Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Molecular Pathway Reconstruction And Analysis Of Disturbed Gene Expression In Depressed Individuals Who Died By Suicide, Vladimir Zhurov, John D. H. Stead, Zul Merali, Miklos Palkovits, Gabor Faludi, Caroline Schild-Poulter, Hymie Anisman, Michael O. Poulter

Brain and Mind Institute

Molecular mechanisms behind the etiology and pathophysiology of major depressive disorder and suicide remain largely unknown. Recent molecular studies of expression of serotonin, GABA and CRH receptors in various brain regions have demonstrated that molecular factors may contribute to the development of depressive disorder and suicide behaviour. Here, we used microarray analysis to examine the expression of genes in brain tissue (frontopolar cortex) of individuals who had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder and died by suicide, and those who had died suddenly without a history of depression. We analyzed the list of differentially expressed genes using pathway analysis, which …

The Peers Intervention: Social Anxiety, Physiological Regulation, And Core Autistic Symptoms In Adolescents With Autism, Kirsten A. Schohl

Master's Theses (2009 -)

There have been very few effective interventions developed that have focused on improving social skills in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), however, the need is persistent. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Program for the Enrichment and Education of Relational Skills (PEERS: Laugeson, Frankel, Mogil, & Dillon, 2009). PEERS focuses on improving friendship quality and social skills among adolescents, ages 11-15 years, with higher-functioning ASD. This study included 47 participants, who were randomly assigned to two groups. Assessment measures utilized parent report and adolescent self-report at pre- and post-treatment. In addition, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was …

Accuracy Of Self-Reported Sun Exposure And Sun Protection Behavior, Joel J. Hillhouse, Robert Turrisi, James Jaccard, June K. Robinson

ETSU Faculty Works

The objective of this study was to compare the accuracy of self-reported skin cancer risk outcome measures proposed as standards by prevention experts to aggregated estimates of behavior from weekly diaries. Weekly electronic diaries of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) behaviors, initially validated by comparison with daily electronic diaries, were used to assess the accuracy of commonly used end-of-summer self-reported measures among 250 adults. Results revealed low biases, and good correspondence between simple open-ended self-reported estimates of days outside, hours outside, sunbathing days and hours, and days outside when not protected by either sunscreen, long-sleeved shirts, hats, or shade. Rating scale measures …

Randomized Clinical Trial Of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Cbt) Versus Acceptance And Commitment Therapy (Act) For Mixed Anxiety Disorders, Joanna Arch, Georg Eifert, Carolyn Davies, Jennifer C. Plumb Vilardaga, Raphael D. Rose, Michael G. Craske

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective—Randomized comparisons of acceptance-based treatments with traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders are lacking. To address this research gap, we compared acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to CBT for heterogeneous anxiety disorders.

Method—One hundred twenty eight individuals (52% female, mean age = 38, 33% minority) with one or more DSM-IV anxiety disorders began treatment following randomization to 12 sessions of CBT or ACT; both treatments included behavioral exposure. Assessments at pre-treatment, post-treatment, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up measured anxiety specific (principal disorder Clinical Severity Ratings [CSR], Anxiety Sensitivity Index, Penn State Worry Questionnaire, Fear Questionnaire avoidance) and …

Research Brief: "Web-Based Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Education For Military Family Members", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

In this study, researchers introduced an educational website to assess and improve knowledge of PTSD, and also help to engage family members in positive actions to assist service members struggling with PTSD. Web-based content can serve as a valuable method of providing care and information to military service members without the risk of being stigmatized; therefore, policy makers should focus on creating and maintaining structural and financial support for programs that provide military service members, and their families, tools to manage post-deployment issues. Future studies should focus on providing an increased range of services for military families using the educational …

Intimate Partner Violence Incidence And Continuation In A Primary Care Screening Program, Ann Coker, Vicki C. Flerx, Paige H. Smith, Daniel J. Whitaker, Mary Kay Fadden, Melinda Williams

Dan Whitaker

There are few longitudinal estimates of intimate partner violence (IPV) incidence and continuation. This report provides estimates of IPV incidence and continuation in women receiving health care in clinics participating in an IPV assessment and services intervention study. The Women's Experience with Battering Scale was used in combination with questions addressing physical and sexual assault to annually screen women for IPV. Between April 2002 and August 2005, 657 women in rural South Carolina consented and were screened at least twice. Among those with a current partner (n = 530), the majority (86.2%) had never experienced IPV. Among prevalent victims, IPV …

Partner Violence Assessment In Rural Health Care Clinic, Ann Coker, Vicki C. Flerx, Paige H. Smith, Daniel J. Whitaker, Mary Kay Fadden, Melinda Williams

Dan Whitaker

Objectives. We sought to determine the frequency of intimatepartner violence by type in a large, clinic-based, nurse-administeredscreening and services intervention project.

Methods. A brief intimate partner violence screen, which includeditems to measure sexual and physical assaults and psychologicalbattering (using the Women’s Experience With Batteringscale) was administered to consenting women receiving care at1 of 8 rural clinics in South Carolina.

Results. Between April 2002 and August 2005, 4945 eligible womenwere offered intimate partner violence screening, to which 3664(74.1%) consented. Prevalence of intimate partner violence ina current (ongoing) relationship was 13.3%, and 939 women (25.6%)had experienced intimate partner violence at some point …

Four Potential Criteria For Deciding When To Use Antidepressants Or Psychotherapy For Unipolar Depression: A Literature Review, Christopher Sharpley, Vicki Bitsika

Vicki Bitsika

Objective: To evaluate the literature supporting four potential criteria for deciding whether to use psychotherapy or pharmacology when treating depression.

Method: Literature review of the evidence from the last 10 years on presenting patient’s demographics, aetiology, comorbidity, and genetic factors, as predictors of treatment outcome efficacy.

Results: Demographic information has little support as a potential criteria for decision-making; aetiology (melancholic vs. non-melancholic) has significant support; presence of personality disorder comorbidity is unproven as a criterion but may have some value; genetic predisposition has the strongest evidence supporting it as a criteria for treatment decision-making.

Conclusion: Although some presenting cases will …

How Prostate Cancer Patients Cope With The Effects Of Diagnosis And Treatment: Development Of The Effects Of Prostate Cancer Coping Strategies Scale, Christopher Sharpley, Vicki Bitsika, David Christie

Vicki Bitsika

Background: The elevated anxiety and depression experienced by prostate cancer (PCa) patients can impair their decision-making as well as decrease their psychological well-being and weaken relationships with partner and family. Although standardised assessment models exist for identifying the symptoms of anxiety or depression, relatively little attention has been given to identifying the causal antecedents that PCa patients encounter and that may lead to anxiety or depression, nor their own attempts to cope with those antecedents. This study investigated the coping strategies used by a sample of PCa patients in response to the specific stressors and lifestyle changes that arose from …

Variability In Anxiety And Depression Over Time Following Diagnosis In Patients With Prostate Cancer, Christoper Sharpley, David Christie, Vicki Bitsika

Vicki Bitsika

To determine the presence and nature of variability in anxiety and depression in patients with prostate cancer (PCa) over 3 years following diagnosis, 442 patients with PCa completed standardized anxiety and depression inventories via survey between 1 and 36 months after receiving their initial diagnosis. Data were analyzed from a series of 3-month cohorts, and results indicated that total scores and incidence of clinically significant anxiety and depression varied over time, but that this variability was restricted to specific subfactors of anxiety and depression. Provision of effective psychological treatment to patients with PCa is discussed.

Understanding The Functionality Of Depression Among Australian Breast Cancer Patients: Implications For Cognitive And Behavioural Interventions, Christopher Sharpley, Vicki Bitsika, David Christie

Vicki Bitsika

Background: Depression in breast cancer (BCa) patients can reduce quality of life, relationships and treatment compliance, thus constituting a major target for cognitive behavioural (CBT) interventions. Although CBT treatments, which are built upon consideration of the roles of antecedents and consequences for depressive behaviour, are effective, the nature of those antecedents which trigger depression among BCa patients has received relatively little attention.

Purpose: Hypotheses were (1) to determine if BCa patients were experiencing either or both of punishment type I and II and (2) to identify if these aspects of punishment were related to overall depression.

Method: Two hundred fifty-three …

How Is Resilience Associated With Anxiety And Depression? Analysis Of Factor Score Interactions Within A Homogeneous Sample, Vicki Bitsika, Christopher Sharpley, Kylie Peters

Vicki Bitsika

Aim: To explore the ways in which resilience is associated with anxiety and depression within a homogenous sample.Methods: 401 Australian university students completed the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and the Zung SelfratingAnxiety and Depression Scales. Factor scores from the resilience scale were regressed against total anxiety and depression scores, combined anxiety-depression scores and the underlying factors of the combined anxiety-depression construct.Results: Self-confidence and optimism were most strongly negatively associated with anxiety and depression, followed by being decisive and solution-focussed and seeking challenges, having a strong purpose and being persistent, although different combinations of factors predicted anxiety than did depression. Spiritual beliefs …

Locating The Source Of Approach/Avoidance Effects On Natural Language Category Decisions, Matthew Zivot

Open Access Dissertations

In this dissertation, two exemplar-based models of categorization, the General Context Model (GCM) and the Exemplar Based Random Walk model (EBRW), were used to describe between-group categorization differences in artificial and natural language categories. Prior research has shown that political Conservatives in avoidance mode are more exclusive categorizers of natural language category members than Conservatives in approach mode, but this effect was absent for Liberals (Rock & Janoff-Bulman, 2010). In Experiment 1, experimenter-generated stimuli were used to show that the EBRW could account for between-group differences in categorization decisions. In Experiment 2, the data collected by Rock and Janoff-Bulman were …

Impact Of Sunlight On The Age Of Onset Of Bipolar Disorder, Michael Bauer, Tasha Glenn, Martin Alda, Ole A. Andreassen, Raffaella Ardau, Frank Bellivier, Michael Berk, Thomas D. Bjella, Letizia Bossini, Maria Del Zompo, Seetal Dodd, Andrea Fagiolini, Mark A. Frye, Ana Gonzalez-Pinto, Chantal Henry, Flávio Kapczinkski, Sebastian Kliwicki, Barbara König, Mauricio Kunz, Beny Lafer, Carlos Lopez-Jaramillo, Mirko Manchia, Wendy Marsh, Monica Martinez-Cengotitabengoa, Ingrid Melle, Gunnar Morken, Rodrigo Munoz, Fabiano G. Nery, Claire O'Donovan, Andrea Pfennig, Danilo Quiroz, Natalie Rasgon, Andreas Reif, Janusz Rybakowski, Kemal Sagduyu, Christian Simhandi, Carla Torrent, Eduard Vieta, Mark Zetin, Peter C. Whybrow

Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Objective: Although bipolar disorder has high heritability, the onset occurs during several decades of life, suggesting that social and environmental factors may have considerable influence on disease onset. This study examined the association between the age of onset and sunlight at the location of onset.

Method: Data were obtained from 2414 patients with a diagnosis of bipolar I disorder, according to DSM-IV criteria. Data were collected at 24 sites in 13 countries spanning latitudes 6.3 to 63.4 degrees from the equator, including data from both hemispheres. The age of onset and location of onset were obtained retrospectively, from …

A Formative Program Evaluation Of Treatment Integrity Practices, Assessments And Attitudes Within A Specialized School Setting, Lin Tang

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study, a formative program evaluation, was to provide an overview of treatment integrity rates, attitudes, and assessment methods within a specialized school for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The study utilized a partnership model whereby the evaluators worked collaboratively with primary stakeholders (school administrators) to determine areas of focus for the evaluation. The program evaluation was conducted between August 2009 and August 2010, spanning one school year. The evaluation participants were the school's teachers. The evaluation was based on an exploratory case study design and included both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data consisted …

Prospective Analysis Of Early Lapse To Drinking And Smoking Among Individuals In Concurrent Alcohol And Tobacco Treatment [Post-Print], Laura Holt

Faculty Scholarship

The aims of the current study were to examine, prospectively, (a) dynamic changes in affective state, self-efficacy, and urge in the hours before initial smoking and drinking lapses among individuals in concurrent alcohol and smoking treatment, and (b) the extent to which self-efficacy, urge to use, and/or the use of one substance predicted lapse to the other substance. Ninety-six men and women recruited for a clinical trial of concurrent alcohol and tobacco treatment were eligible for inclusion. Only data from those who experienced an initial lapse to drinking (n = 29) or smoking (n = 32) were included. Two outpatient …

Characteristics, Management, And Depression Outcomes Of Primary Care Patients Who Endorse Thoughts Of Death Or Suicide On The Phq-9, Amy M. Bauer, Ya-Fen Chan, Hsiang Huang, Steven D. Vannoy, Jurgen Unuzter

Steven D Vannoy

BACKGROUND: With increasing emphasis on integrat- ing behavioral health services, primary care providers play an important role in managing patients with suicidal thoughts. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) Item 9 scores are associated with patient characteristics, management, and depres- sion outcomes in a primary care-based mental health program. DESIGN: Observational analysis of data collected from a patient registry. PARTICIPANTS: Eleven thousand fifteen adults en- rolled in the Mental Health Integration Program (MHIP). INTERVENTIONS: MHIP provides integrated mental health services for safety-net populations in over 100 community health centers across Washington State. Key elements of the team-based model …

A Multisite Study Of Learning In Introductory Psychology Courses, Regan Gurung, David Daniel, R. Landrum

R. Eric Landrum

Four hundred and fifty-four students enrolled in introductory psychology at different institutions across the nation participated in a study of factors related to learning. Key measures included an instructor rating, ratings of textbook quality and helpfulness, study time, student self-evaluations of study behaviors, approach to learning, self-report of learning, and a measure of quiz performance using biopsychology and learning chapter questions from a College Board Advanced Placement exam. The authors found significant predictors of both self-reported learning (deep approach, less surface approach, instructor ratings, student self-evaluations, and study behaviors) and quiz performance (grade point average, study time, metacognitive activity, and …

When That Tune Runs Through Your Head: A Pet Investigation Of Auditory Imagery For Familiar Melodies, Andrea Halpern, Robert J. Zatorre

Andrea Halpern

The present study used positron emission tomography (PET) to examine the cerebral activity pattern associated with auditory imagery for familiar tunes. Subjects either imagined the continuation of nonverbal tunes cued by their first few notes, listened to a short sequence of notes as a control task, or listened and then reimagined that short sequence. Subtraction of the activation in the control task from that in the real-tune imagery task revealed primarily right-sided activation in frontal and superior temporal regions, plus supplementary motor area (SMA). Isolating retrieval of the real tunes by subtracting activation in the reimagine task from that in …

The Organization Of Memory For Familiar Songs, Andrea Halpern

Andrea Halpern

Investigated the organizing principles in memory for familiar songs in 2 experiments. It was hypothesized that individuals do not store and remember each song in isolation. Rather, there exists a rich system of relationships among tunes that can be revealed through similarity rating studies and memory tasks. One initial assumption was the division of relations among tunes into musical (e.g., tempo, rhythm) and nonmusical similarity. In Exp I, 20 undergraduates were asked to sort 60 familiar tunes into groups according to both musical and nonmusical criteria. Clustering analyses showed clear patterns of nonmusical similarity but few instances of musical similarity. …

Perceived And Imagined Tempos Of Familiar Songs, Andrea Halpern

Andrea Halpern

Two studies investigated the similarity of metronome settings to perceived and imagined familiar songs by subjects unselected for musical ability. In Study 1, mean tempo settings in the two tasks were about 100 beats per minute. Songs with slower perceived tempos tended to be faster in the imagery task and vice versa. In Study 2, subjects set fastest and slowest acceptable tempos for the same set of songs in the imagery mode. These settings were positively correlated with the preferred tempo for the song. Most subjects thought that there were limits on how fast or slow a song could be …

Mental Scanning In Auditory Imagery For Songs, Andrea Halpern

Andrea Halpern

Four experiments examined how people operate on memory representations of familiar songs. The tasks were similar to those used in studies of visual imagery. In one task, subjects saw a one word lyric from a song and then saw a second lyric; then they had to say if the second lyric was from the same song as the first. In a second task, subjects mentally compared pitches of notes corresponding to song lyrics. In both tasks, reaction time increased as a function of the distance in beats between the two lyrics in the actual song, and in some conditions reaction …

Implicit Memory For Music In Alzheimer's Disease, Andrea Halpern, Margaret G. O'Connor

Andrea Halpern

Short, unfamiliar melodies were presented to young and older adults and to Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients in an implicit and an explicit memory task. The explicit task was yes–no recognition, and the implicit task was pleasantness ratings, in which memory was shown by higher ratings for old versus new melodies (the mere exposure effect). Young adults showed retention of the melodies in both tasks. Older adults showed little explicit memory but did show the mere exposure effect. The AD patients showed neither. The authors considered and rejected several artifactual reasons for this null effect in the context of the many …

Musical Expertise And Melodic Structure In Memory For Musical Notation, Andrea Halpern

Andrea Halpern

Two experiments plus a pilot investigated the role of melodic structure on short-term memory for musical notation by musicians and nonmusicians. In the pilot experiment, visually similar melodies that had been rated as either "good" or "bad" were presented briefly, followed by a 15-sec retention interval and then recall. Musicians remembered good melodies better than they remembered bad ones: nonmusicians did not distinguish between them. In the second experiment, good, bad, and random melodies were briefly presented, followed by immediate recall. The advantage of musicians over nonmusicians decreased as the melody type progressed from good to bad to random. In …

Memory For Tune Titles After Organized Or Unorganized Presentation, Andrea Halpern

Andrea Halpern

Two experiments investigated the structure of memory for titles of 54 familiar tunes. The titles were presented in the form of a hierarchy, with nodes labeled by genre (e.g., Rock or Patriotic). Four groups of subjects received logical or randomized titles, and logical or randomized labels. Goodness of label and title structure had equal and additive beneficial effects on recall with a 3-min exposure of the stimuli. With a 4-min exposure, good title structure became a larger contributor to good recall. Clustering analyses suggested that subjects were mentally representing the tune titles hierarchically, even when presentation was random.

Memory For The Absolute Pitch Of Familiar Songs, Andrea Halpern

Andrea Halpern

Four experiments were conducted to examine the ability of people without "perfect pitch" to retain the absolute pitch offamiliar tunes. In Experiment 1, participants imagined given tunes, and then hummed their first notes four times either between or within sessions. The variability of these productions was very low. Experiment 2 used a recognition paradigm, with results similar to those in Experiment 1 for musicians, but with some additional variability shown for unselected subjects. In Experiment 3, subjects rated the suitability ofvarious pitches to start familiar tunes. Previously given preferred notes were rated high, as were notes three or four semitones …

Identification, Discrimination, And Selective Adaptation Of Simultaneous Musical Intervals, Robert J. Zatorre, Andrea Halpern

Andrea Halpern

Four experiments investigated perception of major and minor thirds whose component tones were sounded simultaneously. Effects akin to categorical perception of speech sounds were found. In the first experiment, musicians demonstrated relatively sharp category boundaries in identification and peaks near the boundary in discrimination tasks of an interval continuum where the bottom note was always an F and the top note varied from A to A flat in seven equal logarithmic steps. Nonmusicians showed these effects only to a small extent. The musicians showed higher than predicted discrimination performance overall, and reaction time increases at category boundaries. In the second …

Duration Discrimination In A Series Of Rhythmic Events, Andrea Halpern

Andrea Halpern

Duration discrimination of the last of a series of four clicks was investigated. Examination of psychophysical functions from eight subjects revealed evidence for a Weber’s law model relating discrimination to base interclick interval. Also, the point of subjective equality was seen to change reliably as a function of base rate.

Choreography And Performance With Deaf Adults Who Have Mental Illness: Culturally Affirmative Participatory Research, Sondra H. Malling

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

Dance/movement therapy (DMT) techniques—particularly choreography and performance techniques—have not been well-researched with Deaf adults who have mental illness. This study investigated the use of DMT, choreography, and performance techniques with Deaf adults with severe and chronic mental illness through participatory artistic inquiry. Primary research questions addressed pragmatic matters of participatory artistic inquiry: What aesthetic choices will the co-researchers make in the dance-making process? How does the researcher provide structure and incorporate her experience as a choreographer without overshadowing the contributions of the co-researchers? Broader philosophical research questions included: How do choreography and performance techniques impact this population’s well-being? How does …

Psychiatric Crisis Services In Three Communities, Cheryl Forchuk, Elsabeth Jensen, Mary-Lou Martin, Rick Csiernik, Heather Atyeo

Rick Csiernik

This study compared communities with three models of crisis service: (a) police as part of a specialized mental health team, (b) mental health worker as part of a specialized police team, and (c) informal relationship between police and mental health crisis service. Rural and urban areas were examined and compared. Data included focus groups and participant observation. Analysis revealed that while all communities valued their crisis services, all identified limitations in responsiveness, access, and systems-related issues. Quick access to psychiatric beds was important to services. Rural communities had no public transportation, and an important police role was safe transportation. In …