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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

A Neurobiological Pathway That Mediates Stress-Induced Drug Use, Oliver Vranjkovic Oct 2015

A Neurobiological Pathway That Mediates Stress-Induced Drug Use, Oliver Vranjkovic

Dissertations (1934 -)

Cocaine addiction represents a tremendous health and financial burden on our society and the high rate of relapse to cocaine use in abstinent addicts represents a major barrier to effective therapy. Thus, understanding the factors that contribute to relapse and the underlying neurobiological processes is important for guiding the development of treatment for addiction. Stressful life events often trigger drug use in recovering addicts. The contribution of stress to drug use is problematic due to the unpredictable and often uncontrollable nature of stress. A growing literature indicates that norepinephrine and corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) in the brain play key roles …


Neural Plasticity In Response To Intervention In Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Sheryl Jayne Stevens Jul 2015

Neural Plasticity In Response To Intervention In Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Sheryl Jayne Stevens

Dissertations (1934 -)

Current theories of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) suggest that they may develop from the transactional interaction between biological risk factors and environmental processes (Dawson et al., 2009). Due to the brain’s experience-expectant nature, one’s degree of social exposure may have a significant impact on their brain development and behavioral presentation. In addition to the primary critical neurodevelopmental period identified in early childhood, recent research has demonstrated a second period of substantial neurodevelopment during the adolescent period (Sisk & Foster, 2004). This study investigated the neural and behavioral impact of participation in an empirically validated behavioral intervention (The Program for the …


Stay-At-Home-Fathers Navigating Depression: A Consensual Qualitative Research Study, William Douglas Meyers Caperton Jul 2015

Stay-At-Home-Fathers Navigating Depression: A Consensual Qualitative Research Study, William Douglas Meyers Caperton

Dissertations (1934 -)

Evidence suggests that the practices through which men are socialized to become masculine may serve both to restrict their potential in ways that lead to psychological distress, and also to restrict the ways in which they respond to such distress (Addis & Mahalik, 2003; Mahalik, Good, Tager, Levant, & Mackowiak, 2012; O’Neil, 2008). While we are beginning to understand masculine depression (Cochran & Rabinowitz, 2000; Magovcevic & Addis, 2008) and paternal depression (Paulson & Bazemore, 2010; Ramachandani & Psychogiou, 2009), almost nothing is known about how SAHFs experience depression, nor their experiences and beliefs regarding help-seeking and psychotherapy. The trend …


Role Of Shared Care In The Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms And Self-Care In Patients With Heart Failure, Susan Cole Jul 2015

Role Of Shared Care In The Relationship Between Depressive Symptoms And Self-Care In Patients With Heart Failure, Susan Cole

Dissertations (1934 -)

Heart failure (HF) is a chronic condition affecting over 5 million Americans. Heart failure accounts for over 32 billion dollars in total cost each year, and is the most common cause of hospitalization for persons 65 years of age or older. Patients with HF experience poor self-care, are at risk for depressive symptoms, and have high rates of 30-day hospital readmissions. Social support influences depressive symptoms, self-care, and hospital readmissions. Shared care was used to operationalize social support. Shared care is a system of three relationship processes communication, decision making, and reciprocity, used to exchange social support. The purpose of …