Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Embodiment In Online Education: Promising Practices, Mariah M. Lefeber, Tomoyo Kawano, Valerie Blanc

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Embodied experiential learning is central to dance/movement therapy (DMT) education. During the pandemic, DMT educators pivoted to hybrid-online educational delivery and attended to multiple dimensions of student learning and societal crises while attempting to maintain educational quality. Building on the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework and embodied aesthetic theo-ries of care, the authors explored how educators and supervisors accounted for embodied learning in DMT education and training in an online setting. Data were generated and analysed reflexively from a preliminary conference workshop survey and workshop interactions. An aesthetic, relational experience of caring may be incorporated into an online learning space …

Two Decades Of Coparenting Research: A Scoping Review, Cynthia G. Campbell

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

In response to recent theoretical advances in coparenting and increased scholarly interest, coparenting research in resident families has burgeoned in the past twenty years making it difficult to assess primary findings. This review integrates findings from the research and provides an overview of supported conclusions, offering access to the research in a manageable and approachable form. Research evidence demonstrates how the characteristics of each parent, the state of their romantic relationship, the contexts in which they reside, and their child’s characteristics all influence how they function as a coparental team. Positive coparenting, in turn, leads to better marital relationships, greater …

Demarcating Psychopathologies: Nosology, Validity, And The Taxonomic Problem In Psychiatric Medicine, Julia Zentz Kolak

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I argue that the discussion surrounding the role of values in the conceptualization of mental disorders is reproduced in critical debates surrounding the issue of reliability and validity in a psychiatric nosology. In so doing, I oppose the conventional separation of the demarcation problem and the crisis of validity in psychiatric classification, arguing instead that they are inextricably linked. After drawing out the intersection between these literatures in the conceptual history of the DSM and its much-maligned transition to an etiologically neutral taxonomy of mental disorders, I consider Carl Hempel’s proposed conciliation between descriptive and theoretical systematization …

What To Expect As Children Transition To Young Adults, Melissa Ponce-Rodas

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

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 …

Social And Cultural Processes That Impact Physical Activity Among South Asian Americans Managing Hypertension: A Mixed Methods Study, Sugandha Gupta

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), the number one cause of death in the U.S., disproportionately affects South Asian Americans (SAAs). Physical activity is a modifiable health behavior that can reduce cardiovascular risk. Health behaviors, such as physical activity, occur within specific social and cultural contexts and are influenced by multiple factors at multiple levels of the social ecological model. This dissertation aimed to provide a rich, culturally-informed understanding of the factors at multiple levels – individual, interpersonal, and cultural –associated with physical activity among SAAs at risk for CVD. A sequential exploratory mixed methods approach was employed to examine social and cultural …

Visualizing Dopamine Activity In Deletion Of D2 Receptors In Medium Spiny Neurons, Kunhee Lee

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Dopamine has been implicated in motivated behaviors and reinforcement learning. In this study, we are looking at the role of dopamine in allocating efforts when obtaining reward. Using Cre recombinase genetic tool, D2 receptors in striatal indirect pathway neurons were selectively deleted, and dopamine signal was recorded in ventral striatum using fiber photometry. Behaviorally, D2 receptor deletion resulted in less effort in a Progressive Ratio (PR) paradigm shown by decreased breakpoint, number of presses, and reward pellets earned. Due to the previous evidence that dopamine positively modulates effort, we hypothesized that there would be less dopamine release in D2 deleted …

Examining Readiness For Implementing Practice Changes In Federally Qualified Health Centers: A Rapid Qualitative Study, Emanuelle M Dias, Timothy J Walker, Derek W Craig, Robert Gibson, Jacob Szeszulski, Heather M Brandt, Hiluv Johnson, Andrea Lamont, Abraham Wandersman, Maria E Fernandez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Implementing evidence-based interventions remains slow in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). The purpose of this study is to qualitatively examine the R = MC2 (Readiness = motivation × innovation specific capacity × general capacity) heuristic subcomponents in the context of implementing general and colorectal cancer screening (CRCS)-related practice changes in FQHCs. We conducted 17 interviews with FQHC employees to examine (1) experiences with successful or unsuccessful practice change efforts, (2) using approaches to promote CRCS, and (3) opinions about R = MC2 subcomponents. We conducted a rapid qualitative analysis to examine the frequency, depth, and spontaneity of subcomponents. Priority, compatibility, …

Medical Students' Attitudes And Beliefs Toward Psilocybin: Does Terminology And Personal Experience With Psychedelics Matter?, Antonio F Pagán, Claudia Lex, Jair C Soares, Thomas D Meyer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Psilocybin and psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) have gained renewed interest due to recent findings that PAT can enhance therapeutic outcomes. In 2019, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved breakthrough therapy status to psilocybin for the treatment of depression, but PAT has yet to be approved as a therapeutic treatment for mental health disorders. Should the FDA approve PAT, medical students will serve as gatekeepers to PAT.

METHODS: Medical students (

RESULTS: Regardless of the terminology utilized, medical students held overall positive attitudes but their attitudes were significantly more positive when the term "psilocybin" was used. Furthermore, experience with …

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 …

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 …

Current Curricular Trends After The Covid-19 Pandemic: A National Survey Of Psychiatry Residency Programs, Jeff Wang Jin, Kacy Smith, Amanda Helminiak, Vineeth John, Hanjing Emily Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: During the COVID-19 pandemic, many psychiatry residencies (academic, community, and hybrid programs) have adopted different learning modalities to preserve a high quality of educational training. There is minimal data on specific program adaptations, related change perspectives, and program type stratification. This study sought to examine trends in curriculum changes in accredited psychiatry residency programs in the United States.

METHODS: Program directors of accredited general psychiatry programs in the United States were surveyed to assess both general program details and changes in educational content, delivery, and perspectives with regard to program curricula.

RESULTS: A total of 63 program directors out …

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 …

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 …

Genomic Medicine To Reduce Tobacco And Related Disorders: Translation To Precision Prevention And Treatment, Li-Shiun Chen, Timothy B Baker, Alex Ramsey, Christopher I Amos, Laura J Bierut

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Genomic medicine can enhance prevention and treatment. First, we propose that advances in genomics have the potential to enhance assessment of disease risk, improve prognostic predictions, and guide treatment development and application. Clinical implementation of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) has emerged as an area of active research. The pathway from genomic discovery to implementation is an iterative process. Second, we provide examples on how genomic medicine has the potential to solve problems in prevention and treatment using two examples: Lung cancer screening and evidence-based tobacco treatment are both under-utilized and great opportunities for genomic interventions. Third, we discuss the translational …

Examining Whether Genetic Variants Moderate The Skeletal Effects Of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors In Older Adolescents And Young Adults, Ifeoma Ezenwabachili, Emira Deumic Shultz, James A Mills, Vicki Ellingrod, Chadi A Calarge

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: To examine whether serotonin (5-HT) related genetic variants moderate the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on skeletal outcomes. Methods: Trabecular bone mineral density (BMD) at the radius, lumbar spine (LS) BMD, total body less head (TBLH) bone mineral content (BMC) and markers of bone metabolism (osteocalcin, C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen [CTX-1], and bone specific alkaline phosphatase to CTX-1 ratio) were examined in an observational study, enrolling 15- to 20-year-old participants, unmedicated or within a month of SSRI initiation. Variants in HTR1A (rs6295), HTR1B (rs6296), HTR1D (rs6300), HTR2A (rs6311 and rs6314), HTR2B (rs6736017), and the serotonin …

Disabilities And Medicine: From Stairs To Stares, Christopher Denham

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

The current state of medicine has done little to correct the imbalance of underrepresented groups in the physician workforce. In this editorial, a psychiatric resident physician retells his experience as an individual who is completing his medical training while being affected by a neuromuscular disorder and how it impacts his daily life. The primary goal of this paper is to elucidate the need for greater representation and understanding of the disabled physician workforce.

Exploring The Effects Of Christian Worldviews On Heart Rate, Stress, And Adjustment After Loss In Bereaved Individuals, Emma Radini Ratnavel

Honors Scholar Theses

The objective of this study is to investigate the correlation between Christian values, perceptions of God, and physiological stress, assessed through heart rate, among individuals who are experiencing grief due to the loss of a loved one. Previous studies have analyzed various physiological effects on the body. There are very few studies that examine the correlation between Christian values and heart rate in bereaved participants. To explore these topics further, this study analyzes 59 undergraduate students who have recently lost a loved one, identify as a Christian, and are at least 18 years old. The participants' perceptions of God and …

Related Factors With Self-Management Behaviors Among Patients With Predialysis Chronic Kidney Disease: A Multicenter Study In Myanmar, Yoon Zarchi Wint, Jiraporn Lininger, Sirirat Leelacharas

Makara Journal of Health Research

Background: Self-management behavior is key to managing patients with predialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is effective in slowing disease progression in impoverished Burmese patients with CKD. This study aimed to outline the association of personal and environmental factors with the self-management behaviors of people with predialysis CKD.

Methods: Using convenience sampling, this cross-sectional study included 84 individuals with predialysis CKD from two private hospitals in Myanmar. The interviewer-administered questionnaire included demographic information, the Health Literacy Short Form-12, the CKD knowledge questionnaire, the self-efficacy questionnaire, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the self-management behavior questionnaire. This …

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 …

Assessing Blood Oxygen Level–Dependent Signal Variability As A Biomarker Of Brain Injury In Sport-Related Concussion, Evan D. Anderson, Tanveer Talukdar, Grace Goodwin, Valentina Di Pietro, Kamal M. Yakoub, Christopher E. Zwilling, David Davies, Antonio Belli, Aron K. Barbey

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Mild traumatic brain injury is a complex neurological disorder of significant concern among athletes who play contact sports. Athletes who sustain sport-related concussion typically undergo physical examination and neurocognitive evaluation to determine injury severity and return-to-play status. However, traumatic disruption to neurometabolic processes can occur with minimal detectable anatomic pathology or neurocognitive alteration, increasing the risk that athletes may be cleared for return-to-play during a vulnerable period and receive a repetitive injury. This underscores the need for sensitive functional neuroimaging methods to detect altered cerebral physiology in concussed athletes. The present study compared the efficacy of Immediate Post-concussion Assessment and …

Reminiscence Therapy For Prevention Of Post-Stroke Anxiety And Depression In Adults, Carly Porter

Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies Capstone Presentations (Center City)

Introduction

Anxiety and depression are prevalent after a stroke.^1,2 Peer support is a non-pharmacologic intervention utilized to manage post-stroke anxiety and depression with inconsistent results.³ Reminiscence therapy is an intervention that has been studied in the dementia population but is a relatively new intervention for the stroke population and has the potential to impact the psychological care provided to stroke patients.⁴

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 …

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating Peer Recovery Coaches For Addiction Recovery Among Indigenous Americans, Nicholas Guenzel

Theses & Dissertations

Addiction is a common and devastating problem among many Indigenous American (IA) groups around the United States. Too few IA health care providers are available to deliver care in a way that leverages IA values and traditions to support addiction recovery. Peer recovery coaches (PRCs) are individuals who have lived experience of addiction and have received specialized training in helping others in recovery. IA PRCs hold significant potential in helping to fill the gap of culturally-specific support in addiction. In this feasibility trial, we recruited a total of 120 adult (≥19 years) IAs with a substance use disorder through Facebook …

Identifying Ebp Using The Moho Framework To Address Generalized Anxiety Disorder (Gad): A Scoping Review, Alexus Njemanze, Karen Aranha, Angela Labrie Blackwell

Summer 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Individuals with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) have poorer physical rehabilitation. Identifying this condition and providing targeted interventions is necessary better to address the needs of this population's rehabilitation. This study examined the literature to identify screens, assessments, and interventions to address GAD to improve Occupational Therapy (OT) rehabilitation outcomes.

Occupational Impacts Of The 2018 Camp Fire, Mimi H. Chuong, Karen Park

Summer 2023 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

This poster provides an overview of the results of the capstone project, which explored the occupational impacts of the 2018 Camp Fire. Data were collected through in-person and remote interviews over 21 weeks. The inclusion criteria for the study consisted of adults between 18 to 80 who could understand and answer questions in English, were affected by the fire, or had worked directly with the Camp Fire survivors. Among the total participants (n=14), ten were survivors, and four were providers. The research question was, “What modifiable factors are enabling or disabling Camp Fire survivors from engaging in their …

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., …

The Association Between Covid-19 Preventive Behaviors And Mental Health Conditions, Elizabeth Wachira, Bhakti Chavan, Carolyn Nganga-Good, Caroline Kingori

Faculty Publications

Our findings highlight that individuals with mental health conditions reported more psychological distress. Specifically, feeling depressed, anxious, lonely, and hopeless were triggered and exacerbated as a result of the pandemic and may have long-term effects on general well-being and productivity. Therefore, our findings have important implications on the need to include mental health promotion as part of pandemic response efforts. This includes developing policies and allocating funding so as to ensure sustainable mental health interventions and support, public and provider education on the importance of screening for mental health issues.

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 …