Psychology Commons^™

Mindfulness Meditation As A Stress Reactivity Intervention: An Event-Related Potential Study, Jessica L. Trottier, Barry S. Oken

Student Research Symposium

The biological and neural mechanisms of stress have been extensively studied and supported, but are still unclear. Event-related potentials (ERP’s) emitted by neurons in the brain are a useful tool in measuring stress because they reflect neural response in real-time, to the millisecond, versus typical biological markers, which are typically evaluated before and after a stress test. The neurobiological relationship between ERP’s and stress originates in the anterior cingulate cortex, which in turn activates the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis; the main physiological cascade fueling the stress response and its chronically harmful symptoms. Malfunctions in the stress response, as in the cases of …

Psychosocial Challenges Facing Women Living With Hiv During The Perinatal Period In Rural Uganda, Scholastic Ashaba, Angela Kaida, Jessica N. Coleman, Bridget F. Burns, Emma Dunkley, Kasey O'Neil, Jasmine Kastner, Naomi Sanyu, Cecilia Akatukwasa, David R. Bangsberg, Lynn T. Matthews, Christina Psaros

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

The complexities of navigating pregnancy while living with HIV predispose women to additional stress. Finding ways to minimize psychosocial challenges during the perinatal period may maximize the well-being of mothers living with HIV and their children. The goal of this study was to explore psychosocial challenges experienced by women living with HIV (WLWH) during pregnancy and the postpartum.

We conducted individual in-depth interviews with 20 WLWH recruited from an HIV treatment cohort study in Mbarara, Uganda as part of a larger study exploring perinatal depression. We conducted content analyses to identify themes related to challenges of WLWH during pregnancy and …