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Examining Attentional Control And Processing Speed Deficits As Underlying Mechanisms Of Neuropsychological Impairment In Schizophrenia, Mayte Forte

Graduate Masters Theses

Neuropsychological impairment is a key characteristic of schizophrenia (SZ), but its cognitive profile and underlying information processing mechanisms are not yet well understood. We compare patterns of neuropsychological functioning in 85 persons with SZ and 76 healthy controls across measures of intelligence, memory, and executive function. We then test the hypothesis that neuropsychological impairment in SZ is related to dual deficits in two related but distinct information processes: processing speed and attentional control. All research participants completed Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition (WAIS-III), Wechsler Memory Scale Third Edition (WMS-III), and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), all of which provided measures …

Whether Or Not 'It Gets Better'…Coping With Parental Heterosexist Rejection, Cara Herbitter

Graduate Masters Theses

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people face the burden of additional stressors as a result of their experiences of stigma and discrimination regarding their sexual minority status. Parental rejection of LGB people in the context of heterosexism serves as a powerful minority stressor associated with poorer mental health (e.g., Bouris et al., 2010; Ryan, Huebner, Diaz, & Sanchez, 2009). Few contemporary theories exist to describe the experience of parental rejection. In addition, the extant empirical research has focused primarily on youth experiences among White and urban LGB samples, signaling the need for research across the lifespan investigating more diverse samples. …

Validation Of The Multilayered Gender Identity Questionnaires, Philip Eiseman

Dissertations

Gender identity shapes the ways transgender adults experience themselves and relate to the world around them. Although research and theory suggest that gender identity is a multidimensional construct, most measures of gender identity have viewed gender as primarily a unitary construct tied to the gender binary. The aim of this study was to develop and validate the Multilayered Gender Identity Questionnaires (MGIQ), a set of measures of gender identity, in a sample of transgender adults. Qualitative data collected through focus groups with transgender adults (N = 7) helped refine and develop these measures. A series of analyses involving a …

Measuring Responses To Negative Peer Pressure Using Virtual Reality, Kelli Sargent

Psychology Theses and Dissertations

Adolescent susceptibility to negative peer pressure consistently relates to maladaptive adolescent adjustment. However, measurement of this construct typically involves a mono- method, self-report approach. The current study uses virtual reality to create an observational assessment procedure for measuring adolescent responses to negative peer pressure. Participants (n = 264) completed a lab assessment, including self-reports of susceptibility to peer pressure, antisocial behavior, dating violence perpetration, and depressive symptoms. Participants also engaged in 9 virtual reality simulations (4 involving peer pressure), which were coded for resistance to peer pressure. Control participants repeated the virtual reality simulations at a 2- month follow-up. Resistance …

The Mediating Role Of Trauma Symptoms In Teen Dating Violence Victimization, Caitlin Rancher, Ernest Jouriles, Renee Mcdonald, Jeff Temple, David Rosenfield

Psychology Theses and Dissertations

This research examined whether the frequency of recent physical and sexual teen dating violence (TDV) victimization is associated with re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal trauma symptoms, and whether they, in turn, predict the frequency of future TDV victimization. Participants were 104 (49% female) 14 to 17 year olds, recruited primarily from truancy courts to participate in three assessments, spaced three months apart. Adolescents reported on their trauma symptoms, experiences of physical and sexual dating violence victimization and characteristics of their romantic relationship at every assessment. Results indicated that the frequency of recent TDV victimization is related to re-experiencing, avoidance and hyperarousal …

Pathological Personality Traits And Neuropsychological Function, Rui Tang

Psychology Theses and Dissertations

Traditional categorical diagnosis in DSM-5 has received widespread criticism due to its extreme heterogeneity, poor diagnostic reliability, poor validity and high comorbidity. The alternative trait model introduced the domain of psychoticism, which captures the trait of positive schizotypy. Positive schizotypy has been linked to vulnerability to schizophrenia spectrum disorders, which has shown several areas of neuropsychological dysfunction. Considerable evidence has demonstrated that the dimensional model has superior reliability and validity and ties to important clinical constructs such as neuropsychological function. Little research has tied the dimensional model of personality pathology to neuropsychological domains including processing speed and executive function. The …

Understanding Behavioral Health And Treatment Engagement With Former Users Of Prenatal Substances: A Strengths-Focused Mixed Methods Inquiry, Jennifer G. Benson, Peggy Maclean, Andrew Hsi, Sarah J. Erickson

Psychology ETDs

Accessible services for users of prenatal substances are lacking, and treatment engagement is poor with services that are available. Furthermore, legal consequences are often punitive, which ultimately damages the well-being of mother and child. Milagro and FOCUS are two New Mexico programs that provide comprehensive, coordinated care, including medication-assisted treatment, to former users of prenatal substances during pregnancy (in the Milagro Program) and for three years post-birth (in the FOCUS Program). This mixed methods study explored the lived experiences of women from this complex, high-risk population, using a high-engagement sample of women who utilized services at both Milagro and FOCUS. …

Psychological Distress And Adjustment In College Students, Donovan A. Miles

Theses and Dissertations

The mental health needs of college students have risen dramatically. According to Kitzrow (2003), an estimated 84% of students who walked into a school counseling centers show significant causes for concern. These students were at high risks because of a variety of psychological distress. The current study sought to understand the multidimensional impact of mental health concerns on students' academic adjustment. Undergraduate students from a northeast public university completed an online survey that comprised of demographic information and two Likert type scales that measured psychological distress and academic adjustment. Results indicated that depression, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and eating concerns …

Self-Esteem In Spanish-Speaking Latinos In Northwest Ohio, Mckenna Freeman

Honors Projects

Self-esteem is a widely-studied construct across many disciplines of social science. However, previous research regarding self-esteem and language barriers has focused primarily on children and adolescent populations, while much less research has examined this relationship among adults. The current study measures linguistic acculturation and self-esteem in both Latino and control adult samples. Hypothesis 1 states that participants in the Latino sample would report significantly lower self-esteem than the control sample. Hypothesis 2 states that linguistic acculturation levels in Spanish speaking Latinos would be positively correlated with self-esteem. Finally, a research question was addressed measuring the differences in self-esteem between foreign …

Neuroanatomical Differences Between Boys And Girls With Adhd: A Critical Review And Implications For Treatment, Shelby Clouthier, Jessica Anderson

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a childhood neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by developmentally inappropriate levels of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; 5th ed., American Psychiatric Association, 2013). About 5% of school age children are diagnosed with this disorder and about 65% will have symptoms that persist beyond adolescence (Friedman and Rapport, 2015). Although girls with ADHD exhibit different symptoms relative to boys with ADHD, there is a lack of research on sex-differences in ADHD-related neuroanatomical structures. There is evidence, however, that girls with ADHD have a 10% decrease in total cerebral gray matter volume compared to …

Parenting Stress And Emotion Dysregulation In Children With Dd: The Role Of Parenting Behaviors, Neilson Chan

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Parents of children with developmental delays (DD) report higher levels of parenting stress compared to parents of typically developing children. High levels of parenting stress have been associated with negative outcomes for their children, including higher levels of emotion dysregulation. However, this relationship between parenting stress and child emotion dysregulation has rarely been examined in families of children with DD. Additionally, the mechanisms through which parenting stress influences child emotion dysregulation remain unclear; it may be that parenting stress impacts parenting behaviors (i.e., sensitive and intrusive parenting), which in turn influence the development of the child’s emotion regulatory abilities. In …

Validity And Diagnostic Accuracy Of Broad Symptom Measures And Adhd Symptom Ratings For Identifying Individuals With Adhd Combined And Adhd Inattentive, Stacy Jean Graves

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Neuropsychological assessments conducted with children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often includes broad measures of behavioral disturbances, as well as specific measures of ADHD symptomatology. However, it is unclear the extent to which these two types of measures share substantial common variance or are useful in improving diagnostic accuracy. In efforts to increase efficiency, the current study examined these matters to provide clinicians with information that might help improve the selection of behavioral ratings for evaluation purposes.

Participants included in this study were evaluated for clinical purposes at a community based private practice. Participants included 253 of these children …

Sexual Desire Trajectories: Heterosexual Individuals' Perceptions Of The State And Trait Characteristics Of Desire, Caroline Maykut

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Significant theoretical and empirical attention has aimed to classify sexual desire in a way that accounts for its complexities. A recent question to arise from this discussion is whether desire is best conceptualized as a state or a trait. Limited data examine patterns of desire spanning several years, and most data emanate from cross-sectional or short-term follow-up studies. Long-term accounts of desire level variability remain a gap in the literature, as does research inquiring directly about the question of trait desire.

Thirteen heterosexual women and ten heterosexual men, ages 40-63, participated in a semi-structured interview focusing on desire level and …

Preschool Executive Function Predicts Childhood Resting State Functional Connectivity And Adhd And Depression, Elizabeth Hawkey

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Measures of executive function (EF), such as the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, distinguish children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) from control children, but less work has examined relationships to depression or brain network organization. This study examined whether early childhood EF predicted a new onset or worsening of ADHD and/or depression, and examined how early childhood EF related to functional connectivity of brain networks at school age. Methods: Participants were 247 children, enrolled at ages 3-6, from a prospective study of emotion development. The BRIEF Global Executive Composite (BRIEF-GEC) was used as the measure of EF in early …

Effect Of Cpap Compliance On A Cognitive Screening Test In A Memory Clinic Population With Sleep Apnea, Tatiana Marie Vallejo-Luces

Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: To determine whether the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was a sensitive indicator of cognitive improvement following introduction of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in community memory clinic (CMC) patients who had been diagnosed with sleep apnea (SA). Method: Twenty-six CPAP compliant CMC patients (61.5% male; 96.2% Caucasian/Non-Hispanic) with a diagnosis of SA (66-87 years (M=76.27(4.90)) completed a MoCA before initiation of treatment and again 4-9 months later. CPAP compliance was documented through CPAP machine compliance reports and/or clinical interview with patient and family member during subsequent medical visits. Twenty CPAP non-compliant CMC patients (85% male, 100% Caucasian/Non-Hispanic; 66-90 years …

Two-Week Test-Retest Reliability Of The Scale Of Accurate Personality Prediction, Lisa Dawn Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

The Scale of Accurate Personality Prediction (SAPP) is a measure derived from the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF Fifth Edition) with the objective of assessing one’s level of self-knowledge. The SAPP measures self-knowledge by appraising the extent to which individuals are able to accurately predict their personality traits. Previous research on the SAPP has provided support for its construct validation. The present study served as a replication of prior reliability studies to further assess the SAPP’s temporal stability. Test-retest reliability data of the SAPP was obtained by comparing SAPP scores from 34 individuals across two testing sessions that were two …

Predicting And Promoting Health-Related Quality Of Life For Parents Of Children With Autism: A Mixed-Methods Approach, Laura Delustro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study used a mixed methodology approach to understand factors that predict and promote health related quality of life (HRQOL) for parents of youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The first component of the study used quantitative analyses to determine the extent to which study variables predict HRQOL for parents of youth with ASD (N = 365). Findings show that HRQOL is positively impacted by increased total annual household income, increased age of the child with ASD, male gender, and tangible support. HRQOL was negatively impacted by increased age of the parent, increased parental perceptions of burden, and …

Effects Of Cultural Factors In Sports-Related Concussion Testing Performance Of Collegiate Athletes, Gabriela Andrea González Torres

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to explore potential differences in preseason baseline concussion testing between an ethnically and linguistically diverse sample of Division 2 NCAA collegiate student-athletes. A value-added second aim was to create awareness regarding the implications of multiculturalism as it relates to neuropsychological testing of sport related concussions. This study is part of a, slow yet steady, growing body of research concerning diversity issues within the sport setting. 479 Division II collegiate athletes from the Florida Institute of Technology were assessed during mandatory preseason baseline testing. The Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing, the Sports Concussion …

The Gritty Black Single Mother: Protective Factors And The Influence Of Black Single Mother’S Grit On Young Adult Outcomes, Keara Cherrell Washington

Theses and Dissertations

Over the span of decades, literature has highlighted that offspring from Black Single Maternal Caregiver Households (BSMCH) will experience negative outcomes, including academic deficits and psychological distress, as a function of the adversarial barriers (i.e. low socioeconomic status, mother’s lack of educational attainment, and ecological threats) encountered within their environment. Despite the apparent potential negative outcomes, there are numerous examples of Black offspring from BSMCH who are resilient and successful, despite dire familial circumstances. However, their stories do not appear to be reflected in the literature. The purpose of this study was to reveal the untold story of resilient Black …

Substance Abuse And Other Factors That Influence Recidivism For Mental Health Court Graduates, Justine Maria Swanson

Theses and Dissertations

Mental health courts (MHC) were designed to divert the overwhelming number of individuals with mental illness involved in the criminal justice system from incarceration through specialty court proceedings intended to meet their unique needs. Individuals who have both mental health problems and substance use are at a disadvantage. For them, this combination contributes to more severe mental health symptoms, physical health issues, interpersonal challenges, and legal problems. The co-occurrence of mental illness and substance use is increasing in prevalence within both the community and justice system settings; however, few studies have explored the effectiveness of MHCs for this specific population …

Effective Parental Cooperation And Communication As Protective Factors For Adult Offspring Of Divorce, Damla Til Ogut

Theses and Dissertations

Research and society have focused attention on how divorce affects family dynamics for decades. The clinical literature points to significant discrepancies in psychological variables between offspring from divorced versus intact families, suggesting that divorce contributes to negative psychosocial outcomes. Accordingly, investigations have revealed the adverse effects of co-parental conflict and antagonistic communication on divorce offspring’s psychological outcomes. Although parental cooperation and communication are suggested to serve as protective factors, more research is needed, given the current literature’s reliance on measures of psychopathology, yet making conclusions on psychological wellness. Among 244 college students, results indicated that divorce offspring reported lower levels …

Emotion Socialization And Families Of Children With And Without Adhd., Danielle M. Walerius

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emotional competence (EC) represents several distinct emotional skills found to be strongly associated with children’s socioemotional outcomes. EC is thought to develop through a process known as emotion socialization (ES), whereby children’s emotions and emotion-based behaviors are socialized through interactions with parents and/or other primary figures. The present study examined ES across families of children with and without ADHD in order to clarify the role ES plays in the development of EC in typically developing (TD) children versus children more prone to EC impairments due to intrapersonal characteristics (e.g., inattention, disinhibition, etc.). Forty-eight children 5 to 8-years-old (23 with ADHD, …

Functional Isolation: Understanding Isolation In Trafficking Survivors, Liz Mahan

Student Theses

This study examined how traffickers used different elements of isolation and how such tactics may have contributed to the traffickers’ success in maintaining control over the victim. I examined in-depth narratives from 14 women between the ages of 20-53, primarily immigrants, who were recruited from an agency serving victims of sex trafficking in a large metropolitan city. The tactics used by traffickers varied and included not only the commonly defined structural isolation in which victims are restricted physically and socially, but also included a shrinking of safe social space and an elimination of privacy and social support. The latter is …

Understanding Stress Reactivity In Schizophrenia, Mary Vertinski

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The role of stress has long been recognized in schizophrenia; several theories have identified the role of stress as an important factor in the etiology of schizophrenia. A handful of studies have used laboratory psychosocial stressors to examine cortisol stress response in schizophrenia; the results obtained have consistently suggested that the stress response is attenuated in people with schizophrenia. Present study set out to examine stress responsivity in schizophrenia relative to healthy controls. A laboratory stress test was used to investigate cortisol response, heart rate and task appraisal in a sample of 17 healthy controls and 16 men diagnosed with …

Age Of Drinking Initiation’S Association With Cognitive Functioning, Joshua Seth Goldberg

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Research has indicated that alcohol abuse is associated with deleterious effects on cognitive functioning later in life, specifically in the neuropsychological domains of immediate memory, delayed memory, and attention. However, research has been mixed regarding how age of initiation into problem drinking affects cognitive health after abstinence. This study aimed to identify if earlier age of alcohol abuse was associated with significant deficits in neuropsychological functioning in comparison to individuals who commenced alcohol abuse later in life. Participants were recruited from an alcohol rehabilitation program within Loma Linda University’s Behavioral Medicine Center and were administered the Repeatable Battery for the …

Polynomial Regression Analyses Of Parental Desirable Responding, Megan Elizabeth Lilly

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Child assessments have consistently yielded poor agreement between parent-child self-report measures and considerable research has failed to isolate the underlying source of the discrepancies. Validity testing has successfully been used to differentiate credible from non-credible performance, recognize feigned symptoms, and detect underestimates of ability in adults for decades (Sherman, 2015). Despite these potential benefits, attention to the importance of validity testing in the child assessment literature has been largely neglected. Many psychologists believe children are not capable of feigning or exaggerating their symptoms and lack the underlying motivations and incentives for deception found in adult assessments. Whereas, more research is …

Psychopathic Traits, Gender, And Sexual Motivations: Paths To Sexual Coercion, Amy M. Hoffmann

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although evidence suggests that both men and women perpetrate sexual coercion, the majority of work has traditionally focused on men as perpetrators and women as victims. Psy-chological factors, including psychopathic traits and sexual motivations, have been proposed to characterize sexually coercive men. However, the sparse existing research using female samples suggests that these models may not adequately characterize female sexual coercers. In particular, although there is evidence that sexual motivations may mediate the relationship between psycho-pathic traits and coercion perpetration, there is a dearth of information regarding gender as a po-tential moderator of these mediating paths. To improve our understanding …

Mediators And Moderators Of Childhood Family Adversity And Adult Cortisol Response: The Role Of Marital Conflict Behavior, Jeffrey P. Winer

Doctoral Dissertations

Childhood family adversity influences behavioral and physiological response processes to acute interpersonal stress. Additionally, conflict behaviors in marriage are primary determinants of stress response and related psychological problems in adulthood. As little research has examined these two important literatures simultaneously, further work is warranted to clarify the role of marital conflict behavior in the relation between childhood family adversity and adult cortisol response to conflict. The current study examined relations between childhood family adversity, observed marital conflict behaviors, and salivary cortisol in response to acute marital conflict among 228 different-sex newlywed couples. We examined intrapersonal “actor” effects as candidate mediators …

Intraracial And Intraethnic Microaggressions Experienced By Korean American Internationally And Transracially Adopted Persons, Karin J. Garber

Doctoral Dissertations

This research examined the microaggressions that Korean American internationally and transracially adopted persons (ITAPs) reported based on intraracial/intraethnic interpersonal exchanges. This research tested a conceptual model that: 1) determined the themes of intraracial/intraethnic microaggressions reported by Korean American ITAPs; 2) investigated how psychological symptoms and emotion outcomes were predicted from these microaggressions; and 3) tested specific moderators (i.e., age, engagement coping, disengagement coping, ethnic identity, stigma consciousness, parental racial, ethnic, and cultural socialization, and level of interaction with other Asians) that could change the relationship between these microaggressions and negative psychological symptoms and emotion outcomes. Two studies with different samples …

Examining The Relation Between Family Functioning And Child Hyperactivity: Simultaneously Testing Four Proposed Mechanisms, Rosanna P. Breaux

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study examined the bidirectional relation between multiple measures of family functioning and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms across the preschool years. Additionally, it examined if these relations held when comorbid child ODD symptoms and parental ADHD symptoms were taken into account. Participants included 258 (138 boys) 3-year-old children (M = 44.13 months, SD = 3.39) with and without behavior problems and their parents who took part in a 3-year longitudinal study. Evidence was found for both parent and child effects, depending on the measure of family functioning. Specifically, maternal depressive symptoms, overreactive parenting, and stressful life events were …