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Emotion-Modulated Startle And The Course Of Major And Minor Depression, April Taylor-Clift

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is highly recurrent. Researchers have proposed that certain traits predispose people to repeated episodes of this disorder. The current study examined the hypothesis that maladaptive emotional responding to stimuli would predict a worse depression outcome over six months. Participants were 58 individuals--18 controls, 22 individuals with MDD, and 18 individuals with minor depression (mD; subthreshold depression)--who participated in a diagnostic interview and emotion-modulated startle procedure at time one, and who returned for a second diagnostic interview six months later at time two. An identical emotion-modulated startle procedure was then repeated at time two with 33 individuals--12 …

Evaluation Of Repeated Biomarkers: Non-Parametric Comparison Of Areas Under The Receiver Operating Curve Between Correlated Groups Using An Optimal Weighting Scheme, Ping Xu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves are often used to evaluate the prognostic performance of a continuous biomarker. In a previous research, a non-parametric ROC approach was introduced to compare two biomarkers with repeated measurements. An asymptotically normal statistic, which contains the subject-specific weights, was developed to estimate the areas under the ROC curve of biomarkers. Although two weighting schemes were suggested to be optimal when the within subject correlation is 1 or 0 by the previous study, the universal optimal weight was not determined. We modify this asymptotical statistic to compare AUCs between two correlated groups and propose a solution …

How Does Mobility Change Over Time For Older Adults, And How Are Changes Influenced By Cognitive Functioning?, Melissa Lunsman O'Connor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mobility, which includes life space and driving behaviors, is an important functional domain for older adults (e.g., Webber, Porter, & Menec, in press). Low mobility is associated with sensory, physical, and cognitive deficits (e.g., Anstey, Wood, Lord, & Walker, 2005). However, few studies have investigated how mobility changes over time. This dissertation contains three longitudinal articles that explored mobility changes, with an emphasis on driving and cognition, among community-dwelling older adults.

The first paper investigated patterns of driving self-regulation (i.e., adjustment of driving behaviors) among control-group participants from the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study (N=548). …

The Effect Of Stress On Hedonic Capacity In Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Prospective Experimental Study Of One Potential Pathway To Depression, Bethany H. Morris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of work links psychopathology to changes in hedonic capacity following stressors. This was the first experimental study of the effects of stress on hedonic capacity in an analog generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) sample (a high worry group). Specifically, we utilized an experimental manipulation of stress and a behavioral index of anhedonia to test the hypothesis that individuals with GAD, who are at higher risk for developing depression symptoms, exhibit greater stress-related deficits in hedonic capacity than do nonanxious controls. Further, this study assessed whether stress-induced hedonic deficits predicted future depression. Controls exhibited the expected reward learning pattern …

Educational Outcomes For Children With Early-Onset Behavior Problems, Allison Gibson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research has consistently shown a greater likelihood of negative outcomes later in life for children with early-onset behavior problems. Understanding the educational outcomes for these children is essential information that can help educators and families to provide targeted interventions in an effort to positively impact these at-risk children’s school experiences. The current study used archival data and a causal comparative research design to examine the educational outcomes (academic achievement, suspension rates, retention rates, and dropout rates/failure to complete high school) for children identified as at-risk for early-onset behavior problems in grades 1 through 3 for a cohort of children in …

School Functioning Of Children With Asthma: A Study Of The Elementary And Middle School Years, Shannon Elizabeth Johansen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the school functioning of children with asthma compared to the school functioning of children without asthma over a 9-year time span. The present study was a secondary analysis of data from one large school district in a southeastern state. Information was gathered from multiple sources, including student records and parent and teacher surveys. Variables related to academics, behavior, and teacher perception were examined. A total of 646 participants were initially included in the study. These participants included 296 students identified as having asthma and 350 students identified as not having asthma. Participants were matched on gender, race, …

Connections Count: Understanding Gender And Race Differences In School-Based Problem Behavior During Adolescence, Raymond C. Santa-Lucia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Utilization of a large, diverse sample provided a rare opportunity to advance our understanding of gender, race, and socioeconomic differences in school-based problem behavior. Yearly assessment of discipline referrals and suspensions received within the school context from 5th- through 11th-grade, as well as assessment of school dropout, provided an opportunity to examine these issues through an extended prospective longitudinal design. Results highlight the middle school transition as a time when discipline referrals and suspensions increase markedly, while student reports of connections to others, motivation, and optimism decline sharply. Results indicate that boys, African-American students, and students from low socioeconomic status …