Psychology Commons^™

Breaking Down The Barriers To Pediatric Procedural Preparation, Lindsey L. Cohen, Jill E. Maclaren

Psychology Faculty Publications

There are characteristics of children’s medical pain that makes it amenable to intervention. Specifically, almost all procedural events are planned and the steps of the procedure are scripted. Thus, the parent and patient have the ability to be well prepared to handle the stressor. In fact, the medical situation could even be viewed as a valuable opportunity for the family to learn and practice coping skills, which in turn can result in a heightened sense of mastery and empowerment for future expected and unexpected pain and suffering in life. The preparation literature is sufficiently strong to allow recommendations regarding how …

Psychosocial Predictors Of Sexual Initiation And High-Risk Sexual Behaviors In Early Adolescence, Argyro Caminis, Christopher Henrich, Vladislav Ruchkin, Mary Schwab-Stone, Andrés Martin

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: This longitudinal study examined psychosocial factors associated with risky sexual behavior in early adolescence.

Methods: Data were collected through a self-report survey, the Social and Health Assessment (SAHA), which was administered in three waves between 2001 and 2003 to a cohort of incoming sixth grade students in the public school system (149 classes at 17 middle and high schools, N = 1,175) of a small northeastern city in the United States. We first examined whether internalizing and externalizing problems in sixth grade, and the rate of change in these factors during middle school, were predictive of sexual initiation two …

Family Functioning In Children With Chronic Illness Compared With Healthy Controls: A Critical Review, Catherine B. Mcclellan, Lindsey L. Cohen

Psychology Faculty Publications

The impact of chronic illnesses upon children and their families can range from minimal disruptions to severe distress and functional limitations. Advances in medical care and technology have increased the lifespan of children with chronic illness as well as decreased the frequency of readily observable disease impacts on this population. To enhance our understanding of the more subtle, but equally important, impacts of pediatric chronic illnesses, researchers have expanded the domains assessed to include measurement of child adjustment and family functioning. Understanding the nature and development of the deficits in family functioning is key to the formulation of interventions designed …

The Impact Of Acceptance And Commitment Therapy Versus Education On Stigma Toward People With Psychological Disorders, Akihiko Masuda, S. C. Hayes, Lindsay B. Fletcher, P. J. Seignourel, K. Bunting, S. A. Herbst, M. P. Twohig, J. Lillis

Psychology Faculty Publications

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has previously been shown to alter stigmatizing attitudes and to be relatively useful for psychologically inflexible participants. The present study is the first to bring those two findings together by comparing ACT to an education intervention for reducing stigma toward people with psychological disorders, and examining whether results differ for psychologically inflexible versus flexible individuals. A sample of college students (N = 95) was randomly assigned to a 2 ½ hour ACT or educational workshop. Measures were taken before and after the workshop and at a one-month follow-up. ACT reduced mental health stigma significantly regardless …

Fmri Predictors Of Treatment Outcome In Pediatric Anxiety Disorders, Erin Mcclure, Abby Adler, Christopher Monk, Jennifer Cameron, Samantha Smith, Eric E. Nelson, Ellen Leibenluft, Monique Ernst, Daniel Pine

Psychology Faculty Publications

A growing number of studies have found evidence that anxiety and depressive disorders are associated with atypical amygdala hyperactivation, which decreases with effective treatment. Interest has emerged in this phenomenon as a possible biological marker for individuals who are likely to benefit from tailored treatment approaches. The present study was designed to examine relationships between pre-treatment amygdala activity and treatment response in a sample of anxious children and adolescents. Participants, who were diagnosed predominantly with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning prior to treatment with fluoxetine or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Results indicated significant negative …

Responses To Conflict And Cooperation In Adolescents With Anxiety And Mood Disorders, Erin B. Mcclure, Jessica M. Parrish, Eric E. Nelson, Joshua Easter, John F. Thorne, James K. Rilling, Monique Ernst, Daniel S. Pine

Psychology Faculty Publications

This study examined patterns of behavioral and emotional responses to conflict and cooperation in adolescents with anxiety/mood disorders and healthy peers. We compared performance on and emotional responses to the Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD) game, an economic exchange task involving conflict and cooperation, between adolescents with anxiety/depressive disorders (A/D) (N=21) and healthy comparisons (n=29). Participants were deceived to believe their co-player (a pre-programmed computer algorithm) was another study participant. A/D adolescents differed significantly from comparisons in patterns of play and emotional response to the game. Specifically, A/D participants responded more cooperatively to cooperative overtures from their co-players; A/D girls also reported …

Abnormal Attention Modulation Of Fear Circuit Function In Pediatric Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Erin B. Mcclure, Christopher S. Monk, Eric E. Nelson, Jessica M. Parrish, Abby Adler, James R. Blair, Stephen Fromm, Dennis S. Charney, Ellen Leibenluft, Monique Ernst, Daniel S. Pine

Psychology Faculty Publications

1. Context. Considerable work implicates abnormal neural activation and disrupted attention to facial-threat cues in adult anxiety disorders. However, in pediatric anxiety, no research has examined attention modulation of neural response to threat cues. 2. Objective. To determine whether attention modulates amygdala and cortical responses to facial threat cues differentially in adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and healthy adolescents. 3. Design. Case-control study. 4. Setting. Government clinical research institute. 5. Participants. Adolescent volunteers, 15 with GAD and 20 diagnosis-free. 6. Main Outcome Measure(s). Blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal, as measured via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). During fMRI scans, …

Neural Circuitry Engaged During Unsuccessful Motor Inhibition In Pediatric Bipolar Disorder, Ellen Leibenluft, Brendan A. Rich, Deborah T. Vinton, Eric E. Nelson, Stephen J. Fromm, Lisa H. Berghorst, Paramijit Joshi, Adelaide Robb, Russell J. Schachar, Daniel P. Dickstein, Erin Tone, Daniel S. Pine

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Deficits in motor inhibition may contribute to impulsivity and irritability in children with bipolar disorder (BPD). Therefore, studies of the neural circuitry engaged during failed motor inhibition in pediatric BPD may contribute to our understanding of the pathophysiology of the illness. We tested the hypothesis that children with BPD and controls would differ in ventral prefrontal cortex (vPFC), striatal, and anterior cingulate activation during unsuccessful motor inhibition. We also compared activation in medicated vs. unmedicated children with BPD, and in children with BPD and ADHD (BPD+ADHD) vs. those with BPD but without ADHD (BPD-ADHD).

Method: Event-related fMRI study comparing …

Semantic, Executive, And Visuospatial Abilities In Mathematical Reasoning Of Referred College Students, Robin Morris, Mary K. Morris, Paul Cirino

Psychology Faculty Publications

Semantic retrieval (SR) and executive-procedural (EP), but not visuospatial (VS) skills, have been found to be uniquely predictive of mathematical calculation skills in a sample of clinically referred college students. This study set out to cross-validate these results in an independent sample of clinically referred college students (N = 337) as well as extend them by examination of the contributions of these cognitive domains to math reasoning skills. Results indicate that these cognitive domains were able to predict 30% of the vari- ance in calculation skills and 50% of the variance in math reasoning; however, in both cases, only the …