Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Sexual Violence, Traumatic Memory, And Speculative Fiction As Action, Kate Rose

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Starhawk’s speculative novel City of Refuge (2015) depicts rape trauma and its consequences in a dystopian society that is the logical conclusion of patriarchy. French psychiatrist Muriel Salmona’s research on how traumatic memory contributes to inequality and how reconstructing narrative can heal survivors places her similarly at the intersection of story and activism. City of Refuge is a literary experiment focused on survivors of institutionalized sexual assault, while Salmona’s work maps consequences of traumatic memory linked to childhood sexual violence. The basic tenet of narrative medicine that life experience affects mental and physical health coincides with Salmona’s critique of how …

Association Between Concussion History And Factors Relating To Cognitive, Behavioral, And Emotional Health Among American High School Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Analysis, Gregory Knell, Scott O. Burkhart, Todd J. Caze, John D. Polousky, Harold W. Kohl, Sarah E. Messiah

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Background: The cognitive, behavioral, and emotional deficits that may be associated with sports-related concussions among adolescents are unclear.

Purpose: To examine the association between reported concussion history and factors relating to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional health among a population-based sample of US high school-aged adolescents.

Study design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods: Participants included a representative sample of US high school student-athletes who reported a concussion history (in the past 12 months) and relevant behaviors/outcomes within 3 domains: cognitive (academics, difficulty concentrating), behavioral (drinking and driving, carrying a weapon, physically fighting, tobacco use, marijuana use, binge drinking), and …

Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging As A Diagnostic Biomarker Of Hiv-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders (Hand), Mikki Schantell

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Objective: The goal of this study was to do an exploratory analysis to determine if gray matter brain volumes and cortical thickness measures obtained from structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) can discriminate people with HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), neurocognitively unimpaired people with HIV (NU PWH), and HIV-negative controls (HIV- controls) using linear discriminant analyses.

Methods: A total of 231 participants, including 110 PWH and 121 HIV- controls, completed a neuropsychological (NP) battery and an sMRI protocol. The bilateral gray matter volumes and cortical thickness brain regions were analyzed using 18 linear discriminant models to assess the discriminability of gray matter …

Cross-Age Peer Mentoring: A Meta-Analysis, Samantha Burton

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Youth mentoring programs are a promising intervention for youth, particularly those who experience or are at risk for developing a range of psychological, social, behavioral, and contextual difficulties. Cross-age peer mentoring is a form of formal peer mentoring that matches an older youth mentor with a younger youth mentee to promote positive youth outcomes. The current study used meta-analysis to explore the overall effectiveness of cross-age peer mentoring programs, as well as to explore moderators of cross-age peer mentoring program effectiveness. A comprehensive search of the literature published prior to April 2019 was conducted to identify evaluations of cross-age peer …

The Prevalence And Predictors Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine (Cam) Use Among Racially/Ethnically Diverse College Students, Hermella Misiker

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: National data on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use, available through the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), convey higher prevalence of CAM use among college students compared to the general U.S population. NHIS findings also highlight non-vitamin non- mineral (NVNM) products are the most widely used form of CAM in the U.S. The purpose of this study was to identify the socio-cognitive and demographic predictors of CAM and NVNM use among a racially/ethnically diverse college student body.

Methods: An online survey was used to collect data from 392 University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. …

Examination Of Factors Reported By Athletes To Interfere With Their Lives Outside Of Sports, Jesse Scott

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The original Sport Interference Checklist (SIC) is a mental-health screening instrument designed to assess the extent to which mental health factors interfere with athletes’ performance during sport training or competition. In addition, the SIC appraises whether athletes are interested in pursuing psychological treatment for the aforementioned factors. Although validated, the SIC does not assess how the aforementioned factors affect athletes’ performance outside of sports. Doing so would permit professionals to examine the influence of these factors across sport training, sport competition, and life outside of sports.

The purpose of this study was to determine the psychometric properties and clinical utility …

Can A Brief Online Intervention Change Low-Income Caregivers’ Reported Use Of Spanking? A Randomized Controlled Trial, Hilary L. Richardson

Dissertations

Spanking is commonly used by parents (64-94%) in the United States as a strategy for managing undesirable child behaviors. Research has found that the use of spanking is particularly high among young mothers, low-income parents, and African American families. Decades of literature on the use of spanking has identified abundant detrimental outcomes for children such as increased externalizing behaviors, decreased long-term compliance, and less guilt following misbehavior, as well as serious outcomes in adulthood such as depressed mood and alcohol/drug use. There is also a risk for spanking to escalate to physical abuse. Thus, safer, more effective discipline strategies are …

Mindfulness And Its Impact On Adaptive Coping And Psychological Well-Being: An Intervention For Undergraduate Students, Charles Bradley Freligh

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The concept of mindfulness has been shown to positively impact psychological well-being, and one application of mindfulness-based interventions has been the development and implementation of courses specifically for college students, a population that has been shown to be particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of stress. While these interventions have displayed beneficial outcomes, the mechanisms of how mindfulness exerts its impact remain unclear. One potential mechanism of mindfulness’ enhancement of well-being may be through its cultivation of an adaptive coping style in which an individual becomes more likely to approach and investigate stressors rather than avoid them. In this study, …

Group Treatment Effectiveness For Substance Use Disorders: Abstinence Vs. Harm Reduction, Jill D. Parramore

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to compare group treatment effectiveness for substance use disorders within the U.S. across treatment philosophies as it relates to the primary research question, Is there a significant difference of group treatment effectiveness between Abstinence and Harm Reduction treatment philosophies? It was hypothesized that group treatment will remain an effective intervention to treat substance use disorders between treatment philosophies and that no significant differences exist between-group comparisons. The aim of this study is to provide evidence of treatment effectiveness that will ultimately improve treatment outcomes for substance use disorders, provide guidance for …

Coping Self-Efficacy As A Potential Moderator Of The Relationship Between Sexual Orientation And Negative Mental Health Outcomes, James M. Macchia

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Sexual minority individuals (i.e., those who identify as a sexual orientation other than heterosexual) have consistently been linked to an increased risk of negative mental health outcomes. The process of coping can impact the content and severity of said outcomes, and one’s ability to cope is often predicted by the concept known as coping self-efficacy (i.e., one’s belief in his or her ability to cope). This study aimed to assess the effects of sexual orientation, coping self-efficacy, and their interactions on mental health by looking at different aspects of coping self-efficacy as potential moderating variables. Self-perceptions of coping skills were …

Longitudinal Changes Of Brain Microstructure And Function In Nonconcussed Female Rugby Players, Kathryn Y. Manning, Jeffrey S. Brooks, James P. Dickey, Alexandra Harriss, Lisa Fischer, Tatiana Jevremovic, Kevin Blackney, Christy Barreira, Arthur Brown, Robert Bartha, Tim Doherty, Douglas Fraser, Jeff Holmes, Gregory A. Dekaban, Ravi S. Menon

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

ObjectiveTo longitudinally assess brain microstructure and function in female varsity athletes participating in contact and noncontact sports.MethodsConcussion-free female rugby players (n = 73) were compared to age-matched (ages 18-23) female swimmers and rowers (n = 31) during the in- and off-season. Diffusion and resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) measures were the primary outcomes. The Sports Concussion Assessment Tool and head impact accelerometers were used to monitor symptoms and impacts, respectively.ResultsWe found cross-sectional (contact vs noncontact) and longitudinal (in- vs off-season) changes in white matter diffusion measures and rs-fMRI network connectivity in concussion-free contact athletes relative to noncontact athletes. In particular, mean, axial, …

Feasibility And Validity Of Asking Patients To Define Individual Levels Of Meaningful Change On Patient-Reported Outcomes, Salene M.W. Jones, Yuxian Du, Ari Bell-Brown, Kaylin Bolt, Joseph M. Unger

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are frequently used in clinical care to monitor treatment response. However, most guidelines on PRO use treat all patients the same. This study tested the feasibility and validity of a method for determining individually meaningful change in PRO measures.

Methods: Participants (n = 398) completed 12 pain and distress questions to define individually meaningful change. This mixed-methods study used both quantitative and qualitative analyses, including descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and content analysis.

Results: Two-thirds (67%) of the sample reported at least one medical condition, including depression and back pain. Most participants (70%–90%) were able to answer …

Hiv Preexposure Prophylaxis And Treatment As Prevention — Beliefs And Access Barriers In Men Who Have Sex With Men (Msm) And Transgender Women: A Systematic Review, Joshua J. Matacotta, Francisco J. Rosales-Perez, Christian M. Carrillo

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: While the annual rate of new HIV infections and diagnoses has remained stable for most groups, troubling increases are seen in transgender women and racial/ethnic-minority men who have sex with men (MSM), groups that are disproportionately affected by HIV. The primary purpose of this systematic review is to examine factors that impact attitudes and beliefs about preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and treatment as prevention (TasP) and to explore barriers to PrEP uptake in MSM and transgender women.

Methods: Using MeSH terms and relevant keywords, we conducted a systematic review of studies published between 2010 and 2019. We searched 4 literature …

Face Mask Effects Of Co2, Heart Rate, Respiration Rate, And Oxygen Saturation On Instructor Pilots, Andrew R. Dattel, Nicola M. O'Toole, Guillermina Lopez, Kenneth P. Byrnes

Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has required people to take new measures to mitigate the spread of the communicable virus. Guidelines from health organizations, government offices, and universities have been disseminated. Adherence to these guidelines cannot be more critical for flight training. This study explored the effects face masks had on CO2, heart rate, respiration rate, and oxygen saturation while wearing a face mask at an oxygen level simulated to 5,000 feet. Thirty-two instructor pilots (IP) volunteered to participate in the study. IPs spent 90 minutes in a normobaric chamber while wearing a cloth face mask or a paper face mask. Participants …

Creatively Exploring Self: Applying Organic Inquiry, A Transpersonal And Intuitive Methodology, Larisa J. Bardsley Phd

The Qualitative Report

This article explores the merit of using Organic Inquiry, a qualitative research approach that is most effectively applied to areas of psychological and spiritual growth. Organic Inquiry is a research approach where the psyche of the researcher becomes the instrument of the research, working in partnership with the experiences of participants and guided by liminal and spiritual influences. Organic Inquiry is presented as a unique methodology that can incorporate other non-traditional research methods, including intuitive, autoethnographic and creative techniques. The validity and application of Organic Inquiry, as well as its strengths and limitations are discussed in the light of the …

Towards Greater Transparency In Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research: Use Of A Proposed Workflow And Propensity Scores To Facilitate Selection Of Matched Groups, Janet Y. Bang, Megha Sharda, Aparna S. Nadig

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background
Matching is one commonly utilized method in quasi-experimental designs involving individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). This method ensures two or more groups (e.g., individuals with an NDD versus neurotypical individuals) are balanced on pre-existing covariates (e.g., IQ), enabling researchers to interpret performance on outcome measures as being attributed to group membership. While much attention has been paid to the statistical criteria of how to assess whether groups are well-matched, relatively little attention has been given to a crucial prior step: the selection of the individuals that are included in matched groups. The selection of individuals is often an undocumented …

Individual Differences In Infants' Temperament Affect Face Processing, Jennifer L. Rennels, Andrea J. Kayl, Kirsty M. Kulhanek

Psychology Faculty Research

Infants show an advantage in processing female and familiar race faces, but the effect sizes are often small, suggesting individual differences in their discrimination abilities. This research assessed whether differences in 6–10-month-olds’ temperament (surgency and orienting) predicted how they scanned individual faces varying in race and gender during familiarization and whether and how long it took them to locate the face during a visual search task. This study also examined whether infants viewing faces posing pleasant relative to neutral expressions would facilitate their discrimination of male and unfamiliar race faces. Results showed that infants’ surgency on its own or in …

Cbt-Informed Interventions For Essential Workers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kathy Benhamou, Alexandra Piedra

Student Scholarship

Essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic face heightened levels of anxiety and depression due to increased work demands, lack of adequate personal protective equipment, fear of contracting the virus, and fear of spreading it to loved ones. This is a time of urgent need for mental health support for workers affected by the pandemic crisis. Clinicians may employ empirically supported interventions derived from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and related therapies. Psychological First Aid, an evidence-based crisis intervention, may be utilized to emphasize basic needs and support, but is intended as an acute disaster intervention. Given that a pandemic is an …

Brain Complexity, Sentience And Welfare, Donald M. Broom

Animal Sentience

Neither sentience nor moral standing is confined to animals with large or human-like brains. Invertebrates deserve moral consideration. Definition of terms clarifies the relationship between sentience and welfare. All animals have welfare but humans give more protection to sentient animals. Humans should be less human-centred.

Looming And Receding Visual Networks In Awake Marmosets Investigated With Fmri, Justine C. Cléry, David J. Schaeffer, Yuki Hori, Kyle M. Gilbert, Lauren K. Hayrynen, Joseph S. Gati, Ravi S. Menon, Stefan Everling

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

© 2020 The Author(s) An object that is looming toward a subject or receding away contains important information for determining if this object is dangerous, beneficial or harmless. This information (motion, direction, identity, time-to-collision, size, velocity) is analyzed by the brain in order to execute the appropriate behavioral responses depending on the context: fleeing, freezing, grasping, eating, exploring. In the current study, we performed ultra-high-field functional MRI (fMRI) at 9.4T in awake marmosets to explore the patterns of brain activation elicited by visual stimuli looming toward or receding away from the monkey. We found that looming and receding visual stimuli …

What Do Children Need From Playwork In The Time Of Covid-19? A Reflection On Playwork Practice In A Pandemic., Freya H. Howard

International Journal of Playwork Practice

This article explores the child’s need for play especially at the time of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in terms of the child’s welfare and rights, playfulness and their wellbeing. It reflects on previously learnt lessons with regards to virus outbreaks and the production of activity packs as a means of playwork in the pandemic context.

Perspective: Responding To The Well-Being Of Health Care Workers And Learners In Academic Medicine During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Cherie C. Hill, Paula G. Gomes, Alayna H. Feng, Cricket C. Gullickson, Carla I. Haack, Sheryl L. Heron

Journal of Wellness

No abstract provided.

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

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

Background

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

Methods

Data were obtained from 1,375 Filipina domestic …

Temporal Discounting And The Assessment And Treatment Of Academic Procrastination, Anthony Concepcion

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many individuals engage in procrastination at some point in their lifetime. Although procrastination is usually not detrimental, for college students, academic procrastination is correlated with adverse health effects (e.g., anxiety, depression, sleep hygiene) and poor academic performance (Akinsola, et al., 2007; Ferrari, et al., 1995). Furthermore, the prevalence of academic procrastination is high with reports of up to 95% of college students engaging in detrimental amounts of procrastination (Hussain & Sultan, 2010). Notably, students enrolled in online courses are likely to be at greater risk to experience adverse consequences associated with procrastination (Elvers, et al, 2003). Previous studies have focused …

A Primer On Cognitive Errors Illustrated Through The Lens Of A Neurosurgical Practice, Jeffrey Evan Florman, Lisa Almeder, Robert Trowbridge

Journal of Maine Medical Center

Problem Statement:

Diagnostic error is often attributed to cognitive errors, including biased thinking patterns, rather than knowledge or data limitations, and education on cognitive bias deserves review in all spheres of practice.

Background:

The cognitive biases of practitioners create an inherent fallibility in recognizing and treating medical conditions. Awareness of cognitive errors is valuable for mitigating risk of diagnostic error.

The impact of cognitive error is substantial in the management of neurosurgically relevant disease. Remarkably broad differential diagnoses often accompany neurologic symptoms. Both focal and non-focal symptoms lend themselves to diagnostic inertia that contributes to errors. Further, initial diagnostic direction …

Psychometric Properties Of The College Athlete Psychological Screening Tool: Validation Of The Depression And Anxiety Subscales, Joseph C. Case

Dissertations

The aim of the present study was to gain a better understanding of the descriptive psychometric properties of the College Athlete Psychological Screening (CAPS) measure. The CAPS is a newly developed assessment screening measure designed to assess 14 common problem areas for college athletes. For the present investigation, 395 participants completed the 108-item CAPS measure. To establish criterion validity, participants also completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). The present study had three research questions. Question one discussed the descriptive psychodynamic properties (Cronbach’s alpha, means, and standard deviations) of the 14 CAPS subscales. Question two …

Music As A Scaffold For Listening To Speech: Better Neural Phase-Locking To Song Than Speech, Christina M. Vanden Bosch Der Nederlanden, Marc F. Joanisse, Jessica A. Grahn

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

© 2020 The Authors Neural activity synchronizes with the rhythmic input of many environmental signals, but the capacity of neural activity to entrain to the slow rhythms of speech is particularly important for successful communication. Compared to speech, song has greater rhythmic regularity, a more stable fundamental frequency, discrete pitch movements, and a metrical structure, this may provide a temporal framework that helps listeners neurally track information better than the rhythmically irregular rhythms of speech. The current study used EEG to examine whether entrainment to the syllable rate of linguistic utterances, as indexed by cerebro-acoustic phase coherence, was greater when …

The "Inferior Temporal Numeral Area" Distinguishes Numerals From Other Character Categories During Passive Viewing: A Representational Similarity Analysis, Darren J. Yeo, Courtney Pollack, Rebecca Merkley, Daniel Ansari, Gavin R. Price

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

A region in the posterior inferior temporal gyrus (pITG) is thought to be specialized for processing Arabic numerals, but fMRI studies that compared passive viewing of numerals to other character types (e.g., letters and novel characters) have not found evidence of numeral preference in the pITG. However, recent studies showed that the engagement of the pITG is modulated by attention and task contexts, suggesting that passive viewing paradigms may be ill-suited for examining numeral specialization in the pITG. It is possible, however, that even if the strengths of responses to different category types are similar, the distributed response patterns (i.e., …

Expanding The Search For Genetic Biomarkers Of Parkinson's Disease Into The Living Brain, Simon M. Benoit, Hu Xu, Susanne Schmid, Roumiana Alexandrova, Gaganjot Kaur, Bhooma Thiruvahindrapuram, Sergio L. Pereira, Mandar Jog, Matthew O. Hebb

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Altered gene expression related to Parkinson's Disease (PD) has not been described in the living brain, yet this information may support novel discovery pertinent to disease pathophysiology and treatment. This study compared the transcriptome in brain biopsies obtained from living PD and Control patients. To evaluate the novelty of this data, a comprehensive literature review also compared differentially expressed gene (DEGs) identified in the current study with those reported in PD cadaveric brain and peripheral tissues. RNA was extracted from rapidly cryopreserved frontal lobe specimens collected from PD and Control patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures. RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) was performed and …

Using Spatial Methods To Better Understand Food Insecurity And Snap Under-Participation In Texas, Ryan Ramphul

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The overall objective of this research is to use spatial methods to better understand food insecurity and SNAP under-participation in Texas. Paper 1 assesses whether a sample of community dwelling Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, who screen positive for food insecurity at healthcare locations in Harris County, exhibit a spatial pattern in terms of where they live. In other words, it tests whether or not there are statistically significant neighborhood hot spots or cold spots of food insecurity against a null hypothesis of complete spatial randomness. This approach is novel because it uses address-level data on patients who report being food …