Psychology Commons^™

It’S All The Rage: An Animated Approach To Screening For Postpartum Depression, Amanda Gorham

Doctoral Dissertations

Postpartum depression presents a complication for mothers which can, in some cases, be severe and even life-threatening. Instruments commonly used to screen for this psychological condition have been challenged by an extensive body of literature, with many mothers being unidentified and even untreated for their symptoms. The presented research introduces a newly developed screening instrument for detecting probable postpartum depression using text-free scenario-based animations, based on the lived experience of the condition as qualified by empirical research and the existing body of literature. Developed items were controlled for quality via Think Aloud Protocol and alignment studies with subject matter experts …

Comparison Of Public Mental Health Stigma In Youth, Desiree A. Clarke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study looked at mental health stigma in youth. Mental health stigma is devaluing, disgracing and disfavoring individuals with mental illness. Participants aged 11-14 completed a measure to rate their stigmatizing beliefs toward peers with either ADHD, depression, or asthma. Their ratings were compared for significance between genders and for the three different conditions: ADHD, depression, and asthma. Significant differences were found between the stigma ratings for asthma, depression and ADHD. ADHD had significantly higher stigma ratings than asthma, and depression had significantly higher stigma ratings than ADHD (on some, but not all, areas rated) and had consistently higher …

Investigating The Psychological Impact Of Covid-19 Among Healthcare Workers: A Meta-Analysis, Kavita Batra, Tejinder Pal Singh, Manoj Sharma, Ravi Batra, Nena Schvaneveldt

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Previous meta-analyses were conducted during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, which utilized a smaller pool of data. The current meta-analysis aims to provide additional (and updated) evidence related to the psychological impact among healthcare workers. The search strategy was developed by a medical librarian and bibliographical databases, including Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus were searched for studies examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological health of healthcare workers. Articles were screened by three reviewers. Heterogeneity among studies was assessed by I2 statistic. The random-effects model …

The Effects Of Military Sexual Trauma And Depressive Symptoms On Reintegration, Rachel L. Davies

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Reintegration is a challenge for many veterans returning to civilian roles after military service. Difficulties range from an assortment of issues such as self-care to community participation. Military sexual trauma may be an experience that alters or changes veterans and result in difficulty in reintegration. Specifically, it was predicted that military sexual trauma would indirectly affect reintegration, via depressive symptoms. In addition, locus of control was predicted to play a role in how military sexual trauma impacts reintegration with external locus of control acting as a buffer. Participants were a cross-sectional community sample of both female veterans who reported having …

Tracing Relations Between Attachment, Social Media Use, Self-Esteem, Loneliness, And Depression: A Mediation Model, Meagan Patricia Sabo

Masters Theses

An extensive amount of correlational research has well-established the link between insecure attachment style and subsequent adverse interpersonal and psychopathological outcomes. Moreover, the rise of social media has precipitated a shift in the methods by which individuals communicate; consequently, this has resulted in the shifting of preexisting dispositions toward dysfunctional behaviors to a more ubiquitous route of manifestation. Given that attachment literature has indicated notable differences in both underlying mechanisms and resulting outcomes of both avoidant and anxious attachment, examination of this alongside social media use provides valuable insight into potential relationships between the two. Further, research has examined the …

The Relationship Between Self-Focus And Anxiety, Katie Leutzinger, Leah Reyna, Carissa L. Philippi

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Researchers have linked self-focus with multiple psychological disorders and forms of maladaptive cognition, such as anxiety and depression. Throughout their lifetime, around 33% of U.S. adults suffer from an anxiety disorder, making it the most prevalent mental illness in the country. Anxiety symptoms often co-occur with depressive symptoms, therefore depression and anxiety are often consolidated together in research scenarios. Past studies have shown a positive correlation between negative self-focus and depressive symptoms. However, with anxiety prevalence on the rise, it is worthy of attention independent from depression. This study will look at the relationship between anxiety and negative self-focus. Previous …

Stressful Life Events Correlate With Depression Symptoms, Michelle Mercedes Meng

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Stressful life events, such as abuse, divorce, or spending time in jail have been known to cause psychological and physical symptoms (Billings, 1982). Previous research has examined the association between the amount of stressful life events and the onset of depression(Kendler, 1999). The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between stress and depression in a sample of college students. As a part of a larger study, participants (N = 223) completed online questionnaires that measured their exposure to life stressors on the Life Stress Checklist - Revised (Wolfe and Kimerling, 1997) and depression symptoms on the Beck Depression Inventory …

Counseling Clients With Traumatic Brain Injury: Exploring Counselors’ Perceived Knowledge, Comfort, And Self-Awareness, Michelle Bradham-Cousar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The number of traumatic brain injury (TBI) diagnoses continues to rise each year. Counseling is a critical factor in TBI treatment, and although numerous studies have investigated TBI outcomes, a paucity of researchers have studied professional counselors’ knowledge, comfort, and self-awareness when working with TBI clients. Due to the diversity of counselor caseloads, it is likely that counselors will serve clients with a dual diagnosis that includes TBI. These dual diagnoses include depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, psychosis, or another neurocognitive disorder. The purpose of this study was to explore counselors’ knowledge, comfort, and self-awareness when working with individuals with …

Demographic, Psychosocial And Perceived Environmental Factors Associated With Depression Severity In A Midwest Micropolitan Community, Jason D. Daniel-Ulloa, Barbara I. Baquero, Christine M. Kava, Mayra L. Smith-Coronado, Nicole L. Novak, Dan Sewell, Adriana Maldonado, Heidi L. Haines, Claudia Gates, Edith Parker

Health Behavior Research

The purpose of this study was to inform a community-engaged partnership concerned with mental health in their community by exploring factors associated with depression among a sample of residents in a micropolitan city in a rural state. Social and contextual factors are important influences on depression risk, but most research in this area has focused on urban settings. Micropolitan areas (midsize rural communities centered around a population core of 10,000-50,000 people) are home to the majority of rural residents and this specific social and economic context may have unique influences on depression risk. Using a random-digit-dial sampling method, adult residents …

Wicked Problems: Depression, Sebastian Wendolowski

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Depression is a disorder that can affect anybody and is the leading cause of disability and disorders in the United States. This year, due to COVID-19, it has hit an all time high, affecting many more people. Suicide rates have been steadily growing across all ages, and this year is at a record high too, showing correlation with depression. There are two types of depression, major depressive disorder and chronic depressive disorder. Diagnosis of depression is typically done physically or through a questionnaire, which is compared into a DSM-5. There are many risk factors for depression and other common mental …

Efficacy Of Galcanezumab For Migraine Prevention In Patients With A Medical History Of Anxiety And/Or Depression: A Post Hoc Analysis Of The Phase 3, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Regain, And Pooled Evolve-1 And Evolve-2 Studies, Todd A. Smitherman, Gretchen E. Tietjen, Kory Schuh, Vladimir Skljarevski, Sarah Lipsius, Deborah N. D’Souza, Eric M. Pearlman

Faculty and Student Publications

© 2020 Eli Lilly and Company. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain published by Wiley Periodicals LLC, on behalf of American Headache Society Objective: This post hoc analysis evaluated the efficacy of galcanezumab for the prevention of migraine in patients with and without comorbid anxiety and/or depression. Background: Patients with migraine have a higher risk of anxiety and/or depression. Given the high prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and their potential negative prognostic impact, determining the efficacy of migraine treatments in patients with these comorbidities is important. Methods: The results of 2 phase 3 episodic migraine studies of patients with …

Adverse Childhood Experiences As Predictors Of Perceived Health: Assessing The Ace Pyramid Model Using Multiple-Mediation, Phillip Hughes, Tabitha L. Ostrout

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been shown to contribute to a litany of mental and physical health problems, including several chronic diseases and death, via a model known as the ACE pyramid. Many of the results of ACEs in the ACE pyramid are known contributors to poor perceived health, which has significant health implications. Despite these results, a possible link between ACEs and perceived health has not been examined to date. Based on the temporal order of the ACE pyramid, we believe any relationship between ACEs and perceived health will be mediated by other components of the model.

Methods: …

Predictors Of Recovery In Advocacy-Based Refugee Treatment Outcome: The Role Of Prior Traumatic Experiences And Current Chronic Stressors, Meredith A. Blackwell

Psychology ETDs

Refugees are at an increased vulnerability to mental health disorders compared to citizens of wealthier nations. The present study looks at the symptom trajectories of 290 refugees in a psychosocial community-based participatory intervention. A three-level generalized linear mixed model examined the predictive impact of exposure to trauma and chronic stress at baseline on posttraumatic stress and mood symptoms over time. Results showed that only higher chronic stress at baseline was associated with a steeper decrease in both PTSD and mood scores, but these effects differed by nationality. However, with chronic stress entered as a time-varying covariate instead only African participants …

The Occupational Depression Inventory: A New Tool For Clinicians And Epidemiologists, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

Background: Depressive symptoms induced by insurmountable job stress and sick leave for mental health reasons have become a focal concern among occupational health specialists. The present study introduces the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI), a measure designed to quantify the severity of work-attributed depressive symptoms and establish provisional diagnoses of job-ascribed depression. The ODI comprises nine symptom items and a subsidiary question assessing turnover intention. Methods: A total of 2254 employed individuals were recruited in the U.S., New Zealand, and France. We examined the psychometric and structural properties of the ODI as well as the nomological network of work-attributed depressive symptoms. …

Psychiatric Medications And Stigmatizing Attitudes In College Students, Benjamin T. Johnson, Peter Philip Grau, Stephen M. Saunders

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Research suggests that biological explanations of mental illness include the promotion of the effectiveness of medication, and that such explanations lead to greater attributions of responsibility and potentially greater stigmatizing emotional and behavioral reactions. This study examined whether college students' attitudes toward a fellow student with mental illness are affected by whether the latter is described as having benefitted previously from medication. Results suggest that the promotion of psychiatric medications as helpful may increase stigmatizing attitudes by peers against fellow students with mental illness.

Generating Alternative Solutions When Depression Is The Problem, Benjamin Todd Johnson

Dissertations (1934 -)

Generating alternative solutions for problem situations is a key component of effective problem solving. This process is used to generate a variety of potential options for managing a problem, from which the most effective approach or combination of approaches can be selected for implementation. Impaired alternatives generation provides fewer options from which to select a response, reducing the likelihood that a highly effective approach will be available for implementation, potentially leaving problems unresolved, generating additional problems, and fostering a sense of hopelessness and depression. Depression has been found to impair problem solving further by reducing engagement in the problem solving …

Insomnia Is Associated With Frequency Of Suicidal Ideation Independent Of Depression: A Replication And Extension Of Findings From The National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey, Zach Simmons, Lance D. Erickson, Dawson Hedges, Daniel Kay

Faculty Publications

Objective: Insomnia is associated with suicidality, although the mechanisms of this association are unclear. This study sought to replicate previous findings showing that insomnia symptoms but not sleep duration are associated with frequency of suicidal ideation in adults. We further investigated whether depression or sleep duration moderates the association between insomnia symptoms and frequency of suicidal ideation.

Materials and Methods: We used the 2005–2006 cycle of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to replicate previously reported findings from the 2007–2008 cycle. We used ordered logistic regression to determine whether insomnia symptoms were associated with frequency of suicidal ideation independently …

Assessing A Cognitive Model Of Trauma-Related Sleep Disturbance, Rebecca Chesher

Dissertations

Sleep disturbance is a symptom of many mental health disorders that may negatively affect cognition and mood. Trauma-related sleep disturbance is a core reaction of traumatic stress and PTSD, similar to symptoms experienced by individuals with insomnia or other sleep-wake disorders. Although the cause and symptom progression of trauma-related sleep disturbance may be very different, research and clinical practice assess and treat it with measures and interventions designed for general insomnia. Using a cognitive model of insomnia modified for trauma-related sleep disturbance, the current study assessed the relations between select trauma and sleep variables within the proposed constructs of: 1) …

Memory Bias Toward Emotional Information In Burnout And Depression, Renzo Bianchi, Eric Laurent, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Lucas M. Bietti, Eric Mayor

Publications and Research

A sample of 1015 educational staff members, exhibiting various levels of burnout and depressive symptoms, underwent a memory test involving incident encoding of positive and negative words and a free recall task. Burnout and depression were each found to be associated with increased recall of negative items and decreased recall of positive items. Results remained statistically significant when controlling for history of depressive disorders. Burnout and depression were not related to mistakes in the reported words, or to the overall number of recalled words. This study suggests that burnout and depression overlap in terms of memory biases toward emotional information.

Insomnia In Subclinical Paranoid Participants, Lauren J. Bennett-Leleux

Psychology and Counseling Theses

Insomnia has always been thought to be a consequence of schizophrenia and may be predicted by paranoid thoughts. Individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia have reported symptoms of insomnia, which can in turn increase psychosis. It is thought that these symptoms can come from decreased daytime activity, reduced cognitive functioning, or distress from psychotic experiences increasing arousal (Waite et al., 2016a; Hodgenkins et al., 2015; Stubbset et al., 2016). However, recent evidence has demonstrated that insomnia can predict later paranoid thoughts. Individuals with comorbid psychotic disorder and insomnia tend to have more severe psychotic experiences such as paranoid thoughts (Freeman …

Affective, Physiological, And Cognitive Response To Imagery- And Verbally-Based Rumination And Distraction In Adolescence, Hannah Lawrence

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To date, rumination and interventions for rumination have largely been verbal in focus. Rumination has been conceptualized as dwelling on negative affect in the form of verbal thought, and interventions aim to interrupt cycles of rumination using verbal strategies. Yet, emerging evidence suggests that many individuals dwell on negative affect in the form of imagery (e.g., Lawrence, Haigh, Siegle, & Schwartz-Mette, 2018) and that imagery-based interventions may be even more effective (e.g., Arntz, 2012). This is not surprising as imagery is more affectively arousing (Holmes & Mathews, 2010), physiologically stimulating (Vrana, Cuthbert, & Lang, 1986), and realistic/vivid (Mathews, Ridgeway, & …

Decision-Making Difficulty In Major Depression: Understanding Indecisiveness And The Role Of Expected Affect, Haijing Wu Hallenbeck

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Decision-making difficulty is a prevalent symptom among individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). Decision-making difficulty has been found to be pervasive across different areas of decision-making in current MDD; however, its exact nature for some areas (e.g., indecisiveness) is not well characterized, and the extent to which it is a scar of MDD is not determined. Furthermore, affective disturbances (e.g., in expected affect) have been theorized to contribute to decision-making difficulty in MDD, but empirical studies are needed to test this theory. In my two-study dissertation on depression, Study 1 focused on the dimensionality and validity of indecisiveness, and Study …

Personalized Models Of Social Anxiety Disorder And Depression, Marilyn L. Piccirillo

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is an important risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD) and together this comorbidity constitutes a highly impairing syndrome and vicious cycle of symptomatology, associated with tremendous health costs and societal burden. Despite much group-level research examining risk factor for MDD specifically, there is limited group and individual-level research evaluating how individuals with SAD transition into depressive episodes. Clinical and theoretical evidence suggests that each patient may exhibit a unique personalized pattern of risk factors. These idiographic patterns may contradict relationships seen at the group level. In this dissertation, women (N = 35) with SAD and …

Assessing Sex Differences In The Effects Of Short-Term Rem Sleep On Anxiety- And Depressive-Like Behaviors In Rats, Nadia Meshkati

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Findings from both human and animal studies suggest rapid eye movement (REM) sleep disturbances following a traumatic event can lead to inability to extinguish the fear association, and eventually influence the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Additionally, research has demonstrated that sleep disruptions, including REM sleep deprivation (RSD), increases anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors and states in animals and people, with evidence of sex differences. Furthermore, it has yet to be determined whether short-term RSD, a more natural animal model of PTSD, can influence affective state of subjects. The present study applied short-term RSD to investigate sex differences in the …

Examination Of The Relationship Between Sport-Specific Thoughts And Emotions And Anxiety And Depression In College Athletes, Marina Elizabeth Harris

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Depression and anxiety are prevalent mental health difficulties affecting student athletes, who notoriously reject mental health interventions that are not sport-relevant. This study will assist in understanding the extent to which sport-relevant thoughts and emotions impact depression and anxiety in collegiate athletes. Two-hundred and twenty-five NCAA athletes competing at the Division, I, II, or III level were administered the Sport Interference Checklist (SIC), Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Results of correlational analyses revealed a significant relationship between SIC Dysfunctional Thinking (in training and competition) and anxiety (GAD-7) and depressive (PHQ-9) symptoms, …

Using Therapeutic Photography Techniques To Increase The Wellbeing Of College Students, Licia Tourigny, Ivelina Naydenova

Journal of Counseling and Psychology

In this study the benefits of therapeutic photography techniques were analyzed for people with varying degrees of depression and anxiety. In study 1, participants were placed in groups after taking the Beck’s Depression Inventory. After they were placed in groups, they also took Beck’s Anxiety Inventory and the Life Satisfaction Scale. For four weeks, participants were asked to take pictures of what makes them happy and share and discuss them with their groups. After four weeks, they took all three inventories a second time. We found significant results between the pretest and posttest scores of the depression and anxiety inventories; …

The Network Structure Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Filipina Migrant Domestic Workers: Comorbidity With Depression, Melissa R. Garabiles, Chao K. Lao, Brian J. Hall

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

Background

Labour migrants are exposed to potentially traumatic events throughout the migration cycle, making them susceptible to developing mental disorders. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is often comorbid with depression. Comorbidity worsens the course of illness, prognosis, treatment response, and increases suicidal risk. Using network analysis, this study examined the structure of PTSD and depression in a sample of migrant domestic workers, an especially vulnerable community of labour migrants. This study sought to derive the central or most important symptoms, strongest edges or relationships among symptoms, and bridge symptoms between PTSD and depression.

Methods

Data were obtained from 1,375 Filipina domestic …

Trauma Exposure, Depressive Symptoms, And Responding To Positive Events And Affect In Young Adults, Jana Desimone Wozniak

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

The relationship between trauma exposure and responding to positive affect and events is unclear. Depression may co-occur with trauma exposure, and may also independently predict responding to positive affect and events. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between trauma exposure, depressive symptoms, and responding to positive affect and positive life events among young adults. Participants were 277 (84.8% female, 56.3% Caucasian) undergraduates ages 18-39 (M = 19.67, SD = 2.22). At baseline, ANCOVAs were used to examine the relationships between trauma exposed/non-trauma exposed groups, as well as high/low depressive symptom groups, on responding to positive …

Do Anxiety, Depression, And Mental Health Treatment Impact Christian College Student Religiosity/Spirituality?, Matthew J. Ditty

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The majority of Americans report religious affiliation and participate in religious practices. Several studies have sought to analyze the protective factors of religiosity, especially as it relates to mental and physical health issues. However, little research has been conducted which explores the relationship between religiosity/spirituality (R/S), mental health, and its treatment status.

This study sought to determine whether participants’ mental health problems (anxiety and depression) and treatment status (treatment versus no treatment) were related to their religiosity/spirituality and if severity of pathology and treatment engagement significantly affected R/S. Results suggest subjects can be aggregated into two meaningful groups: one that …

Depression, Music Choice, And Affective Outcomes In Daily Life, Sunkyung Yoon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Persons with depression consistently report a preference for sad music. Are such preferences maladaptive or beneficial? We tested this question in a 3-part study that examined 77 participants’ (39 with and 38 without clinical depression) music choice in daily life, affective outcomes, and the reasons for music choice. During a 3-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA), participants chose a song from a pre-set music library of happy and sad songs and rated their affect before and after hearing the chosen song. In addition, we analyzed the characteristics (e.g., tempo) of participants’ free song choices over 7 days (from participants’ Spotfiy music …