Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Prenatal Smoking And Drinking Implications For Subsequent Child Maltreatment, Nicholas Alexander Adams

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Prenatal smoking and drinking are very serious problems that have continued to plague society. They have multiple negative effects on the child both physically and cognitively. This study explored the relationship between prenatal abuse, i.e., prenatal smoking and prenatal drinking, and subsequent child physical abuse and official reports of child maltreatment. It was hypothesized that mothers who smoked or drank prenatally would be more likely to physically abuse their child postnatally and have official reports of child maltreatment. The sample included women participating in Wave III of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. N = 620 women who answered …

Coping Strategies Of Family Members Of Hospitalized Psychiatric Patients, Phyllis M. Eaton, Bertha L. Davis, Pamela V. Hammond, Esther H. Condon, Zina T. Mcgee

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

This exploratory research paper investigated the coping strategies of families of hospitalized psychiatric patients and identified their positive and negative coping strategies. In this paper, the coping strategies of 45 family members were examined using a descriptive, correlational, mixed method research approach. Guided by the Neuman Systems Model and using the Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales and semistructured interviews, this paper found that these family members used more emotion-focused coping strategies than problem-focused coping strategies. The common coping strategies used by family members were communicating with immediate family, acceptance of their situation, passive appraisal, avoidance, and spirituality. The …

Alterations In Default Network Connectivity In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Related To Early Life Trauma, Robyn L. Bluhm, Peter C. Williamson, Elizabeth A. Osuch, Paul A. Frewen, Todd K. Stevens, Kristine Boksman, Richard W.J. Neufeld, Jean Théberge, Ruth A. Lanius

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Background: The "default network" consists of a number of brain regions that exhibit correlated low-frequency activity at rest and that have been suggested to be involved in the processing of self-relevant stimuli. Activity in many of these areas has also been shown to be altered in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We hypothesized that the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus, part of the default network, would exhibit altered connectivity at rest with other areas of the default network and regions associated with PTSD.

Methods: Seventeen medicated and unmedicated female patients with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to early-life trauma …

Resting State Default-Mode Network Connectivity In Early Depression Using A Seed Region-Of-Interest Analysis: Decreased Connectivity With Caudate Nucleus, Robyn Bluhm, Peter Williamson, Ruth Lanius, Jean Théberge, Maria Densmore, Robert Bartha, Richard Neufeld, Elizabeth Osuch

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Aim: Reports on resting brain activity in healthy controls have described a default-mode network (DMN) and important differences in DMN connectivity have emerged for several psychiatric conditions. No study to date, however, has investigated resting-state DMN in relatively early depression before years of medication treatment. The objective of the present study was, therefore, to investigate the DMN in patients seeking help from specialized mental health services for the first time for symptoms of depression.

Methods: Fourteen depressed subjects and 15 matched controls were scanned using 4-T functional magnetic resonance imaging while resting with eyes closed. All but one subject was …

Factor Analysis Of The Borderline Personality Inventory Using Item Response Theory, Courtney Mozo

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The current study used a sample of 251 undergraduate females &om Old Dominion University to assess the item properties of the Borderline Personality Inventory (BPI). The BPI is a true/false self-report instrument used to measure borderline personality disorder. The BPI was created using classical test theory techniques, and traditional methods were used to assess the scale's properties (Leichsenring, 1999). Due to the dichotomous nature of the BPI, traditional classical test theory techniques are not ideal. The current study used Item Response Theory (IRT) to characterize the scale and item properties. The study was conducted using an online survey that also …

Schizophrenics, Cyborgs And The Pitfalls Of Posthumanism, Angela Woods

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[Editors' Introduction]

In Schizophrenics, Cyborgs and the Pitfalls of Posthumanism, Angela Woods invites us to revisit two canonical analyses of the postmodern: Fredric Jameson's Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism and Donna Haraway's A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology and Socialist Feminism in the 1980s. Jameson and Haraway introduced to contemporary cultural criticism two posthumanist icons: the schizophrenic, a pathologized victim of postmodernity, and the cyborg, a vision of strategic posthuman subjectivity. In her timely and critical analysis of these articles, Woods challenges the established notion of an oppositional relationship between the schizophrenic and the cyborg. She turns …

Creating Individual Behavior Change Through 360-Degree Feedback: A Development Pipeline Perspective, Victoria Cole Stage

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Ensuring that individuals develop new and more productive behaviors on the job is a challenge for many organizations and a focus of time, effort, and energy spent on programs to facilitate this change. This research was an effort to validate and utilize a framework for understanding how efforts toward individual development are restricted. To do this, I used a new 360-degree feedback instrument called “Time 2 Change” that measures self, manager, direct report, and peer/colleague perceptions of change in the individual. This instrument also measures the individual's perceptions of development enablers, in a framework called a Development Pipeline. As a …

How Individuals Understand Depression: Attributions, Stigma, And Treatment Recommendations, Erin A. Pladsen

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined participants' beliefs/attributions about depression, their help seeking recommendations for depressed individuals, and the stigma associated with depression. Participants were asked to read a vignette that described a target person who is suffering from depression, and they were asked to complete various questionnaires based upon the vignette. Overall, the results indicated that individuals did not possess negative attitudes toward mental illness, that individuals more strongly recommended professional mental health assistance, and that individuals did not tend to stigmatize depressed individuals. Results did indicate that the label of depression and the gender of the target person affected provider type …

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Considering The Impact Of Educational Institutions And Teacher Perceptions, Cynthia S. Glass

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This research examines teacher perceptions about the nature of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ("ADHD") and the teaching strategies used to work with students who display ADHD behaviors. It also examines the relationship between classroom size and perception of incidence of ADHD within the classroom.

Results indicate that older and more experienced teachers are more flexible than younger, less experienced teachers in their teaching strategies when working with students who display ADHD behaviors. Teachers who received information about ADHD from their school administration utilized flexible methods more often than those who did not receive information. The proportion of students identified as …

Transgenerational Attachment, Life Stress, And The Development Of Disruptive Behavior In Preschool Children, Mary Jane Call

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

While a great deal of research focuses on representations of attachment, behavioral disorders, and life stress separately, research integrating these concepts has just recently begun (DeKlyen, 1996). The current study focuses on the links between transgenerational attachment, life stress, maternal psychopathology, and the development of behavior problems in preschool boys. Participants included 52 mothers of preschool boys (Mean Age = 56 months) who attended private preschool (N = 23) or a Head Start Program (N = 29). Participants completed a battery of assessment instruments including the Attachment Style Inventory (ASI) (Sperling & Berman, 1991), the Q-Set (Waters & Deane, 1985), …

The Effect Of Pre-Exposure To Sucrose On The Acquisition And Extinction Of A Conditioned Aversion, Shirlee Fenwick

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Twenty-eight female, water deprived rats were given 5 minutes access to sucrose for either 1,7,14, or 21 days. They were then given LiC1 injections every third day until an aversion to the sucrose developed. The results indicated that as amount of pre-exposure to sucrose increased, the number of illnesses required to develop an aversion increased. Also, the rate of extinction of the conditioned aversion was inversely related to the number of exposures required. to establish the aversion.