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Beta 2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Contributions To Anxiety-Like Behavior, Shawn Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Nicotine is a major psychoactive ingredient in tobacco that is thought to promote smoking behavior via nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the brain. Given reports that people smoke to relieve anxiety and that anxiety precipitates relapse, the overarching goal of this dissertation research is to assess beta 2 subunit containing nAChR (beta2*nAChR) contributions to anxiety-like behavior. Nicotine’s activity at beta2*nAChRs is concentration-dependent, with high concentrations facilitating activation followed by rapid desensitization and low concentrations preferentially desensitizing beta2*nAChRs; hence, activation or inhibition of beta2*nAChRs may support smoking behavior. Rodent studies reveal that nicotine affects anxiety-like behavior dose-dependently: low doses promote anxiolysis- …

How Individual Differences In Self- And Other-Focused Co-Rumination Relate To Internalizing Symptoms And Friendship Quality, Heather Smith-Schrandt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Co-rumination involves friends spending a great deal of time encouraging each other to excessively discuss problems, with content being largely negative (Rose, 2002). Co-rumination appears to strengthen the bonds between best friends, while ironically exacerbating internalizing symptoms. Co-rumination is conceptualized as a mutual dyadic process, but little is known about the reciprocity of excessive problem discussion. The balance of college students' (N = 601) self- and other-focused co-rumination with their best friend was assessed via an online survey. Contrary to expectations, inconsistent and weak evidence was obtained for differentiating self- and other-focused co-rumination, and their balance. Specifically, self- and other-focused …

Consultants' Perceptions Of School Counselors' Ability To Implement An Empirically-Based Intervention For Adolescent Social Anxiety Disorder, Carrie Masia, Chad Brice, Petra G. Esseling, Catherine E. Stewart, Laura Mufson, Kathleen Herzig

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Social anxiety is highly prevalent but goes untreated. Although school-based CBT programs are efficacious when delivered by specialized psychologists, it is unclear whether school counselors can implement these interventions effectively, which is essential to promote sustainable school programs. We present an initial consultation strategy to support school counselor implementation of group CBT for social anxiety and an evaluation of counselors' treatment fidelity. Counselors were highly adherent to the treatment, but competence varied based on measurement. Counselors and consultants demonstrated good agreement for adherence, but relatively modest correspondence in competence ratings. We discuss future directions for school-based implementation efforts informed by …

The Effect Of Media On Anxiety, Depression And Self-Esteem In Persons With Different Body Mass Indices (Bmi), Angel Saavedra Cisneros, Dr. Matthew Spackman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Body image is only one of different aspects that make up what is known as “self-image.” That is, the way we view ourselves as a whole by ourselves and in reference to others. Having a healthy self-image is important to overall wellbeing in many individuals. Having a healthy body-image is a very important part of self-image healthiness; the comparisons we subject our body-image to are also important to our self image.

Anxiety And Error Monitoring: The Importance Of Motivation And Emotion, Greg H. Proudfit, Michael Inzlicht, Douglas S. Mennin

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Recommendations For High-Priority Research On Cancer-Related Fatigue In Children And Adults., Andrea M. Barsevick, Michael R. Irwin, Pamela Hinds, Andrew Miller, Ann Berger, Paul Jacobsen, Sonia Ancoli-Israel, Bryce B Reeve, Karen Mustian, Ann O'Mara, Jin-Shei Lai, Michael Fisch, David Cella

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Over the past decades, some scientific progress has been made in understanding and treating cancer-related fatigue (CRF). However, three major problems have limited further progress: lack of agreement about measurement, inadequate understanding of the underlying biology, and problems in the conduct of clinical trials for CRF. This commentary reports the recommendations of a National Cancer Institute Clinical Trials Planning Meeting and an ongoing National Cancer Institute working group to address these problems so that high-priority research and clinical trials can be conducted to advance the science of CRF and its treatment. Recommendations to address measurement issues included revising the current …

Noise-Induced Tinnitus Using Individualized Gap Detection Analysis And Its Relationship With Hyperacusis, Anxiety, And Spatial Cognition, Edward Pace, Jinsheng Zhang

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Research Publications

Tinnitus has a complex etiology that involves auditory and non-auditory factors and may be accompanied by hyperacusis, anxiety and cognitive changes. Thus far, investigations of the interrelationship between tinnitus and auditory and non-auditory impairment have yielded conflicting results. To further address this issue, we noise exposed rats and assessed them for tinnitus using a gap detection behavioral paradigm combined with statistically-driven analysis to diagnose tinnitus in individual rats. We also tested rats for hearing detection, responsivity, and loss using prepulse inhibition and auditory brainstem response, and for spatial cognition and anxiety using Morris water maze and elevated plus maze. We …

Prevalence Of Stress, Anxiety, And Depression Among Byu Students According To Levels Of Physical Activity, Curtis Read, Dr. Ray Merrill

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Studies have shown that regular physical activity reduces stress, anxiety, and feelings of depression and loneliness, and improves mood and psychological well-being , . Much of the research to date has focused on youth grades K-12 and adults in the workplace. Because of the diverse nature of college life compared to that of the workplace or grade school, policy for promoting wellness is typically directed towards the latter, and information on student wellness at the university level is lacking. This study initially sought to give further understanding to health educators on the effects of physical activity on stress levels among …

Mothers With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) In The First Twelve Months Postpartum : Challenges, Coping Supports, Strengths, And Resilience : A Two-Part Project Based Upon An Investigation At Motherwoman, Hadley Massachusetts, Maria T. Curtin-Mckenna

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This mixed-method study was undertaken to expand the knowledge base about mothers with a diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in the first twelve months after the birth of a baby. Nine mothers with an ADHD diagnosis and a child under the age of 60 months were interviewed. These mothers were asked to identify experiences with challenges, coping, depression, anxiety, and support in the first year postpartum. Quantitative data contrasting pre-child and postpartum executive functioning was retrieved during the interviews using the ASRS-v1.1© (Kessler et al., 2005). This quantitative data was also retrieved from 57 mothers as one part of a …

The Impact Of Childhood Obesity On Levels Of Self-Esteem, Anxiety, Social Stress, Interpersonal Relationship Satisfaction, And Academic Performance Among Students In The 5th, 6th, And 7th Grades, Robika Modak Mylroie

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation study was to examine the impact of childhood obesity on levels of self-esteem, anxiety, social stress, interpersonal relationship satisfaction, and academic achievement on students in Grades 5, 6, and 7. Professional school counselors need to be aware of how childhood obesity impacts students and how they can help their students personally, socially, and academically. The present research study uses a comparative research design to determine the levels of self-esteem, anxiety, social stress, interpersonal relationship satisfaction, and academic performance among students in Grades in 5, 6, and 7 between two groups: (a) obese children and (b) …

Combining The Tripartite And Cognitive-Specificity Models Of Anxiety And Depression, Scott A. Baldwin, Dr. Diane L. Spangler

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Depression and anxiety are often comorbid and several theories have been proposed to account for their co-occurrence. The tripartite model accounts for the comorbidity between anxiety and depression in terms of the underlying symptoms that are associated with the two disorders. According to the tripartite model, low positive affect (PA) is unique to depression, while autonomic arousal (AA) is unique to anxiety. Negative affect (NA) is common to both disorders; therefore, the relationship between the disorders in due to a common set of symptoms—NA.

Using Behavioral And Physiological Measures Of Anxiety In Autism, Katherine Taylor, Dr. Mikle South

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of my study was to examine behavioral and physiological measures of anxiety in an effort to understand the appearance of anxiousness in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). With the help of my mentor, Dr Mikle South, and his other research assistants, I modified Ned Kalin’s (e.g., 2003) human intruder paradigm for monkeys, originally based on Ainsworth’s “Strange Situation” (Ainsworth & Bell, 1970) for use with children. The phases of the experiment proceeded as follows:

Attention Shifts And Anxiety Change: A Dose-Response Relationship, Janine Domingues

Doctoral Dissertations

Attention biases toward negative stimuli in the environment have been associated with high levels of anxiety symptoms. Adults with heightened levels of anxiety as well as anxiety disorders both evidenced this negative attentional bias. Shifting attention biases away from negative threat through attention modification training (AMT) has demonstrated decreases in emotional lability and anxiety. AMT is based on cognitive models of anxiety that posit that information-processing biases play a role in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety. Thus attention training is emerging as a potential treatment component for anxiety disorders. While studies suggest promising results for AMTs in reducing attention …

Anxiety-Reducing Strategies In The Classroom, Robin K. Buchler

Dissertations

This case study research explored how sixth grade students experience and respond to anxiety prior to, during, and after receiving 10 sessions of instruction in anxiety-reducing strategies in the classroom compared to a group of similar students who do not receive instruction in anxiety-reducing strategies in the classroom. Three research-based strategies were taught: (a) progressive muscle relaxation, (b) breathing exercises, and (c) positive self- talk. Qualitative data were collected through journals the students kept, pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaires, observation notes, and field notes. Four strong themes, in the words of the students, were identified: (a) “I like it” – demonstrating autonomy; …

The Relationship Of Sleep And Exercise To Salient Indicators Of College Student Emotional Well-Being, Aaron Michael Sterba

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

University counseling centers are reporting that more students are seeking services, and that these students are experiencing more serious psychological distress than in previous years. Counseling center staff members are at the forefront of managing the increased mental health issues presenting on college campuses. Given the prevalence of mental health issues, there is increasing need to identify health-promoting variables that could be used in treatment or prevention efforts. The present study focused on health behaviors of quality sleep and exercise and investigated their relationships to commonly occurring mental health concerns of depression, social anxiety, and disordered/eating concerns. The moderating effect …

Visual Attention Bias And Body Dissatisfaction In Eating Disorders, Janet Lydecker

Theses and Dissertations

Eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa, have profound negative effects on the quality of life of both affected individuals and their families. Behavioral approaches such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) are commonly used for the treatment of these disorders. CBT teaches skills to restructure maladaptive thought patterns as a method of altering feelings and behaviors. However, even after CBT, 50-70% of women with bulimia and 67-87% of women with anorexia report continued eating disordered thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Measuring underlying cognitive processes such as orienting, maintaining, and executive attention in individuals with eating disorder symptomatology might be an important …

Intrinsic Religiosity And Adolescent Depression And Anxiety: The Mediating Role Of Components Of Self-Regulation, Brent Charles Black

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the possible mediating role of the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive components of self-regulation as they relate to adolescent intrinsic religiosity and the internalizing problems of teen depression and anxiety. The sample included 459 adolescent respondents from one wave of the Flourishing Families Project, an ongoing longitudinal study. Through the use of Structural Equation Modeling, results showed that cognitive self-regulation partially mediated the relationship between intrinsic religiosity and adolescent depression. Additionally, emotional self-regulation, but not behavioral self-regulation was found to be negatively linked with both depression and anxiety. These findings provide clinicians with greater direction when working with …

Depression, Social Anxiety, And Attachment As Predictors Of The Use And Quality Of Cyber Communication, Stefan E. Latulip

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the influence of depression symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, and adult attachment style on the use and the perceptions of the quality of cyber communications with close friends, romantic partners, and family members. One hundred thirty-five individuals completed an initial survey, with sixty five of the original group completing a follow-up survey five weeks later. Results indicated that anxious attachment was associated with a greater reported usage of social networking sites, whereas avoidant attachment predicted less instant message use over time. Depression symptoms and avoidant attachment were generally associated with perceptions of higher negativity and lower positivity with …

Psychological Skills Do Not Always Help Performance: The Moderating Role Of Narcissism, R. Roberts, T. Woodman, L. Hardy, L. Davis, Harry M. Wallace

Psychology Faculty Research

Psychological skills are typically viewed as beneficial to performance in competition. Conversely, narcissists appear to thrive in competitive environments so should not need psychological skills to the same degree as less narcissistic individuals. To investigate this moderating hypothesis high-standard ice-skaters completed measures of narcissism, psychological skills, and anxiety before performing their competition routine during training. A week later, participants performed the same routine in competition. Performance was operationalized as the difference between competition and training scores. Moderated regression analyses revealed that narcissism moderated the relationship between psychological skills and performance. Psychological skill effectiveness depends on an individual's degree of narcissism.

Spirituality, Religiosity, Depression, Anxiety, And Drug-Use Consequences During Methadone Maintenance Therapy, Linda B. Piacentine

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Substance addiction is damaging to the health of persons, families, and society. Often the person with addiction has decreased spirituality and religiosity and suffers from anxiety, depression, or both, increasing the risk for continued substance use and its concomitant negative consequences. The study purpose was to describe spirituality and religiosity, among persons enrolled in methadone maintenance therapy and to examine associations between spirituality, religiosity, anxiety, depression, and drug-use consequences. Using a descriptive and cross-sectional correlational design, 108 participants completed questionnaires assessing the study variables. Spiritual well-being was similar to other addiction samples and lower than healthy person samples. Most participants …

Predicting Alcoholism Through Individual Temperament, Bobbi Padro, Dr. James Higley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to determine a correlation between the temperament of rhesus macaques and the amount of alcohol they consume. This project looked specifically at 16 juvenile rhesus macaques. Each juvenile had been tested to determine its temperament through the Biobehavioral Assessment (BBA) at the University of California Davis collected by Dr. John Captianio. The BBA data is collected while subjects are infants. Half of the monkeys tested were determined to have high anxiety and the other half low anxiety. Determining whether a correlation exists between temperament and alcohol consumption can help intervention programs and preventative programs …

Behavioral Analysis Of Anxiety In Autism, Megan Christensen, Dr. Mikle South

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Autism is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication. Anxiety is also an extremely common feature with approximately 81% of children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder also qualified for at least one other anxiety disorder (Amaral et al., 2003). Amaral et al. (2003) have shown that monkeys with bilateral amygdala damage lack of fear in typically threatening social situations. Blanchard et al. (2001) have shown that humans react to hypothetical fearful scenarios in much the same way that rats do in actual threatening situations, i.e. “freezing” or run away depending on the level of danger.

Predicting Social-Emotional And Cognitive Development At 24 Months: The Impact Of Postnatal Maternal Anxiety And Depressive Symptoms, And Mother-Child Relationship, Stephanie F. Donahue

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Early childhood is a particularly sensitive time for development, and experiences during this time of life have a lasting impact on later development (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). As part of these early experiences, mother-child relationships often become important influences on young children’s social-emotional and cognitive development (e.g., Laible & Thompson, 2007; Osofsky & Liebernman, 2011). Similarly, mothers’ mental health can impact their relationships with their children (e.g., Nicol-Harber, Harvey, & Stein, 2007; Stein et al., 2008) and their children’s development (e.g., Grace, Evindar, & Stewart, 2003; Skylerman et al., 2007). The purpose of this study was to explore the influences …

Understanding The Nature Of Anxiety In Autism, Sarah White, Dr. Mickle South

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Anxiety is extremely prevalent in autism, with estimates of the co-occurrence ranging up to 84%. Surprisingly, even though anxiety in autism is implicated in behavioral symptoms ranging from avoiding eye contact with others to always insisting on the same menu for lunch, the majority of research has ignored anxiety as a major contributor to the core symptoms associated with autism. Most research has focused on symptoms of social impairment, but it is now realized that anxiety may be a critical factor in the development of such symptoms.

The Development Of A Self-Report Questionnaire To Measure Problematic Video Game Play And Its Relationship To Other Psychological Phenomena, Anatol Tolchinsky

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Problematic video game play is becoming a more frequent clinical presentation, and currently there is no standard way of measuring this phenomenon. This study operationalized this construct in a way that accurately reflects the existing literature and attempted to construct a valid measure based on this information. This new assessment instrument was evaluated by analyzing its factor structure on both 375 college-age participants and 314 online participants who endorsed being a regular video game player.

This area of research is still in its infancy, especially in regard to comorbid psychopathology. Consequently, this study surveyed participants’ subjective experience of depression and …

The Role Of Anxiety In Binge Eating Behavior: A Critical Examination Of Theory And Empirical Literature, Kamila S. White, Diane L. Rosenbaum

Psychology Faculty Works

The purpose of this manuscript is to expand the understanding of binge eating by reviewing the role of aspects of negative affect. Specifically, this paper will present evidence for further investigation of the bearing that anxiety may have in binge eating development and maintenance. A comprehensive review of the literature regarding the relation of binge eating and anxiety was performed. Valuable contributions have been made to the binge eating literature regarding some aspects of negative affect (i.e., depression); however, outside of bulimia nervosa studies, much of the theoretical and empirical binge eating research to date has not directly addressed the …

Test Anxiety And Nursing Students., Brad Moore

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Test anxiety has been a problem for many individuals not only in the workforce, but also in many schools and colleges (Driscoll, Evans, Ramsey & Wheeler 2009). According to Driscoll et al., when compared to high school students and the general public (17%), nursing students are shown to have over double (55-60%) the rate of moderately high to high test anxiety. Cognitive test anxiety can account for a 7 to 8% drop in test grades, which can drop test score’s an entire letter grade (Cassady & Johnson, 2001). The purpose of this research is to explore the level of test …

Hypnosis And Mindfulness For The Treatment Of Anxiety Disorders: Empirical And Applied Perspectives, John Lawrence Clarke

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

The abundance of diagnosable anxiety disorders that are present in our culture today provides a convenient rationale for further investigating the types of treatments, especially non-pharmaceutical, that clinicians have to offer. Hypnosis and mindfulness are two noninvasive techniques that share some important structural and practical similarities. With the recent increase of interest in mindfulness in psychotherapy it is important to acknowledge what these traits are and how these methods complement one another in both theory and practice. It can be concluded as a result of the following literature reviews that both hypnosis and mindfulness as separate techniques have received some …

Examining Stress And Performance Anxiety As Predicting Factors Of Athletic Burnout In Collegiate Student-Athletes, Drew Barnard

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

In the past, burnout has been a popular topic for research. However, within the realm of athletics, a majority of such research has been focused on coaches, athletic department staff, and athletic trainers. The purpose of this study was to assess potential contributing factors of burnout among student-athletes at Lindenwood University, an institution with National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division II and Student-Life athletic programs. Completion of four questionnaires was required in this study; a Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, 1983), a Self-Rated Anxiety Scale (Zung, 1979), a Modified Burnout Questionnaire (Harris, 2005), and a Demographic Questionnaire. The student-athletes who participated …

Social Affiliation: A Model Of Anxious Avoidance In Women, Milena Stoyanova

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

There is substantial evidence demonstrating that women experience greater anxiety and fear compared to men. However, our understanding of specific factors accounting for women’s greater vulnerability remains rather limited. Taylor and colleagues (2000) proposed that women may have a different biobehavioral response to stress, which has evolved to protect and nurture offspring. The tend-and-befriend model provides new opportunities to explore underlying processes that may contribute to women’s greater anxiety and fear.

The present study examined women’s stress response combined with the absence of positive social contact as it relates to the presentation of fear and anxiety. One hundred and seven …