Courtney A Whetzel

Pennsylvania State University | Penn State · Prevention Research Center

Background There is evidence that anxiety and stress increased among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, less is known about daily experiences of affect, worry, substance use behaviors, experiences of pleasure, concern over food security, experiences of bias or discrimination, feelings of belongingness, and other indicators of w...

BACKGROUND There is evidence that anxiety and stress increased among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, less is known about daily experiences of affect, worry, substance use behaviors, experiences of pleasure, concern over food security, experiences of bias or discrimination, feelings of belongingness, and other indicators of w...

Objectives To examine the change in the relationship between food insecurity and risk of depression pre-COVID and during COVID periods in college students. Methods We conducted secondary data analysis of 1,004 undergraduate students from the Penn State College Relationships and Experiences (CORE) project. Students were surveyed in November 2019 (W...

Objective The COVID-19 pandemic has potential for long-lasting effects on college students’ well-being. We examine changes from just before to during the pandemic in indicators of health and well-being and comprehensive profiles of health and well-being, along with links between covariates and profiles during the pandemic. Participants 1,004 stude...

In a novel pilot study, we investigated how emotional state is related to inflammatory responses to acute pain among women with rheumatoid arthritis. Nine women completed four 5-hour visits that varied only by manipulation of emotion (anger, sadness, happiness, vs. control); in each visit, acute pain was elicited, with blood draws at baseline, 10 m...

Objective: This study examines effects of daily use of adult day service (ADS) programs by caregivers of individuals with dementia (IWD) on a salivary biomarker of stress reactivity, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S), and whether these effects on DHEA-S are associated with daily variability in positive mood and depressive symptoms. Methods:...

Purpose Pubertal dynamics plays an important role in physical and psychological development of children and adolescents. We aim to provide reference ranges of plasma testosterone in a large longitudinal sample. Furthermore, we describe a measure of testosterone trajectories during adolescence that can be used in future investigations of development...

To follow up on a recent report from our lab [Hum Psychopharmacol 25:359-367, 2010.] we examined the effects of caffeine on salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) activity in response to an engaging, non-stressful task in healthy young males (age 18-30 yrs) who consumed caffeine on a daily basis. Using a placebo-controlled, double-blind, between-subjects des...

Conclusions: The average exposure to testosterone is a useful measure for future investigations using testosterone trajectories to examine pubertal dynamics.

Most Agouti viable yellow (Avy) mice display constitutive expression of agouti protein, which acts as an inverse agonist at the melanocortin receptor 4 (Mc4r), resulting in adult-onset obesity as well as an altered sensitivity to some drugs of abuse. We investigated the influence of excessive agouti expression on open-field locomotor response to da...

Recent attention has been given to subclinical hypothyroidism, defined as an elevation of TSH (4.5-10 uIU/L) with T4 and T3 levels still within the normal range. Controversy exists about the proper lower limit of TSH that defines patients in the subclinical hypothyroidism range and about if/when subclinical hypothyroidism should be treated. Additio...

The anabolic steroid, dehydroepiandosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), is secreted from the adrenal cortex. It plays a significant role in the body as a precursor to sex steroids as well as a lesser known role in the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) response to stress. DHEA-S can be measured reliably in saliva, making saliva collection a valuable t...

We examined the effects of caffeine and a psychological stressor on salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) in healthy young males (age 18-30 years) who consumed caffeine on a daily basis. Using a between-subjects, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, 45 participants received either 200 or 400 mg of caffeine (Vivarin) or placebo, rested for 20 min, and th...

Francisco. Salivary α-amylase assays were conducted by Salimetrics, LLC, State College, PA, where DAG is founder and president. We appreciate the dedicated assistance of undergraduate students in the Biobehavioral Health Studies Lab, the GCRC nursing staff, and comments and advice from Drs.. (2010). Caffeine and stress alter salivary α-Amylase leve...

To examine reasons behind the failure of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to preserve puff count information from standard cigarette testing and to elucidate the importance of puff count to overall tar yields. We reviewed industry documents on origins of the FTC test and datasets provided by the Tobacco Institute Testing Laboratory to the tobacco...

See Klein et al 2010 paper

Interferon (IFN)-gamma and IL-10 cytokines, measures of Th1 and Th2 immunity, were examined in 20 healthy nonsmokers (12 males, 8 females) and 19 smokers (11 males, 8 females), aged 19-41 years (23.46+/-0.82 years). Nonsmokers came to the laboratory once; smokers came to the laboratory after ad lib smoking and following 24-h smoking abstinence. Sal...

We applied novel noninvasive fecal steroid measures to characterize aged rats' responses to a series of common animal room disturbances, including a direct comparison of male and female immunoreactive corticosterone metabolites in feces. The fecal measure provides a unique method to measure the physiologic responses of laboratory animals to altered...

Filter ventilation is the dominant design feature of the modern cigarette that determines yields of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide on smoking machine tests. The commercial use of filter ventilation was precipitated by the 1964 United States Surgeon-General's report, further advanced by the adoption of an official Federal Trade Commission test i...

Metabolic syndrome is characterized by hypertension, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and obesity. Limited investigations have studied early indicators of metabolic syndrome in healthy young adults before diagnosis of disease. The purpose of this investigation is to identify shifts in cardiovascular (CV), metabolic, and immune variables consistent...

Recent studies with adolescent rodents offer valuable information regarding the neurochemical and behavioral effects of adolescent nicotine exposure. One hundred twenty-one male and 125 female adolescent (35 days of age) C57BL/6J mice were tested for voluntary nicotine consumption by providing 24-h access to both saccharin-only (SAC) and one of six...