Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Mind, Body And Race: A Look Into How Implicit Biases Influence The Perception Of Emotion, Faiza Ahmad, Adam Anderson, James Dalton Rounds, Christina Chick, Alize Hill

Research Symposium

Background: Most research examining the effects of implicit race-based biases in emotion perception has focused on the perception of Black faces as being angry. Limited work has been done examining the perception of “approach” emotions such as fear. Furthermore, most studies have predominantly used White subjects. Our study examined the role of implicit racial biases in shaping the perception of both anger and fear in White, Black and Asian participants.

Methods: 78 participants completed a Go/NoGo task in which they were asked to categorize different race faces as portraying either anger or fear. Participants would be asked to press the …

One Size Doesn’T Fit All: Attitudes Towards Work Modify The Relation Between Parental Leave Length And Postpartum Depression, Christine Y. Chang, Sabrina R. Liu, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between parental leave length and maternal depressive symptoms at six- and twelve-months postpartum and whether this relation was influenced by women’s attitudes towards leave, whether leave was paid or unpaid, and the reason they returned to work. The sample included 115 working women recruited during pregnancy as part of a larger longitudinal study. Analyses revealed that maternal attitudes toward leave influenced the association between leave length and depressive symptoms. Specifically, longer leaves were associated with increased depressive symptoms for women who missed their previous activities at work. Furthermore, women who missed work …

Cumulative Incidence Of Physical And Sexual Dating Violence: Insights From A Long-Term Longitudinal Study, Jeff R Temple, Elizabeth Baumler, Leila Wood, Kelli Sargent Franco, Melissa Peskin, Christie Shumate

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Decades of inquiry on intimate partner violence show consistent results: violence is woefully common and psychologically and economically costly. Policy to prevent and effectively intervene upon such violence hinges upon comprehensive understanding of this phenomenon at a population level. The current study prospectively estimates the cumulative incidence of sexual and physical dating violence (DV) victimization/perpetration over a 12-year timeframe (2010–2021) using diverse participants assessed annually from age 15 to 26. Data are from Waves 1–13 of an ongoing longitudinal study. Since 2010 (except for 2018 and 2019), participants were assessed on past-year physical and sexual DV victimization and perpetration. Participants …

Expressive Arts Therapy To Support Positive Experiences Of Embodiment Among Rural Lgbtq+ Adults: A Literature Review, Ann Stromgren

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This paper investigates the use of expressive arts therapy to support LGBTQ+ adult clients in rural communities. Caring professionals in rural areas often lack training on how to work with LGBTQ+ clients, and best practices for clinical mental health counseling with rural LGBTQ+ clients have yet to be defined. Some evidence suggests that using “metronormative” best practices with rural clients may be irrelevant or cause harm (Giano et al., 2020). Although some recommendations exist for using expressive therapies with LGBTQ+ clients, they are rarely evidence-based, as very few empirical studies exist evaluating the effectiveness of expressive therapy interventions with LGBTQ+ …

Overcoming The Inner Critic: The Therapeutic Use Of Self-Portraits With Older Adults, Brenda Echeverry

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Older adults are a growing and vulnerable population who experience discriminatory practices that impact their access to equitable housing, employment, and healthcare which was made even more obvious during the Coronavirus pandemic in the United States. A community engagement project was developed and facilitated by the writer to support older adults with the psychological effects of surviving the pandemic. This project also helped to increase accessibility to expressive arts therapy in the writer’s local community. Expressive arts therapy is an effective and accessible method to support mental health and wellness for people of all ages. Engagement with the arts helps …

Making Mindfulness More Accessible: A Practical Guide To Trauma-Informed Mindfulness, Leslie Formby

Mindfulness Studies Theses

Mindfulness is currently embedded in a growing understanding of how trauma permeates and adversely impacts peoples’ physical and psychological well-being. Increased awareness of the prevalence of trauma and its harmful effects has led to renewed interest in mindfulness to help manage the challenges generated by the detrimental effects of trauma.

These effects may draw people to mindfulness and, in turn, may make the benefits of mindfulness out of reach. Mindfulness methods and practice adaptations have been found to help trauma survivors experience the benefits of what the Buddha taught. As a support for those engaging in mindfulness and meditation, this …

Theories Of Consciousness And A Life Worth Living, Liad Mudrik, Myrto Mylopoulos, Niccolo Negro, Aaron Schurger

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

What is it that makes a life valuable? A popular view is that life’s moral worth depends in some way on its relationship to consciousness or subjective experience. But a practical application of this view requires the ability to test for consciousness, which is currently lacking. Here, we examine how theories of consciousness (ToCs) can help do so, focusing especially on difficult cases where the answer is not clear (e.g. fetuses, nonhuman animals, unresponsive brain-injured patients, and advanced artificial systems). We consider five major ToCs and what predictions they offer: Integrated information theory, Higher-Order Thought Theory, Recurrent Processing Theory, Global …

Evidence Of Neurovascular Water Exchange And Endothelial Vascular Dysfunction In Schizophrenia: An Exploratory Study, Eric L Goldwaser, Danny J J Wang, Bhim M Adhikari, Joshua Chiappelli, Xingfeng Shao, Jiaao Yu, Tong Lu, Shuo Chen, Wyatt Marshall, Alexa Yuen, Mark Kvarta, Yizhou Ma, Xiaoming Du, Si Gao, Osamah Saeedi, Heather Bruce, Patrick Donnelly, Hugh O'Neill, Alan R Shuldiner, Braxton D Mitchell, Peter Kochunov, L Elliot Hong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: Mounting evidence supports cerebrovascular contributions to schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD) but with unknown mechanisms. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is at the nexus of neural-vascular exchanges, tasked with regulating cerebral homeostasis. BBB abnormalities in SSD, if any, are likely more subtle compared to typical neurological insults and imaging measures that assess large molecule BBB leakage in major neurological events may not be sensitive enough to directly examine BBB abnormalities in SSD.

STUDY DESIGN: We tested the hypothesis that neurovascular water exchange (Kw) measured by non-invasive diffusion-prepared arterial spin label MRI (n = 27 healthy controls [HC], n = …

Activation Of Cell-Free Mtdna-Tlr9 Signaling Mediates Chronic Stress-Induced Social Behavior Deficits, Ashutosh Tripathi, Alona Bartosh, Carl Whitehead, Anilkumar Pillai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Inflammation and social behavior deficits are associated with a number of neuropsychiatric disorders. Chronic stress, a major risk factor for depression and other mental health conditions is known to increase inflammatory responses and social behavior impairments. Disturbances in mitochondria function have been found in chronic stress conditions, however the mechanisms that link mitochondrial dysfunction to stress-induced social behavior deficits are not well understood. In this study, we found that chronic restraint stress (RS) induces significant increases in serum cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA) levels in mice, and systemic Deoxyribonuclease I (DNase I) treatment attenuated RS-induced social behavioral deficits. Our findings revealed …

Attenuated Typicality Effect In Category-Based Inferences: Implications For Autism Spectrum Disorder, Janani Rajagopalan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often encounter challenges in assimilating atypical exemplars into their categorical prototypes, a cognitive hurdle that can impact their interpretative and integrative capacities. Addressing this problem, the present research sought to develop a robust methodological approach to reduce the effect of this disparity. We examined the elements embedded within the category's internal structure, with the intention of experimentally attenuating the pronounced typicality effect, which is often exaggerated in ASD.

Across four experiments, the thesis investigated the cognitive and neural underpinnings that shape the access to the typicality gradient intrinsic to a category's structure. The …

Machine Independence Of Ultrasound-Based Quantification Of Vitreous Echodensities, Cameron Hoerig, Justin H Nguyen, Jonathan Mamou, Cedric Venuat, J Sebag, Jeffrey A Ketterling

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) provides objective indices of Vision Degrading Myodesopsia (VDM) that correlate with contrast sensitivity (CS). To date, QUS methods were only tested on a single ultrasound machine. Here, we evaluate whether QUS measurements are machine independent.

METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 47 eyes (24 subjects; age = 53.2 ± 14.4 years) were evaluated with Freiburg acuity contrast testing (%Weber), and ultrasonography using 2 machines: one with a 15-MHz single-element transducer and one with a 5-ring, 20-MHz annular-array. Images were acquired from each system in sequential scans. Artifact-free, log-compressed envelope data were processed to yield three parameters (mean …

To Produce Or Not To Produce? Contrasting The Effect Of Substance Abuse In Social Decision-Making Situations, Laurent Avila-Chauvet, Diana Mejía Cruz, Óscar García-Leal, Bruno Kluwe-Schiavon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Substance use disorders (SUD) have been related to high criminal justice costs, expensive healthcare, social impairment, and decision-making deficits. In non-social decision-making tasks, people with SUD tend to take more risks and choose small immediate rewards than controls. However, few studies have explored how people with SUD behave in social decision-making situations where the resources and profits depend directly on participants' real-time interaction, i.e., social foraging situations. To fulfill this gap, we developed a real-time interaction task to (a) compare the proportion of producers (individuals who tend to search for food sources) and scroungers (individuals who tend to steal or …

Assessing The Severity Of Cervical Dystonia: Ask The Doctor Or Ask The Patient?, Adam C Cotton, Laura Scorr, William Mcdonald, Cynthia Comella, Joel S Perlmutter, Christopher G Goetz, Joseph Jankovic, Laura Marsh, Stewart Factor, H A Jinnah

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Assessing disease severity can be performed using either clinician-rated scales (CRS) or patient-rated outcome (PRO) tools. These two measures frequently demonstrate poor correlations.

OBJECTIVES: To determine if the correlation between a CRS and PRO for motor features of cervical dystonia (CD) improves by accounting for non-motor features.

METHODS: Subjects with CD (N = 209) were evaluated using a CRS (Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale, TWSTRS) and a PRO (Cervical Dystonia Impact Profile, CDIP-58).

RESULTS: Linear regression revealed a weak correlation between the two measures, even when considering only the motor subscales of each. The strength of this relationship …

Smad8 Is Increased In Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy And Suppresses Mir-1, Mir-133a, And Mir-133b, Meghan L Royle, Eric J Connolly, Sara Nowakowski, Jeff R Temple

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: Studies are beginning to document an association between sleep duration and a range of adolescent delinquent behaviors, including weapon carrying. However, little is known about whether and to what extent sleep quality - another dimension of sleep for healthy adolescent functioning - is associated with weapon carrying. We address this gap in knowledge by evaluating the role of restless sleep and sleep duration in adolescent weapon carrying.

METHODS: We analyze data from a diverse sample of 994 adolescents from Texas, USA collected in 2010. Multivariate logistic regression models estimate the association of sleep duration and restless sleep on weapon …

Oleoylethanolamide Facilitates Pparα And Tfeb Signaling And Attenuates Aβ Pathology In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Michele M Comerota, Manasee Gedam, Wen Xiong, Feng Jin, Lisheng Deng, Meng C Wang, Jin Wang, Hui Zheng

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Age is the strongest risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Besides the pathological hallmarks of β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, emerging evidence demonstrates a critical role of microglia and neuroinflammation in AD pathogenesis. Oleoylethanolamide (OEA) is an endogenous lipid amide that has been shown to promote lifespan and healthspan in C. elegans through regulation of lysosome-to-nucleus signaling and cellular metabolism. The goal of our study was to determine the role of OEA in the mediation of microglial activity and AD pathology using its stable analog, KDS-5104.

METHODS: We used primary microglial cultures and genetic and …

Terror Management And The News: An Exploration Into The Effects Of Framing On Mortality Salience, Peter Montwill

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The present study explores the link between Terror Management Theory and the use of its principles within news media. Political news media in the digital age undergoes a variety of framing effects, more specifically episodic and thematic frames of stories. To induce mortality salience, college-aged participants were presented with stories framed from the perspective of an individual’s experience or a general theme of experiences regarding the controversial pro-life topic and a non-controversial hiking topic. These stories are presented in the style of Instagram posts to mirror how college-aged people consume news media. The stories also contain wording designed to induce …

Dog Tired: Examining The Relation Between Dog And/Or Cat Ownership And Owners’ Sleep, Courtney J. Bolstad

Theses and Dissertations

Sleep is an essential part of life, and obtaining quality sleep is important for various areas of functioning. Behaviors to promote sleep include physical activity, managing stress, reducing anxiety symptoms, maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, and obtaining bright light exposure. Many of these behaviors overlap with benefits observed from pet ownership (PO). The present study aimed to examine the relation between PO and sleep as well as moderators and mediators of this relation. Four research questions were examined: 1) Is PO significantly related to sleep? 2) Does gender moderate the relation between PO and sleep? 3) Do sleep-promoting behaviors (i.e., …

Csf1r Regulates Schizophrenia-Related Stress Response And Vascular Association Of Microglia/Macrophages, Ling Yan, Yanli Li, Fengmei Fan, Mengzhuang Gou, Fangling Xuan, Wei Feng, Keerthana Chithanathan, Wei Li, Junchao Huang, Hongna Li, Wenjin Chen, Baopeng Tian, Zhiren Wang, Shuping Tan, Alexander Zharkovsky, L Elliot Hong, Yunlong Tan, Li Tian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Microglia are known to regulate stress and anxiety in both humans and animal models. Psychosocial stress is the most common risk factor for the development of schizophrenia. However, how microglia/brain macrophages contribute to schizophrenia is not well established. We hypothesized that effector molecules expressed in microglia/macrophages were involved in schizophrenia via regulating stress susceptibility.

METHODS: We recruited a cohort of first episode schizophrenia (FES) patients (n = 51) and age- and sex-paired healthy controls (HCs) (n = 46) with evaluated stress perception. We performed blood RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) and brain magnetic resonance imaging, and measured plasma level of colony stimulating …

Academic Motivation Decreases Across Adolescence For Youth With And Without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Effects Of Motivation On Academic Success, Zoe Smith, Marcus Flax, Stephen P. Becker, Joshua Langberg

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This longitudinal study examined growth trajectories of academic motivation in youth with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) across the important developmental transition from middle school to high school, and associations with academic success. Consistent with self-determination theory (SDT) of motivation, trajectories of amotivation, extrinsic motivation, and intrinsic motivation were modeled.

Predicting Suicide Attempt History: Self-Report And Objective Measures Of Pain, Boriana Lassiter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

The aim of this study was to replicate a factor analysis of the Painful and Provocative Events Scale (PPES), to test whether commonly used self-report measures associated with the Interpersonal Theory of (IPTS) would predict suicide attempt status and suicidal history, and to test whether physical pain sensitivity would differentiate suicide attempers, ideators, and those with no suicidal history (controls). Factor analysis of the PPES yielded a 5-factor solution consisting of Rare and Illegal Activities, Abuse Experience, Dangerous Sports, Medical Trauma, and Body Modification. Only Abuse Experience predicted suicide attempt status and overall suicidal history. Abuse Experience, the Psychache Scale, …

A Review Of The Role Of Anxiety In Diagnosis Of Children And Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Paradigm Shift In Conceptualization And Diagnosis, Evan Wahlquist

Dissertations

Early evidence of co-occurring anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) dates back to the first descriptions of ASD by Leo Kanner (1943) and Hans Asperger (Frith & Mira, 1992). While current research has identified anxiety disorders as one of the most prevalent co-occurring disorders in children and adolescents with ASD, little is known about the nature of the relationship between these disorders. In an effort to explain these high prevalence rates, recent research has started to investigate the relationship between these two disorders. To join these efforts, this clinical research project explored the role of …

Increasing Character Strength Knowledge, Interest, And Skill: Preliminary Evidence For A Collaborative And Multimethod Assessment Procedure, Jeff J. Klibert, Michaela D. Simpson, Brandon J. Weiss, C. Thresa Yancey, Calla Pritulsky, Amy Luna, Hayley Houseman, Hani M. Samawi

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Introduction: The study’s objective was to evaluate whether a qualitative, collaborative, and multimethod assessment protocol increased reports of character strength interest, knowledge, and perceived skills.

Methods: Thirty-two participants completed three phases of data collection. Participants were first screened for well-being, which was used as an auxiliary covariate to order participants into experimental conditions. Selected participants were randomly assigned to a control or collaborative and multimethod assessment (card sort × qualitative interview) condition. Participants completed pre- and post-measures of strength interest, knowledge, and perceived skill. In the final phase, second phase participants were invited to report on strength-related outcomes 24 h …

Using Behavior Sequence Analysis To Study Teams During Long- Duration Isolation And Confinement, Andres Käosaar, Dr. Nathan Smith, Dr. David A. Keatley, Pranav Ambhorkar, Dr. Moritz Von Looz, Konstantinos Konstantinidis

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments

With a renewed impetus and appetite for human space exploration, both government-funded agencies and private companies are focusing on longer and farther crewed missions into the solar system. Such space missions rely on highly interdependent teams living and working together in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments. Understanding the behavioral patterns of teams in ICE environments is, thus, paramount for the future success of such missions. Due to the complexity of studying ICE teams, several researchers have called for methodological innovations to advance knowledge in this area. In the current research, a proof-of-concept methodological approach is introduced that provides a …

Incorporating Poi As A Therapeutic Modality For Preschool Aged Children In The Care Clinic, Danielle Zirkle

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Affect Variability And Physical Health: The Moderating Role Of Mean Affect, Brooke N. Jenkins, Lydia Q. Ong, Hee Youn (Helen) Lee, Anthony D. Ong, Julia K. Boehm

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Research has only begun to explore how affect variability relates to physical health and has typically not assessed long-term associations nor considered the moderating role of mean affect. Therefore, we used data from the Midlife in the United States Study waves 2 (N = 1512) and 3 (N = 1499) to test how affect variability predicted concurrent and long-term physical health while also testing the moderating role of mean affect. Results indicated that greater negative affect variability was associated concurrently with a greater number of chronic conditions (p = .03) and longitudinally with worse self-rated physical health (p …

A Longitudinal Investigation Of Blood Neurofilament Light Chain Levels In Chronic Cocaine Users, Francesco Bavato, Ann-Kathrin Kexel, Bruno Kluwe-Schiavon, Aleksandra Maceski, Markus R Baumgartner, Erich Seifritz, Jens Kuhle, Boris B Quednow

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The identification of a blood marker of brain pathology that is sensitive to substance-induced neurotoxicity and dynamically responds to longitudinal changes in substance intake would substantially improve clinical monitoring in the field of substance use and addiction. Here, we explored the hypothesis that plasma levels of neurofilament light chain (NfL), a promising marker of neuroaxonal pathology, are elevated in chronic cocaine users and longitudinally associated with changes in cocaine use. Plasma NfL levels were determined using single molecule array (SIMOA) technology at baseline and at a 4-month follow-up. Substance use was subjectively assessed with an extensive interview and objectively measured …

Predictors Of Self-Reported General Health Status In People Experiencing Homelessness With Serious Mental Illness, Landon Presnall, Robert Suchting, Gaybrielle Hicks, Jane Hamilton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: The growing homeless population in the U.S.A. is disproportionately impacted by poor mental and physical health status, including a higher incidence of acute and chronic health problems, increased hospitalizations, and premature mortality compared to the general population. This study examined the association between demographic, social, and clinical factors and perceptions of general health status among the homeless population during admission to an integrated behavioral health treatment program.

METHODS: The study sample included 331 adults experiencing homelessness with a serious mental illness or co-occurring disorder. Participants were enrolled in services at a day program for unsheltered homeless adults, a residential …

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder In Youth And Young Adults With Depression: Clinical Characteristics Of Comorbid Presentations, David B Riddle, Andrew Guzick, Abu Minhajuddin, Orri Smárason, Gabrielle M Armstrong, Holli Slater, Taryn L Mayes, Lynnel C Goodman, Denise L Baughn, Sarah L Martin, Sarah M Wakefield, Joseph Blader, Ryan Brown, Wayne K Goodman, Madhukar H Trivedi, Eric A Storch

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety disorders, and depressive disorders are highly comorbid, and each contribute to significant functional impairment for affected youth. Comorbid anxiety disorders in depressed youth have been associated with greater depressive symptom severity and impairment, but the impact of comorbid OCD in this population remains unclear. Accordingly, the present study examined the differential clinical characteristics of youth with depression and comorbid OCD relative to age/gender matched depressed youth with no such comorbidity and to those with depression and a comorbid (non-OCD) anxiety disorder. A sample of 797 youth and young adults ages 8-20 years who met diagnostic criteria …

On-Campus Mental Health Service Use Among College Students With Autism: A Case Study Applying The Andersen Behavioral Model Of Health Services Use, Estella C. Lilyquist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The unique set of impairments and limitations presented by students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make the accessing of campus-based nonacademic resources more difficult and complicated than their typically developed peers. Each year, the rate of students entering college with disabilities continues to grow, but their mental well-being is relatively poor. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to apply the conceptual framework of the Andersen behavioral model of health services use (ABMHSU) to the experiences of college students with ASD to understand and predict their utilization of campus-provided mental health resources. The participants were seven college students with …

Hippocampal Volume And The Detection Of Mild Cognitive Impairment In An Older Adult Population: Assessing Performance On Cognitive Screeners Administered In-Person And Electronically, Kristen Fabrizi

Dissertations

The present study investigated how performance on in-person and electronic neuropsychological assessment measures predicted subcortical hippocampal volume and cognitive decline consistent with mild cognitive impairment. It was hypothesized that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment would display better predictive strength than the Cogstate Brief Battery when evaluating subcortical hippocampal volume measured via structural magnetic resonance imaging. It was further hypothesized that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment would be more sensitive to predicting group membership to the diagnostic classification of mild cognitive impairment compared to the Cogstate Brief Battery. The sample included 445 older adult participants selected from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative 3. …