Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Neighborhood Eviction Trajectories And Odds Of Moderate And Serious Psychological Distress During Pregnancy Among African American Women, Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson, Benita Jackson, Brittney Francis

Psychology: Faculty Publications

African American mothers are unjustly burdened both by residential evictions and psychological distress. We quantified associations between trajectories of neighborhood evictions over time, and odds of moderate and serious psychological distress (MPD and SPD, respectively) during pregnancy among African American women. We linked publicly available neighborhood eviction filing and judgement rate data to preconception and during pregnancy addresses from the Life-course Influences on Fetal Environments Study (2009-2011, n=808). Multinomial logistic regression estimated odds of MPD and SPD during pregnancy associated with eviction filing and judgement rate trajectories incorporating preconception and during pregnancy addresses (each categorized as low/medium/high, with two 9-category …

Intraminority Solidarity: The Role Of Critical Consciousness, Esther Burson, Erin B. Godfrey

Psychology: Faculty Publications

A central question in the growing field of intraminority relations is how best to promote solidarity among marginalized groups. The current article reviews existing social psychological theories of intraminority relations, with a focus on barriers to, and facilitators of, intraminority solidarity. In particular, we explore the roles of competition and identity threats in eroding solidarity, and examine how similarity perceptions, a common identity of stigma, and structural and historical attributions generate solidarity. We then suggest that critical consciousness, a theory of sociopolitical development prominent in the developmental and community psychology literatures, can integrate disparate findings and extend our understanding of …

Nobiletin Affects Circadian Rhythms And Oncogenic Characteristics In A Cell-Dependent Manner, Sujeewa S. Lellupitiyage Don, Kelly L. Robertson, Hui-Hsien Lin, Caroline Labriola, Mary E. Harrington, Stephanie R. Taylor, Michelle E. Farkas

Psychology: Faculty Publications

The natural product nobiletin is a small molecule, widely studied with regard to its therapeutic effects, including in cancer cell lines and tumors. Recently, nobiletin has also been shown to affect circadian rhythms via their enhancement, resulting in protection against metabolic syndrome. We hypothesized that nobiletin’s anti-oncogenic effects, such as prevention of cell migration and formation of anchorage independent colonies, are correspondingly accompanied by modulation of circadian rhythms. Concurrently, we wished to determine whether the circadian and anti-oncogenic effects of nobiletin differed across cancer cell lines. In this study, we assessed nobiletin’s circadian and therapeutic characteristics to ascertain whether these …

Stress In Groups: Lessons From Non-Traditional Rodent Species And Housing Models, Annaliese K. Beery, Melissa M. Holmes, Won Lee, James P. Curley

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

A major feature of life in groups is that individuals experience social stressors of varying intensity and type. Social stress can have profound effects on health, social behavior, and ongoing relationships. Relationships can also buffer the experience of exogenous stressors. Social stress has most commonly been investigated in dyadic contexts in mice and rats that produce intense stress. Here we review findings from studies of diverse rodents and non-traditional group housing paradigms, focusing on laboratory studies of mice and rats housed in visible burrow systems, prairie and meadow voles, and mole-rats. We argue that the use of methods informed by …

Female Degus Show High Sociality But No Preference For Familiar Peers, Nathan Insel, Katharine L. Shambaugh, Annaliese K. Beery

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

Group-living animals vary in social behavior across multiple dimensions, including in the selectivity of social interactions with familiar versus unfamiliar peers. Standardized behavioral tests can be used to tease apart different dimensions of behavior. These serve a dual function—on one hand, helping to isolate behavioral factors that may support collective behavior in natural habitats, and, on another, providing a basis for comparative approaches to understanding physiological mechanisms of behavior. Degus (Octodon degus) are South American caviomorph rodents that nest and forage in groups with relatively low genetic relatedness. Flexibility in group membership is likely supported by gregariousness toward strangers, but …

Circada: Shiny Apps For Exploration Of Experimental And Synthetic Circadian Time Series With An Educational Emphasis, Lisa Cenek, Liubou Klindziuk, Cindy Lopez, Eleanor Mccartney, Blanca Martin Burgos, Selma Tir, Mary E. Harrington, Tanya L. Leise

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Circadian rhythms are daily oscillations in physiology and behavior that can be assessed by recording body temperature, locomotor activity, or bioluminescent reporters, among other measures. These different types of data can vary greatly in waveform, noise characteristics, typical sampling rate, and length of recording. We developed 2 Shiny apps for exploration of these data, enabling visualization and analysis of circadian parameters such as period and phase. Methods include the discrete wavelet transform, sine fitting, the Lomb-Scargle periodogram, autocorrelation, and maximum entropy spectral analysis, giving a sense of how well each method works on each type of data. The apps also …

Deconstructing Circadian Disruption: Assessing The Contribution Of Reduced Peripheral Oscillator Amplitude On Obesity And Glucose Intolerance In Mice, Vincent Van Der Vinne, Blanca Martin Burgos, Mary E. Harrington, David R. Weaver

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Disturbing the circadian regulation of physiology by disruption of the rhythmic environment is associated with adverse health outcomes but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Here, the response of central and peripheral circadian clocks to an advance or delay of the light-dark cycle was determined in mice. This identified transient damping of peripheral clocks as a consequence of an advanced light-dark cycle. Similar depression of peripheral rhythm amplitude was observed in mice exposed to repeated phase shifts. To assess the metabolic consequences of such peripheral amplitude depression in isolation, temporally chimeric mice lacking a functional central clock (Vgat-Cre+ Bmal1fl/fl) were housed …

Community Characteristics, Victimization, And Psychological Adjustment Among School-Aged Adopted Children With Lesbian, Gay, And Heterosexual Parents, Abbie E. Goldberg, Randi L. Garcia

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Little research has examined victimization among school-aged children raised in lesbian/gay (LG) parent households and almost no work has attended to the school and community contexts that may impact their victimization risk. This study examined predictors of parent-reported child victimization and child adjustment, and parent responses to victimization, in 43 two-mother, 37 two-father, and 56 mother–father families, with adopted children (median age = 8.6 years). Predictors included parent (sexual orientation), school (climate, public versus private) and community (urbanicity, percentage voted Democrat) factors, with parent and child demographics included as controls. A total of 47% of parents reported one or more …

From Urges To Action: Negative Urgency And Nonsuicidal Self-Injury In An Acute Transdiagnostic Sample, Andrew D. Peckham, Haley Jordan, Alexandra Silverman, Stephanie Jarvi Steele, Theöstur Björgvinsson, Courtney Beard

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Urgency–rash action during strong emotion–is a robust correlate of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). This study tested whether urgency is associated with time between NSSI urges and NSSI, and sought to replicate the finding that urgency is associated with NSSI history. Participants attending a partial hospitalization program (N = 669) completed self-report measures of urgency, NSSI history and latency, and psychiatric symptoms. Consistent with previous research in clinical samples, rates of lifetime engagement in NSSI were high. Using logistic regression to predict short vs. long latency between urges and NSSI, no significant relationship emerged between negative urgency and latency to self-injure. Negative …

The Impact Of Grammar On Mentalizing: A Training Study Including Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Developmental Language Disorder, Stephanie Durrleman, Morgane Burnel, Jill De Villiers, Evelyne Thommen, Rachel Yan, Hélène Delage

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Training on complements in English, German, and Mandarin has been reported to trigger improvements on both complements and Theory of Mind (ToM), with typically developing (TD) pre-schoolers on the verge of developing these skills (Hale and Tager-Flusberg, 2003; Lohmann and Tomasello, 2003; Shuliang et al., 2014). In the current study, we build on the idea that increasing mastery of complementation holds the promise of enhancing ToM, and seek (i) to replicate the positive effects observed in previous work for this effect in French-speaking TD children, and (ii) to pilot extending this to clinical children, more specifically those with Autism Spectrum …

How Do Us College Students' Sense Of Life Purpose Relate To Their Emotional Expectations Toward Community Work In Service-Learning Courses?, Seana Moran, Randi L. Garcia

Psychology: Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION: Few studies consider how purpose in life predicts emotions related to community service in college courses even though a purpose in life, a “compass” for finding opportunities to make meaningful prosocial contributions, should motivate students to serve. METHOD: Multilevel structural equation modeling estimated direct and indirect effects of survey responses regarding students’ past service experience, sense of purpose, and searching for purpose on their emotional expectations for service-learning before starting. RESULTS: Controlling for age, gender, extrinsic motivation, and characteristics of universities and courses, students’ past service experience and two purpose variables positively related to expected positive emotions toward service …

Buying-Shopping Disorder - Is There Enough Evidence To Support Its Inclusion In Icd-11?, Astrid Müller, Matthias Brand, Laurence Claes, Zsolt Demetrovics, Martina De Zwaan, Fernando Fernández-Aranda, Randy O. Frost, Susana Jimenez-Murcia, Michael Lejoyeux, Sabine Steins-Loeber, James E. Mitchell, Richard Moulding, Maja Nedeljkovic, Patrick Trotzke, Aviv Weinstein, Michael Kyrios

Psychology: Faculty Publications

The phenomenon of buying-shopping disorder (BSD) was described over 100 years ago. Definitions of BSD refer to extreme preoccupation with shopping and buying, to impulses to purchase that are experienced as irresistible, and to recurrent maladaptive buying excesses that lead to distress and impairments. Efforts to stop BSD episodes are unsuccessful, despite the awareness of repeated break-downs in self-regulation, experiences of post-purchase guilt and regret, comorbid psychiatric disorders, reduced quality of life, familial discord, work impairment, financial problems, and other negative consequences. A recent meta-analysis indicated an estimated point prevalence of BSD of 5%. In this narrative review, the authors …

Affiliation, Aggression, And Selectivity Of Peer Relationships In Meadow And Prairie Voles, Nicole S. Lee, Nastacia L. Goodwin, Katherine E. Freitas, Annaliese K. Beery

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Relationships between adult peers are central to the structure of social groups. In some species, selective preferences for specific peers provide a foundation for consistent group composition. These preferences may be shaped by affiliation toward familiar individuals, and/or by aversion to unfamiliar individuals. We compared peer interactions in two vole species that form selective preferences for familiar same-sex individuals but differ in mating system. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) form pair bonds with mates and may reside in family groups. Meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) are promiscuous breeders that form communal winter groups in the wild, and exhibit …

A Bitter Pill To Swallow? Patterns Of Critical Consciousness And Socioemotional And Academic Well-Being In Early Adolescence, Erin B. Godfrey, Esther Burson, Tess M. Yanisch, Diane Hughes, Niobe Way

Psychology: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Biculturalism Dynamics: A Daily Diary Study Of Bicultural Identity And Psychosocial Functioning, Seth J. Schwartz, Alan Meca, Colleen Ward, Ágnes Szabó, Verónica Benet-Martínez, Elma I. Lorenzo-Blanco, Gillian Albert Sznitman, Cory L. Cobb, José Szapocznik, Jennifer B. Unger, Miguel Ángel Cano, Jaimee Stuart, Byron L. Zamboanga

Psychology: Faculty Publications

We examined two conceptualizations of bicultural identity – the Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) framework (cultural identity blendedness-distance and harmony-conflict) and cultural hybridizing and alternating (mixing one’s two cultural identities and/or switching between them). Utilizing data from a 12-day diary study with 873 Hispanic college students, we examined three research questions: (1) cross-sectional and longitudinal intercorrelations among these biculturalism components, (2) links among daily variability in these biculturalism components, and (3) how this daily variability predicts well-being and mental health outcomes over time. Bicultural hybridizing was positively related to, and longitudinally predicted by, both BII blendedness and harmony. Daily fluctuation scores …

The State Of The Union: Contemporary Interminority Attitudes In The United States, Esther Burson, Erin B. Godfrey

Psychology: Faculty Publications

An emerging body of work examines relations among marginalized groups, presupposing that interminority interactions display increased levels of animosity or compassion as compared to majority–minority processes. The current article compares interminority and majority–minority attitudes in a nationally representative data set, finding that racial, sexual, and gender minority groups express similar or more favorable attitudes and political support toward a minority outgroup. Experimental follow-ups explore conditions leading to more positive interminority interactions, finding that primes of similarity facilitate increased support toward a minority outgroup. A final minimal-pairs design explores the role of comparative disadvantage in these processes, suggesting that increased interminority …

Scrupulosity And Hoarding, Randy O. Frost, Isabella Gabrielson, Sophia Deady, Kathryn Bonner Dernbach, Greta Guevara, Maggie Peebles-Dorin, Keong Yap, Jessica R. Grisham

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective: Recent evidence suggests that avoiding waste may be a prominent motive to save in hoarding disorder. Such beliefs are reminiscent of scrupulosity obsessions in OCD. This paper reports on three studies examining scrupulosity-like beliefs in hoarding and the development and validation of a measure of material scrupulosity.

Methods: Study one examined the reliability and validity of a measure of material scrupulosity (MOMS) and its relationship to hoarding in a college student sample, as well as the relationship between hoarding and OCD-base scrupulosity. Study 2 examined the psychometric properties of the MOMS in a replication of study 1 with a …

Interrogating The Intersections: How Intersectional Perspectives Can Inform Developmental Scholarship On Critical Consciousness, Erin B. Godfrey, Esther Burson

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Developmental psychologists widely recognize that the social structures and inequities of American society influence youth development. A burgeoning body of research also considers how youth marginalized by society critically evaluate societal inequities and take action to change them (critical consciousness, Freire [Education for critical consciousness (Vol. 1). Bloomsbury Publishing.]), suggesting that marginalized youth who are more critically conscious experience improved mental health and better educational and occupational outcomes and are more engaged in traditional forms of civic behavior. The current manuscript critically reviews and extends this area of research from an intersectional perspective. Drawing from core writings in …

Inclusion Of Females Does Not Increase Variability In Rodent Research Studies, Annaliese K. Beery

Psychology: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Specificity In Sociality: Mice And Prairie Voles Exhibit Different Patterns Of Peer Affiliation, Annaliese K. Beery, Jennifer D. Christensen, Nicole S. Lee, Katrina L. Blandino

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Social behavior is often described as a unified concept, but highly social (group- living) species exhibit distinct social structures and may make different social decisions. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) are socially monogamous rodents that often reside in extended family groups, and exhibit robust preferences for familiar social partners (same- and opposite-sex) during extended choice tests, although short-term preferences are not known. Mice (Mus musculus) are gregarious and colonial, but in brief laboratory tests of social preference they typically prefer social novelty. This preference for novel vs. familiar peers may represent a species-specific difference in social decision-making between mice and prairie …

“A Threat On The Ground”: The Consequences Of Witnessing Stereotype-Confirming Ingroup Members In Interracial Interactions, Valerie Jones Taylor, Randi L. Garcia, J. Nicole Shelton, Caitlyn Yantis

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Three studies explored interpersonal consequences of engaging in interracial interactions after witnessing racial ingroup members’ stereotypical behavior.

Method: Study 1 used experience-sampling methodology to assess ethnic minority students’ (n = 119) intergroup anxiety, metastereotypes, and anticipatory behaviors following one of three types of interpersonal interactions: (a) a White person and a racial ingroup member who had behaved stereotypically, (b) a White person and a nonstereotypical ingroup member, or (c) neither. Studies 2 (n = 273) and 3 (n = 379) experimentally examined whether witnessing an ingroup member’s stereotypically negative behavior in interracial interactions, compared to stereotypically positive (Study 2) …

The Relationships Between Religiosity And Internalizing Symptoms In African American Parent-Adolescent Dyads, Alyssa L. Faro, Laura G. Mckee, Randi L. Garcia, Deborah J. Jones

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: African American (AA) adolescents face a greater risk of internalizing symptoms, including symptoms of both depression and anxiety, compared with other racial groups; yet, relatively less is known about the variables that contribute to internalizing symptoms. With the aim of advancing this work, this study examined factors that may buffer against such symptoms (maternal warmth, religiosity), as well as those that may confer additional risk (maternal psychopathology). Method: One hundred ninety-three AA single mothers and their adolescent youth reported on religiosity, maternal warmth and depressive symptoms, and youth internalizing symptoms. Dyadic structural equation modeling was used to examine the …

Psychometric Properties Of The Hoarding Rating Scale-Interview, David F. Tolin, Christina M. Gilliam, Elizabeth Davis, Kristen Springer, Hannah C. Levy, Randy O. Frost, Gail Steketee, Michael C. Stevens

Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present study tested the psychometric properties of an expanded version of the Hoarding Rating Scale (HRS-I), a semistructured interview for hoarding disorder (HD). Eighty-seven adults with HD and 44 healthy control (HC) participants were assessed using the HRS-I and completed a battery of self-report measures of HD severity, negative affect, and functional impairment. All interviews were audio recorded. From the HD participants, 21 were randomly selected for inter-rater reliability (IRR) analysis and 11 for test-retest reliability (TRR) analysis. The HRS-I showed excellent internal consistency (α = 0.87). IRR and TRR in the HD sample were good (intra-class coefficients = …

Monosexual And Nonmonosexual Women In Same-Sex Couples’ Relationship Quality During The First Five Years Of Parenthood, Abbie E. Goldberg, Randi L. Garcia, Melissa H. Manley

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Research on relationship quality in same-sex couples has rarely focused on (1) couples who are parents, or (2) couples in which partners differ in sexual identity. Insomuch as nonmonosexual women (i.e., women with non-exclusive sexual orientations) experience unique challenges due to monosexism, relationship quality may be influenced by whether partners share a monosexual or nonmonosexual identity. The current study is a longitudinal, dyadic analysis of 118 female parents within 63 same-sex couples whose relationship quality (relationship maintenance, conflict, love, ambivalence) was assessed at five time points across the first 5 years of adoptive parenthood. Monosexual women were those who identified …

Perceived Self-To-Other Similarity As A Mediator Of The Effects Of Gender And Racial Composition On Identification In Small Groups, Randi L. Garcia

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Two group studies tested the mediating role of perceived diversity in the link between actual demographic composition and an individual’s identification with a small group. In these studies, a new type of dyadic perceived diversity—self-to-other perceived similarity—is introduced and measured. Further, a group actor partner interdependence model (GAPIM) approach was used to test mediation of the link between actual demographic composition and identification by perceived self-to-other similarity. In Study 1, 4- and 5-person small groups varying in gender composition interacted face-to-face. Results showed mediation of the effect of similarity in gender on group identification by self-to-other similarity. In Study 2, …

Why Roma Children Need Language Assessments In Romani, Hristo Kyuchukov, Jill De Villiers, Andrea Takahesu Tabori

Psychology: Faculty Publications

In this paper we make one major point: that Roma children in Europe need to be tested in their mother tongue before school placement. Roma children are in a particularly perilous position with respect to their education. We describe the problematic linguistic situation of Roma children, who are bilingual and often bidialectal, but are frequently evaluated in the language of the state for educational placement, a process that has been shown to significantly compromise their chance of success. We then review the considerable empirical evidence that bilingual children must be evaluated in both languages to give a fair assessment of …

Reward Capacity Predicts Leptin Dynamics During Laboratory-Controlled Eating In Women As A Function Of Body Mass Index, Laura M. Holsen, Benita Jackson

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective—The role of leptin in mesolimbic signaling non-food-related reward has been well established at the pre-clinical level, yet studies in humans are lacking. The present investigation explored the association between hedonic capacity and leptin dynamics, and whether this association differed by BMI class.

Methods—In this cross-sectional study of 75 women (42 with lean BMIs, 33 with obese BMIs), we measured serum leptin before/after meal consumption. Reward capacity was assessed using the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS). Multiple regression tested whether reward capacity was associated with leptin AUC, with an interaction term to test differences between lean (LN) and obese …

Changes In Saving Cognitions Mediate Hoarding Symptom Change In Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy For Hoarding Disorder, Hannah C. Levy, Blaise L. Worden, Christina M. Gilliam, Christine D'Urso, Gail Steketee, Randy O. Frost, David F. Tolin

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an empirically-supported treatment for hoarding disorder (HD). However, meta-analytic studies suggest that CBT is only modestly effective, and a significant number of individuals with HD remain symptomatic following treatment. To inform the development of more effective and targeted treatments, it will be important to clarify the mechanisms of treatment response in CBT for HD. To this end, the current study examined whether change in maladaptive saving beliefs mediated symptom change in CBT for HD. Sixty-two patients with primary HD completed measures of maladaptive saving cognitions and hoarding severity at pre-, mid-, and post-CBT. Results showed that …

A Program Aimed Toward Inclusive Excellence For Underrepresented Undergraduate Women In The Sciences, Laura A. Katz, Kathryn M. Aloisio, Nicholas J. Horton, Minh Ly, Sara B. Pruss, Kate Queeney, Cate Rowen, Patricia Marten Dibartolo

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Created to foster inclusive excellence, Smith College’s Achieving Excellence in Mathematics, Engineering, and Science (AEMES) Scholars program provides early faculty-mentored research opportunities and other programming as a way to foster success in academic outcomes for underrepresented women in science. Using academic record data, we compared Scholars’ outcomes over time with those of underrepresented students before program launch and to relevant peer comparison groups. Since its launch, AEMES Scholars have achieved significantly higher gateway life sciences course grade point averages (GPAs), rates of persistence in life and natural sciences, and participation in natural sciences advanced research relative to baseline. Gains for …

Not A “Mom Thing”: Predictors Of Gatekeeping In Samesex And Heterosexual Parent Families, Kristin K. Sweeney, Abbie E. Goldberg, Randi L. Garcia

Psychology: Faculty Publications

The current study is the first to examine parental gatekeeping in both same-sex (57 female, 51 male) and heterosexual (n 82) couples, all of whom became parents via adoption. Aspects of the individual, the couple, and the work context, measured preadoption, were examined as predictors of gatekeeping. Gatekeeping refers to attitudes and behaviors aimed at regulating and limiting the involvement of the other parent in housework and child care and was measured 2 years postadoption. Findings revealed that women in heterosexual relationships reported higher gatekeeping compared with all other groups, and men in same-sex relationships reported higher gatekeeping compared with …