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Anxiety And Kinesiophobia In Patients With Cardiovascular Disease: Characterization Of The Population And Symptom Trajectories, William A. Middleton

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Background:Psychological difficulties are common surrounding cardiac events and may remain elevated for some time during patient recovery. Evidence suggests that depression, anxiety, and kinesiophobia, or the fear of body movement, may negatively impact patients’ recovery. A comprehensive grasp of these factors and their progression in cardiac patients is currently lacking, despite their significant health implications. Methods: Patients hospitalized for an acute cardiac event were eligible for the study. Participants completed a demographic and psychological questionnaire in hospital. The psychological battery included the 8 item Patient Health Questionnaire-8, the 7 item General Anxiety Disorder-7, and the 17 item Tampa Scale for …

A Network Intervention Analysis: Exploring Patterns Of Symptom Change Over Winter Depression Treatment With Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Vs. Light Therapy, Richard J. Norton

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

This is an exploratory network intervention analysis (NIA) of a larger randomized controlled trial comparing two first-line treatments for winter seasonal affective disorder (SAD): light therapy (LT) and group cognitive-behavioral therapy for SAD (CBT-SAD). Of 177 adults with SAD randomized in the parent study, this study included the 159 participants (88 LT, 75 CBT-SAD) who completed treatment. NIA was applied to examine the relation of treatment type to changes in four previously identified symptom clusters on the Beck-Depression Inventory-II extended version. There were no differences between LT and CBT-SAD in the magnitude of symptom cluster score changes in the interval …

Predictors Of Suicidal Ideation Among Formerly Incarcerated People During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Rachel Matthes Gehman

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Background and purpose: Formerly incarcerated people die by suicide at a rate 6.75 times higher than the general population, but previous research has not identified factors that contribute to this heightened risk. The conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate both suicide risk factors and the stressors of reentry. In the framework of stress proliferation theory, this study uses path analysis to identify paths from incarceration history to environmental factors (i.e., financial stress), interpersonal factors (i.e., social support and conflict), psychological factors (i.e., depression and existential isolation, the feeling of being alone in one’s subjective experience), and their subsequent relationship …

Financial Incentives For Smoking Cessation Among Perinatal Women At Risk For Depression: Effects On Smoking Abstinence And Depressive Symptoms, Ivori Zvorsky

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Introduction: Financial incentives increase smoking abstinence among pregnant and postpartum women. They have also been reported to reduce psychological symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) in women at risk for perinatal depression. This prospective study aims to replicate and extend these findings using the BDI and Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS). Methods: Participants were 169 pregnant cigarette smokers who were assigned to one of two treatment conditions: Best Practices only (n=88), which entails brief counseling and a referral to a pregnancy-specific quit-line, or Best Practices + Incentives (n=81). Participants were categorized as at increased …

Cognitive Predictors Of Depressive Symptoms: Cognitive Reactivity, Mood Reactivity, And Dysfunctional Attitudes, Jessica Perez

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Cognitive vulnerability-stress models explain depression as the result of an interaction between negative cognitive styles and stressful life events; however, the specific content of the cognitive diathesis varies from model to model. This study examined three cognitive diatheses (i.e., unprimed cognitions, cognitive reactivity, and mood reactivity) in a prospective longitudinal design assessing currently non-depressed college students (N = 322) at the start of the semester with follow-up at the end of the semester, approximately 3 months later. At baseline, depressive symptoms, major depression history, negative life events in the past year, unprimed dysfunctional attitudes, and both cognitive reactivity and mood …

Risk Profiles For Adolescent Internalizing Problems, Kelsey Elizabeth Hudson

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Objective: Internalizing problems are commonly diagnosed during adolescence, and are associated with distress, impairment, and negative mental health outcomes in adulthood. Thus, there is a critical need to characterize adolescents who are at the highest risk for escalating to clinical levels of internalizing problems while extending current literature and incorporating both biological and environmental predictors. This study aimed to characterized risk profiles for fourteen-year-old adolescents who developed clinical levels of internalizing (High Internalizing [HI]) problems by age nineteen, using brain, genetic, personality, cognitive, life history, psychopathology, and demographic measures. The study also examined whether there were functional and structural brain …

The Impact Of Depression On Treatment Adherence And Cardiorespiratory Fitness In Cardiac Rehabilitation, Sheau-Yan Ho

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Major depression and coronary heart disease are two strongly linked, major causes of death and disability. After an acute coronary event, many patients are referred to cardiac rehabilitation (CR), a medically supervised exercise intervention and lifestyle training program. Depression may partially account for poor CR adherence and resulting cardiovascular problems in patients with a history of heart disease; however, underlying mechanisms through which depression impacts cardiac functioning are not well understood. The current project tests a theoretical model in which CR adherence (i.e., number of CR sessions attended) mediates the relation between baseline depression and cardiorespiratory fitness after CR. A …

An Integrative Chronobiological-Cognitive Approach To Seasonal Affective Disorder, Jennifer Nicole Rough

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

ABSTRACT

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is characterized by annual recurrence of clinical depression in the fall and winter months. The importance of SAD as a public health problem is underscored by its high prevalence (an estimated 5%) and by the large amount of time individuals with SAD are impaired (on average, 5 months each year). The specific cause of SAD remains unknown; however, researchers have identified possible chronobiological and psychological vulnerabilities to SAD. The study aimed to clarify psychological and chronobiological correlates of SAD in the first test of an integrative model of SAD.

The project used a longitudinal design …

Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3Β: An Investigation Of The Novel Serine 389 Phosphorylation Site, Brendan Deegan Hare

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Stress associated psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder affect a large proportion of the population. Reductions in the complexity of neuronal morphology and reduced neurogenesis are commonly observed outcomes following stress exposure in rodent models and may represent a mechanism for the reduced brain volume in stress sensitive regions such as the hippocampus observed in individuals diagnosed with stress associated disorders. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-B may play a role in the neurodegenerative phenotype observed following stress exposure. GSK3B is atypical in that it is inhibited by phosphorylation. This inhibitory phosphorylation …

A Randomized Pilot Trial: An Internet-Based Mind/Body Intervention To Mitigate Anxiety In Women Experiencing Infertility, Jessica Clifton

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Infertility is a frequently occurring chronic health condition, which often persists throughout the reproductive years. Heightened anxiety symptoms often are comorbid with infertility diagnoses. Women experiencing infertility, and particularly those with anxiety symptoms, characterize an emerging population that deserves special attention. However, women experiencing infertility have identified barriers to seeking psychotherapy (e.g., fears of being dismissed from fertility treatment and/or stigmatized). Consequently, women diagnosed with infertility need a psychotherapy that not only can reduce these symptoms, but can also be private and convenient. The current study translated an empirically tested in-person mind/body protocol into an internet-based intervention to suit the …

The Cortisol/Dhea Ratio And Sexual Function In Women With And Without A History Of Depression, Carolyn Marie Dundon

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The comorbidity between female sexual dysfunction (FSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) is well documented; however, the mechanism(s) underlying the relationship between these disorders has not been defined. The literature has associated the adrenal hormones cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) with FSD and MDD, suggesting a biological mechanism that may elucidate the comorbidity between these disorders. Based on evidence pointing to a high cortisol/DHEA ratio (C/D Ratio) in MDD and low DHEA in FSD, this study investigated if the potential association between a high C/D Ratio and FSD would be greater for women with a history of MDD when compared to …