Digital Commons Network^™

A Cultural Consensus Analysis Of Type Ii Diabetes And Hypertension, Hollie Beth Pellosmaa

Psychology Dissertations - Archive

There has been a dearth of information that explains group beliefs about chronic diseases. The overall aim of this study was to use both qualitative and quantitative methods to understand consensus in illness beliefs among diabetic and hypertensive patients. The cultural consensus and common-sense model of self-regulation were used to provide a theoretical framework for the findings. Older diabetic and hypertensive adults recruited from the community took part in a semi-structured interview and answered questionnaires. Results indicated that all participants shared a single cultural belief regarding these chronic illnesses. Contrary to expectations, there were no differences in cohesive beliefs between …

Sex, Sexuality And Sexual Practice For Trans Individuals And Their Romantic Partners., Kinton Rossman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transgender populations demonstrate significant sexual diversity, with over three-fourths (77%) of transgender individuals identifying as sexual minorities (Grant et al., 2011); however, a majority of research on sex, sexuality, and sexual practice has focused exclusively on cisgender and heterosexual individuals and, perhaps more importantly, addressed these issues a heteronormative and cisnormative perspective (Nichols, 2014). Such frameworks have created significant gaps in research about sex, sexuality, and sexual practice for trans individuals including understanding how gender transition influences sex and sexuality and how trans individuals and their partners engage in sexual practice. The current study addressed these omissions in the literature …

A Culturally-Sensitive Cognitive Model Of Worry In African American Youth., Allyn Elizabeth Richards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Our understanding of worry in children and adolescents has been increasingly enhanced over the past decade through the downward extension of adult cognitive models. Although our knowledge about the cognitive factors that place children at risk for worry has grown, little is known about these processes within African American youth. This is particularly notable given extant work suggesting that risk and protective processes are influenced by contextual factors. The current study reviews literatures regarding cognitive factors associated with worry and sociocultural factors salient to the African American context in order to inform a culturally-sensitive cognitive model of worry in African …

Neurobiological Correlates Of Stress And The Pathophysiology Of Depression: Associations Among Social Victimization, Il-6, Crp, And Bdnf Val66met, Allyson Antoinette Arana

Psychology Dissertations - Archive

Peer victimization, a common psychosocial stressor in adolescence, is linked to adverse health outcomes ranging from depression to changes in biological functioning. Social victimization is particularly harmful given the importance placed on peer relations and social status during this developmental period. This dissertation evaluated the associations among social victimization, physical health, psychological health, the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism, and inflammatory biomarkers (IL-6 and CRP) in a diverse sample of adolescents (N = 254). Social victimization was related to depressive symptoms, health problems, and inflammation, partially replicating a previous study. BDNF Val66Met moderated the link between social victimization and health outcomes, such …

Emotion Regulation During Threat: Parsing The Time Course And Consequences Of Safety Signal Processing, Kathryn R. Hefner, Edelyn Verona, John J. Curtin

Psychology Faculty Publications

Improved understanding of fear inhibition processes can inform the etiology and treatment of anxiety disorders. Safety signals can reduce fear to threat, but precise mechanisms remain unclear. Safety signals may acquire attentional salience and affective properties (e.g., relief) independent of the threat; alternatively, safety signals may only hold affective value in the presence of simultaneous threat. To clarify such mechanisms, an experimental paradigm assessed independent processing of threat and safety cues. Participants viewed a series of red and green words from two semantic categories. Shocks were administered following red words (cue+). No shocks followed green words (cue‐). Words from one …

Perceived Emotional Invalidation In A Developmental Context: Does Gender Matter?, Brian B. Johnson

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Emotional invalidation is the dismissal, minimization, or punishment of an individual’s emotional experience (Linehan, 1993). Although it has been sparsely studied, the research that has been conducted indicates that it is likely implicated in a multitude of psychopathology and adjustment issues. The current study had three main objectives. The first of these was to investigate the current perceptions of emotional invalidation in a peer interaction for emerging adults and how that is predicted by gender, perceptions of childhood emotional invalidation via caregivers, and gender of the caregivers. The second objective of this study was to investigate the propagation of emotionally …

Impulsivity, Rejection Sensitivity, And Reactions To Stressors In Borderline Personality Disorder, Kathy R. Berenson, Wesley Ellen Gregory, Erin Glaser, Aliza Romirowsky, Eshkol Rafaeli, Xiao Yang, Geraldine Downey

Psychology Faculty Publications

This research investigated baseline impulsivity, rejection sensitivity, and reactions to stressors in individuals with borderline personality disorder compared to healthy individuals and those with avoidant personality disorder . The borderline group showed greater impulsivity than the avoidant and healthy groups both in a delay-discounting task with real monetary rewards and in self-reported reactions to stressors; moreover, these findings could not be explained by co-occurring substance use disorders. Distress reactions to stressors were equally elevated in both personality disorder groups (relative to the healthy group). The borderline and avoidant groups also reported more maladaptive reactions to a stressor of an interpersonal …

Influence Of Social Status On Spatial Attention In African Cichlids (Astatotilapia Burtoni), Rebecca Bang

Theses and Dissertations

The present study used subordinate and dominant African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni to test the hypothesis that social status will influence the perception of spatial cues during startle escape behavior. Our results show escape behavior that imply a focused spatial attention to potential threats in dominant fish.

Impact Of Peer Relationship And Exposure To Violence On Posttraumatic Stress For Children At Risk For Maltreatment, Aura Ankita Mishra

Open Access Theses

Post-traumatic Stress (PTS) symptomology includes ruminating thoughts and feelings around trauma, inability to feel and express emotions, and avoidance of things related to the traumatic event (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Children and youth exposed to child maltreatment (abuse and neglect) are at higher risk of experiencing PTS. Extra-familial support, including peer support can reduce post-traumatic stress among youth (Pina et al., 2008). In the present study, Witnessing, Victimization, and Both Witnessing and Victimization due to Exposure to In-Home Violence and Peer Relationship Quality are evaluated as to their relative impact on PTS for children at risk for child maltreatment. Peer …

The Effects Of Including Almonds In An Energy-Restricted Diet On Weight, Body Composition, Visceral Adipose Tissue, Blood Pressure And Cognitive Function, Jaapna Dhillon

Open Access Dissertations

Inclusion of almonds in an energy restricted diet has been reported to enhance or have no effect on weight loss. Their effects specifically on visceral fat stores during energy restriction have not been widely examined. Additionally, almond consumption has been associated with reduced blood pressure, but whether this is linked to or is independent of changes of body composition has not been examined. Moreover, almond consumption during energy restriction may be an effective strategy for reversing the negative effects of dieting on cognitive performance. The unique nutrient profile of almonds also has the potential to influence cognitive function post-prandially. The …

Psychosocial Factors And Mental Health Of Muslims Living In The United States, Lamise N. Shawahin

Open Access Dissertations

Muslim Americans are at risk for experiencing systematic and interpersonal acts of discrimination (Rippy & Newman, 2006). Such experiences of discrimination can lead to the development of depressive symptoms. Thus, it is critical to understand factors that may influence the relationship between experiencing discrimination and developing depressive symptoms. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between psychosocial adversities (i.e., perceived discrimination), psychosocial resources (i.e., coping strategies, religious community support) and depressive symptoms. Hypotheses regarding both the relationships among the variables, as well as the mediating role psychosocial resources play in the relationship between perceived discrimination and …

Reflexivity: A First Demonstration, Melissa Jane Swisher

Open Access Dissertations

Currently, the emergent relation of reflexivity after training a set of baseline relations has not been demonstrated with any animal—human or nonhuman. True reflexivity can only be demonstrated if no identity (i.e., physically matching stimulus) relations are trained. In six experiments, the emergence of reflexivity and its opposite, anti-reflexivity, were explored. Pigeons received concurrent successive matching training on two or three arbitrary tasks: AB hue-form and BC form-hue (and AC hue-hue) matching. Once they had acquired these tasks, they were tested for BB (form-form) reflexivity or BB’ (form-form) anti-reflexivity matching. Most (10 of 13) pigeons that received three arbitrary tasks …

Exploring Animacy As A Mnemonic Dimension, Joshua Edward Vanarsdall

Open Access Dissertations

There is a great deal of evidence across cognitive science that animacy, or more generally, the features that make up what it means to be a living thing, is a foundational dimension of human cognition. In perception, animates both capture attention (Pratt, Radulescu, Guo, & Abrams, 2010) and are relatively immune to change blindness (New, Cosmides, & Tooby, 2007). Developmental work places the animate-inanimate distinction as one of the first categories children learn (Opfer & Gelman, 2011). Work in neuroscience points toward a fundamental role for animacy in semantic memory (Caramazza & Mahon, 2003), and linguists have identified animacy as …

Anticipatory And Consummatory Pleasure And Displeasure In Major Depressive Disorder: An Experience Sampling Study, Haijing Wu

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Pleasure and displeasure can be parsed into anticipatory and consummatory phases. However, existing research on pleasure and displeasure in major depressive disorder (MDD), a disorder characterized by anhedonia, has largely focused on deficits in the consummatory phase and most studies have been laboratory-based. Using experience sampling, we compared anticipatory and consummatory pleasure and displeasure for activities in the daily lives of adults with MDD (n = 41) and in healthy controls (n = 39). Participants carried electronic devices for one week and were randomly prompted eight times a day to answer questions about activities that they most and …

Utilizing Multiple-Level Category Information To Enhance Category Learning: Theoretical And Practical Considerations In Application To Authentic Natural Categories, Toshiya Miyatsu

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Category learning is ubiquitous in science education. From botany courses teaching to identify different types of plants to geology courses teaching to distinguish various types of rocks, examples of category learning being a core of a course curriculum can be easily found. Using the educationally authentic rock categories, the current project examined whether category learning at a broad level (i.e., distinguishing between Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic rocks) could be enhanced by using category information at a more specific level (e.g., Harzburgite under Igneous, Breccia under Sedimentary, etc.). Both in Experiment 1 (broad- and specific- level information were presented simultaneously) and …

Self “Sensor”Ship: An Interdisciplinary Investigation Of The Persuasiveness, Social Implications, And Ethical Design Of Self-Sensoring Prescriptive Applications, Denise A. Baker

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

This dissertation research investigates the social implications of computing artifacts that make use of sensor driven self-quantification to implicitly or explicitly direct user behaviors. These technologies are referred to here as self-sensoring prescriptive applications (SSPA’s). This genre of technological application has a strong presence in healthcare as a means to monitor health, modify behavior, improve health outcomes, and reduce medical costs. However, the commercial sector is quickly adopting SSPA’s as a means to monitor and/or modify consumer behaviors as well (Swan, 2013). These wearable devices typically monitor factors such as movement, heartrate, and respiration; ostensibly to guide the users to …

Recognition Training For Faces Across Age Gaps, William Blake Erickson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Face recognition is a problem that has theoretical and applied value. However, the fact of facial aging is rarely addressed in research and unmentioned in the major theories of face recognition. Facial aging also has ramifications for missing persons and fugitive cases, confounding attempts by law enforcement to recover these people whose last known images are years or decades out of date. This dissertation reports three studies aimed at measuring baseline age-gap recognition ability and testing various training regimens designed to increase accuracy rates for this unique kind of recognition task.

Test Of An Adolescent Anxiety Sensitivity Amelioration Program (Aasap) For At-Risk Youth, Ashley Arehart Knapp

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adult research supports the effectiveness of targeting the malleable vulnerability factor of anxiety sensitivity (AS) in terms of preventing panic specifically and anxiety psychopathology generally. Risk factor research suggests AS modification among youth has implications for panic as well as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). However, very little work has evaluated the impact of AS reduction among youth, which is unfortunate given adolescence is a period of “core risk” in terms of anxiety disorder onset. Further, no work has considered the effect of such a program on GAD-relevant outcomes, nor has any work included family-level intervention factors, despite evidence suggesting parents …

Discriminative Stimulus Effects Of 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone And 4-Methylmethcathinone, Michael D. Berquist

Dissertations

Recent escalation in the popularity of recreational synthetic cathinone (“bath salts”) use has prompted numerous scientific investigations of the neurochemical and behavioral effects of 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and 4-methylmethcathinone (4-MMC), two of the more common chemical constituents of these illicit “bath salts”. Previous neurochemical and electrophysiological studies have revealed that MDPV functions as a blocker, and 4-MMC as a substrate, at monoamine transporters, and both produce transient increases in extracellular monoamines. In addition, previous research has demonstrated that MDPV and 4-MMC support self-administration in nonhuman experimental subjects, and their rewarding effects are observed when paired with contextual cues in nonhuman models …

Acceptance And Commitment Therapy For Adolescent Difficulties With Emotion Regulation: An Open Trial, Julissa A. Duenas

Dissertations

Research suggests that youth rates of mental health problems are high and that evidence-based treatments for these populations exist; however, there is a significant problem in accessibility of mental health services. Recent movements in the mental health field have shifted focus to transdiagnostic dimensions of behavior in attempt to target a broader range of psychological difficulties across larger populations. One such construct, emotion regulation, has been defined as an ability to have awareness and acceptance of emotions and control urges and impulses in order to behave towards a goal. Emotion regulation has been linked to numerous internalizing and externalizing behavioral …

Assessing Change In Attachment Security Of Adolescents At Residential Therapeutic Programs, Laura Santa Thum

Dissertations

Adolescents with significant, persistent behavioral and mental health problems are increasingly being treated in private residential treatment programs (RTPs). Recent research at such programs shows that adolescents’ symptoms improve over the course of treatment and that such positive results persist up to a year post discharge. This study attempts to address what is occurring below the symptom level by exploring if attachment security increases as symptoms improve over the course of treatment in private RTPs. The level of attachment security was assessed along the dimensions of attachment avoidance and anxiety as a general construct and according to specific relationships (with …

Establishing And Testing Conditioned Reinforcers: Evaluating The Effects Of The Discriminative Stimulus Procedure Using Intermittency With Individuals With Developmental Disabilities, Yannick A. Schenk

Dissertations

A common characteristic of individuals with developmental disabilities is a restricted range of interest. Developing procedures to establish new reinforcers for such individuals can promote the acquisition of new skills and ameliorate decreases in motivation related to satiation. Several procedures for conditioning reinforcers have shown to be effective in the research literature for establishing neutral stimuli as conditioned reinforcers. Most of this literature is basic research with animal subjects (e.g., rats, pigeons). Few applied studies have directly evaluated the use of these procedures. Additional research is necessary to determine their effectiveness. The purposes of this study were to: (a) evaluate …

Emotion-Related Factors As Mediators In The Relation Between Family Stress And Adolescent Externalizing Problems, Kristy Marie Disabatino

Dissertations

Adaptive regulation of emotions, maternal depression, parenting stress, and environmental stress have all been related to adolescent psychosocial outcomes. Considering these established relations, the current study examined serial mediation models in which it was hypothesized that (1) maternal distress or community stress (examined in separate models) would positively relate to adolescent externalizing behaviors directly and (a) indirectly through maladaptive maternal emotion socialization (ES) practices (i.e., magnify, neglect, and punish), (b) indirectly through adolescent emotion regulation (ER) difficulties, and (c) indirectly through both maternal ES practices and adolescent ER difficulties; (2) maternal distress or community stress would positively relate to adolescent …

Behavioral Effects Of Phencyclidine On Nicotine Self- Administration And Reinstatement In The Presence Or Absence Of A Visual Stimulus In Rats, Natashia Swalve, Steven T. Pittenger, Rick A. Bevins, Ming Li

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Rationale—Tobacco use is a serious health problem in the United States and this problem is potentiated in patients with schizophrenia. The reward system is implicated in schizophrenia and may contribute to the high comorbidity between nicotine use and schizophrenia but very little research has been done on the topic. The reward-enhancement effect of nicotine has been shown to be important in nicotine use, but there have been no studies on this effect in animal models of schizophrenia.

Objectives—This study was designed to determine the effects of phencyclidine, used to model negative symptoms of schizophrenia, on self-administration of nicotine with or …

Predictors Of Alcohol Consumption, Use Of Protective Behavioral Strategies, And Alcohol-Related Sexual Consequences: A Gendered Social Learning Perspective, Kayla Darlene Moorer

Dissertations

Given the long standing gender differences in regard to alcohol-related behaviors and consequences, understanding how conformity to gender norms may predict alcohol-related outcomes is an important next step in developing effective prevention efforts aimed at reducing alcohol-related sexual consequences for college women. The current study examined the relationships among conformity to feminine and masculine gender norms and alcohol-related outcomes (harmful drinking patterns, protective behavior strategy use, and sex-related consequences) among college women. Another primary aim of the study was to determine the extent to which sex-specific alcohol expectancies mediated the associations between gender norms and alcohol-related outcomes. Participants were 421 …

Profiles Of Academic Commitment, Anna Jill Womack

Dissertations

Tinto (1993) found that only 15-25% of students who dropped out of college did so due to academic failure, while the reasons for leaving among the remaining group of students who dropped out were unknown. This suggests that the majority of students who drop out of college are likely doing so for reasons other than academic struggles. Researchers have suggested that individuals who are committed to their major are more likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree (Bowling, Beehr, & Lepisto, 2006; Den Hartog & Belschak, 2007; Duffy, Dik, & Steger, 2011; Goulet & Singh, 2002; Landrum & Mulcock, 2007), indicating …

The Role Of Parental Locus Of Control In The Relations Among Early Childhood Temperament, Parenting Practices, And Child Externalizing Behavior, Amanda Kathryn Stary

Dissertations

Child externalizing behaviors are a common reason for children’s referral for mental health services, and parenting practices are a primary target of efficacious interventions. In turn, child temperament and parent beliefs, such as parental self-efficacy and locus of control, relate to use of specific parenting practices. The present study aimed to evaluate whether parental locus of control and related components moderate the indirect effect of preschool-aged children’s temperament on their externalizing behaviors through parenting practices. Specifically, child temperament was expected to predict parenting practices only at certain levels of locus of control. Female caregivers of 146 children ages 3-5 years …

The Effect Of Auditory Stimulation On Sleep Disruption In West Indian Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris), Natalija Lace

Dissertations

Florida manatees inhabit waterways where motorized boats are common. Although manatee mortalities resulting from boat strikes are well documented, the effect of boat noise on some manatee behaviors, including rest, has not been investigated. This study focuses on rest behavior and used a playback experiment with four manatees at the Lowry Park Zoo in Florida. We tested their responses to playback stimuli of either boat noise, silence, or manatee calls. A playback trial was initiated when the focal animal showed behavioral characteristics of rest.

Results showed that rest was interrupted in response to the playback of boat noise for each …

The Social Brain In Human And Religious Evolution: Elucidating The Role Of Theory Of Mind In (Non)Religious Belief, Thomas J. Coleman Iii

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Contemporary theorists of religion have argued that religious beliefs are “natural” because they arise from normally functioning social cognitive capacities, especially Theory of Mind (ToM). Hence, attempts to explain atheism have relied heavily on the assumption that nonbelievers may have a malfunctioning ToM and other traits associated with the autism spectrum continuum (ASC). However, few studies currently address this topic and the evidence either way remains ambiguous. The current research narrows this empirical gap, addressing these claims with a two-fold approach. First, a near comprehensive review of ToM is provided. Second, this study is exploratory, employing a unique methodology and …

Exploring Relationships Between Stress And Olfaction As Mediated By Neuropeptide Y, William J. Heaton

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The negative correlation between olfactory sensitivity and depression has been well documented, but the biological processes underpinning the relationship are not understood. This study explored a potential relationship between olfactory sensitivity, stress, and resilience to stress, specifically examining neuropeptide y (NPY) as a mediator. In phase I, 197 UTC students participated in a survey measuring stress and resilience among other factors. Of this sample, 25 students volunteered for phase II, in which they took an olfactory threshold test and gave blood. Serum levels of cortisol and NPY were analyzed from blood samples. Correlational analyses suggest a positive effect of stress …