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The (B)Link Between Amotivation And Dopamine In Psychosis: What Phasic Eye Blink Rate Reveals, Jessica Elaina Mcgovern

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Motivation deficits (i.e., avolition or amotivation) are a cardinal feature of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) and are linked to worse functional outcomes. Accumulating evidence implicates underactive dopamine responses in reward areas of the brain (e.g., striatum) in the etiology of amotivation. Phasic dopamine firing in the striatum purportedly has a role in increasing the perceived value of a potential reward that, in effect, helps “push” the organism toward initiating and persisting in the action to pursue rewards. Previous research has suggested that eye blink rate (EBR) may be a reliable and valid index of striatal dopamine. Amotivation (clinician-rated and self-reported) …

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of A Hatha Yoga Intervention For Smokers, Emily Robin Jeffries

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite well-documented negative effects of smoking, many individuals continue to smoke. Anxiety and depression are associated with poorer cessation outcomes. Three transdiagnostic factors may explain the anxiety/depression-smoking link: anxiety sensitivity (AS), distress tolerance (DT), anhedonia (Anh; Leventhal & Zvolensky, 2015). It therefore follows that changing AS, DT, and Anh could aid cessation efforts. Thus, the current study tested the efficacy of hatha yoga for reducing craving, smoking, AS, and Anh and increasing DT, and whether anxiety/depression moderates these relationships. Participants were 55 community-recruited smokers (62% male, 71% non-Hispanic White, M_age = 28.16) motivated to reduce or quit smoking. We …

Attentional Deployment, Cognitive Control, And Reappraisal In Schizophrenia, Kyle Robert Mitchell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Recent studies posit that deficits in emotion regulation may lead to increased negative emotional experience in schizophrenia. While individuals with schizophrenia evidence a number of abnormalities in emotion regulation, it is unclear whether these deficits are discrete or related; furthermore, the mechanisms underlying these deficits are not clear. Cognitive control has been posited as an important mechanism supporting emotion regulation. The current study examined the relationship between attentional deployment and both lexical and self-reported indices of reappraisal, as well as the mediating role of cognitive control on this relationship in a sample of 22 individuals with psychotic disorders. A novel …

Differential Effects Of Mindful Breathing And Loving-Kindness Meditation Exercises On College Students' Mental Health, Sarah J. Bolognino

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mindfulness and loving-kindness are two concepts with associated meditation exercises that have been evaluated as part of mindfulness-based treatment approaches (MBTAs) to improve mental health. A common MBTA, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) includes multiple component exercises including mindful breathing meditation (MBM), and loving-kindness meditation (LKM). The purpose of the present study was to examine differential effects of MBM and LKM on the proposed process variables of social connectedness, cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance, present moment awareness, affect, and compassion for self and others, as well as across outcomes measures of general anxiety, social anxiety, depression, and wellbeing. Additionally the …

Examining The Sex Ratio In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Maya N. Matheis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The higher prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) among males compared to females is well documented but poorly understood. The ASD sex ratio may provide valuable insight into the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of the disorder. A review of studies examining the prevalence in ASD published in the last 5 years was conducted, revealing a mean male/female (M/F) ratio of 4. Literature examining the ASD sex ratio in relation to risk factors and associated features of ASD was also summarized. The study aimed to examine the ASD sex ratio and its association to various risk factors among an early intervention sample. …

Development Of The Routines And Time Management Inventory For Young Adults, Morgan Ashwill Grinnell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Routines are observable and repetitive behavior patterns that are context specific and help to automate aspects of daily life (Sytsma, Kelley, & Wymer, 2001; Zisberg, Young, Schepp, & Zysberg, 2007). The presence of routines in an individual’s life promotes overall functioning, and irregular routines have been associated with poorer physical and psychological health (Margraf, Lavallee, Zhang, & Schneider, 2016). Time management skills, such as those required to plan, prioritize, and execute tasks are crucial to cultivating stable routines. Although measures of routines exist for children, adolescents, families, and older adults, the routines of younger adults have been neglected.

The purpose …

Personalized Normative Feedback For College Student Condom Use, Sonia Mahesh Shah

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Personalized normative feedback (PNF) interventions provide corrective normative feedback and have been found to successfully elicit behavior change (e.g., related to alcohol consumption, gambling). There are no known PNF interventions that explicitly target risky sexual behavior (RSB). PNF interventions have demonstrated significant reductions on drinking outcomes and normative perceptions, highlighting the potential utility of a PNF intervention specifically for RSB. The current study tested the utility of a web-based PNF intervention to correct normative perceptions regarding condom use as well as to increase condom use among college students. A sample of 189 undergraduate students (80.6% female, 62.2% non-Hispanic Caucasian) who …