Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Relation Between Hyperlipidemia, Hypertension, And Downstream Cognitive And Neuroanatomical Function, Victor James Wasserman

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Cardiovascular risks (CVR) such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia play a critical role in the emergence of dementia syndromes. Medication to treat CVR may not obviate downstream risk for cognitive change.

Methods: To examine the relation between history of treatment with medications to treat CVR and cognitive outcomes, participants were seen at time points ~7 years apart, completed neuropsychological evaluations, assessed for history of treatment with medication associated with hypertension and hyperlipidemia as indicators of CVR, and classified into 3 groups: Not Treated, Inconsistently Treated, and Consistently Treated. Regression models associating neuropsychological outcome measures of cognition and CVR were explored …

The Roles Of Social Support And Personal Mastery In The Health Behaviors Of Adults With Cancer: A Survey Study, Kristen Marie Pasko

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death in the United States. The majority of individuals struggle to adhere to recommended dietary and physical activity guidelines. Specifically, older adults with cancer struggle to meet health behavior recommendations, and tend to have additional risk factors, such as poor social support. Following the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, an individual's response to a stressful situation (cancer diagnosis) would be influenced by the interaction between their internal resources (personal mastery) and external resources (social support). Using archival data from the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging, 725 older adults were surveyed …

The Moderating Effect Of Physical Health On The Relationship Between Coping Style And Engagement In Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, Alexander Jaffe

Theses and Dissertations

Coping skills can be used in a myriad of situations, as these alleviate unwanted feelings. While negative coping skills might be effective in the short term, their long term effects are not beneficial. Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), a type of negative coping mechanism, has been shown to be reported by college students most when compared to adults and young adults. The independent relationships between coping strategy, physical health, and NSSI have been previously established. There is a paucity of literature assessing NSSI while considering the pre-existing relationship between physical and mental health. As such, this study examines the moderating function of …

The Role Of Coping Behaviors And Intoxication In Trauma Symptomology Subsequent To Sexual Victimization, Danika Martine Charles

Theses and Dissertations

College women are at an elevated risk for sexual victimization compared to the general population. One possible reason for the increase risk of sexual victimization on college campuses is that college is inherent with greater freedom and less supervision. This unsupervised environment may encourage students to explore alcohol and other drug use and abuse and engage in risky sexual behavior, which are risk factors for sexual victimization. Sexual victimization is defined as unwanted behaviors and tactics that range from oral, anal, vaginal contact or penetration where the perpetrator uses force, intimidation, or coercion. Sexual victimization is often conceptualized in terms …

Evaluating The Social Acceptability Of An Application-Blocking-Based Contingency Management Intervention, Caitlyn R. Upton

Theses and Dissertations

Many adults and youth in the United States engage in multiple high risk health behaviors. Research has historically suggested that if these behaviors can be changed, major health conditions could be changed at both the individual and population levels. Contingency Management is a well-validated method of changing health behaviors, however the costs associated with CM prevent it from being widely available. Smartphone applications are becoming increasingly popular in the healthcare sector, and most American have a smartphone with apps they find enjoyable and distracting. A potential avenue for CM dissemination is the development of a smartphone program that utilizes the …

Understanding Attraction, Behavior, And Identity In The Asexual Community, Corey Doremus

Theses and Dissertations

Models of sexuality have evolved substantially in the past several decades through the inclusion of new aspects which were previously overlooked. Components such as romantic attraction and behavior have also traditionally been included in models of sexuality. However, romantic and sexual orientations do not coincide for all individuals. A population for which this is true and one that has developed a robust language for discussing romantic orientation is the asexual community. The current study aims to examine romantic and sexual orientation through patterns found within the factors of attraction, behavior, and identity in the asexual community. Within this sample, aspects …

Visual And Verbal Working Memory And Its Relationship To Subcortical Regions In Statistically-Determined Mild Cognitive Impairment, Sheina Emrani

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Fuster (2008) observed that temporal organization modulate executive control mechanisms by generating (1) attention towards test parameters (working memory), (2) the capacity to execute a task (preparatory set), and (3) the ability to inhibit external/internal stimuli (inhibitory control). We investigated Fuster's model (2008) using response latency on visual and verbal working memory tasks in patients with suspected mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: An iPad-version of the Backward Digit Span Test (BDT) and Symbolic Working Memory Test (SWM) were used. Outcome variables were latency for each correct serial position and volumetric subcortical regions using NeuroQuant® software. Results: …

Cardiovascular Recovery From Emotional Stress: An Operationalization Of Equanamity Following Mindfulness-Based Emotional Stress, Emma Mcbride

Theses and Dissertations

Theoretical models of mindfulness suggest that meditation may improve health, in part, by regulating stress physiology, including faster recovery of heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (SBP/DBP) after emotional stress. Furthermore, improved cardiovascular recovery (CR) may be a marker of equanimity, defined as increased acceptance of and reduced reactivity to stress. No studies have tested this hypothesis, partly because methodology for assessing CR remains controversial. Using a novel operationalization of equanimity and several methods of measuring CR, this project investigated whether (1) equanimity is associated with improved CR, (2) Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is associated with improved CR, and (3) …