Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Age Differences In Stress And Coping: Problem-Focused Strategies Mediate The Relationship Between Age And Positive Affect, Yiwei Chen, Yisheng Peng, Huanzhen Xu, William H. O'Brien

Psychology Faculty Publications

The present study examined the different types of stressors experienced by adults of different ages, their coping strategies, and positive/negative affect. A mediation hypothesis of coping strategies was tested on the relationships between age and positive/negative affect. One-hundred and ninety-six community-dwelling adults (age range 18-89 years old) reported the most stressful situation they experienced in the past month and coping strategies. Levels of positive and negative affect in the past month were also measured. Content analysis revealed age differences in different types of stressors adults reported. Three types of coping strategies were found: problem-focused, positive emotion-focused, and negative emotion-focused coping. …

Social Rejection Magnifies Impulsive Behavior Among Individuals With Greater Negative Urgency: An Experimental Test Of Urgency Theory, David S. Chester, Donald R. Lynam, Richard S. Milich, C. Nathan Dewall

Psychology Faculty Publications

Impulsivity is a multifaceted trait with substantial implications for human well-being. One facet of impulsivity is negative urgency, the tendency to act impulsively in response to negative affect. Correlational evidence suggests that negative affect magnifies impulsive behavior among individuals with greater negative urgency, yet causal evidence for this core pillar of urgency theory is lacking. To fill this gap in the literature, participants (N = 363) were randomly assigned to experience social rejection (a situation shown to induce negative affect) or acceptance. Participants then reported their subjective negative affect, completed a behavioral measure of impulsivity, and reported their negative …

Stimulus-Selectivity Of Drug Purchase Tasks: A Preliminary Study Evaluating Alcohol And Cigarette Demand, Justin Charles Strickland, William W. Stoops

Psychology Faculty Publications

The use of drug purchase tasks to measure drug demand in human behavioral pharmacology and addiction research has proliferated in recent years. Few studies have systematically evaluated the stimulus selectivity of drug purchase tasks to demonstrate that demand metrics are specific to valuation of or demand for the commodity under study. Stimulus selectivity is broadly defined for this purpose as a condition under which a specific stimulus input or target (e.g., alcohol, cigarettes) is the primary determinant of behavior (e.g., demand). The overall goal of the present study was to evaluate the stimulus selectivity of drug purchase tasks. Participants were …

Cytomegalovirus Serostatus, Inflammation, And Antibody Response To Influenza Vaccination In Older Adults: The Moderating Effect Of Beta Blockade, Rebecca G. Reed, Richard N. Greenberg, Suzanne C. Segerstrom

Psychology Faculty Publications

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been implicated as a factor in immunosenescence, including poor antibody response to vaccination and higher immune activation and inflammation. Some people may be more or less vulnerable to the negative effects of CMV. The present investigation tested the effects of beta-blocker use and chronological age on the associations between CMV and immunity in adults aged 60–91 (N=98; 69% CMV seropositive) who were administered the trivalent influenza vaccine for up to 5 years. Peak antibody response, corrected for baseline, and spring (persistent) antibody response, corrected for peak, were assessed, as well as beta-2 microglobulin (β2μ) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). …

Curbing The Dui Offender's Self-Efficacy To Drink And Drive: A Laboratory Study, Walter Roberts, Mark T. Fillmore

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background—People arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) are at high risk to reoffend. One reason for this high rate of recidivism among DUI offenders is that these individuals systematically underestimate the degree to which alcohol impairs their ability to drive. This study compared perceived and objective driving ability following alcohol and performance feedback in drivers with and without a history of DUI.

Method—Adult drivers with (n = 20) and without (n = 20) a history of DUI arrest attended two dose challenge sessions where they received 0.64 g/kg alcohol or placebo, completed a simulated driving …

Prosecutors’ Perceptions On Questioning Children About Repeated Abuse, Kim Roberts, Martine Powell, Kimberlee S. Burrows, Sonja P. Brubacher

Psychology Faculty Publications

The purpose of the present study was to elicit guidance from prosecutors across Australia on questioning children about repeated events. Two focus groups were conducted; the first sought broad feedback concerning questioning children about repeated events. The second focused more specifically on eliciting feedback about techniques for aiding children in describing specific instances of repeated events. These techniques were derived either from empirical research, best practice interview guidelines, or both. Data from both focus groups were compiled because themes were highly similar. Thematic analysis of the focus group discussions revealed three broad themes in prosecutors’ perceptions about questioning children about …

Why Be Moral? Moral Identity Motivation And Age, Tobias Krettenauer, Rosemary Victor

Psychology Faculty Publications

Moral identity research up to date has largely failed to provide evidence for developmental trends in moral identity presumably because of restrictions in the age range of studies and the use of moral identity measures that are insensitive to age-related change. The present study investigated moral identity motivation across a broad age range (14-65 years, N = 252, M = 33.48 years) using a modified version of the Good-Self Assessment Interview (Arnold, 1993). Individuals' moral identity motivation was coded and categorized as external, internal or relationship-oriented. It was found that with age external moral identity motivation decreased, whereas internal moral …

Drinking To Cope With Depressive Symptoms And Ruminative Thinking: A Multiple Mediation Model Among College Students, Adrian J. Bravo, Matthew R. Pearson, James M. Henson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Understanding the potential psychosocial mechanisms that explain (i.e., mediate) the associations between depressive symptoms and alcohol-related problems can improve interventions targeting college students.

Objectives: The current research examined four distinct facets of rumination (e.g., problem-focused thoughts, counterfactual thinking, repetitive thoughts, and anticipatory thoughts) and drinking to cope motives as potential explanatory mechanisms by which depressive symptoms are associated with increased alcohol-related problems.

Method: Participants were undergraduate students from a large, southeastern university in the United States that consumed at least one drink per typical week in the previous month (n = 403). The majority of participants were female ( …

Protective Behavioral Strategies As A Context-Specific Mediator: A Multilevel Examination Of Within- And Between-Person Associations Of Daily Drinking, Abby L. Braitman, Ashley N. Linden-Carmichael, James M. Henson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Research indicates that a drinker’s environmental and social context can be differentially associated with drinking outcomes. Further, although many researchers have identified that more frequent use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS) is associated with lower alcohol consumption and negative consequences, scant research has examined how one’s drinking context may promote or hinder PBS use. The present study examined how the context of drinking each day (i.e., where and with whom) is associated with level of consumption and reported alcohol-related problems among n = 284 college drinkers (69.0% female) directly, as well as indirectly through the use of PBS. Two different …

Alcohol Use And Strenuous Physical Activity In College Students: A Longitudinal Test Of 2 Explanatory Models Of Health Behavior, Heather A. Davis, Elizabeth N. Riley, Gregory T. Smith, Richard S. Milich, Jessica L. Burris

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: To help clarify the effect of gender on the bidirectional relationship between alcohol use and strenuous physical activity in college students. Participants: Five hundred twenty-four (52% female) college students recruited in August 2008 and 2009 and followed up in April 2009 and April 2011, respectively. Methods: Participants reported their alcohol use and strenuous physical activity on 2 occasions (baseline and follow-up) spaced approximately 1 or 2 years apart. Results: For females, alcohol use quantity at baseline was associated with increased strenuous physical activity at 1- and 2-year follow-ups, and alcohol use frequency at baseline was …

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Alters Auditory-Motor Integration For Voice Control, Weifeng Li, Ziyi Chen, Nan Yan, Jeffery A. Jones, Zhiqiang Guo, Xiyan Huang, Shaozhen Chen, Peng Liu, Hanjun Liu

Psychology Faculty Publications

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common drug-refractory focal epilepsy in adults. Previous research has shown that patients with TLE exhibit decreased performance in listening to speech sounds and deficits in the cortical processing of auditory information. Whether TLE compromises auditory-motor integration for voice control, however, remains largely unknown. To address this question, event-related potentials (ERPs) and vocal responses to vocal pitch errors (1/2 or 2 semitones upward) heard in auditory feedback were compared across 28 patients with TLE and 28 healthy controls. Patients with TLE produced significantly larger vocal responses but smaller P2 responses than healthy controls. Moreover, …

Transdiagnostic Psychiatric Symptoms And Event-Related Potentials Following Rewarding And Aversive Outcomes, Jeffrey S. Bedwell, Geoffrey Potts, Diane C. Gooding, Benjamin J. Trachik, Chi C. Chan, Christopher C. Spencer

Psychology Faculty Publications

There is a need for a better understanding of transdiagnostic psychiatric symptoms that relate to neurophysiological abnormalities following rewarding and aversive feedback in order to inform development of novel targeted treatments. To address this need, we examined a transdiagnostic sample of 44 adults (mean age: 35.52; 57% female), which consisted of individuals with broadly-defined schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (n = 16), bipolar disorders (n = 10), other mood and anxiety disorders (n = 5), and no history of a psychiatric disorder (n = 13). Participants completed a Pavlovian monetary reward prediction task during 32-channel electroencephalogram recording. We assessed the event-related potentials (ERPs) …

Binding An Event To Its Source At Encoding Improves Children's Source Monitoring, Kim Roberts, Angela Evans, Sara Duncanson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Children learn information from a variety of sources and often remember the content but forget the source. While the majority of research has focused on retrieval mechanisms for such difficulties, the present investigation examines whether the way in which sources are encoded influences future source monitoring. In Study 1, 86 children aged 3 to 8 years participated in two photography sessions on different days. Children were randomly assigned to either the Difference condition (they were asked to pay attention to differences between the two events), the Memory control condition (asked to pay attention with no reference to differences), or the …

Challenges Facing East Asian Immigrant Children In Sexual Abuse Cases, Kim Roberts, Hongyuan Qi, Huan Zhang

Psychology Faculty Publications

Immigrants from East Asia make up 14.21% of the total number of immigrants in Canada. These families face many challenges as they acculturate to North America but, sadly, some of these children may be at risk for sexual abuse. In this position paper, we outline the ways in which East Asian children are at a particular disadvantage when considering prosecution of those who perpetrate abuse compared to Western non-immigrant children. We focus specifically on two areas of concern: 1) Cultural differences that can impact the disclosure of sexual abuse; and, 2) Language differences which reduce the chances that perpetrators will …

Narratives Of Resistance: (Re) Telling The Story Of The Hiv/Aids Movement – Because The Lives And Legacies Of Black, Indigenous, And People Of Colour Communities Depend On It, Ciann L. Wilson, Sarah Flicker, Jean-Paul Restoule, Ellis Furman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Centering the narratives of the intersectional struggles within the HIV movement for Indigenous sovereignty, Black and People of Colour liberation, and LGBTQ rights tirelessly fought for by Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour communities legitimates their lives and legacies within the movement; and the relevance of a focused response to the HIV epidemic that continues to wreak devastation in these communities. The recent political push for a post-HIV era solely centers the realities of middle-class white, gay men and has genocidal implications for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour communities.

The Course And Interrelationship Of Maternal And Paternal Perinatal Depression, James F. Paulson, Sharnail D. Bazemore, Janice H. Goodman, Jenn A. Leiferman

Psychology Faculty Publications

The aims of the study were to describe course of depression in both mothers and fathers from the third trimester of pregnancy through 6 months postpartum and to examine the relationship between maternal and paternal depression. Hypotheses were as follows: (a) Depressive symptoms would be correlated between parents and (b) earlier depressive symptoms in one parent would predict later increases in depression in the other. Eighty cohabitating primiparous couples were recruited from prenatal OBGYN visits and community agencies and enrolled during pregnancy, between 28-week gestation and delivery. Participants completed measures of depression on four occasions: baseline and 1, 3, and …

Training Of Working Memory Impacts Neural Processing Of Vocal Pitch Regulation, Weifeng Li, Xiangqian Guo, Jeffery A. Jones, Xiyan Huang, Xi Chen, Peng Liu, Shaozhen Chen, Hanjun Liu

Psychology Faculty Publications

Working memory training can improve the performance of tasks that were not trained. Whether auditory-motor integration for voice control can benefit from working memory training, however, remains unclear. The present event-related potential (ERP) study examined the impact of working memory training on the auditory-motor processing of vocal pitch. Trained participants underwent adaptive working memory training using a digit span backwards paradigm, while control participants did not receive any training. Before and after training, both trained and control participants were exposed to frequency-altered auditory feedback while producing vocalizations. After training, trained participants exhibited significantly decreased N1 amplitudes and increased P2 amplitudes …

Transfer Effect Of Speech-Sound Learning On Auditory-Motor Processing Of Perceived Vocal Pitch Errors, Zhaocong Chen, Francis C.K. Wong, Jeffery A. Jones, Weifeng Li, Peng Liu, Xi Chen, Hanjun Liu

Psychology Faculty Publications

Speech perception and production are intimately linked. There is evidence that speech motor learning results in changes to auditory processing of speech. Whether speech motor control benefits from perceptual learning in speech, however, remains unclear. This event-related potential study investigated whether speech-sound learning can modulate the processing of feedback errors during vocal pitch regulation. Mandarin speakers were trained to perceive five Thai lexical tones while learning to associate pictures with spoken words over 5 days. Before and after training, participants produced sustained vowel sounds while they heard their vocal pitch feedback unexpectedly perturbed. As compared to the pre-training session, the …

Good Fences Make For Good Neighbors But Bad Science: A Review Of What Improves Bayesian Reasoning And Why, W. Trey Hill

Psychology Faculty Publications

Bayesian reasoning, defined here as the updating of a posterior probability following new information, has historically been problematic for humans. Classic psychology experiments have tested human Bayesian reasoning through the use of word problems and have evaluated each participant’s performance against the normatively correct answer provided by Bayes’ theorem. The standard finding is of generally poor performance. Over the past two decades, though, progress has been made on how to improve Bayesian reasoning. Most notably, research has demonstrated that the use of frequencies in a natural sampling framework—as opposed to single-event probabilities—can improve participants’ Bayesian estimates. Furthermore, pictorial aids and …

Brief Report: Evidence Of Ingroup Bias On The Shooter Task In A Saudi Sample, Timothy P. Schofield, Timothy Deckman, Christopher P. Garris, C. Nathan Dewall, Thomas F. Denson

Psychology Faculty Publications

When predominantly White participants in Western countries are asked to shoot individuals in a computer game who may carry weapons, they show a greater bias to shoot at outgroup members and people stereotyped as dangerous. The goal was to determine the extent to which shooter biases in the Middle East would vary as a function of target ethnicity and culturally appropriate or inappropriate headgear. Within a sample of 37 male Saudi Arabian residents, we examined shooter biases outside of Western nations for the first time. Targets in this task were either White or Middle Eastern in appearance, and wore either …

Beyond The Colonial Divide: African Diasporic And Indigenous Youth Alliance Building For Hiv Prevention, Ciann L. Wilson

Psychology Faculty Publications

African diasporic and North American Indigenous communities have both been greatly impacted by the colonization of the Americas. Historic and contemporary relations between these communities have been fraught with complex commonalities, contradictions and conflicts. These communities have remained connected across time and space through their shared and distinct histories of resistance and oppression. Both communities have suffered the embodiment of systemic violence in the form of elevated rates of communicable and chronic diseases such as HIV. This paper examines the decolonizing potential of collaboration between these two communities in their response to HIV. It begins by unpacking the history of …

Tweeting About Sexism: The Well-Being Benefits Of A Social Media Collective Action., Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although collective action has psychological benefits in non-gendered contexts (e.g., Drury et al., 2005), the benefits for women taking action against gender discrimination are unclear. This study examined how a popular, yet unexplored potential form of collective action, namely tweeting about sexism, affects women’s well-being. Women read about sexism and were randomly assigned to tweet, or to one of three control groups. Content analyses showed tweets exhibited collective intent and action. Analyses of linguistic markers suggested public tweeters used more cognitive complexity in their language than private tweeters. Profile analyses showed that compared to controls, only public tweeters showed decreasing …

The Nichd Protocol: A Review Of An Internationally-Used Evidence-Based Tool For Training Child Forensic Interviewers, David La Rooy, Sonja P. Brubacher, Anu Aromäki-Stratos, Mireille Cyr, Irit Hershkowitz, Julia Korkman, Trond Myklebust, Makiko Naka, Carlos E. Peixoto, Kim Roberts, Heather Stewart, Michael E. Lamb

Psychology Faculty Publications

This article reviews an evidence-based tool for training child forensic interviewers called the NICHD Protocol, and the relevant research on: children’s memory development; communication; suggestibility; the importance of open-prompts, and challenges associated with interview training. We include international contributions from experienced trainers, practitioners, and scientists, who are already using the Protocol or whose national or regional procedures have been directly influenced by the NICHD Protocol research (Canada, Finland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, and United States). Throughout the review, these experts comment on: how and when the Protocol was adopted in their country; who uses it; challenges to implementation …

Developmental Differences In The Ability To Provide Temporal Information About Repeated Events, Kim P. Roberts, Sonja P. Brubacher, Donna M. Drohan-Jennings, Una Glisic, Martine B. Powell, William J. Friedman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Children (n = 372) aged 4 - 8 years participated in 1 or 4 occurrences of a similar event and were interviewed 1 week later. Compared to 85% of children who participated once, less than 25% with repeated experience gave the exact number of times they participated, although all knew they participated more than once. Children with repeated experience were asked additional temporal questions and there were clear developmental differences. Older children were more able than younger children to judge relative order and temporal position of the four occurrences. They also demonstrated improved temporal memory for the first and …

Observations From Canadian Practitioners About The Investigation And Prosecution Of Crimes Involving Child And Adult Witnesses, Sean Curtis Cameron, Kim P. Roberts

Psychology Faculty Publications

Hundreds of scientific studies on the competencies and limitations of eyewitnesses have been published, but few have sought input from front-line forensic interviewers. In the current study, a research agenda was established with in-depth input from 13 forensic interviewers. Interviewers indicated which techniques they use most often, rated the usefulness of various interview techniques, and disclosed common challenges when interviewing. Although many recommended techniques were used (e.g., the Cognitive Interview and Rapport Building), some techniques shown to be effective in eliciting quality testimony in scientific studies were not always used or considered useful by front-line interviewers (e.g., permission to correct …

Pharmacological Interventions For Somatoform Disorders In Adults, Maria Kleinstäuber, Michael Witthöft, Andrés Steffanowski, Harm Van Marwijk, Wolfgang Hiller, Michael J. Lambert

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Somatoform disorders are characterised by chronic, medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS). Although different medications are part of treatment routines for people with somatoform disorders in clinics and private practices, there exists no systematic review or meta‐analysis on the efficacy and tolerability of these medications. We aimed to synthesise to improve optimal treatment decisions. Objectives: To assess the effects of pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders (specifically somatisation disorder, undifferentiated somatoform disorder, somatoform autonomic dysfunction, and pain disorder) in adults. Search methods: We searched the Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Review Group's Specialised Register (CCDANCTR) (to 17 January 2014). This register …

Non-Pharmacological Interventions For Somatoform Disorders And Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms (Mups) In Adults, Nikki Van Dessel, Madelon Den Boeft, Johannes C. Van Der Wouden, Maria Kleinstäuber, Stephanie S. Leone, Berend Terluin, Mattijs E. Numans, Henriëtte E. Van Der Horst, Harm Van Marwijk

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) are physical symptoms for which no adequate medical explanation can be found after proper examination. The presence of MUPS is the key feature of conditions known as 'somatoform disorders'. Various psychological and physical therapies have been developed to treat somatoform disorders and MUPS. Although there are several reviews on non‐pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders and MUPS, a complete overview of the whole spectrum is missing. Objectives: To assess the effects of non‐pharmacological interventions for somatoform disorders (specifically somatisation disorder, undifferentiated somatoform disorder, somatoform disorders unspecified, somatoform autonomic dysfunction, pain disorder, and alternative somatoform diagnoses …

The Role Of Executive Function In Children's Source Monitoring With Varying Retrieval Strategies, Kim P. Roberts, Becky Earhart

Psychology Faculty Publications

Previous research on the relationship between executive function and source monitoring in young children has been inconclusive, with studies finding conflicting results about whether working memory and inhibitory control are related to source-monitoring ability. In this study, the role of working memory and inhibitory control in recognition memory and source monitoring with two different retrieval strategies were examined. Children (N = 263) aged 4–8 participated in science activities with two sources. They were later given a recognition and source-monitoring test, and completed measures of working memory and inhibitory control. During the source-monitoring test, half of the participants were asked …

Tms-Induced Neural Noise In Sensory Cortex Interferes With Short-Term Memory Storage In Prefrontal Cortex, Tyler D. Bancroft, Jeremy Hogeveen, William E. Hockley, Philip Servos

Psychology Faculty Publications

In a previous study, Harris et al. (2002) found disruption of vibrotactile short-term memory after applying single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to primary somatosensory cortex (SI) early in the maintenance period, and suggested that this demonstrated a role for SI in vibrotactile memory storage. While such a role is compatible with recent suggestions that sensory cortex is the storage substrate for working memory, it stands in contrast to a relatively large body of evidence from human EEG and single-cell recording in primates that instead points to prefrontal cortex as the storage substrate for vibrotactile memory. In the present study, we …

Condoms And Contradictions: Assessing Sexual Health Knowledge In Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, And Queer Youth Labelled With Intellectual Disabilities, Ciann L. Wilson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Accessible, culturally relevant data collection tools to assess the sexual health knowledge of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) young people labelled with intellectual disabilities are sparse.

Materials and Methods: Using community-based participatory research (CBPR) we piloted a variety of interactive activities designed to assess the sexual health knowledge and decision making skills of LGBTQ young people with intellectual disabilities.

Results: Posters created by youth participants suggested substantial sexual health knowledge and empowerment, while individual knowledge assessment scores indicated a range in understanding of risks and strategies to avoid pregnancy, HIV and herpes.

Conclusions: These findings reinforce …