Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Resting Cerebral Oxygen Metabolism Exhibits Archetypal Network Features, Nicholas A. Hubbard, Monroe P. Turner, Kevin R. Sitek, Kathryn L. West, Jakub R. Kaczmarzyk, Lyndahl Himes, Binu P. Thomas, Hanzhang Lu, Bart Rypma

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Standard magnetic resonance imaging approaches offer high-resolution but indirect measures of neural activity, limiting understanding of the physiological processes associated with imaging findings. Here, we used calibrated functional magnetic resonance imaging during the resting state to recover low-frequency fluctuations of the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2). We tested whether functional connections derived from these fluctuations exhibited organization properties similar to those established by previous standard functional and anatomical connectivity studies. Seventeen participants underwent 20 min of resting imaging during dual-echo, pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling, and blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal acquisition. Participants also underwent a 10 min normocapnic and hypercapnic …

Prenatal Maternal Psychological Distress And Fetal Developmental Trajectories: Associations With Infant Temperament, Mariann A. Howland, Curt A. Sandman, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Associations between prenatal maternal psychological distress and offspring developmental outcomes are well documented, yet relatively little research has examined links between maternal distress and development in utero, prior to postpartum influences. Fetal heart rate (FHR) parameters are established indices of central and autonomic nervous system maturation and function which demonstrate continuity with postnatal outcomes. This prospective, longitudinal study of 149 maternal–fetal pairs evaluated associations between prenatal maternal distress, FHR parameters, and dimensions of infant temperament. Women reported their symptoms of psychological distress at five prenatal visits, and FHR monitoring was conducted at the last three visits. Maternal report of infant …

Sex Differences And Psychological Stress: Responses To The Covid-19 Pandemic In China, Shiyan Yan, Rui Xu, Terry D. Stratton, Voyko Kavcic, Dan Luo, Fengsu Hou, Fengying Bi, Rong Jiao, Kangxing Song, Yang Jiang

Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: About 83,000 COVID-19 patients were confirmed in China up to May 2020. Amid the well-documented threats to physical health, the effects of this public health crisis - and the varied efforts to contain its spread - have altered individuals' "normal" daily functioning. These impacts on social, psychological, and emotional well-being remain relatively unexplored - in particular, the ways in which Chinese men and women experience and respond to potential behavioral stressors. Our study investigated sex differences in psychological stress, emotional reactions, and behavioral responses to COVID-19 and related threats among Chinese residents.

METHODS: In late February (2020), an anonymous …

A Predictable Home Environment May Protect Child Mental Health During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Laura M. Glynn, Elyssia Poggi Davis, Joan L. Luby, Tallie Z. Baram, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

Information about the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent and adult mental health is growing, yet the impacts on preschool children are only emerging. Importantly, environmental factors that augment or protect from the multidimensional and stressful influences of the pandemic on emotional development of young children are poorly understood.

Methods

Depressive symptoms in 169 preschool children (mean age 4.1 years) were assessed with the Preschool Feelings Checklist during a state-wide stay-at-home order in Southern California. Mothers (46% Latinx) also reported on externalizing behaviors with the Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire. To assess the role of environmental factors in …

Recallable But Not Recognizable: The Influence Of Semantic Priming In Recall Paradigms, Jason D. Ozubko, Lindsey Ann Sirianni, Fahad N. Ahmad, Colin M. Macleod, Richard Addante

Psychology Faculty Publications

When people can successfully recall a studied word, they should be able to recognize it as having been studied. In cued-recall paradigms, however, participants sometimes correctly recall words in the presence of strong semantic cues but then fail to recognize those words as actually having been studied. Although the conditions necessary to produce this unusual effect are known, the underlying neural correlates have not been investigated. Across five experiments, involving both behavioral and electrophysiological methods (EEG), we investigated the cognitive and neural processes that underlie recognition failures. Experiments 1 and 2 showed behaviorally that assuming that recalled items can be …

Neural Correlates Of The Dunning-Kruger Effect, Alana Muller, Lindsey A. Sirianni, Richard Addante

Psychology Faculty Publications

The Dunning-Kruger effect (DKE) is a metacognitive phenomenon of illusory superiority in which individuals who perform poorly on a task believe they performed better than others, yet individuals who performed very well believe they under-performed compared to others. This phenomenon has yet to be directly explored in episodic memory, nor explored for physiological correlates or reaction times. We designed a novel method to elicit the DKE via a test of item recognition while electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. Throughout the task, participants were asked to estimate the percentile in which they performed compared to others. Results revealed participants in the bottom …

Agrp Neurons Trigger Long-Term Potentiation And Facilitate Food Seeking, Chunmei Wang, Wenjun Zhou, Yang He, Tiffany Yang, Pingwen Xu, Yongjie Yang, Xing Cai, Julia Wang, Hesong Liu, Meng Yu, Chen Liang, Tingting Yang, Hailan Liu, Makoto Fukuda, Qingchun Tong, Qi Wu, Zheng Sun, Yanlin He, Yong Xu

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Sufficient feeding is essential for animals' survival, which requires a cognitive capability to facilitate food seeking, but the neurobiological processes regulating food seeking are not fully understood. Here we show that stimulation of agouti-related peptide-expressing (AgRP) neurons triggers a long-term depression (LTD) of spontaneous excitatory post-synaptic current (sEPSC) in adjacent pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons and in most of their distant synaptic targets, including neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT). The AgRP-induced sEPCS LTD can be enhanced by fasting but blunted by satiety signals, e.g. leptin and insulin. Mice subjected to food-seeking tasks develop similar neural plasticity in AgRP-innervated …

A Latinx Critical Race Theoretical Approach To Testimonios Of Latinx School Psychologists, Karen Yulieann Ramírez

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

As a Latina school psychologist, I use Latinx Critical Race framework with testimonios as methodology to document the individual and collective experiences and perspectives of six Latinx school psychologists in urban and suburban school settings regarding the role that race plays in the special education process. Their testimonios reveal how they are racialized in their profession through their intersecting identities of race, ethnicity, culture, and language. In particular, they testify to their everyday experiences of racial microaggressions, in which they are viewed through a deficit lens by supervisors, colleagues, and the parents of the students they serve. In addition, their …

The Science Of Happiness And Its Effect On Professional Quality Of Life In Mental Health Providers, Mona E. Yeary

DNP Research Projects

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The science of happiness is part of the field of positive psychology, which should not be confused with positive thinking, self-help, or religious beliefs, but is considered a scientific evidence- based practice. The purpose of this quantitative, descriptive, study was to examine the relationship of education on the science of happiness and a gratitude intervention on subjective happiness and professional quality of life of mental health care providers.

METHODS: The mental healthcare providers for this study included psychiatrists, advanced practice nurses, physician’s assistants, psychologists, social -work and registered nurses in a large medical system in Tennessee …

The Effect Of Physical Activity On The Mental Health Of Pre-Nursing Students And Undergraduate Student Nurses, Larinda J. Fandrich

DNP Research Projects

Abstract

Mental health concerns are on the rise among the college-aged student. College students face a great deal of stress, which can lead to depression and anxiety. Nursing students, as a sub-group of college students, are under even greater stress related to rigorous course work and the responsibility of caring for other people, which can lead to greater depression and anxiety. This study aimed to determine what effect, if any, physical activity has on depression and anxiety scores using the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 instruments in pre-nursing and nursing students. In this study, physical activity is defined as is “any bodily …

The Green Rx: An Intervention In Nurse Anxiety And Depression, Melissa Dawley

DNP Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Specialists In Name Or Practice? The Inclusion Of Transgender And Gender Diverse Identities In Online Materials Of Gender Specialists, Natalie Holt, Robyn E. King, Richard Mocarski, Nathan Woodruff, Debra A. Hope

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

Recommendations for health care providers working with transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals emphasize affirming clients’ identities, such as using correct pronouns and name, however it is unknown how often gender specialists adhere to such recommendations. Websites and intake forms of gender specialists were coded for use of affirming language, asking for pronouns and chosen name, and mention of TGD specialties and resources. Most websites identified the provider’s specialty to work with TGD individuals, though much fewer provided additional resources concerning TGD issues and only half of intake forms included affirming language. Given previous research that has demonstrated providers working …

Psychometric Evaluation Of The Transgender Congruence Scale, T. Zachary Huit, Allura L. Ralston, J, Kyle Haws, Natalie Holt, Debra A. Hope, Jae Puckett, Richard Mocarski, Nathan Woodruff

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

Introduction Despite increased attention to transgender and gender diverse (TGD) issues in psychological literature during the past decade, gaps remain for psychometric validation of TGD-specific measures. Kozee et al. (Psychology of Women Quarterly 36(2):179–196, 2012) addressed such gaps by creating the Transgender Congruence Scale (TCS), measuring gender acceptance and feelings of gender congruence between internal and external attributes across a broad range of gender identities. The current study extended Kozee and colleagues’ work by further examining the psychometric properties of the TCS.

Methods Between October and November of 2017, 210 transmasculine, transfeminine, and gender diverse adults between ages 19 …

Improving Psychological Trauma Awareness For Culturally Responsive Care: A Dnp Project, Jose M. Cruz

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Racism and racial discrimination occur in a variety of forms (Kendi, 2017). Both can contribute to poor mental health outcomes in the United States (Alvarez, Liang, & Neville, 2016; Comas-Diaz, Hall, & Neville, 2019; Levy, 2019; Malott & Schaefle, 2015; Williams, Lawrence, Davis, & Vu, 2019). These social conditions have been identified as chronic stressors that can illicit trauma symptoms, result in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and contribute to increased suicidality (French et al., 2020). Providers should understand the ramifications of the psychological trauma that can occur and endeavor to deliver evidence-based solutions. This doctoral project was designed to develop, …

Nurse Practitioners’ Knowledge And Perceptions Regarding Substance Use, Audrey Bailey, Paden Dawkins, Amber Hankins, Erin Mckinney

MSN Research Projects

Substance use disorder (SUD) is an illness impacting many people today and continues to not be truly understood, even by providers. To gain a greater understanding of this issue in relation to nurse practitioners, the researchers surveyed nurse practitioners in the Southeastern United States. The goal of the study was to identify knowledge and perceptions of nurse practitioners regarding substance use and misuse. Watson’s Theory of Caring was used to guide the study. The research questions that guided this study were 1. Do nurse practitioners have a bias toward patients with substance use disorder, and 2. Do nurse practitioners believe …

Somatosensory Dysfunction Is Masked By Variable Cognitive Deficits Across Patients On The Alzheimer’S Disease Spectrum, Alex I. Wiesman, Victoria M. Mundorf, Chloe C. Casagrande, Sara L. Wolfson, Craig M. Johnson, Pamela E. May, Daniel L. Murman, Tony W. Wilson

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is generally thought to spare primary sensory function; however, such interpretations have drawn from a literature that has rarely taken into account the variable cognitive declines seen in patients with AD. As these cognitive domains are now known to modulate cortical somato-sensory processing, it remains possible that abnormalities in somatosensory function in patients with AD have been suppressed by neuropsychological variability in previous research. Methods: In this study, we combine magnetoencephalographic (MEG) brain imaging during a paired-pulse somatosensory gating task with an extensive battery of neuropsychological tests to investigate the influence of cognitive variability on estimated …

Parenting Stress And Child Disruptive Behaviors: The Mediating Role Of Parental Negative Talk, David Roehm

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

High parental stress and child disruptive behaviors tend to coexist. Furthermore, parental negative talk towards children cam impair child functioning later in life. In the present study, we sought to determine whether parental negative talk was a mediating variable between parenting stress and child disruptive behaviors. Fifty-two parent-child dyads from Eastern Kentucky participated in an analog Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) behavioral observation and parents were given self-report measures for parenting stress and child disruptive behaviors.

Bivariate and multiple regression analyses were used to predict variance in child disruptive behaviors based on parenting stress with parental negative talk as a mediating …

A Solution For Breaking The Impasse Of Burnout Measurement, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

In view of the profound problems affecting burnout’s conceptualization and measurement and because there is now robust evidence that burnout is a depressive condition, we recommend that occupational health specialists shift their focus from burnout to depression. A measure of job-related depressive symptoms, the Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI), has recently been developed. Advantageously, the ODI resolves many of the persistent problems linked to burnout while being consistent with burnout researchers’ original aim of assessing a work-attributed form of distress. The ODI includes a diagnostic algorithm that allows investigators to estimate the prevalence of depressive disorders that individuals specifically ascribe to …

Sex Differences In Stress-Induced Sleep Deficits, Andrew T. Gargiulo, Varuna Jasodanand, Sandra Luz, Lauren O'Mara, Leszek Kubin, Richard J. Ross, Seema Bhatnagar, Laura A. Grafe

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Sleep disruptions are hallmarks in the pathophysiology of several stress-related disorders, including Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), both known to disproportionately affect female populations. Although previous studies have attempted to investigate disordered sleep in women, few studies have explored and compared how repeated stress affects sleep in both sexes in either human or animal models. We have previously shown that male rats exhibit behavioral and neuroendocrine habituation to 5 days of repeated restraint, whereas females do not; additional days of stress exposure are required to observe habituation in females. This study examined sex differences in sleep …

What Can We Learn From More Than 140,000 Moments Of Ecological Momentary Assessment-Assessed Negative Emotion And Ambulatory Blood Pressure? A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Nataria T. Joseph, Elvina C. Chow, Laurel M. Peterson, Thomas W. Kamarck, Morgan Clinton, Madison Debruin

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Objective

Two decades of research has examined within-person associations between negative emotion states and ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), but no meta-analysis has been conducted. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to quantify the magnitude of this association and identify moderators, review strengths and weaknesses in conceptual and measurement approaches, and provide recommendations.

Methods

We searched databases (PsycINFO, PubMed), identified 15 studies, and obtained data from 13 studies (n = 2511; 142,307 observations).

Results

Random-effects meta-analyses demonstrated small effect r values between momentary negative emotions and systolic ABP (r = 0.06) and diastolic …

Stress, Coping, Resilience, And Sleep During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Representative Survey Study Of Us Adults, Andrew T. Gargiulo, Laurel M. Peterson, Laura A. Grafe

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health emergency resulting in widespread death and substantial disruption to daily life. Previous research has shown that novel disease outbreaks are associated with high stress levels and sleep impairments that lead to neuropsychiatric consequences. Therefore, it is vital to study both stress and protective factors such as coping and resilience that may hinder or help sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, as gender disparities exist in sleep quality, it is important to understand the relationship between pandemic-related stress, coping strategies, resilience, and sleep in bothgenders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Our study …

Descriptive Norms And Prototypes Predict Covid-19 Prevention Cognitions And Behaviors In The United States: Applying The Prototype Willingness Model To Pandemic Mitigation, Laurel M. Peterson, Marie Helweg-Larsen, Sarah Dimuccio

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Background

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, prevention behavior adoption occurred in a rapidly changing context. In contrast to expectancy-value theories, the Prototype Willingness Model (PWM) is well-suited for investigating novel and socially informed behaviors. Purpose

We explored whether PWM social cognitions predicted coronavirus prevention behaviors. Method

A representative sample of United States adults (N = 738; M_age = 46.8; 51.8% women; 78% white; April 2020) who had not had COVID-19 reported PWM predictor variables (perceived vulnerability, prevention descriptive norms, prototypes engaging in prevention behavior, and prevention behavioral intentions). Two weeks later, participants reported their prevention behaviors (handwashing, mask-wearing, social …

Readiness To Change In Rural Adults At High Risk For Diabetes, Katherine A. Wagner

Dissertations and Theses

Type II diabetes is one of the most devastating chronic diseases in the United States and is associated with decreased lifespan and serious comorbidities. While evidence-based prevention strategies of nutrition and physical activity exist, behavior change is an essential component. Researchers use readiness to change to predict clinical outcomes of chronic disease prevention programs, however, this has not been well studied in rural populations. The purpose of this research was to study the relationship between readiness to change and attrition rates and clinical outcomes among rural dwellers enrolled in a nutrition and physical activity intervention. Article one of this three-article …

Anxiety Explains Self-Differentiation: Implications For Bowenian Approaches To Marriage And Family Therapy, Reagan Thomas, John Shelley-Tremblay, Harvey Joanning

University Faculty and Staff Publications

This study examined the Bowenian construct of Self- Differentiation (SD), defined as the degree to which a person can think according to their personal beliefs while remaining emotionally connected to the family. This study examined the degree to which negative emotionality accounted for the relationship between SD and Relationship Satisfaction (RS). Emotional Cutoff (EC) emerged as the sole predictor of RS. When Trait Anxiety (TA) was entered into the model it mediated between EC and RS. We discuss the importance of treating anxiety of the individual in family therapy and that SD may best be understood when taking anxiety into …

Using Eye Tracking To Explore Visual Attention In Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Anne M.P. Michalek, Jonna Bobzien, Victor A. Lugo, Chung Hao Chen, Ann Bruhn, Michail Giannakos

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

Video social stories are used to facilitate understanding of social situations for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study explored the use of eye tracking technology to understand how adolescents with and without ASD visually attend to video social story content and whether visual attention is related to content comprehension. Six adolescents, with and without ASD, viewed a video social story of visiting a dental office. Eye gaze metrics, including fixation duration and count, and visit duration were collected to measure visual attention, and a knowledge assessment was administered for comprehension. Results indicated adolescents with ASD fixated and maintained …

Nutrition Risk And Validation Of An Hiv Disease-Specific Nutrition Screening Tool In Ghana, Lauri Wright, Maxwell Bisala Konlan, Laurene Boateng, James B. Epps

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess the nutritional status and the most commonly reported nutrition-related factors contributing to nutritional risk in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Ghana and the specificity and sensitivity of the Rapid Nutrition Screening for HIV disease tool (RNS-H) in this population.

Design: A cross-sectional design was utilised. Patients were screened for nutritional status during a one-week period by clinic nurses using the RNS-H. Results were compared with a comprehensive nutritional assessment by a dietitian.

Setting: The research was conducted in a public health clinic at the University of Ghana Hospital, Legon.

Subjects: …

The Roles Of Gsk3 And Reelin In The Modulation Of Behavioral Phenotypes Related To Bipolar Disorder: Implications For The Etiology And Treatment Of Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Angel Sherpa

Pitzer Senior Theses

Deficiency of Reelin, an extracellular glycoprotein, and overactivity of GSK3, a kinase downstream of Reelin, in the brain have been associated with bipolar disorder (BD). Overexpression of Reelin inhibits GSK3 activity by phosphorylation. However, it is unclear if the inhibition of GSK3 in the forebrain is a crucial element of Reelin signaling modulating bipolar-like behaviors. To fill this gap in our understanding, my first experiment proposes to examine if Reelin-deficient mice with reduced activity of GSK3 exhibit BD-like behaviors. If inhibition of GSK3 is indeed a crucial element of Reelin signaling modulating BD-like behaviors, then Reelin-deficient mice with decreased activity …

Peer Victimization And Experiences Of Violence At School And At Home Among School Age Children With Disabilities In Pakistan And Afghanistan, Rozina Somani, Julienne Corboz, Rozina Karmaliani, Esnat D. Chirwa, Judith Mcfarlane, Hussain Maqbool Ahmed Khuwaja, Nargis Asad, Yasmeen Hassan Somani, Ingrid Van Der Heijden, Rachel Jewke

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background: Children with disabilities are more likely to experience violence or injury at school and at home, but there is little evidence from Central Asia.
Objective: To describe the prevalence of disability and associations with peer violence perpetration and victimization, depression, corporal punishment, school performance and school attendance, among middle school children in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Method: This is a secondary analysis of data gathered in the course of evaluations of interventions to prevent peer violence conducted in Pakistan and Afghanistan as part of the 'What Works to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls Global Programme'. In …

The Occupational Depression Inventory—A Solution For Estimating The Prevalence Of Job-Related Distress, Renzo Bianchi, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

We are concerned about researchers’ reliance on the burnout construct and the MBI-GS to estimate the prevalence of job-related distress. In this paper, we first describe some of the problems plaguing the burnout construct and its measures. Then, we present the Occupational Depression Inventory, a new instrument designed to help occupational health specialists get a clearer view of the mental health status of the workforce (Bianchi and Schonfeld, 2020).

Comparing The Trends Of Postpartum Depression Screening Scores During And Before The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elif S. Duran, Dung Dang, Tony Ogburn

MEDI 9331 Scholarly Activities Clinical Years

Introduction:

Postpartum depression includes major and minor depressive disorders affecting women in the time period after childbirth. The studies reviewed in our literature found that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of postpartum depression for women. Our study location, the Rio Grande Valley is one of the hardest-hit locations by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Our patient population is also one with the higher risk factors for postpartum depression. As such, we are expecting the psychological impact of the pandemic to be even more magnified, and thus, actions need to be taken to support the vulnerable population …