Psychology Commons^™

The Efficacy Of Vigorous-Intensity Exercise As An Aid To Smoking Cessation In Adults With Elevated Anxiety Sensitivity: Study Protocol For A Randomized Controlled Trial, Jasper Aj Smits, Michael J. Slovensky, David Rosenfield, Bess H. Marcus, Timothy S. Church, Georita M. Frierson, Mark B. Powers, Michael W. Otto, Michelle L. Davis, Lindsey B. Deboer, Nicole F. Briceno

Faculty Scholarship for the College of Science & Mathematics

Background: Although cigarette smoking is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States (US), over 40 million adults in the US currently smoke. Quitting smoking is particularly difficult for smokers with certain types of psychological vulnerability. Researchers have frequently called attention to the relation between smoking and anxiety-related states and disorders, and evidence suggests that panic and related anxiety vulnerability factors, specifically anxiety sensitivity (AS or fear of somatic arousal), negatively impact cessation. Accordingly, there is merit to targeting AS among smokers to improve cessation outcome. Aerobic exercise has emerged as a promising aid for smoking …

Cusp Catastrophe Models For Cognitive Workload And Fatigue In A Verbally Cued Pictorial Memory Task, Stephen J. Guastello, Henry Boeh, Michael Schimmels, Hillary Gorin, Samuel Huschen, Erin Davis, Natalie E. Peters, Megan Fabisch, Kirsten Poston

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate two cusp catastrophe models for cognitive workload and fatigue. They share similar cubic polynomial structures but derive from different underlying processes and contain variables that contribute to flexibility with respect to load and the ability to compensate for fatigue.

Background: Cognitive workload and fatigue both have a negative impact on performance and have been difficult to separate. Extended time on task can produce fatigue, but it can also produce a positive effect from learning or automaticity.

Method: In this two-part experiment, 129 undergraduates performed tasks involving spelling, arithmetic, memory, and visual …

Habituation Effect In Attention Modification Training For Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Olivia E. Bogucki

Honors Scholar Theses

Attention biases influence the type of information that captures an individual’s attention. Cognitive theories of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) state that attention biases cause an increased amount of attention to personally relevant threatening information. Previous studies support this connection, and have examined attention modification training (AMT) as a means to direct attention away from threatening information for various anxiety disorders, including OCD. Results show that attention biases toward threatening information decrease during a single training session of AMT, which may be a result of habituation to threat. However, there is a lack of longitudinal data investigating the number of AMT sessions …

Adenosine-Dopamine Interactions In The Open Field Arena: Studies Related To Locomotion And Anxiety, Rothem Kovner

Honors Scholar Theses

Nucleus accumbens dopamine (DA) is an important regulator of locomotion. The neuromodulator adenosine also has a role in regulating locomotion. The adenosine A_2A receptor subtype is colocalized with DA D2 receptors on medium spiny neurons in the striatum and nucleus accumbens. Interactions between adenosine A_2A and DA D2 receptor antagonists are significant for regulating various aspects of motor and motivational function. The adenosine A_2A antagonist MSX-3 has been shown to reverse the suppression of locomotion induced by the DA D2 antagonist eticlopride. The structure of MSX-3 was modified to produce the prodrug MSX-4 which has high oral …

Dissociating Allopregnanolone Mnemonic Effects From Sedation, Sarah B. Hartman

Honors Projects

Allopregnanolone (Allop) is a neurosteroid metabolite of progesterone. Allop modulates cognition, specifically learning and memory, but these effects are frequently confounded by its anxiolytic and sedative properties. We attempted to dissociate the anxiolytic effects of Allop from its mnemonic effects by employing a pharmacological challenge with d- amphetamine. Because previous research suggests that the effects of Allop may vary with the cognitive domain being tested, we assessed both spatial and non-spatial memory. Spatial memory was tested in a Morris Water Maze, and non-spatial object memory was tested on a novel discrimination task. Allop, alone or in combination with d-amphetamine …

Effects Of Knowledge And Anxiety On Willingness To Screen For Alzheimer's Disease, Tessa S. Lundquist

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

While the prevalence rates of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are increasing, the screening rates for the disease are low. A major barrier to AD screening is older persons’ lack of knowledge about the disease (Ayalon & Arean, 2004). Older adults have anxiety about AD (Corner & Bond, 2004; Devlin et al., 2007), but less is known about how that anxiety may affect their screening behavior. The current study measured AD Knowledge and AD Anxiety and determined how these factors were related to Willingness to Screen for AD in a sample of midlife and older adults (N = 96, mean age …

The Effects Of Adolescent Binge Drinking On Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Cells In The Amygdala And Social Predictors Of Alcohol Intake In Male And Female Rats, Chrisanthi Karanikas

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Alcohol is one of the most common drugs of choice among adolescents. Normally, the method of consumption is drinking large quantities of alcohol in short periods of time, otherwise known as “binge drinking.” Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) stress peptide producing cells in central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) has been implicated in behavioral responses to stress and addiction. The goals of this thesis were to determine the effects of voluntary binge drinking in adolescence and vapor-induced alcohol dependence in adulthood on CRF cells in the CeA. These studies were done using an operant model of voluntary binge drinking in rodents …

The Role Of Mindfulness And Psychological Flexibility In Somatization, Depression, Anxiety, And General Psychological Distress Of A Non-Clinical College Sample, Akihiko Masuda, Erin C. Tully

Psychology Faculty Publications

The current study investigated whether mindfulness and psychological flexibility uniquely and separately accounted for variability in psychological distress (somatization, depression, anxiety, and general psychological distress). An ethnically diverse, non-clinical sample of college undergraduates (N = 494, 76% female) completed a web-based survey that included the self-report measures of interest. Consistent with prior research, psychological flexibility and mindfulness were positively associated with each other, and tested separately, both variables were negatively associated with somatization, depression, anxiety, and general psychological distress. Results also revealed that psychological flexibility and mindfulness accounted for unique variance in all four measures of distress. These findings …

The Role Of Mindfulness And Psychological Flexibility In Somatization, Depression, Anxiety, And General Psychological Distress Of A Non-Clinical College Sample., Akihiko Masuda, Erin Tully

Psychology Faculty Publications

The current study investigated whether mindfulness and psychological flexibility uniquely and separately accounted for variability in psychological distress (somatization, depression, anxiety, and general psychological distress). An ethnically diverse, non-clinical sample of college undergraduates (N = 494, 76% female) completed a web-based survey that included the self-report measures of interest. Consistent with prior research, psychological flexibility and mindfulness were positively associated with each other, and tested separately, both variables were negatively associated with somatization, depression, anxiety, and general psychological distress. Results also revealed that psychological flexibility and mindfulness accounted for unique variance in all four measures of distress. These findings …

Neural Responses To Peer Rejection In Anxious Adolescents: Contributions From The Amygdala-Hippocampal Complex, Jennifer Y.F. Lau, Amanda E. Guyer, Erin Tone, Jessica Jenness, Jessica M. Parrish, Daniel S. Pine, Eric E. Nelson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Peer rejection powerfully predicts adolescent anxiety. While cognitive differences influence anxious responses to social feedback, little is known about neural contributions. Twelve anxious and 12 age-, gender- and IQ-matched, psychiatrically-healthy adolescents received ‘not interested’ and ‘interested’ feedback from unknown peers during a Chatroom task administered in a neuroimaging scanner. No group differences emerged in subjective ratings to peer feedback, but all participants reported more negative emotion at being rejected (than accepted) by peers to whom they had assigned high desirability ratings. Further highlighting the salience of such feedback, all adolescents, independent of anxiety levels, manifested elevated responses in the amygdala-hippocampal …

Psychosocial Variables And Time To Injury Onset: A Hurdle Regression Analysis Model, Jeremy Sibold, Sam Zizzi

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Context:

Psychological variables have been shown to be related to athletic injury and time missed from participation in sport. We are unaware of any empirical examination of the influence of psychological variables on time to onset of injury. Objective:

To examine the influence of orthopaedic and psychosocial variables on time to injury in college athletes. Patients or Other Participants:

One hundred seventy-seven (men  =  116, women  =  61; age  =  19.45 ± 1.39 years) National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II athletes. Main Outcome Measure(s):

Hurdle regression analysis (HRA) was used to determine the influence of predictor variables on days to …

Clinical Implications Of Wearing A Scarlet Letter: Sex Offender Public Policy, Tracy E. Shannon

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation outlines a mixed methods research approach to evaluate the clinical implications of sex offender public policies. Background information is given regarding current public policy on sex offender civil commitment and community notification and registration, the development of public policy and the current ramifications of the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORNA), the etiology and construction of the definition of sex offenders, and a review of sex offender interventions and their impact on therapeutic outcomes. This study examines the therapeutic and anti-therapeutic effects of SORNA using a therapeutic jurisprudence framework. A discussion of the correlation between mental health symptoms and …