Behavioral Disciplines and Activities Commons^™

The Image Of Schizophrenia In Spain's Healthcare System, Meghan Webb

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

Schizophrenia affects thousands of people in Spain and is one of the most serious mental health disorders in existence. Despite its this characteristic, schizophrenia did not always get the proper attention it deserved within the country’s healthcare system. This was largely due to the influence that the Spanish government had, and continues to have, over the healthcare system, giving it the power to choose how the disorder was represented. Therefore, what does that mean for schizophrenia in Spain’s healthcare system today? This essay will explore the ways in which schizophrenia was represented in Spain’s healthcare system through an examination of …

The Difficulty In The Diagnosis And Management Of Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome, Sidney Charm D. Reyes

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Background: Antidepressant discontinuation syndrome (ADS) is a condition that occurs in about 20% of patients following the abrupt reduction/stoppage of any antidepressant medication that has been taken continuously for at least one month.

Case Presentation: We present a 36-year-old Hispanic woman who initially presented for evaluation of flu-like symptoms (subjective fever, rhinorrhea) and worsening body aches, trouble sleeping, and headaches for the past three days. She also reported recent exposure to a sick co-worker. Rapid flu, strep, and COVID tests came back negative. Pt was diagnosed with a viral URI and was discharged with counseling on supportive treatment. The patient …

Implementation And Outcomes Of The Trauma Ambassadors Program: A Case Study Of Trauma-Informed Youth Leadership Development, Jeanne Felter, Phd, Lpc, He Len Chung, Amanda Guth, Stephen Didonato, Phd, Lpc, Ncc

Counseling and Behavioral Health Faculty Papers

Community-based programs serve a critical need for vulnerable youth and families. In recent years, researchers and practitioners have urged programs to adopt a trauma-informed care (TIC) approach to address adversity in young people's lives. The purpose of this article is to describe the implementation and outcomes of the Trauma Ambassador (TA) Program, a pilot youth leadership program guided by a community-university partnership that utilized a TIC approach in an underserved East North Philadelphia neighborhood. Fourteen youth engaged in interactive trainings to build their understanding of trauma and develop practical tools to support encounters with individuals with trauma histories. Focus groups …

A Lifestyle Management Coaching Intervention For Fear Of Cancer Recurrence In Young Breast Cancer Survivors, Lisa R. Murphy

DNP Research Projects

Abstract

Objective: A significant challenge facing young breast cancer (BC) survivors is learning how to manage fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) during survivorship. Limited tailored FCR interventions and age-appropriate support exist. This Doctor of Nursing (DNP) project, based upon best practice guidelines, aimed to evaluate how a Lifestyle Management Coaching Intervention (LMCI) could help young female BC survivors learn how to decrease and manage their FCR more effectively and experience improved health outcomes.

Method: Eligible participants were female BC survivors aged 18-59 with Stage I-III BC demonstrating elevated baseline FCR screening scores during the extended survival period recruited from the …

Changes In Mental Health As A Predictor Of Cannabis Coping Motives And Consequences: Examining The Impact Of Covid-19 Among College Students, Rebecca Dunaief, Adrian Jorge Bravo, James Henson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Cannabis use is common among college students and many students use cannabis to cope with negative affect. The COVID-19 pandemic was a particularly stressful time for college students. Subsequently, the present study compared college students who reported increases in anxiety/depression symptoms since COVID-19 stay at home orders to those who reported no change in anxiety/depression symptoms on cannabis coping motives, use frequency, and negative consequences. Specifically, we examined whether self-reported changes (i.e., group that indicated increases) in poor mental health during COVID-19 were associated with problematic cannabis use via higher cannabis coping motives. Method: College students (analytic n = …

Regaining Effort-Based Food Motivation: The Drug Methylphenidate Reverses The Depressive Effects Of Tetrabenazine In Female Rats, Deanna Pietrorazio

Honors Scholar Theses

Tetrabenazine (TBZ), a vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 (VMAT-2) inhibitor, depletes dopamine and induces motivational deficits and other depressive symptoms in humans. Methylphenidate (MPH) is a dopamine transport blocker that is used to enhance motivational function. Previous studies have shown that in male rats, TBZ induces a shift in effort-related choice such that a low-effort bias is induced. In male rats this occurs at a dose range of 0.75-1.0 mg/kg TBZ, and this effect is reversible with co-administration of MPH. Recent studies have shown that females need a higher dose of TBZ (2.0 mg/kg) to show the low-effort bias. The …

Promoting Nurse Well-Being During A Global Pandemic Through The Community Resiliency Model, Sherissa Manganello

Graduate Publications and Other Selected Works - Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started a few years ago, there has been an increase in mental health issues due to the chronic emotional, physical, and psychological stress that everyone has had to endure. COVID-19 has had long-lasting consequences on the entire healthcare system, especially with nurses as the foundation for providing quality patient care. While nurses are the trusted professionals, they also have one of the most emotionally and physically demanding careers (Ward-Miller et al., 2020). In addition, there is a global health crisis of nursing shortages that continues to grow through COVID-19, which directly affects patients’ quality of care …

How A 7-Week Food Literacy Cooking Program Affects Cooking Confidence And Mental Health: Findings Of A Quasi-Experimental Controlled Intervention Trial, Joanna Rees, Shih Ching Fu, Johnny Lo, Ros Sambell, Joshua R. Lewis, Claus T. Christophersen, Matthew F. Byrne, Robert U. Newton, Siobhan Boyle, Amanda Devine

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Obesity and mental health disorders are rising simultaneously with shifting dietary behavior away from home cooking, toward typically nutrition-poor and energy-dense convenience meals. Food literacy strongly influences nutrition choices. Community-based cooking interventions target barriers to healthy eating and facilitate development of food literacy skills, thereby potentially increasing preparation of home-cooked meals and positively influencing health. This study of 657 healthy Australian adults explored the efficacy of a 7-week cooking program in improving cooking confidence, whether this transferred to behavior surrounding food, and/or affected mental health. Significant post-program improvements in cooking confidence and satisfaction (all p < 0.001, (Formula presented.) 1.12 large), ability to change eating habits (p < 0.001) and overcome lifestyle barriers (p = 0.005) were observed for the intervention group but not control. Participation also improved mental and general health (all p < 0.05, (Formula presented.) 0.02 small). No changes were observed for acquisition and consumption of food, or nutrition knowledge in either group. This 7-week cooking program built cooking confidence and improved general and mental health but did not change dietary behavior. To further improve nutrition related behaviors associated with better mental health, more effort is needed to recruit those with below-average nutrition knowledge and interest in cooking.

Eng 300: Trying To Make The Words Flow: Flow Interactions With Environment & Behavior In Writing & Studying Contexts, Connor Flick

English 100-200-300 Conference

No abstract provided.

The Association Of Parent-Child Communication With Internet Addiction In Left-Behind Children In China: A Cross-Sectional Study, Jingjing Cai, Yun Wang, Feng Wang, Jingjing Lu, Lu Li, Xudong Zhou

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Objective: Internet addiction has emerged as a growing concern worldwide. This study aimed to compare the prevalence of Internet addiction between left-behind children (LBC) and non-left-behind children (non-LBC), and explore the role of paternal and maternal parent-child communication on LBC.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in rural areas in Anhui, China. The complete data were available from 699 LBC and 740 non-LBC. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine 1) whether LBC were more likely to develop Internet addiction, and 2) the association between parent-child communication and Internet addiction among LBC.

Results: LBC had a higher likelihood to report …

Burstiness And Stochasticity In The Malleability Of Physical Activity, Vincent Berardi, David Pincus, Evan Walker, Marc A. Adams

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

This study examined whether patterns of self-organization in physical activity (PA) predicted long-term success in a yearlong PA intervention. Increased moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) was targeted in insufficiently active adults (N = 512) via goal setting and financial reinforcement. The degree to which inverse power law distributions, which are reflective of self-organization, summarized (a) daily MVPA and (b) time elapsed between meeting daily goals (goal attainment interresponse times) was calculated. Goal attainment interresponse times were also used to calculate burstiness, the degree to which meeting daily goals clustered in time. Inverse power laws accurately summarized interresponse times, but …

Stair Versus Elevator Use In A University Residence Hall Setting, Vincent Berardi, Benjamin D. Rosenberg, Sophie Srivastava, Noah Estrada-Rand, Julia Frederick

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

Determine the temporal and spatial characteristics of stairs versus elevator use in a university residence hall to inform future physical activity promotion efforts.

Participants

All residents and visitors for a single, four-story residence hall dormitory building located on a college campus in Orange, CA.

Methods

Smart mat systems capable of detecting pedestrian traffic were placed in front of the stairs and elevators on each floor plus a basement. Generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) were used to compare stair versus elevator usage at different times of the day and on different floors.

Results

Stair versus elevator use varied much more …

Assessing Rat Behavioral Response To Novelty, Neha Mathew

Honors Scholar Theses

The hippocampus is the part of the brain that is involved in memory and navigation. Neurons in the hippocampus, known as place cells, fire in specific locations within this region of the brain as the subject navigates through their environment. As these cells fire, they create a map-like representation of this environment. However if the environment is altered in any way, the place cell firing pattern is adjusted to incorporate this new information. This adjustment will inevitably cause subjects to take more time to complete their task. The goal of our testing was to assess how various manipulations, both spatial …

The Emotional Effects Of Mindfulness, Meditation, And Worldview, Jason Katz

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

Much research on mindfulness and meditation investigates the relationship between mindfulness practices and health in physiological, psychological, and neurological contexts and organizations have implemented mindfulness training programs, possibly after learning of the apparent benefits. Researchers should use caution when assessing the practice’s benefits and consider extraneous variables such as the possibility that meditators tend towards spirituality; theologians argue that underlying beliefs might contribute to mindfulness practitioners’ reactions to the physical and psychological changes that result from mindfulness practices. This study investigates if and how religious beliefs modify mindfulness’s emotional outcomes for Bryant University students. The findings suggest that mindfulness and …

Sexual Violence And Suicide In Bangladesh, S M Yasir Arafat, Murad M. Khan

Department of Psychiatry

No abstract provided.

An Evaluation Of Wayfinding Abilities In Adolescent And Young Adult Males With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Yingying Yang, Weijia Li, Dan Huang, Wei He, Yanxi Zhang, Edward Merrill

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Background

Wayfinding refers to traveling from place to place in the environment. Despite some research headway, it remains unclear whether individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show strengths, weaknesses, or similarities in wayfinding compared with ability-matched typically developing (TD) controls.

Method

The current study tested 24 individuals with ASD, 24 mental-ability (MA) matched TD (MA-TD) controls, and 24 chronological-age (CA) matched TD (CA-TD) controls. Participants completed a route learning task and a survey learning task, both programmed in virtual environments, and a perspective taking task. Their parents completed questionnaires assessing their children’s everyday wayfinding activities and competence.

Results

Overall, CA-TD …

Psychoeducation Intervention For Stress Management In Adolescents, Gold E. Okoeka

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: Stress reduction techniques (SRT) such as yoga, exercise, deep breathing, positive self-talk, sleep hygiene among others, have shown to be effective in stress reduction in adolescents. SRTs are effective in lowering stress levels, improving mood, reducing anxiety levels as well as promoting overall health.

Purpose: This DNP project aimed to implement a psychoeducation intervention using e-brochures to reduce stress levels among adolescent’s ages 16-18 years old.

Methods: A total of 15 adolescents who agreed to participate in the program received a psychoeducation intervention using e-brochures on the impact of stress on their mental health and a few SRTs including …

Anxiety Explains Self-Differentiation: Implications For Bowenian Approaches To Marriage And Family Therapy, Reagan Thomas, John Shelley-Tremblay, Harvey Joanning

University Faculty and Staff Publications

This study examined the Bowenian construct of Self- Differentiation (SD), defined as the degree to which a person can think according to their personal beliefs while remaining emotionally connected to the family. This study examined the degree to which negative emotionality accounted for the relationship between SD and Relationship Satisfaction (RS). Emotional Cutoff (EC) emerged as the sole predictor of RS. When Trait Anxiety (TA) was entered into the model it mediated between EC and RS. We discuss the importance of treating anxiety of the individual in family therapy and that SD may best be understood when taking anxiety into …

A School-Based Cognitive Behavioral Progrm To Improve Adolescent Mental Health, Amanda Harper

Graduate Publications and Other Selected Works - Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Problem. While anxiety and depression are prevalent in the adolescent population and can have significant long-term consequences, treatment rates remain low. The gold standard for treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), but this is often unavailable.

Methods. This project aimed to increase access to CBT through a school-based program. Students from a local homeschool cooperative participated in the Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (COPE). Measures of anxiety and depressive symptoms were collected at baseline, after the program, and one month after the program. A Friedman test was used to evaluate medians’ differences on the screening tools at all three time …

Smart Homes For Smart Health: Developing An Interactive System To Reduce In-Home Secondhand Smoke, Christie Kika, Janice Han, Vincent Berardi

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Smoke from any source is potentially harmful because it contains fine particulate matter that is associated with acute and chronic conditions. Second-hand smoke (SHS) is particularly unsafe for children due to biological characteristics (higher breathing rates, immature lungs and underdeveloped immune systems) that make it difficult to filter toxins.To address this concern, we recently completed Project Fresh Air (PFA), an NIH-funded R01 intervention that installed air particle sensors in the households of tobacco smokers who lived with children. The purpose of our research is to investigate and develop efficient smart home devices that monitor SHS in various living spaces to …

Historical Trauma Response Scores As A Function Of Unresolved Grief And Substance Use Disorder In American Indian Populations, Andrew R. Saunders

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Abstract

Researchers are interested in the outcomes of interventions, specifically, measuring historical trauma (HT) among American Indian/Alaska Native communities and the long-term distress and substance abuse as a result of historical trauma response (HTR). Previous literature has implicated limitations in the clinical conceptualization of the relationship between intergenerational transfer of HTR and substance abuse. The aim of the current study is to examine treatment efficacy of 50 homosexual, American Indian males randomized to a culturally-adapted juxtaposition of (1) Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), (2) Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and (3) Historical Trauma and Unresolved Grief Intervention (HTUG), or (4) waitlisted on …

When Pandemic Hits: Exercise Frequency And Subjective Well-Being During Covid-19 Pandemic, Ralf Brand, Sinika Timme, Sanaz Nosrat

Publications and Research

The governmental lockdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic have forced people to change their behavior in many ways including changes in exercise. We used the brief window of global lockdown in the months of March/April/May 2020 as an opportunity to investigate the effects of externally imposed restrictions on exercise-related routines and related changes in subjective well-being. Statistical analyses are based on data from 13,696 respondents in 18 countries using a cross-sectional online survey. A mixed effects modeling approach was used to analyze data. We tested whether exercise frequency before and during the pandemic would influence mood during the pandemic. Additionally, …

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 …

A Comprehensive Examination Of The Immediate Recovery Of Children Following Tonsillectomy And Adenoidectomy, Bryan K. Lao, Zeev N. Kain, Dina Khoury, Brooke N. Jenkins, Jeremy Prager, Robert S. Stevenson, Brenda Golianu, Jeannie Zuk, Jeffrey I. Gold, Qiu Zhong, Michelle A. Fortier

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objectives

Using multiple well-validated measures and a large sample size, the goal of this paper was to describe the immediate clinical and behavioral recovery of children following tonsillectomy with or without an adenoidectomy (T&A) during the first two weeks following surgery.

Study design

Observational, longitudinal study.

Setting

Four major pediatric hospitals in the U.S. consisting of Children's Hospital of Orange County, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, and Children's Hospital Colorado.

Subjects

and Methods: Participants included 827 patients between 2 and 15 years of age who underwent tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy surgery. Baseline and demographic …

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 …

Supporting Self-Regulation Of Children With Adhd Using Wearables: Tensions And Design Challenges, Franceli L. Cibrian, Kimberley D. Lakes, Arya Tavakoulnia, Kayla Guzman, Sabrina Schuck, Gillian R. Hayes

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

The design of wearable applications supporting children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) requires a deep understanding not only of what is possible from a clinical standpoint but also how the children might understand and orient towards wearable technologies, such as a smartwatch. Through a series of participatory design workshops with children with ADHD and their caregivers, we identified tensions and challenges in designing wearable applications supporting the self-regulation of children with ADHD. In this paper, we describe the specific challenges of smartwatches for this population, the balance between self-regulation and co-regulation, and tensions when receiving notifications on a smartwatch …

Variable Magnitude And Frequency Financial Reinforcement Is Effective At Increasing Adults’ Free-Living Physical Activity, Vincent Berardi, Melbourne Hovell, Jane C. Hurley, Christine B. Phillips, John Belletierre, Michael Todd, Marc A. Adams

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Financial rewards can increase health behaviors, but little research has quantified the effects of different reinforcement schedules on this process. This analysis compares the average moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) associated with six distinct positive reinforcement schedules implemented within a physical activity promotion clinical trial. In this trial, participants (N = 512) wore an accelerometer for 1 year and were prescribed one of two types of MVPA goals: a static 30-min goal or an adaptive goal based on the MVPA produced over the previous 9 days. As participants met goals, they transitioned through a sequence of reinforcement stages, beginning with …

Analytic Hierarchy Process: An Innovative Technique For Culturally Tailoring Evidence-Based Interventions To Reduce Health Disparities, Jaime A. Corvin, Isabella Chan, Claudia X. Aguado, Ian Dollman, Junius Gonzales

Publications from Provost Junius J. Gonzales

Latinos in the United States represent a disproportionate burden of illness and disease and face barriers to accessing health care and related resources. Culturally tailored, evidence-based interventions hold promise in addressing many of these challenges. Yet, ensuring patient voice is vital in the successful development and implementation of such interventions. Thus, this paper examines the application of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to inform the augmentation and implementation of an evidence-based chronic disease self-management programme for underserved Latinos living with both minor depression and chronic illness. The process of AHP allows for direct input from the individuals that would utilize such …

Assessment Of Stress Effects On Cognitive Flexibility Using An Operant Strategy Shifting Paradigm, Andrew T. Gargiulo, Xinyue Li, Laura A. Grafe

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Stress affects cognitive function. Whether stress enhances or impairs cognitive function depends on several factors, including the 1) type, intensity, and duration of the stressor; 2) type of cognitive function under study; and 3) timing of the stressor in relation to learning or executing the cognitive task. Furthermore, sex differences among the effects of stress on cognitive function have been widely documented. Described here is an adaptation of an automated operant strategy shifting paradigm to assess how variations in stress affect cognitive flexibility in male and female Sprague Dawley rats. Specifically, restraint stress is used before or after training in …

Cultural Communication For New Nurse Residents: K.I.N.D Communication Toolkit, Jennifer Caraballo

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects

Background: Microaggressions can create a hostile work environment and decrease rapport and functioning in clinical and personal relationships. Exposure to micro aggression and implicit bias results in micro trauma and possible compassion fatigue by medical staff. Symptoms can include headaches, poor sleep, depressions, and anxiety, similar to compassion fatigue.

Purpose: To develop a toolkit for healthcare staff to use as educational material to facilitate for cultural communication and cultural humility.

Methods: Nurses that were enrolled in a nurse residency program at a level 1 trauma center participated in the education of a communication toolkit related to K.I.N.D …