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The Role Of Emotional Distress In Predicting Opiate Analgesic Medication Use In Chronic Pain Patients, Amy E. Kupper

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Chronic pain is a common, costly, and debilitating problem. The biopsychosocial model purports that biological, psychological, and social factors are involved in the experience of chronic pain. Multidisciplinary pain management programs adhere to the biopsychosocial model and successfully treat and manage chronic pain. Depression, anxiety, and opiate analgesic medication misuse and abuse are significant problems faced by many individuals with chronic pain, however these relationships are not well understood. This study examined a sample of 248 chronic pain patients who completed a multidisciplinary pain management program. Two hypotheses were tested. First, it was hypothesized that the relationships amongst change in …

Relational-Interdependence And Life Transitions In College: Study Abroad, First-Year, And International Students, Shelby R. Weisen

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

The current study examined the sojourner adjustment of U.S. college students studying abroad, international college students studying in the States, and first-year students adjusting to life in the first semester of their undergraduate careers. An online survey was distributed to 412 college students; it included the Sojourner Adjustment Measure (SAM), the Lifelong Learning Scale (WielkLLS), the Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal Scale (RISC), the Brief HEXACO Inventory of Personality, and the Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS). The purpose of the study was to explore the relationships among major emerging adulthood transitions and various measures of adjustment to college. Results suggest that students …

Searching For A Common Thread: A Retrospective Chart Review Of Child And Adolescent Restraints And Seclusions, Mary Koziura

DNP Projects

Child and Adolescent psychiatry is an increasingly frequented area of research. The project leader believes violence in an inpatient psychiatry setting is an underrepresented topic of research and discussion. Close quarters among patients of varying diagnoses and backgrounds, coupled with varying culture and attitudes of staff make for a teetering point—a fine line—between therapeutic interaction and safety concerns. Particularly, in the case of patients under 18, one hopes to establish an environment of nurturing, as opposed to a police state. With the fact established that children and their parents should always come first, many of the staff are often exposed …

Therapy Outcomes: Difference Between Latino And Non-Latino Foster Youth, Alicia G. Escobedo, Corie E. Schwabenland, Rosana M. Aguilar, Saralyn Ruff

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Children in foster care experience a range of psychological symptoms due to their experiences with maltreatment. Latinos are a growing population within foster care, reflective of their growing numbers in the United States. Latinos often do not seek out mental health services and many face obstacles related to language, transportation, and lack of family support.

The current study describes treatment parameters of Latino and non-Latino foster youth receiving long-term, pro-bono psychotherapy through a non-profit. Telephone interviews were completed with the youths’ therapists at the start and end of treatment. Among the completed cases, nine were identified as Latino patients. An …

Behavioral Sensitization Following Concurrent Exposure To 4-Methylmethcathinone (4-Mmc) And 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Mdma) In Male Sprague-Dawley Rats, Trent Bullock

Honors Theses

Recreational use of a new class of stimulant drugs known as synthetic cathinones is a recent public health concern. Although the Drug Enforcement Administration placed several of the most common of these substances permanently on schedule 1, their use is still prevalent as they remain low cost, accessible, and potent. Concomitant use of cathinone derivatives with other psychostimulant drugs is commonly reported by recreational users. Despite the prevalence of synthetic cathinone abuse, there is currently a paucity of scientific research regarding the behavioral and neurochemical effects of these drugs in mixtures with other drugs of abuse. The behavioral sensitization paradigm …

The Relationship Between Resilience And Sleep Quality, Tyler S. Mccuistion

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Complaints about sleep quality are common and some epidemiological surveys indicate that 15-35% of adults complain of frequent sleep disturbances. Impaired sleep is also a central feature in a number of mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. This study was aimed at examining the relationship between sleep quality and resilience (the ability to cope and deal with stress). The hypothesis was that the two variables would be related; as resilience increased, it was predicted that sleep quality would also increase. Individuals (N = 167) were given the opportunity to complete a number of brief, self-report inventories assessing …

The Influence Of Gender And Language Complexity On The Credibility Of Expert Witness Testimony, Darcy Egan

Undergraduate Theses

With the increased use in expert witness testimony in civil trials, the decisions that jury members have made based on those testimonies have become very controversial. Previous research indicates that when a testimony is particularly complex, mock jurors will rely on cues outside the content of the testimony in order to determine the credibility of the witness. Research shows that there are different cues that are associated with higher credibility the expert. Common cues include the gender, occupation, and level of language complexity of the expert witness. This study used these three different cues as the independent variables, with two …

Successful Female Students In Undergraduate Computer Science And Computer Engineering: Motivation, Self-Regulation, And Qualitative Characteristics, Melissa Patterson Hazley

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Computer Science (CS) and Computer Engineering (CE) fields typically have not been successful at recruiting or retaining women students. Research indicates several reasons for this shortage but mainly from three perspectives: social issues, exposure/prior knowledge and curriculum issues in K-12 settings. This mixed-methods research addresses a gap in the literature by investigating the motivation and self-regulation behaviors of successful female students who are studying computer science and computer engineering. The findings in phase one of this study indicated that learning and performance approach goals predicted adaptive strategic self-regulation behaviors including strategy use, knowledge building and engagement. Learning avoidance goals predicted …

The Contribution Of A Polygenic Risk Score To Individual Differences In Aggressive Behavior: The Moderating And Mediating Roles Of Stressful Events, Christa C. Christ

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Although aggression can be beneficial in certain situations (e.g. playing sports, self-defense), excessive and inappropriate aggression can lead to adverse physical and psychological health outcomes in both perpetrators and victims. Genetic susceptibility to negative environments can increase the likelihood of aggressive behavior in the context of situational risk factors. Low efficiency of serotonin neurotransmission and exposure to stress appear to play a prominent role in the etiology of aggressive behavior. A set of three studies assessed the contribution of polygenic risk (TPH2 rs4570625, SLC6A4 5-HTTLPR+rs25531, HTR1B rs13212041, MAOA uVNTR) to aggressive behavior, including alcohol-related aggression, in university students at varying …

Evaluation Of The Discriminable Stimulus Effects Of 0.3 Mg/Kg 3, 4‑Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (Mdpv) And 1.0 Mg/Kg 4-Methylmethcathinone (4-Mmc) Using A Drug Discrimination Procedure In Male Sprague-Dawley Rats, Michael Berquist

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Experimental investigations into the behavioral and neurochemical effects of illicit β-ketophenethylamines (synthetic cathinones, “bath salts”) has increased in recent years. Two cathinone derivatives in particular, MDPV and mephedrone (4-MMC), have received a considerable amount of research attention given their relative popularity among users at the turn of the 21st century. Researchers investigating MDPV and 4-MMC have devoted much of their attention toward evaluating the drugs’ reinforcing efficacy, rewarding effects, receptor binding profiles, and effects on ambulatory responses.

There exist few published studies that have evaluated the discriminable stimulus effects of MDPV and 4-MMC using rodent drug discrimination procedures. To date, …

Previous Exposure To Lsd Fails To Enhance The Psychomotor Stimulant Effects Of D-Amphetamine In Male Sprague-Dawley Rats, Keli Herr

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

• The hallucinogenic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) have been largely attributed to its high affinity for 5-HT2A receptors. However, LSD also has a high affinity at several other monoamine receptors (Nichols, 2004; Passie et al., 2008).
• The contribution of dopaminergic mechanisms to LSD’s behavioral effects have not been investigated to the same extent that serotonergic mechanism have been studied. Some authors have hypothesized that chronic treatment of rats with LSD may produce a persistent behavioral state characterized by sensitivity to dopamine agonists (Marona-Lewicka and Nichols, 2007).
• Repeated exposure to psychostimulant drugs is known to produce progressive increases in locomotor …

Courage, Psychological Well-Being, And Somatic Symptoms, Christopher J. Keller

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between courage, psychological well-being (PWB), and somatic symptoms in an adult population. Courage is the ability to pursue goals or a purpose despite risk or fear. While courage has been shown to be associated with decreased mental health symptoms, little is known about health outcomes associated with courage. The hypotheses of this study were that higher reported levels of courage would predict lower reported somatic symptoms, and that PWB would account for significant variance in the relationship between courage and somatic symptoms. Participants, mean age 38, were given online surveys …

Are Christian Children Selfish?, Abby M. Foreman

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Teaching right from wrong is a foundational task for parents and is an important part of moral development."

Posting about faith development in children from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/are-christian-children-selfish/

Effect Of Apoe E4 Variant On Progression From Mild Cognitive Impairment To Alzheimer’S Disease, Brad P. Taylor

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

Alzheimer’s disease is a very prevalent and fatal disorder in older adults, and Mild Cognitive Impairment is often seen as a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is a form of Dementia that is characterized by loss of cognitive abilities while aging. It is ultimately fatal. Mild Cognitive Impairment is more of an intermediate stage between normal mental decline with aging and the more serious decline of dementia. The ApoE E4 gene has been shown to be highly correlated with a greater likelihood of acquiring late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. This study looked to see the effect that the ApoE E4 gene …

Binge Drinking: Subtypes And Associations In Young Adults, Christopher J. Skok

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

Binge drinking has been common practice and a rite of passage for many young adults in the college population. The practice of binge drinking has continued even as binging is associated with several cognitive deficits. One unanswered question still remains: namely, at what levels of binge drinking do these cognitive deficits associate? To investigate this question, three different groups of binge drinkers (low, moderate, and heavy) were compared on two measures of cognition: intelligence (IQ) and executive working memory (EWM) capacity. The binge groups were also compared to non-bingers and abstainers to further investigate how they differed in EWM capacity …

The Relationship Between Psychopathic Personality Traits And Lying, Jason A. Dobrow

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined the relationship between psychopathic personality traits and various forms of deception. Through the use of the Elemental Psychopathy Assessment to measure psychopathy, and several different assessment tools to measure deception, including the Multidimensional Deception Inventory (MDI), the relationship between psychopathic personality traits and deception was examined. Using an undergraduate sample of 261 participants at a large research university in the Southeastern United States, the relationship between the aforementioned constructs was explored. Results indicated that the overarching personality traits of Antagonism and Disinhibition were positively related to multiple dimensions of lying behavior. Frequency of lies told, Duping …

Genetic Moderators Of Cognitive Decline In The Health And Retirement Study, Shannon K. Runge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current dissertation used a gene x environment (G x E) approach to examine the independent and interactive effects of specific genetic variants and participation in physical and cognitive/social activities (PA and CSA) on cognitive performance in 4,764 participants of the Health and Retirement Study. Using three-wave data, three sets of multi-level growth models were conducted to examine baseline, longitudinal, and interactive effects of genotype (i.e., ApoE, COMT, and BDNF) and CSA/PA on performance across five cognitive measures: immediate, delayed and total word recall, and serial 7s and backwards counting.

At baseline, the ApoE ε4 allele predicted …

The Effects Of Chronic Partial Sleep Deprivation On Alcohol Consumption And Delta Fos B Accumulation, Kristian Ponder

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

The present study explores the relation between sleep restriction and alcohol use and the neural substrates that result from chronic behaviors, such as transcription factors. Transcription factor activity is suggested as a possible outcome of chronic behaviors, such as addiction. Sleep is discussed as possible mediating factor in the relationship between specific transcription factors and alcohol. Analysis will focus on brain areas related to both sleep and reward.

Nature Connection: Theory, Evidence And Practice, Matt V. Bukowski

Showcase of Graduate Student Scholarship and Creative Activities

This presentation explores scholarly work at the intersection of mental health and the natural world in a variety of disciplines. My intent is to provide an overview of theoretical perspectives, research-based evidence, and clinical practices that support the idea that experiencing the natural world can improve human mental health outcomes.

Association Between Sensory Responsiveness And Attachment Style In College Students With And Without Adhd, Madeline Alderfer

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore possible correlations between overall sensory processing responsivity and relationship attachment, as well as between sensory subscales and relationship attachment. It also tested for a difference between sensory processing patterns among young adults with and without ADHD. The sample included 370 college students: 32 who had received an ADHD diagnosis and 338 who had not. Participants completed an online self-report survey made up of various demographics questions, the Sensory Processing Quotient (SPQ), and the Experiences in Close Relationships – General/Global Scale (ECR-General). A significant correlation was discovered between general SPQ scores and relationship …

Perceptions Of College Instructors Toward Accented English Measured By The Auditory Multifactor Implicit Association Test, Eunkyung Na

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the implicit language attitudes of college-level instructors toward accented English and the effect of gender, teaching experience, and home language background on those attitudes. The auditory multifactor Implicit Association Test (IAT) was used to measure the implicit attitudes toward Standard, Chinese, Hispanic, and Korean accented English. For the current study, audio stimuli were embedded into the multifactor IAT, which became available for the first time in 2014. The auditory multifactor IAT generated implicit preference scores of six pairs of accented English: Standard vs. Chinese, Standard vs. Hispanic, Standard vs. Korean, Chinese vs. …

Testing Modality Affects Performance On The Santa Barbara Solids Test, Michael Torres, De'siree Reeves, Luke Furtak, Lexi R. Dewar, Shannon K.T. Bailey, Valerie K. Sims, James L. Szalma

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

Spatial ability is associated with performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and has been used to predict the likelihood of success in these fields (Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009). Classically, spatial ability has been assessed by tests that measure general factors of spatial ability. However, these factors may be limited in that they were not developed with individual differences or cognitive theories in mind (Cohen & Hegarty, 2012). Although traditional measures of spatial ability give insight into a person’s general spatial processing, Cohen and Hegarty (2012) point out the need for theoretically motivated spatial ability tests that …

Functional Plasticity In Somatosensory Cortex Supports Motor Learning By Observing., Heather R Mcgregor, Joshua G A Cashaback, Paul L Gribble

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

An influential idea in neuroscience is that the sensory-motor system is activated when observing the actions of others [1, 2]. This idea has recently been extended to motor learning, in which observation results in sensory-motor plasticity and behavioral changes in both motor and somatosensory domains [3-9]. However, it is unclear how the brain maps visual information onto motor circuits for learning. Here we test the idea that the somatosensory system, and specifically primary somatosensory cortex (S1), plays a role in motor learning by observing. In experiment 1, we applied stimulation to the median nerve to occupy the somatosensory system with …

Ciis Today, Spring 2016 Issue, Ciis

CIIS Today

This volume is the Spring 2016 issue of CIIS Today, the Magazine of the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Beauty In Snowflakes: Complexity And Visual Aesthetics, Olivia C. Adkins

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Experimental aesthetics research has been conducted since the nineteenth century. Interestingly, however, few studies have examined the perceived beauty of naturally shaped objects. In the current experiment, 204 participants were presented with a set of ten snowflake silhouettes that varied in complexity (perimeter relative to area); they were similarly presented with ten randomly-shaped, computer-generated, solid objects that also varied in complexity. For each stimulus set, the participants selected the single snowflake or object that was the most beautiful (Fechner’s method of choice). The results for the solid objects replicated the findings of earlier research: the most and least complex objects …

The Communication Patterns And Experiences Of Children In Single Parent Families, Jessica Cherry

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study gained the perspective of children from single parent families and explored their family communication patterns. An inductive, qualitative approach was used. Interviews were conducted with eleven participants gathered from undergraduate classes, who had lived with their single parent for a minimum of 3 years. Four major themes emerged from the data: communication, challenges and triumphs, structure, and how parents came to be single. The majority of participants appeared to exhibited pluralistic family communication patterns. Results also revealed the importance of open communication in single parent families and what they learned through their experiences living with their custodial parent. …

The Underlying Dynamics Of Student Engagement On Thesis Completion, Nikolaj Sivek

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Engagement is an increasingly important construct in organizational and educational settings. Research indicates that engagement is positively related to satisfaction, commitment, and performance in the workplace. This study investigated the relationship of Total Engagement to complete a thesis with Self-Determination Theory individual motivational constructs, the personality constructs of Psychological Capital and Core Self-Evaluations, and the experiential construct of Flow Propensity. The results indicated significant relationships between all constructs and engagement. Further, Psychological Capital and Flow Propensity explained 55% of the variance in Total Engagement to complete a thesis.

Mother--Offspring Recognition Via Contact Calls In Cattle, Bos Taurus, Mónica Padilla De La Torre, Elodie F. Briefer, Brad M. Ochocki, Alan G. Mcelligott, Tom Reader

Sentience Collection

Individual recognition in gregarious species is fundamental in order to avoid misdirected parental investment. In ungulates, two very different parental care strategies have been identified: ‘hider’ offspring usually lie concealed in vegetation whereas offspring of ‘follower’ species remain with their mothers while they forage. These two strategies have been suggested to impact on mother--offspring vocal recognition, with unidirectional recognition of the mother by offspring occurring in hiders and bidirectional recognition in followers. In domestic cattle, Bos taurus, a facultative hider species, vocal communication and recognition have not been studied in detail under free-ranging conditions, where cows and calves can graze …

Gender Identification, Shawn Meghan Burn

Psychology and Child Development

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Stigmatization Of Anorexia: A Focus On The Structural, Interpersonal, And Individual Levels Of Stigma, Paraskevi Evelyna Kambanis

Student Works

This paper will review the literature that outlines the stigmatization of anorexia nervosa within society. I will focus on the structural, interpersonal, and individual levels of the ecological system, providing explanations and examples of how the stigmatization of anorexia nervosa manifests on each level. I will describe the consequences of societal stigmatization on individuals’ psychological and emotional health and well-being, and will examine how interpersonal stigmatization affects individuals and relationships. I then offer conclusions based on my literature findings, and offer future directions, focusing on all three levels of the ecological system, for dismantling the stigmatization of anorexia nervosa.