The Impact of Illicit ADHD Medication Use on Dietary Choices and Mental Distress Among College Students

Students on college campuses use ADHD medications illicitly, often to increase their focus, concentration, and memory in an attempt to better their academic performance. These psychostimulants have an appetite suppressive effect that make them attractive for use by many college students. Psychostimulants impact the brain circuitry in a way that impacts mental health, which in turn impact eating behaviors that may lead to disordered eating. The brain reward circuits affected by ADHD medication may play a role in “pleasure-seeking behavior and food cravings.” Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between ADHD medications, dietary choices and mental distress. Data has been collected from over 600 undergraduate students from several U.S. colleges. Data collection is ongoing. The survey included questions on dietary patterns, exercise practices, frequency of specific food group consumption, mental health, and ADHD medication use. Data was collected using a Google Survey and analyzed using Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient in SPSS, Version 25.0. Our results suggest that there is a bidirectional relationship between ADHD medications, dietary choices and mental distress.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2021/1026/thumbnail.jp

Motor competency and physical activity in elementary school aged children who participate in nontraditional sports

One after school program, Youth Ambassadors of Physical Education (YA), is designed to promote physical activity in school age children to help combat the growing levels of childhood inactivity. However, this program utilizes skills that are vastly different from the locomotor and object control skills assessed with the Test of Gross Motor Development. Purpose: The purpose of this study it to determine whether the TGMD-2 can identify the children in YA as competent in their motor skills. This study also examines if there is a link between the overall physical activity level of the children in YA and their motor competency scores. Approach: 12 participants for this study were recruited from the 2017 Youth Ambassadors Program (YA) sponsored by the Tacoma public schools. Following completion of the TGMD-2, each participant was fitted with an activity monitor for a period of five days. Results: Descriptive scores on the TGMD-2 range from below average to above average, representing scores from the 25th percentile for children of the same age and gender to the 95th percentile. No correlation was found between physical activity levels and TGMD-2 scores. All participants of YA logged activity levels significantly exceeding the CDC recommendations, both during the weekday and on the weekends Conclusions: This study demonstrates that the factors of high activity levels and proficiency in complex motor skills do not correlate with average or above average scores on the test. The TGMD-2 may not be the best tool for measuring motor proficiency in specific populations of children that practice non-traditional motor skills in their activities

Motor Competency And Physical Activity in Young Ambassadors of Physical Education

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the TGMD-2 can identify the children in the Young Ambassadors (YA) program as competent in their motor skills, and determine if there is a link between the overall physical activity level of the children in YA and their motor competency scores. It was hypothesized that the TGMD-2 would misclassify YA participants as having average motor competence due to their participation in non-traditional motor skills, and that children with higher levels of physical activity would score higher on the TGMD-2. 12 participants were recruited from the Tacoma Public Schools 2017 YA program. Two trained researchers completed all the testing as described in the manual, each administering the same portion of the test. Following completion of the TGMD-2, each participant was fitted with an Actigraph activity monitor, which was worn for five consecutive days to track physical activity levels. Descriptive scores on the TGMD-2 ranged from below average to above average, with no significant difference between locomotor and object control scores (p=0.898). No correlation was found between physical activity levels and TGMD-2 locomotor scores (R =0.09, p=0.767) or object control score (R= 0.09, p=0.781). This study demonstrates that proficiency in complex non-traditional motor skills and high activity levels do not correlate with average or above average scores on the test. The TGMD-2 may not be the best tool for measuring motor proficiency in specific populations of children that practice non-traditional motor skills in their activities

A Hydrodynamic and Sediment Transport Model for the Waipaoa Shelf, New Zealand: Sensitivity of Fluxes to Spatially-Varying Erodibility and Model Nesting

Numerical models can complement observations in investigations of marine sediment transport and depositional processes. A coupled hydrodynamic and sediment transport model was implemented for the Waipaoa River continental shelf offshore of the North Island of New Zealand, to complement a 13-month field campaign that collected seabed and hydrodynamic measurements. This paper described the formulations used within the model, and analyzed the sensitivity of sediment flux estimates to model nesting and seabed erodibility. Calculations were based on the Regional Ocean Modeling System—Community Sediment Transport Modeling System (ROMS-CSTMS), a primitive equation model using a finite difference solution to the equations for momentum and water mass conservation, and transport of salinity, temperature, and multiple classes of suspended sediment. The three-dimensional model resolved the complex bathymetry, bottom boundary layer, and river plume that impact sediment dispersal on this shelf, and accounted for processes including fluvial input, winds, waves, tides, and sediment resuspension. Nesting within a larger-scale, lower resolution hydrodynamic model stabilized model behavior during river floods and allowed large-scale shelf currents to impact sediment dispersal. To better represent observations showing that sediment erodibility decreased away from the river mouth, the seabed erosion rate parameter was reduced with water depth. This allowed the model to account for the observed spatial pattern of erodibility, though the model held the critical shear stress for erosion constant. Although the model neglected consolidation and swelling processes, use of a spatially-varying erodibility parameter significantly increased export of fluvial sediment from Poverty Bay to deeper areas of the shelf