUFA intake and erythrocytes status in homeless youth. Totally, 114 homeless youth aged 18-24 years were recruited from a drop-in centre.

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Objectives: Age-related shifts in emotion regulation patterns are important for explaining preserved emotional well-being in late adulthood amidst declines in physical and cognitive health. Although several studies have examined age-related shifts in emotion regulation strategy use, age differences in how specific strategies are flexibly adapted to shifting contexts in daily life and the adaptiveness of such shifts remains poorly understood.

Methods: 130 younger adults (ages 22-35) and 130 older adults (ages 65-85) completed a modified Day Reconstruction Method Assessment and self-report questionnaires to examine age differences in emotion regulation strategy use and one aspect of emotion regulation flexibility (responsiveness) in daily life, and the adaptive implications of these differences.

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Among the numerous explanations that have been offered for recent errors in pre-election polls, selection bias due to non-ignorable partisan nonresponse bias, where the probability of responding to a poll is a function of the candidate preference that a poll is attempting to measure (even after conditioning on other relevant covariates used for weighting adjustments), has received relatively less focus in the academic literature. Under this type of selection mechanism, estimates of candidate preferences based on individual or aggregated polls may be subject to significant bias, even after standard weighting adjustments. Until recently, methods for measuring and adjusting for this type of non-ignorable selection bias have been unavailable.

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Background: Cognitive dysfunction is a pervasive symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS). Correlational evidence on the relationships between physical activity, sedentary behavior, and cognition has been mixed and limited to a few activity measures. The collinearity of accelerometry-based metrics has precluded an assessment of the full activity spectrum.

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About one-in-three breast cancer survivors have lingering cognitive complaints and objective cognitive impairment. Chronic inflammation and intestinal permeability (i.e.

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Background: Prior evidence has linked inflammation with impulsivity, but most of this evidence is cross-sectional. In this study, we provoked an acute inflammatory cytokine response to see whether it lowered prepotent response inhibition on three cognitive tasks.

Method: This study features secondary analyses from a randomized crossover trial in which 171 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors (Stage I-IIIA) each received a typhoid capsular polysaccharide vaccination and a saline placebo injection in a random sequence at two separate visits at least one month apart.

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Parenting that is sensitive and responsive to children's needs has been shown to support children's optimal growth and development in many cultural contexts. Numerous studies suggest that self-compassion is positively related to sensitive parenting. Despite growing research interest linking self-compassion to responsive parenting, there are considerable gaps in the literature.

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Background: Breast cancer survivors often experience many somatic and cognitive side effects resulting from their cancer diagnosis and treatment, including higher rates of pain, fatigue, and memory/concentration problems. Emotion regulation offers opportunities to either enhance or dampen physical health.

Purpose: In a secondary analysis of a double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) using a typhoid vaccine to assess factors associated with breast cancer survivors' inflammatory responses, we assessed how two specific aspects of emotion regulation, mindfulness, and worry, corresponded to acute changes in focus problems, memory problems, and fatigue along with performance on pain sensitivity and cognitive tasks across two visits among breast cancer survivors.

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Marital quality shares ties to inflammation-related conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Lab-based studies implicate hostility during marital conflict as a mechanism via inflammatory reactivity, but little attention has been paid to the inflammatory aftermath of other marital exchanges. A spouse's emotional distress is an important but overlooked context for middle-aged and older couples, as conflict declines and networks shrink.

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Objective: Breast cancer survivors live longer due to more advanced cancer treatments; however, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading non-cancer cause of death in breast cancer survivors. Previous studies have shown that depression is associated with an increased risk of CVD development. This study investigated whether depressive symptoms or mood disorder history, either independently or in combination with cardiotoxic treatments, predicted older cardiopulmonary age using a novel index-the Age Based on Exercise Stress Test (ABEST)-among breast cancer survivors.

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Individuals respond differently to inflammation. Pain, sadness, and fatigue are common correlates of inflammation among breast cancer survivors. Stress may predict response intensity.

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Objectives: Recent conceptualizations of adaptive emotion regulation is predicated on the ability to flexibly use emotion regulation strategies to meet changing contextual demands. Although trait mindfulness has been linked to enhanced emotional well-being and use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies, there is a dearth of literature examining associations between trait mindfulness and emotion regulation flexibility. Further, despite a rich literature suggesting that emotion regulation processes change with age, no study to date has assessed whether the role of trait mindfulness on emotion regulation responsiveness to negative emotions-a component of emotion regulation flexibility-differs between young and older adults.

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Background: Inflammation can have social consequences, which may be relevant to inflammation's link with depression. The current study tests whether a typhoid vaccine increases feelings of social disconnection and avoidance behavior.

Method: In two full-day visits at least three weeks apart, 172 postmenopausal breast cancer survivors (Stage I-IIIA) each received a typhoid capsular polysaccharide vaccination and a saline placebo injection in a random sequence.

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Introduction: People with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) experience a range of physical, cognitive, and affective symptoms. Behavioral interventions targeting increased physical activity show promising support as low-cost methods to improve working memory, episodic memory, and processing speed in PwMS. In this randomized controlled trial, we will examine the efficacy of a pedometer-tracking intervention, designed to increase low-to-moderate levels of physical activity, for improving working memory in PwMS.

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