Mental Disorders Commons^™

Measuring Novel Antecedents Of Mental Illness: The Questionnaire Of Unpredictability In Childhood, Laura M. Glynn, Hal S. Stern, Mariann A. Howland, Victoria B. Risbrough, Dewleen G. Baker, Caroline M. Nievergelt, Tallie Z. Baram, Elysia P. Davis

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Increasing evidence indicates that, in addition to poverty, maternal depression, and other well-established factors, unpredictability of maternal and environmental signals early in life influences trajectories of brain development, determining risk for subsequent mental illness. However, whereas most risk factors for later vulnerability to mental illness are readily measured using existing, clinically available tools, there are no similar measures for assessing early-life unpredictability. Here we validate the Questionnaire of Unpredictability in Childhood (QUIC) and examine its associations with mental health in the context of other indicators of childhood adversity (e.g., traumatic life events, socioeconomic status, and parenting quality). The QUIC was …

Treating Comorbid Ptsd And Bpd: A Dialectical Approach, Meredith Pescatello

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

According to the Biosocial Developmental Model for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), individuals with a biological vulnerability (i.e., heightened emotional sensitivity and impulsive tendencies), plus an invalidating environment may develop BPD (Crowell, Beauchaine, & Linehan, 2009). Individuals with BPD are especially difficult to treat, because of their “extreme emotional, behavioral, and cognitive dysregulation” (Crowell, Beauchaine, & Linehan, 2009). Though challenging to treat, BPD can be successfully treated using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) (Linehan, 1993; Linehan 2015). Similarly, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is complex and often burnout inducing to treat, because of the intensity of the emotional content related to traumatic events …

The Critical Need For Mental Health Education To Be Mandated In New Mexico's Public Schools, Bonnie L. Murphy

Shared Knowledge Conference

Based on a review of research and best practices in mental health awareness and skills, this inquiry project argues for state legislative policies that would require mental health awareness and skills in the K-12 curriculum. Mental health affects individual accomplishments in every stage of people’s lives beginning in early childhood and throughout the life cycle. Prevention and treatment of mental illness plays a key role in the ability of an individual to cope with loss and develop resiliency and perseverance in challenging times and to make better decisions that improve the individual’s life and the lives of those around them. …

"Born Out Of Fear": A Grounded Theory Study Of The Stigma Of Bipolar Disorder For New Mothers, Walker Ladd Ph.D.

The Qualitative Report

Childbirth is an established trigger for the onset of bipolar disorders (BD) in the postpartum period, causing significant pathology and disability. Research has shown that the stigma of mental illness for new mothers is a powerful obstacle to care, preventing women from accessing critical treatment and social support. However, the majority of research has examined the relationship between the stigma and postpartum depression, leaving a gap in knowledge regarding stigma and postpartum bipolar disorder. The problem addressed in this grounded theory study was the lack of knowledge regarding the stigma of a diagnosis of bipolar disorder (BD) in the first …

Identifying Clinical Distinctions Between Nonsuicidal Self-Injury And Eating Disorders In Adolescents, Natalie Marie Perkins

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Eating disorders and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) are pervasive behaviors that typically begin in early to mid-adolescence. They commonly co-occur, resulting in increasingly negative psychological and physical outcomes than either behavior alone. Emotion reactivity and family functioning have been studied in relation to both eating disorders and NSSI. Both constructs have demonstrated strong relationships to these behaviors, but emotion reactivity appears to be more strongly associated with NSSI, while family functioning appears to be more strongly related to eating disorders. The current study sought to determine whether emotion reactivity and family functioning could differentiate between adolescents with only an eating disorder, …

An Examination Of The Impact Traumatic Events Has On Psychosocial Impairment In Eating Disorder Patients, Jennifer Parker Hackett

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Research suggests that trauma has an impact on eating disorders. While prior research has demonstrated that the trauma from abuse has a significant impact on eating disorders, research has failed to explore other types of trauma. In addition, previous studies have stopped short of examining the impact trauma has on functioning among individuals with an eating disorder. This study aimed to address that gap in the literature. The purpose of this study is to examine whether traumatic life events impact psychosocial functioning among individuals living with an eating disorder. Furthermore, this study aimed to identify which traumas are shown to …

Open Ears, Open Mind, Open Heart: Active Listening, Mia Nguyen

Service-Learning | Student Scholarship

Active listening is the act of listening with all senses– the body, the mind, and the soul. It means empathizing with another person and finding that place within ourselves where we can listen beyond our initial judgements and personal feelings. It is listening beyond words and allowing our souls to understand, connect, and accept one another. Active listening sparks internal purity eliminating all types of judgement and allowing us to truly take in what another person has to offer. It is “an experience of language as a bodily felt process” in which we have a felt understanding rather than a …

Social Work Trauma Interventions: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Kassie Baumann

Senior Honors Theses

According to Lynne Weilart (2013), in her article on the reasons why people seek out therapy, trauma is the number one reason people attend counseling. Many different trauma-informed approaches are designed specifically to address the consequences of trauma and to facilitate healing. Some of these approaches are as follows: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT); Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT);Mentalization Based Therapy (MBT); Trauma Systems Therapy (TST); Trauma Assessment Pathway (TAP); and Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency (ARC) (de Arellano, Danielson, Ko, & Sprauge, 2008). The effectiveness of each trauma intervention will be examined. DBT is one of these trauma interventions that is growing …

Treating Adhd With Suggestion: Neurofeedback And Placebo Therapeutics, Robert T. Thibault, Samuel Vassière, Jay A. Olson, Amir Raz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective: We propose that clinicians can use suggestion to help treat conditions such as ADHD. Methods: We use EEG neurofeedback as a case study, alongside evidence from a recent pilot experiment utilizing a sham MRI scanner to highlight the therapeutic potential of suggestion-based treatments. Results: The medical literature demonstrates that many practitioners already prescribe treatments that hardly outperform placebo comparators. Moreover, the sham MRI experiment showed that, even with full disclosure of the procedure, suggestion alone can reduce the symptomatology of ADHD. Conclusion: Non-deceptive suggestion-based treatments, especially those drawing on accessories from neuroscience, may offer a safe complement and potential …

Mdma-Assisted Psychotherapy For Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Review Of The Literature, Erin Solomon

Student Works

A growing number of people suffer chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Amoroso & Workman, 2016; Buoso, Doblin, Farré, Alcázar, & Gómez-Jarabo, 2008; Mithoefer, Wagner, Mithoefer, Jerome, & Doblin, 2011; Oehen, Traber, Widmer, & Schnyder, 2013). The most popular treatments, including exposure therapy, may not be effective for some people (Amoroso & Workman, 2016; Mithoefer et al., 2011). Treatment dropout and suicidality are high among people for whom therapy is minimally effective (Amoroso, 2015; Amoroso & Workman, 2016; Mithoefer et al., 2011; Oehen et al., 2013). Researchers have begun to investigate 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy as a possible treatment for PTSD …

Dancing, Mindfulness, And Our Emotions: Embracing The Mind, Body, And Sole, Alisha M. Collins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone project examines dance, as an intervention and mindfulness practice that assists with managing our emotions. There is a need for dance therapy in social institutions such as, healthcare facilities, schools, and community centers. Dance therapy has the potential to reduce negative emotions, create mindfulness, improve self-expression, and promote a healthy well-being. I am proposing that dance therapy is applied as a regular practice in social institutions to develop mindfulness and promote emotional stability.

In this study, I argue that dance therapy can contribute to our well-being long term. In addition to this written thesis, a visual component of …

Effort-Related Decision Making In Comt Variant Mice: Pharmacological Studies And Genetic Susceptibility To Motivational Dysfunction, Suzanne Cayer

Honors Scholar Theses

Effort-related decision making tasks in animals can model motivational symptoms in humans, which are a set of symptoms spanning a multitude of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as major depressive disorder and the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The present studies aimed to evaluate the effort-related effects of the Val158Met polymorphism of human catechol-methyltransferase (COMT), by testing mice carrying either the human COMT Val (n=8) or Met allele (n=8) with Wild-Type control mice (n=15) by using concurrent FR2 and FR4/pellet choice tasks in a touchscreen operant conditioning apparatus. The Val158Met polymorphism has been repeatedly associated with neuropsychiatric disorders, and the Val allele has …

The Relation Of Seasonal Patterns To Mood Changes And Gender Differences In College-Aged Students, Mariah Meza

Student Research Posters

This study examined college students’ moods during different seasons patterns throughout the year. Previous research has indicated that many individuals feel more lethargic, lonely and moody during the winter months (Rohan & Sigmon, 2000). These mood and behavior patterns clearly depend on specific seasons of the year. However, many studies have produced inconsistent findings and current data on how weather impacts college aged students moods in California (Lucht & Kasper, 1999). There are many inconsistent studies in the United States that indicate whether there is a higher fluctuation in women’s moods during seasonal change than there is with men(Chotai, Smedh, …

The Predictors Of Juvenile Recidivism: Testimonies Of Adult Students 18 Years And Older Exiting From Alternative Education, La Toshia Palmer

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was to identify and describe the importance of the predictors of juvenile recidivism and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent/avoid juvenile recidivism as perceived by previously detained, arrested, convicted, and/or incarcerated adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education in Northern California. A second purpose was to explore the types of support provided by alternative schools and the perceived importance of the support to avoid recidivism according to adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education.

Methodology: This qualitative, descriptive research design identified …

Practice Standards For Initial Adhd Assessment: A Review, Lauren Spencer

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

There are many challenges that come with diagnosing attentiondeficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), including shared symptoms with many similar disorders, high comorbidity of other mental disorders, and subjective bias from informant reports. Three clinical guidelines for diagnosing ADHD currently exist, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP). However, these guidelines are outdated as they are based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) and do not include more recent research. This project was intended to update …

The Rewarding Nature Of Provocation-Focused Rumination In Women With Borderline Personality Disorder: A Preliminary Fmri Investigation, Jessica R. Peters, David S. Chester, Erin C. Walsh, C. Nathan Dewall, Ruth A. Baer

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Understanding why individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) ruminate on prior provocations, despite its negative outcomes, is crucial to improving interventions. Provocation-focused rumination may be rewarding in the short term by amplifying anger and producing feelings of justification, validation, and increased energy, while reducing self-directed negative affect. If provocation-focused rumination is utilized regularly as a rewarding emotion regulation strategy, it could result in increased activation in reward-related neural regions. The present pilot study examined neural correlates of provocation-focused rumination, relative to other forms of thought, in BPD.

Method: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was utilized to examine this theory …

The Relationship Between Resilience, Coping, And Social Media, Lillian N. Hurley

Masters Theses

This study was designed to explore relationships between measures of resilience, coping strategies, social media usage, and depression. Resilience refers to one's ability to endure and recover from adversity. Many theories about what contributes to the development resilience have been explored without a clear consensus. Taormina (2015) argued that adult personal resilience is comprised of four dimensions - determination, endurance, adapatability, and recuperability. Coping, a construct related to resilience, is the process of regulating emotions, cognition, behavior, physiological responses, and the environment in response to stressful events. Past research indicated those with poorer mental health have the tendency to use …

Shared Genetic And Environmental Influences On Fear, Anxiety, Posttraumatic Stress, And Brain Morphometry, Chelsea Sawyers

Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety disorders (ADs) and stress-related disorders are some of the most common psychiatric disorders in the United States. Like other c0mplex psychiatric illness, genetics and neuroimaging research has focused on understanding their underlying neurobiology. Areas within the fear-network play important roles in threat perception, fear conditioning/learning, cognitive processing, and modulation of fear responses including contextual modulation and extinction and have been implicated in ADs as well as stress disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The primary gap in the current search for underlying biological mechanisms is in whether biomarkers associated with disorders share genetic influences with the disorders they …

Black Males, Trauma, And Mental Health Service Use: A Systematic Review., Robert Motley, Andrae Banks

Brown School Faculty Publications

Objective: To systematically review the evidence of and synthesize results from relevant studies that have examined barriers and facilitators to professional mental health service use for Black male trauma survivors ages 18 and older.

Methods: A thorough search of selected databases that included EBSCO, ProQuest, and Web of Science Core Collection and careful consideration of inclusion and exclusion criteria yielded a final six studies for detailed review.

Results: Black male trauma survivors were significantly less likely to be utilizing mental health services than other sex-ethnic groups. High levels of daily crises, a lack of knowledge of steps to …

Development Of The Clark And Becker Scale Of Symptomatology (Cbs): Symptom-Level Item Performance, Michael Clark

All Master's Theses

Depression and anxiety are common, often comorbid, mental disorders. Many researchers have developed efficient self- and clinician-report measures of depression and anxiety. Most of these existing measures of depression and anxiety measures yield overall or specific subscale scores. The Clark and Becker Scale of Symptomatology (CBS) was designed to measure individual symptoms of depression and anxiety. It utilizes a different type of bipolar scaling to aid in accurate symptom endorsement. Unlike other pre-existing measures, the CBS is designed to be interpreted at the symptom level. The CBS was administered to a nationally representative sample (n = 530). Concurrent validity …

Into The Wild: Factors Mediating The Positive Outcomes Of Wilderness Based Therapy, Layla Moehring

Scripps Senior Theses

Wildnerness therapy is becoming increasingly popular as a treatment for adolescents. It has been established as an efficacious treatment in previous literature, but the mechanisms as to why have thus far remained a mystery. This research is looking at the connection between wilderness therapy and DBT, another evidence-based treatment. This study will examine 156 adolescents, comparing the efficacy of wilderness therapy to traditional inpatient and intensive outpatient. Pre-treatment assessments of suicidal ideation, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance will be taken. It is expected that there will be main effects for each of the treatments, but that wilderness therapy will be …

Beyond The End Line - Putting The Mental Health Of Female Athletes First, Katherine Scholten

Honors Projects

Currently one in five adults are affected by mental illness. Student-athletes are a population that is under diagnosed for mental illness. In the world of college athletics, mental pain is as regular as physical pain. Coaches often push their athletes to suffer in silence for the betterment of the team. The NCAA has recognized the importance of mental health in college athletics, yet there is still much work to be done among universities across the country. This document is to serve as a resource and a guide on the effects of mental health among female student athletes and the best …

Research Brief: "Service Delivery Experiences And Intervention Needs Of Military Families With Children With Asd", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This study describes the service delivery challenges and intervention needs of military families that include children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have relocated. In practice and policy, military families with children with ASD living on a military base should consider serving as a mentor to new families on the base to offer information on schools and community resources, and would also benefit from the increased accessibility of resources by the Department of Defense (DoD). More research is needed to learn the best practices of service delivery for military families with children with ASD, and future studies on service delivery …

Cortical Thickness Abnormalities Within The Salience And Reward Networks In Older Depressed Adults With Apathy, Monique A. Pimontel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background and Significance: Apathy is a common comorbidity in late-life depression. Among older depressed adults, apathy is associated with a number of adverse outcomes, including increased disability, comorbid illness, and mortality. The etiological substrates of apathy in late-life depression nonetheless remain poorly understood, and little is known about its optimal treatment. To this end, the aim of the current study was to examine cortical abnormalities within the salience (SN) and reward networks (RN), two brain systems involved in the processing of incentive salience that may underlie the syndrome of apathy in older depressed adults.

Methods: We examined the association between …

A Conceptualization Of The Body In Psychodynamic And Body-Based Psychotherapies: Areas Of Overlap And Possibilities For Integration, Aleksandra Rayska

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The distinction between verbal and nonverbal psychotherapies is clearly visible in theory and clinical practice. Moreover, this duality of approaches promotes a split between the body and the mind, defining them as separate from each other. This dissertation helps bridge the divide between the literature in body-based therapies and verbally-based psychotherapy by (i) exploring the conceptual frame used to understand the body in psychodynamic therapy (ii) identifying the areas of overlap between psychodynamic theory and theories that underlie body-based psychotherapies, and (iii) proposing ways in which psychodynamic and body-based theories can inform one another. A clinical case was used to …

Exploring A Multifactorial, Clinical Model Of Thought Disorder : Application Of A Dimensional, Transdiagnostic Approach., Mara Ann Hart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Bleuler saw thought disorder as the core defining feature of psychotic phenomena, reflective of the “splitting of the psychic functions” that occurred when, in the process of thinking, one’s ideas and feelings disconnect, becoming fragmented and competing functions. Unfortunately, interest in thought disorder as the conceptual core of psychosis was lost with rise of the modern DSM system, paralleling the shift towards a more simplistic, categorical way of defining psychiatric disorders. Aims: This study examined thought disorder from a dimensional perspective, with the aim of disentangling qualitative heterogeneity and diverse sources of influence. Analyses were based on …

Clinical Social Workers’ Perspectives On Illicit Drug Use And The Development Of Psychotic Disorders, Asma Naseer

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This purpose of this study was to explore social workers’ perspectives of drug-induced psychosis. More specifically, it sought to determine how knowledgeable clinical social workers are on the impact illicit drug use on the development of psychotic disorders. The study also aimed to discover clinical social workers’ perspectives regarding the influence of illicit drug use on the development of psychotic illnesses. This study used mixed methods approach in attempt to solve the research question. The quantitative portion of the research, an anonymous survey, allowed for the assessment of social workers’ knowledge of drug-induced psychosis. The qualitative portion of the research, …

Computational Modeling Of Contrast Sensitivity And Orientation Tuning In Schizophrenia, Steven M. Silverstein, Docia L. Demmin, James A. Bednar

MODVIS Workshop

Computational modeling is being increasingly used to understand schizophrenia, but, to date, it has not been used to account for the common perceptual disturbances in the disorder. We manipulated schizophrenia-relevant parameters in the GCAL (gain control, adaptation, laterally connected) model (Stevens et al., 2013), run using the Topographica simulator (Bednar, 2012), to model low-level visual processing changes in the disorder. Our models incorporated: separate sheets for retinal, LGN, and V1 activity; gain control in the LGN; homeostatic adaptation in V1 based on a weighted sum of all inputs and limited by a logistic (sigmoid) nonlinearity; lateral excitation and inhibition in …

Provider Based Interventions To Mitigate Risk For Opioid Pain Medication Abuse Among Adult Patients In A Primary Care Setting, Sheree Lamara Conley-Donaldson

Doctoral Projects

Mental and substance use disorders are predicted to exceed all physical disease processes causing major disability by 2020. Misuse and overdose of opioid pain medications is a significant public health concern in the United States. Approximately 1 in 4 patients receiving prescription opioids in primary care settings struggle with misuse. Half of all opioid prescriptions are written by primary care providers, including nurse practitioners. The purpose of this DNP project was to determine if nurse practitioner providers are implementing evidence-based practice guidelines including screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) to mitigate risk of prescription opioid pain medication misuse …

The Social Progression Of Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder: Post Vietnam And September 11th Attacks, Ellie Mcdonald

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Social Progression of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Post-Vietnam and September 11^th Attacks is an examination on the infrastructure of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’and of the Department of Defense’s lack of clarity and misinformation of the challenges and effects of mental illness within military ranks. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) made the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) after Vietnam. Since then, PTSD has been reevaluate numerous times, to properly define it. This research is a comparative analysis of the misconceptions of PTSD as experienced by Vietnam veterans and the first responders of the September 11^th tragedy. My research charts …