Life Sciences Commons^™

The Alexander Technique Applied To Dance And The Choreographic Process: Freeing Physical Expression From Trauma-Based Tension, Julia Johnston

Senior Honors Theses

Ballet, contemporary, and modern dancers have expressed incurring trauma during their training and professional dance experiences; in a 2020 survey, 41% of professional dancers and 30% of ballet students reported experiencing or witnessing sexually inappropriate behavior in their respective workplaces and schools (DDP). This is just one example of a potential source of trauma for dancers. The physiological effects of trauma cause physical effects, creating tension in a dancer’s body. Dance relies on physical expression, the expression of thought and feeling through movement, to connect with the audience. Trauma-based tension inhibits a dancer’s range of physical expression and connection to …

Therapeutic Approaches To Working With Perinatal Loss Clients: A Grounded Theory Study, Heather H. Olivier

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Perinatal loss (i.e., miscarriage, stillbirth, termination, and infant death) is commonly referred to in the literature as an invisible loss, non-loss, and even medical event. It is an ambiguous loss exhibiting the dialectical contradiction between the physical absence and psychological presence of the baby accompanied by disenfranchised grief, a reaction to a loss that is unacknowledged by society. Despite the likelihood of mental health clinicians working with clients who have experienced perinatal loss, there has yet to be a therapeutic model designed specifically for the unique grief and trauma reactions presented in this population. Existing grief models do not address …

Defining The Nuanced Nature Of Redox Biology In Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Emily C. Reed, Adam J. Case

Journal Articles: Cellular & Integrative Physiology

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health disorder that arises after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Despite affecting around 7% of the population, there are currently no definitive biological signatures or biomarkers used in the diagnosis of PTSD. Thus, the search for clinically relevant and reproducible biomarkers has been a major focus of the field. With significant advances of large-scale multi-omic studies that include genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data, promising findings have been made, but the field still has fallen short. Amongst the possible biomarkers examined, one area is often overlooked, understudied, or inappropriately investigated: the field of …

The Genetics Of Pain: An Exploration Of Gene-By-Environment Interactions And Their Effects On Pain, Mohamad F. Fakhereddin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The findings presented in this dissertation are part of the bigger SYMBIOME project which aims to use the biopsychosocial model of pain to develop a prognostic clinical phenotype for people that experience musculoskeletal (MSK) trauma. Chapter 2 presents an exploratory analysis to assess the relationships between genetic polymorphisms and pain severity and interference. Early childhood trauma was also explored as a moderator between genetic polymorphisms and pain outcomes. For pain severity, major allele carriers (A/A and G/A) of FKBP5 rs9394314 reported significantly higher scores than minor allele carriers (G/G). Further, major allele carriers who had at least one adverse childhood …

Extended Functional Connectivity Of Convergent Structural Alterations Among Individuals With Ptsd: A Neuroimaging Meta-Analysis, Brianna S. Pankey, Michael C. Riedel, Isis Cowan, Jessica E. Bartley, Rosario Pintos Lobo, Lauren D. Hill-Bowen, Taylor Sato, Erica D. Musser, Matthew T. Sutherland, Angela R. Laird

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating disorder defined by the onset of intrusive, avoidant, negative cognitive or affective, and/or hyperarousal symptoms after witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event. Previous voxel-based morphometry studies have provided insight into structural brain alterations associated with PTSD with notable heterogeneity across these studies. Furthermore, how structural alterations may be associated with brain function, as measured by task-free and task-based functional connectivity, remains to be elucidated.

Methods: Using emergent meta-analytic techniques, we sought to first identify a consensus of structural alterations in PTSD using the anatomical likelihood estimation (ALE) approach. Next, we generated functional …

Psychological Impact Of Covid-19 On Individuals With Prior Trauma, Marzena Podkalicka, Susan Panichelli Mindel

Research Day

The new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first recognized in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The World Health Organization Emergency Committee declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a global health emergency and a pandemic in early 2020. Due to the lack of unequivocally effective methods of treatment for the coronavirus disease, governments enforced nonpharmacological interventions to decrease the transmission of the coronavirus including social distancing, isolation, and shelter in place to stop the spread of COVID-19. The scale of the pandemic, the speed of the spread, and high mortality rate created a sense of panic, stress, and helplessness among …

The Association Between Trauma History And Body Image, Depression, Posttraumatic Stress, And Relationship Satisfaction In Postpartum Women, Kristen Hawk-Purcell, Michelle R. Lent

Research Day

The postpartum period can be a time of significant change and transition. Little is known regarding how a history of trauma may impact functioning during this critical time. The literature is consistent regarding the relationship between trauma and body image-related issues, but this has not been investigated with this population. While posttraumatic stress symptoms are considered a significant public health concern, the association between depression and interpersonal concerns has not been thoroughly explored. The purpose of this observational, cross-sectional study is to explore the relationship between trauma and body image, mood, and relationship satisfaction in postpartum women.

Proposed Methods: English …

A 37-Year-Old Female With Low Back Pain And Acute Lower Extremity Weakness, Kelci Beardsley, Ronald Lincow

Research Day

Setting: Outpatient Pain Management

Patient: A 37-year-old female with no significant past medical history presents with low back pain and unilateral lower extremity weakness two weeks after a motor vehicle accident.

Case Description: This patient presented to the office with a chief complaint of new right sided low back pain and right lower extremity weakness. History revealed that the patient was involved in a motor vehicle accident (MVA) several weeks prior to presentation. She was the restrained driver and was hit from behind by another motorist. The patient noted that she immediately felt stiffness in her low back, but did …

Trauma As A Predictor Of Exposure And Response Prevention (Ex/Rp) Treatment Outcomes For Patients With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (Ocd) In A Clinical Setting, Lindsey Salerno, Elizabeth Gosch, Stephen R. Poteau, Jeremy Tyler

Research Day

Background: Trauma has been found to be highly prevalent among individuals diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and to impact the onset, maintenance, and severity of OCD symptoms. Little is known, however, about how trauma might affect outcomes for individuals engaging in exposure and response prevention (Ex/RP). Despite Ex/RP being the most widely implemented treatment for OCD, lack of consideration for psychosocial factors, like experienced trauma, has been cited as a possible limitation of the treatment. Furthermore, intolerance of uncertainty (IU), anxiety sensitivity (AS), and emotion regulation (ER) are transdiagnostic variables most commonly associated with the presence of posttraumatic stress and …

It's All Fun And Games Until Someone Gets Hurt: An Analysis Of Trampoline Injuries In The Pennsylvania Trauma System, Megan Sullivan, Madison Morgan, Lindsey Perea, Frederick Rogers, Eric Bradburn

Research Day

Introduction: It is well known that trampolines can be a particular source of danger, especially in children. We sought to examine the profile of those patients with trampoline injuries. We hypothesized there would be certain injury patterns predicative of trampoline injuries.

Methods: All patients submitted to Pennsylvania Trauma Outcome Study (PTOS) database from 2016-2018 were analyzed. Trampoline injury was determined by ICD10 activity code. Injury patterns in the form of abbreviated injury scale (AIS) body regions were examined in the trampoline injured patients. Patient demographics and clinical variables were compared between those with trampoline injury versus those without.

Results: There …

Insects Provide Unique Systems To Investigate How Early-Life Experience Alters The Brain And Behavior, Rebecca R. Westwick, Clare C. Rittschof

Entomology Faculty Publications

Early-life experiences have strong and long-lasting consequences for behavior in a surprising diversity of animals. Determining which environmental inputs cause behavioral change, how this information becomes neurobiologically encoded, and the functional consequences of these changes remain fundamental puzzles relevant to diverse fields from evolutionary biology to the health sciences. Here we explore how insects provide unique opportunities for comparative study of developmental behavioral plasticity. Insects have sophisticated behavior and cognitive abilities, and they are frequently studied in their natural environments, which provides an ecological and adaptive perspective that is often more limited in lab-based vertebrate models. A range of cues, …

Paula Ferrada, M.D. Facs Trauma And Acute Care Surgery (Interview), Joseph Mceachon

Osmosis Magazine

Interview by Joseph McEachon

Titles at VCU: Professor of Surgery at VCU.

Program Director for the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship.

Medical Director of the Surgical and Trauma Intensive Care Unit.

Association Of Drowning Mortality With Preventive Interventions: A Quarter Of A Million Deaths Evaluation In Brazil, David Szpilman, Danielli B. Mello, Ana Catarina Queiroga, Rogerio Ferreira Emygdio Rfe

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

In 2015, drowning in Brazil was responsible for 6,043 deaths and was the second leading cause of death in children. Although several prevention strategies have been promoted to reduce drowning, most are still based on low levels of evidence. This study evaluated the effectiveness of prevention and water safety interventions in reducing drowning mortality. Data obtained from the National Mortality System for 36 years were split in two time periods to allow the comparison of drowning mortality numbers before and after implementation of SOBRASA’s drowning prevention and water safety programs and to check for any positive effects attributable to such …

Reparation Of Dignity: A Literature Review Of Trauma-Informed Addiction Treatment With Expressive Arts Therapy, Courtney R. Battistelli

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Substance Use Disorder is a public health problem that impacts society and individuals on many levels. In 2016, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) documented 64,000 deaths in America due to overdose (NIDA, 2017). The economic burden related to substance abuse is estimated at $740 billion annually in the United States (Priddy et al., 2018). High rates of relapse, approximately 60% in the first year after treatment, (Priddy et al., 2018, p.103), suggest the need for more effective treatment. A combination of trauma-informed practice and creative therapies in the treatment of substance use disorders show promising results. This literature …

Efficacy Of The Mnemonic Device “March Paws” As A Checklist For Pararescuemen During Tactical Field Care And Tactical Evacuation, Stephen Rush, John Kosequat, Alex Scott, Isabelle Gallo, Kent Swats, Ian Simonsen

Research Day

Background: The application of TCCC represents evidence-based medicine to improve survival in combat. Over the past several years, USAF Pararescuemen (PJs) have expanded the mnemonic device “MARCH” to “MARCH PAWS” for use during tactical field care and tactical evacuation. It stands for massive bleeding, airway, respiration, circulation, head and hypothermia, pain, antibiotics, wounds, and splinting. We undertook this performance improvement project to determine the efficacy of this device as a treatment checklist.

Methods: The mission reports of a sixteen PJs’ combat rescue deployment to OEF from January through June 2012 were reviewed. The triage category, mechanism of injury, …

Social Work Trauma Interventions: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Kassie Baumann

Senior Honors Theses

According to Lynne Weilart (2013), in her article on the reasons why people seek out therapy, trauma is the number one reason people attend counseling. Many different trauma-informed approaches are designed specifically to address the consequences of trauma and to facilitate healing. Some of these approaches are as follows: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT); Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT);Mentalization Based Therapy (MBT); Trauma Systems Therapy (TST); Trauma Assessment Pathway (TAP); and Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency (ARC) (de Arellano, Danielson, Ko, & Sprauge, 2008). The effectiveness of each trauma intervention will be examined. DBT is one of these trauma interventions that is growing …

Spinal Cord Trauma: An Overview Of Normal Structure And Function, Primary And Secondary Mechanisms Of Injury, And Emerging Treatment Modalities, Daniel Morin

Senior Honors Theses

The structures of the spinal cord and vertebral column are designed to provide flexibility, while still providing ample protection for the spinal cord deep within. While it does offer remarkable protection against most routine trauma, the spinal cord is still vulnerable to high-force etiologies of trauma and may become damaged as a result. These events are referred to as primary injury. Following the initial injury, the body’s own physiological responses cause a cascade of deleterious effects, known as secondary injury. Secondary injury is a major therapeutic target in mitigating the effects of spinal cord injury (SCI), and much research is …

Safe, Patricia Lent

Occasional Paper Series

The first four sections of this essay chronicle her attempts to make sense of September 11 in the succeeding weeks and months. The final section—”Corn, Beans, and Squash”—was written to and for her students at the end of the school year.

Mindfulness And Law Enforcement: An Effective Approach To Implementing Mindfulness For First Responders, Gina White

Mindfulness Studies Theses

An increasing number of studies show that people employed as first responders in high trauma service jobs tend to experience a high level of stress, at work and after hours. Studies suggest that constant exposure to job related stress leads to both physical and mental dysregulation. This study looks at the effects of implementing mindfulness tools and techniques to those working in law enforcement. Other works on this topic report mindfulness as a successful tool to increase wellbeing to a broad spectrum of populations. The methodology used in this study was designed specifically for first responders. The data findings were …

Can Volunteer Counsellors Help Prevent Psychological Trauma? A Preliminary Communication On Volunteers Skills Using The 'Orienting Approach' To Trauma, Mitchell Byrne, Frank Deane, Andrew Phipps

Mitchell K Byrne

The capacity of 73 volunteer telephone counsellors to administer a brief and early intervention for secondary trauma was assessed. The counsellors participated in a 1-day training programme in the ‘Orienting Approach’ to Trauma Counselling (Phipps & Byrne, 2003). Volunteer counsellors showed significant improvements in both knowledge and skills from pre- to post-training. The potential benefits of this intervention to the community and professional health services are discussed.

Dissociation Mediates The Relationship Between Childhood Trauma And Hallucination-Proneness., F Varese, E Barkus, R P. Bentall

Emma Barkus

BACKGROUND: It has been proposed that the relationship between childhood trauma and hallucinations can be explained by dissociative processes. The present study examined whether the effect of childhood trauma on hallucination-proneness is mediated by dissociative tendencies. In addition, the influence of dissociative symptoms on a cognitive process believed to underlie hallucinatory experiences (i.e. reality discrimination; the capacity to discriminate between internal and external cognitive events) was also investigated.MethodPatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (n=45) and healthy controls (with no history of hallucinations; n=20) completed questionnaire measures of hallucination-proneness, dissociative tendencies and childhood trauma, as well as performing an auditory signal detection …

Dissociation Mediates The Relationship Between Childhood Trauma And Hallucination-Proneness., F Varese, E Barkus, R P. Bentall

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

BACKGROUND: It has been proposed that the relationship between childhood trauma and hallucinations can be explained by dissociative processes. The present study examined whether the effect of childhood trauma on hallucination-proneness is mediated by dissociative tendencies. In addition, the influence of dissociative symptoms on a cognitive process believed to underlie hallucinatory experiences (i.e. reality discrimination; the capacity to discriminate between internal and external cognitive events) was also investigated.MethodPatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (n=45) and healthy controls (with no history of hallucinations; n=20) completed questionnaire measures of hallucination-proneness, dissociative tendencies and childhood trauma, as well as performing an auditory signal detection …

Evidence For Infanticide In Bottlenose Dolphins Of The Western North Atlantic, Dale G. Dunn, Susan G. Barco, D. Ann Pabst, William A. Mclellan

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Nine bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) calves that stranded in Virginia in 1996 and 1997 died of severe blunt-force trauma. Injuries were concentrated on the head and chest and multiple rib fractures, lung lacerations, and soft tissue contusions were prominent. Skeletal and/or soft tissue trauma occurred bilaterally in all of the calves. One had a bite wound across the left mandible that exhibited deep punctures consistent with the tooth placement in an adult bottlenose dolphin. The lesions were not compatible with predation, boat strike, fisheries interactions, rough-surf injury, or blast injury. However, they were similar to traumatic injuries described in stranded …