Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

A Reform Of Treatment: An Analysis Of The American Asylum Movement, Sam Lipert

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

The nineteenth century was a revolutionary period for the medical field in America. While there was little regulation of the practice of medicine, there was a push towards the greater incorporation of science in the latter half of the century, and training in formalized schools increasingly became a symbol of legitimacy for physicians. This applied not only to practitioners of physiological medicine, but those who practiced psychiatric medicine as well. The nineteenth century saw both the birth and the death rattles of the American asylum, and it ushered in a new understanding of the insane – it promoted the idea …

The Efficacy Of Neuroleptics On Mental Health Disorders, Rathea Hersi

Honor’s College Freeman Research Journal

Mental health disorders affect a lot of people in the world and can be triggered by a wide variety of reasons. The treatment of mental health disorders varies based on the type of disorder one is dealing with, as well as the symptoms that each portrays. While history has changed how people view mental health disorders, it also shows that the models of treatment used have not always been beneficial to the wellness of human beings. Research shows that there are different ways in which mental health disorders affect the brain, which means that a study of the different parts …

A Factor Analytic Examination Of Women's And Men's Friendship Preferences, Jessica D. Ayers, Jaimie Arona Krems, Athena Aktipis

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Friendships are valuable relationships that can bestow many benefits. How can humans ensure they receive the maximum benefits with minimal potential costs? One possible solution is to have preferences for traits, expectations, and rules in friendship. This could, for example, help people pursue beneficial friendships and jettison costly friendships. Previous research robustly documented that such preferences for traits, expectations, and rules exist, though they are often combined, and indicates that these preferences may be sex-specific. Across two studies (N = 853), our factor analyses documented that preferences for desired traits in friendship are organized into two broad categories with …

The Relationship Between Perception Of Barriers And Life Satisfaction As Mediated By Coping Efficacy, Lela L. Pickett

ETD Archive

This study examined the relationship between life satisfaction and perception of educational and career-related barriers. Perceived barriers threaten career development and can subsequently enhance negative appraisals of personal worth and ability. Coping efficacy, an individual's belief or confidence in their ability to manage and overcome challenging or stressful situations, was evaluated as a mediator of this relationship among a sample of 208 undergraduate college students.

The findings of this study suggest a significant negative relationship between the perception of barriers and life satisfaction, which indicates that individuals with higher levels of perceived barriers endorsed lower life satisfaction and vice versa. …

Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms And Their Role In Intimate Relationships: Do Ptsd Symptoms Moderate The Relationship Between Conflict And Aggression In Military Servicepeople?, Hannah M. Breen

ETD Archive

Military servicepeople often find themselves facing symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following their service. The symptoms of PTSD can impact the functioning of servicepeople’s intimate relationships, particularly in the aspect of conflict and aggression. The present study aimed to assess the effect of a military-involved partner’s PTSD symptoms on the association between relationship conflict and aggression from the perspectives of both partners. Data were collected from 112 military-involved individuals (active-duty or veteran) and 16 couples (one military-involved partner and one civilian partner) who participated in an online survey which collected data on their romantic relationships. It was hypothesized that …

Adolescents With Family History Of Alcohol-Use Disorders Have Reduced Structural Coherence Of Anterior Insula To Nucleus Accumbens Tract, Grace Wood

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Genetics play a significant role in predisposition towards alcohol use disorders. Analyzing the neural phenotypes related to alcohol use disorder development could allow researchers to predict one’s predisposition. The anterior insula (AIns) contributes to binge drinking tendencies while exhibiting downstream signaling towards the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Recent research has examined this relationship simultaneously with alcohol consumption, but the genetic effect of the AIns and NAcc functional relationship prior to alcohol consumption has yet to be examined. In this study, we used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study to analyze the structural coherence of the AIns to NAcc …

Trauma, Found Family, And Their Influence On The Creation Of A Pitch Bible, David Scheele

All Theses

Trauma is a very common theme in works of fiction, as it is something that all of us
experience in our lives and as a result is emphasized in art. Whether it is injuries, abuse, the loss of loved ones, and much more, trauma is ubiquitous within the human experience. Sometimes trauma can have lasting impacts on an individual’s mental health, often taking the form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD as it is more commonly known. We see this form of mental illness portrayed quite often in the media that we consume. Examples across various artistic mediums include Sarah …

Effects Of Parental Alcoholism On Adolescent Development, Diana Michel-Gonzales

Whittier Scholars Program

Studies assessed the magnitude and specificity of parental alcoholism as a risk factor for internalizing symptomatology, externalizing symptomatology, and alcohol and drug use in adolescence. The results show that alcoholism is a moderate risk factor. The outcome measure has a different risk specificity. The risk of alcoholism is caused by parental psychopathology and environmental stress. The father's alcoholism was a risk for alcohol use that was beyond the effects of stress and family turmoil. The children of problem drinkers are affected by externalities. When designing and financing addiction treatment programs, long-term consequences of alcohol misuse should be taken into account. …

Early Life Stress Predicts Future Conduct Disorder In Adolescents, Savannah Ellis

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Early Life Stress (ELS) and adversity increase people’s risk for developing mental, social, or emotional dysregulation and disorders later in life. The objective of this study was to test whether ELS in adolescents could prospectively predict future conduct disorder. The study additionally tested potential neural mediators of the effect of ELS on future conduct disorder, and specifically targeted the structural connections from the anterior insula and medial prefrontal cortex to the Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc). Data for the project came from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD study), which is a longitudinal multi-site consortium funded by the National Institutes of …

An Erp Measure Of Non-Conscious Memory Reveals Dissociable Implicit Processes In Human Recognition Using An Open-Source Automated Analytic Pipeline, Richard J. Addante, Javier Lopez-Calderon, Nathaniel Allen, Carter Luck, Alana Muller, Lindsey Sirianni, Cory S. Inman, Daniel L. Drane

Psychology Faculty Publications

Non-conscious processing of human memory has traditionally been difficult to objectively measure and thus understand. A prior study on a group of hippocampal amnesia (N = 3) patients and healthy controls (N = 6) used a novel procedure for capturing neural correlates of implicit memory using event-related potentials (ERPs): old and new items were equated for varying levels of memory awareness, with ERP differences observed from 400 to 800 ms in bilateral parietal regions that were hippocampal-dependent. The current investigation sought to address the limitations of that study by increasing the sample of healthy subjects (N = 54), applying new …

Mental Health And Psychological Well-Being Of Kenyan Adolescents From Nairobi And The Coast Regions In The Context Of Covid-19, Gideon Mbithi, Adam Mabrouk, Ahmed Sarki, Rachel Odhiambo, Mary Namuguzi, Judith Dzombo, Joseph Atukwatse, Margaret Kabue, Paul Mwangi, Amina Abubakar

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background Despite the high burden of mental health problems during adolescence and its associated nega- tive consequences, it has remained neglected especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The 2019 novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has placed additional stress on adolescent mental health. However, there are few studies docu- menting the burden of mental health problems and even fewer mental health services in the region. In relation to the limited body of knowledge, the present study aims to determine the psychological well-being of adolescents and to assess the risks and associated factors of mental health problems among adolescents in the context of COVID-19 …

Association Between The Epigenetic Lifespan Predictor Grimage And History Of Suicide Attempt In Bipolar Disorder, Camila N C Lima, Emese H C Kovács, Salahudeen Mirza, Alexandra Del Favero-Campbell, Alexandre Paim Diaz, Joao Quevedo, Benney M R Argue, Jenny Gringer Richards, Aislinn Williams, John A Wemmie, Vincent A Magnotta, Jess G Fiedorowicz, Jair C Soares, Marie E Gaine, Gabriel R Fries

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Bipolar disorder (BD) has been previously associated with premature mortality and aging, including acceleration of epigenetic aging. Suicide attempts (SA) are greatly elevated in BD and are associated with decreased lifespan, biological aging, and poorer clinical outcomes. We investigated the relationship between GrimAge, an epigenetic clock trained on time-to-death and associated with mortality and lifespan, and SA in two independent cohorts of BD individuals (discovery cohort - controls (n = 50), BD individuals with (n = 77, BD/SA) and without (n = 67, BD/non-SA) lifetime history of SA; replication cohort - BD/SA (n = 48) and BD/non-SA (n = 47)). …

Methodical Madness: How Adhd Affects Daily Life, Samuel Gonzalez '23

Honor Scholar Theses

Let me begin by saying that this project is not a kind of “self-help” document. While it may come off that way, that is not the primary objective of my project. My primary objective is to provide people with necessary, and in my opinion, essential information surrounding the experiences and struggles of daily life with ADHD. I am not here to make anyone feel guilty for treating someone with ADHD poorly, nor am I here to convince you that people with ADHD are the same as their neurotypical peers (spoiler alert, we aren’t). Additionally, this is not the kind of …

Social Media And Wellbeing, Aditya Adsule

Honors College Theses

This psychology thesis paper investigates the existing body of scientific literature surrounding the effects of social media on the wellbeing of adolescents and adults ages 18-29. The current body of scientific literature supports the overall finding that social media has a negative impact not only on mental health, but on physical health. There are also key findings showing the impact of social media on other facets of life such as sleep patterns, social interactions, and physical activity. Current intervention therapies need to be revisited and the DSM categorization of social media addiction needs to be investigated further.

The Kynurenine Pathway In Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, And Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Cerebrospinal Fluid Studies, Mehmet Enes Inam, Brisa S Fernandes, Estela Salagre, Iria Grande, Eduard Vieta, João Quevedo, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: The kynurenine pathway has been attracting attention as a relevant pathway in schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BD), and major depressive disorder (MDD). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the kynurenine pathway metabolites from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples in SZ, BD, and MDD.

METHODS: PubMed and Scopus databases were systematically searched to identify peer-reviewed case-control studies until April 2022 that assessed kynurenine metabolites, namely, tryptophan (TRP), kynurenine (KYN), kynurenic acid (KA), quinolinic acid (QA), and 3- hydroxykynurenine (3-HK) in SZ, BD, or MDD subjects compared with healthy controls (HC). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses …

Characterization Of Differential Rearing And Sex On 5-Ht2ar Receptor Activation, Kelsey Lowe

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The prevalence of substance use disorders (SUDs) continues to rise while the number of medications to combat this deadly disorder remains stagnant. Entirely new thinking about what exemplifies a possible therapeutic is needed. Hallucinogens are continually being studied more as possible treatments for many psychological conditions, including SUDs. Classic hallucinogens engage many serotonin and monoamine systems, but the hallucinogenic effects are driven by serotonin 5-HT_2A receptor (5-HT_2AR) activation. Forced social isolation induces chronic stress, increases 5-HT_2AR expression in the cortex and have been suggested to play a role in the comorbidity between stress, maladaptive coping, …

Children’S Disclosure Of School Bullying: The Relation Between Peer Victimization, Internalizing Symptoms, Negative Affect, And Gender, Julia L. Kiefer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children who are bullied by their peers are at risk for several negative developmental outcomes and are therefore advised to tell an adult when they are. However, victims of school bullying are often reluctant to disclose to adults that they are being bullied. Some bullied children also experience symptoms of anxiety or depression, which could further reduce their likelihood of telling an adult. In this study, I tested the degree to which children’s internalizing symptoms predicted their likelihood of telling adults about being bullied at school, and if this relation was exacerbated by children’s negative feelings associated with telling an …

A Research Review Of Antidepressants For The Treatment Of Major Depressive Disorder, Connor Grady

Senior Honors Theses

The prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) in the U.S. has been significantly on the rise between 2015 and 2020, with adolescents and young adults (ages 18-34) contributing the most to this increase (Goodwin et al., 2022). The trend represents a disturbing downturn in the mental health of U.S. adults and warrants close attention and consideration. As the case number of MDD has continuously risen in the recent past, medical practitioners have been searching for more effective solutions. The techniques for combating the symptoms and curing the disease have varied, but one option consistently respected throughout the literature has been …

Mental Confidence In Alzheimer's Disease, Harrison Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A simple symptom like forgetfulness can lead to a gradual, subtle decline in the individual’s sense of identity. In dementia, self-efficacy is the foundation that allow individual to prolong their capacity of independence and identity. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prominent form of dementia with tens of millions in the world currently living with Alzheimer’s disease. AD is most often associated with impaired memory, confusion, language impairment, and unpredictable, agitated, aggressive, and paranoid behavior. While there are many studies examining the quality of life in individuals with AD, there are fewer investigating the psychological effects of AD on the …

What Cognitive Processes Drive Attentional Bias, And How Does Stress Affect Them?, Colton L. Hunter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Attentional biases toward or away from emotionally evocative stimuli have been well documented and related to clinical outcomes such as social anxiety. Some work has suggested that stress modulates attentional biases, but there are a number of inconsistencies in this literature regarding the direction of that modulation, highlighting a need to examine moderators of that effect. Sex differences in stress effects could potentially explain this inconsistency, as acute stress can affect males and females differently. It is also possible that stress differentially influences multiple component processes underpinning attentional bias, but these processes have not been well character, and to date …

Therapeutic Approaches To Working With Perinatal Loss Clients: A Grounded Theory Study, Heather H. Olivier

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Perinatal loss (i.e., miscarriage, stillbirth, termination, and infant death) is commonly referred to in the literature as an invisible loss, non-loss, and even medical event. It is an ambiguous loss exhibiting the dialectical contradiction between the physical absence and psychological presence of the baby accompanied by disenfranchised grief, a reaction to a loss that is unacknowledged by society. Despite the likelihood of mental health clinicians working with clients who have experienced perinatal loss, there has yet to be a therapeutic model designed specifically for the unique grief and trauma reactions presented in this population. Existing grief models do not address …

Examining The Effects Of A Zoom Interview On Cortisol, Bennett Perkins

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

The stress response is an essential physiological process that facilitates survival in threatening conditions. Stress impacts numerous bodily systems, and prior work has focused on cortisol, a steroid derived from cholesterol, as a key biomarker for assessing biological stress reactivity in humans. Social stressors are known to contribute to marked increased in cortisol levels, but to date little work has examined whether social situations known to be stressful in person can influence cortisol when those situations occur remotely. In this study, I investigated the effects of a Zoom-based social stressor on salivary cortisol. Participants were randomly assigned to the Zoom-stress …

T. Hanks For Nostalgia: The Power Of Tom Hanks And Film Branding, Jacob Higgs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In March 2020, Tom Hanks announced he had contracted COVID-19 while shooting the Elvis Presley Biopic in Australia. On Instagram, he encouraged fans to take the disease seriously and be aware of how severe of a disease it was. Character brands and nostalgia have been found to foster trust in products and encourage relationships with those brands. Using the lens of nostalgia and uses and gratification to examine Tom Hanks as a character brand, the researcher analyzed five blockbuster films with Tom Hanks as the lead character. The study used narrative thematic analysis to observe Hanks and the depictions of …

Impact Of Personalized Interactive Storytelling On Suspension Of Disbelief In Clinical Simulation, Audra Renee-Smith Xenakis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The literature review found suspension of disbelief (SOD) in clinical simulation heavily weighted on educators alone within high-fidelity environments. The project examined a co-created narrative background story applied to a simulated patient’s clinical profile to determine achieving an improved connectedness toward the simulated patient leading to enhanced SOD and enhanced levels of learning and reaction. The studied population was third-semester associate degree nursing students over 18 years of age with prior clinical simulation experience who were not repeating the semester. The research methodology used a quantitative experimental design with cluster sampling, randomization, and post-Likert-scored questionnaires. The intervention group co-created personalized …

Circumventing Ableism: A Grounded Theory Study Exploring Caregiver Strategies To Promote A Positive Identity, June Furr

All Dissertations

This qualitative research study explores how caregivers and persons with disabilities navigate the rhetoric of disability and caregiving through the interviews of fifteen caregivers and fifteen persons with disabilities using the lens of grounded theory and Burke’s (1952) dramatistic pentad. Significant findings describe how focused disability description can circumvent ableism when rhetorical resources that assist caregivers and persons with disabilities to navigate the rhetoric in disability descriptions are provided. Disability description theory includes the three stages that define, collaborate and revise, and practice and apply a disability description. This qualitative research offers an introduction into the phenomenon of …

Depression, Stress And Regional Cerebral Blood Flow, Joshua Chiappelli, Bhim M Adhikari, Mark D Kvarta, Heather A Bruce, Eric L Goldwaser, Yizhou Ma, Shuo Chen, Seth Ament, Alan R Shuldiner, Braxton D Mitchell, Peter Kochunov, Danny Jj Wang, L Elliot Hong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) may be an important mechanism associated with depression. In this study we aimed to determine if the association of CBF and depression is dependent on current level of depression or the tendency to experience depression over time (trait depression), and if CBF is influenced by depression-related factors such as stressful life experiences and antidepressant medication use. CBF was measured in 254 participants from the Amish Connectome Project (age 18-76, 99 men and 154 women) using arterial spin labeling. All participants underwent assessment of symptoms of depression measured with the Beck Depression Inventory and Maryland Trait …

Resilience To Stress Across The Lifespan: Childhood Maltreatment, Heart Rate Variability, And Bereavement, Michelle A Chen, Robert Suchting, Julian F Thayer, Christopher P Fagundes

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Following a stressful life event, there is considerable variation in how individuals respond and adapt. Multiple models of risk and resilience show that adverse childhood experiences may be associated with an individual's response to stress later in life. While there is considerable support that early adversity can sensitize the stress response system and lead to adverse outcomes later in life, there is mounting evidence that in adolescence and young adulthood, certain biological predispositions to stress may be associated with resilience in the context of subsequent stressors. In this study, we evaluated how individual differences in vagally mediated heart rate variability …

Gender Bias In Antidepressant Direct-To-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising, Leila K Asadi, Asim A Shah

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Direct to consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCPA) may have significant impacts on public perception of diseases and treatments. Our objective was to examine whether DTCPA for antidepressants disproportionately portray and hence target women in the United States.

Methods: DTCPA for branded medications for depression, psoriasis and diabetes were analyzed to determine the gender of the main "patient" portrayed, as well as the content of the disease depiction.

Results: DTCPA for antidepressants included only women in 82% of ads, only men in 10.1% of ads, and both genders in 7.8% of ads. There were significantly higher representations of women versus men …

Vortioxetine Improves Physical And Cognitive Symptoms In Patients With Post-Covid-19 Major Depressive Episodes, Marco Di Nicola, Maria Pepe, Silvia Montanari, Maria Chiara Spera, Isabella Panaccione, Alessio Simonetti, Gabriele Sani

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Major Depressive Episodes (MDE) following COVID-19 are frequent, can have a characteristic clinical picture, and are associated with immune-inflammatory changes. Vortioxetine is known to improve physical and cognitive performance in patients with depression and shows anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative activities. This study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the effects of vortioxetine after 1 and 3 months of treatment in 80 patients (44.4% males, 54±17.2 years) with post-COVID-19 MDE. The primary outcome was improvement in physical and cognitive symptoms measured by specific items of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), Short Form-36 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36), Digit Symbol …

One-Year Outcomes Following Intravenous Ketamine Plus Digital Training Among Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Secondary Analysis Of A Randomized Clinical Trial, Rebecca B Price, Meredith L Wallace, Sanjay J Mathew, Robert H Howland

Staff and Researcher Publications

This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial examines whether automated self-association training can prolong the antidepressant effect of a single infusion of ketamine beyond 1 month in patients with treatment-resistant depression.