Other Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Positive Emotions And Favorable Cardiovascular Health: A 20-Year Longitudinal Study, Julia K. Boehm, Ying Chen, Farah Qureshi, Jackie Soo, Peter Umokoro, Rosalba Hernandez, Donald Lloyd-Jones, Laura D. Kubzansky

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

No studies have examined whether positive emotions lead to favorable cardiovascular health (CVH) early in the lifespan, before cardiovascular disease is diagnosed. Moreover, the direction of the association has not been thoroughly investigated. Among younger adults, we investigated whether baseline positive emotions were associated with better CVH over 20 years. We also considered whether baseline CVH was associated with subsequent positive emotions during the same period.

Participants included 4196 Black and White men and women from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study. Positive emotions and cardiovascular-related parameters were each assessed in 1990 (this study's baseline), with repeated …

Reproductive Health Needs Among Women In Treatment For Substance Use Disorder, Jaanki Bhakta, Elizabeth Morse, David Phillippi

DNP Projects

Integrated care models for substance use disorder (SUD) and reproductive health care have been proposed as a strategy to increase access to reproductive health care for women in treatment for SUD. This cross-sectional, survey-based study measured how women of childbearing age in residential treatment report their demand for and access to reproductive health care, their pregnancy intention, contraceptive utilization and preference for integrating reproductive health care with their current SUD treatment milieu. Eighty-five percent of the women interviewed (N=108) expressed a desire to prevent pregnancy in the next year, although only one-third (33.6%) were using a form of contraception at …

Alexithymia Symptoms Are Not Associated With Childhood Trauma Or Crhr1 Rs110402 Genotype, Emily Wiatr, Grace Sullivan, Scott Stoltenberg

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Alexithymia is associated with difficulties in emotional self-regulation, and alexithymia is specifically associated with an absence of emotional experience and cognition of emotion. Past research has indicated a potential association between alexithymia and the CRHR1 gene . Situational factors may also impact the expression of the CRHR1 gene within an individual. Berenbaum (1996) found associations between PTSD/childhood trauma and alexithymia. This study examined these associations using the Online Alexithymia Questionnaire-G2 (OAQ-G2) as well as DNA samples gathered from 657 participants at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (72% women; 78.6% white; mean age= 20.34; standard deviation of 2.6). It was hypothesized that …

Recognizing The Need For Mental Health Reform In The Texas Department Of Criminal Justice, Kara Mchorse

St. Mary's Law Journal

The ways in which mental health care and the criminal justice system interact are in desperate need of reform in Texas. The rate of mental illness in Texas is higher than the current state of mental health care can provide for. While state hospitals were once the primary care facilities of those with mental illness, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has taken on that role in the last few decades; and when the criminal justice system becomes entangled with mental health care, it often leads to “unmitigated disaster.” If Texas continues to allow the TDCJ to act as …

Supporting Self-Regulation Of Children With Adhd Using Wearables: Tensions And Design Challenges, Franceli L. Cibrian, Kimberley D. Lakes, Arya Tavakoulnia, Kayla Guzman, Sabrina Schuck, Gillian R. Hayes

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

The design of wearable applications supporting children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD) requires a deep understanding not only of what is possible from a clinical standpoint but also how the children might understand and orient towards wearable technologies, such as a smartwatch. Through a series of participatory design workshops with children with ADHD and their caregivers, we identified tensions and challenges in designing wearable applications supporting the self-regulation of children with ADHD. In this paper, we describe the specific challenges of smartwatches for this population, the balance between self-regulation and co-regulation, and tensions when receiving notifications on a smartwatch …

Maternal Depressive Symptoms Predict General Liability In Child Psychopathology, Danielle A. Swales, Hannah R. Snyder, Benjamin L. Hankin, Curt A. Sandman, Laura M. Glynn, Elyssia Poggi Davis

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective: The current study examines how maternal depressive symptoms relate to child psychopathology when structured via the latent bifactor model of psychopathology, a new organizational structure of psychopathological symptoms consisting of a general common psychopathology factor (p-factor) and internalizing- and externalizing-specific risk.

Method: Maternal report of depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory – II) and child psychopathological symptoms (Child Behavior Checklist and Children’s Behavior Questionnaire) were provided by 554 mother-child pairs. Children in the sample were 7.7 years old on average (SD = 1.35, range = 5–11 years), and were 49.8% female, 46% Latinx, and 67% …

Variable Magnitude And Frequency Financial Reinforcement Is Effective At Increasing Adults’ Free-Living Physical Activity, Vincent Berardi, Melbourne Hovell, Jane C. Hurley, Christine B. Phillips, John Belletierre, Michael Todd, Marc A. Adams

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Financial rewards can increase health behaviors, but little research has quantified the effects of different reinforcement schedules on this process. This analysis compares the average moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) associated with six distinct positive reinforcement schedules implemented within a physical activity promotion clinical trial. In this trial, participants (N = 512) wore an accelerometer for 1 year and were prescribed one of two types of MVPA goals: a static 30-min goal or an adaptive goal based on the MVPA produced over the previous 9 days. As participants met goals, they transitioned through a sequence of reinforcement stages, beginning with …

Unpredictable Maternal Behavior Is Associated With A Blunted Infant Cortisol Response, Amanda N. Noroña-Zhou, Alyssa Morgan, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman, Tallie Z. Baram, Hal S. Stern, Elyssia Poggi Davis

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is associated with poor physical and mental health. Early-life adversity may dysregulate cortisol response to subsequent stress. This study examines the association between patterns of maternal behavior and infant stress response to a challenge. Specifically, we test whether infant exposure to unpredictable maternal sensory signals is related to the cortisol response to a painful stressor.

Method

Participants were 102 mothers and their children enrolled in a longitudinal study. Patterns of maternal sensory signals were evaluated at 6 and 12 months during a 10-min mother–infant play episode. Entropy rate was calculated as a quantitative …

The Project Talent Twin And Sibling Study: Zygosity And New Data Collection, Carol A. Prescott, Ellen E. Walters, Thalida Em Arpawong, Catalina Zavala, Tara L. Gruenewald, Margaret Gatz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The Project Talent Twin and Sibling (PTTS) study includes 4481 multiples and their 522 nontwin siblings from 2233 families. The sample was drawn from Project Talent, a U.S. national longitudinal study of 377,000 individuals born 1942–1946, first assessed in 1960 and representative of U.S. students in secondary school (Grades 9–12). In addition to the twins and triplets, the 1960 dataset includes 84,000 siblings from 40,000 other families. This design is both genetically informative and unique in facilitating separation of the ‘common’ environment into three sources of variation: shared by all siblings within a family, specific to twin-pairs, and associated with …

Immune-Endocrine Links To Gregariousness In Wild House Mice, Patricia C. Lopes, Esther H. D. Carlitz, Morgan Kindel, Barbara König

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Social interactions are critically important for survival and impact overall-health, but also impose costs on animals, such as exposure to contagious agents. The immune system can play a critical role in modulating social behavior when animals are sick, as has been demonstrated within the context of “sickness behaviors.” Can immune molecules affect or be affected by social interactions even when animals are not sick, therefore serving a role in mediating pathogen exposure? We tested whether markers of immune function in both the blood and the brain are associated with gregariousness, quantified as number of animals interacted with per day. To …

Anxiety-Related Issues In Cancer Survivorship, Maresi A. Berry-Stoelzle, Anna C. Mark, Peter Kim, Jeanette M. Daly

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine patient opinions about anxiety in cancer survivorship, particularly the role of the primary care provider in management of anxiety related to the trajectory of long-term cancer survivorship.

Methods: Respondents to a mass email (N = 22,000) were invited to participate in 1 of 3 institutional review board-approved focus group meetings. Inclusion criteria were being an adult patient older than 25 years of age, having any type of cancer diagnosis, and being at least 18 months from treatment. The following specific issues were discussed: role of the primary care provider …

Personal Music Listening For Regulating Emotions: A Survey Study, Katie A. Bautch

Pacific Journal of Health

This is a survey study examining the ways in which people use personal music listening as a tool for regulating emotions. It included responses from 109 participants, who answered 16 line items regarding the ways in which they use music to affect their emotions, as well as 7 questions regarding demographic information. Analysis was conducted on line items, and also after grouping into separate functions of music. Results indicated that the most common way people use music is soothing/coping with emotions. The second most commonly used was changing emotions/alternate engagement, followed by mindfulness/matching emotions, and expressing emotion/problem solving. Line items …

The Missing Moral Dimension: Perceptions Of Transgressions And The Moderating Role Of Moral Foundations On Psychological Distress, Hannah Reas

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Anxiety and depression can be represented on a dimensional spectrum of negative affect, broadly termed psychological distress. Research has identified several factors that maintain negative emotion, but have neglected the possibility that individuals’ interpretations of moral issues in the larger macro-system affects their level of distress. Thus, the current study investigated the role of perceptions of moral transgressions, or cognitive interpretations of stimuli (“transgressions”) that violate beliefs about right and wrong, as a predictor of psychological distress. Furthermore, this study tested how perceptions of moral transgressions vary as a function of individuals’ own moral intuitions, or moral foundations. Participants ( …

Anger Regulation And Psychosis: Mechanisms Of Impact And Implications For Therapy, Naama Hofman

Theses and Dissertations

Paranoia is strongly associated with anger. This relationship is found across the psychosis spectrum, including individuals at high risk of developing psychosis. The relationship is commonly addressed in the measurement of anger but is rarely addressed in clinical studies. This study explored the relationship between anger regulation and paranoid ideation as well as factors that mediate and moderate this relationship. Specifically, the study examined whether the influence of anger regulation cognitive-behavioral interventions on paranoid ideation changed as aspects of emotional awareness changed. It also examined whether interventions for anger regulation that target different phases of anger generation impacted paranoid ideation …

Neuropsychological Change After A Single Season Of Head Impact Exposure In Youth Football, Arthur C. Maerlender, Eric Smith, P. Gunnar Brolinson, Joseph J. Crisco, Jillian Urban, Amaris Ajamil, Steven Rowson, Eamon T. Campolettano, Ryan A. Gellner, Srinidhi Bellamkonda, Emily Kieffer, Mireille E. Kelley, Derek Jones, Alex Powers, Jonathan Beckwith, Joel Stitzel, Richard M. Greenwald, Stefan Duma

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Head impact exposure (HIE) in youth football is a public health concern. The objective of this study was to determine if one season of HIE in youth football was related to cognitive changes.

Method: Over 200 participants (ages 9–13) wore instrumented helmets for practices and games to measure the amount of HIE sustained over one season. Pre- and post-season neuropsychological tests were completed. Test score changes were calculated adjusting for practice effects and regression to the mean and used as the dependent variables. Regression models were calculated with HIE variables predicting neuropsychological test score changes.

Results: For the full …

The Effect Of In-Service Methodology On Learning Transfer For School Personnel Managing Students Following Concussion, Jennifer Parent-Nichols, Angela Desilva Mousseau, Joshua Cleland, Jonathan D. Lichtenstein, Arthur C. Maerlender

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Background: It is essential to increase the knowledge base of teachers involved in facilitating return to learning in middle school students following a concussion. However, the best method to enhance the transfer of learning for teachers remains to be elucidated. Application of Adult Learning Theory (ALT) is a plausible solution to this problem. Purpose: The purpose of this randomized post-test study was to examine the effects of ALTon the transfer of learning in teachers who work with individuals with concussion. Methods: A convenience sample of 169 teachers at four middle schools were randomized to receive an in-service regarding concussion management …

Sleep And Stress In The Acute Phase Of Concussion In Youth, Arthur C. Maerlender, Caitlin Masterson, Jessica L. Calvi, Todd Caze, Ross Mathiasen, Dennis Molfese

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

This study sought to address the complex interplay between both biological and psychological perceptions of stress and sleep in the acute stages following a mild traumatic brain injury. A secondary goal was to identify potential targets for intervention. Eleven acutely injured youth (mean age 12 years) were studied at home with overnight actigraphy, salivary cortisol and melatonin assays, and subjective ratings of stress and fatigue (injured group). Nine matched control youth also were assessed (control group). Results suggested longer sleep latencies (time to fall asleep) and higher levels of fatigue in the injured group exist (p ¼ 0.025 and p …

The Global Assessment Of School Functioning (Gasf): Criterion Validity And Interrater Reliability, Arthur C. Maerlender, Joseph Palamara, Jonathan Lichtenstein

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

The Global Assessment of School Functioning (GASF) provides a robust estimate of a student's overall level of functioning within the school environment. It is intended to capture a global metric reflecting academic, social and general behavioral functioning within the school. It is a modification of the Global Assessment of Functioning and reflects functioning across academics, interpersonal relationships, school behavior, and school participation. It was developed to allow school personnel a means to communicate the general level of student functioning without re- verting to specific issues or immediate concerns. This paper reports on the scale's criterion validity and interrater reliability. Confirmations …

Psychometric Properties Of The Standardized Assessment Of Concussion In Youth Football: Validity, Reliability, And Demographic Factors, Arthur C. Maerlender, Eric Smith, P. Gunnar Brolinson, Jillian Urban, Steven Rowson, Amaris Ajamil, Eamon T. Campolettano, Ryan A. Gellner, Srinidhi Bellamkonda, Mireille E. Kelley, Derek Jones, Alex Powers, Jonathan Beckwith, Joseph J. Crisco, Joel Stitzel, Stefan Duma, Richard M. Greenwald

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to determine the psychometrics (reliability, validity) of the original Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC) in a youth sample (ages 11 to 13). Demographic factors of race, level of vocabulary knowledge, mother’s level of education were also considered. Over 150 youth football athletes completed the SAC and a brief battery of NIH Toolbox cognitive tests as part of a larger study on biomechanical factors in youth sport concussion. This was a within-subjects design (pre-season, post-season assessments), and correlational analysis of convergent and discriminant validity. Between groups analysis based on demographic differences was also employed. The …

Modeling Interactions Between Brain Function, Diet Adherence Behaviors, And Weight Loss Success, Amanda N. Szabo-Reed, Laura E. Martin, Jinxiang Hu, Hung-Wen Yeh, Joshua Powell, Rebecca J. Lepping, Trisha M. Patrician, Florance J. Breslin, Joseph E. Donnelly, Cary R. Savage

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Summary

Introduction: Obesity is linked to altered activation in reward and control brain cir-cuitry; however, the associated brain activity related to successful or unsuccessful weight loss (WL) is unclear.

Methods: Adults with obesity (N = 75) completed a baseline functional magnetic res-onance imaging (fMRI) scan before entering a WL intervention (ie,3-month diet and physical activity [PA] program). We conducted an exploratory analysis to identify the contributions of baseline brain activation, adherence behavior patterns, and the asso-ciated connections to WL at the conclusion of a 3-month WL intervention. Food cue-reactivity brain regions were functionally identified using fMRI to index brain activation …

Males With Chronic Ankle Instability Demonstrate Deficits In Neurocognitive Function Compared To Control And Copers, Adam B. Rosen, Melanie L. Mcgrath, Arthur C. Maerlender

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were neurocognitive deficits among controls, copers and those with chronic ankle instability (CAI). Participants included those without history of ankle injury (n = 14), ankle sprain copers (n = 13) and patients with self-reported CAI (n = 14). They completed a battery of valid and reliable computer-based neurocognitive tests. The differences between neurocognitive domain scores were compared across the Control, Coper and CAI groups. Patients with CAI had lower composite memory, visual memory and simple attention compared to controls. In males with CAI, large differences in memory and attention were …

Neural Bases Of Phonological And Semantic Processing In Early Childhood, Avantika Mathur, Douglas H. Schultz, Yingying Wang Dr.

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

During the early period of reading development, children gain phonological (letter-to-sound mapping) and semantic knowledge (storage and retrieval of word meaning). Their reading ability changes rapidly, accompanied by learning-induced brain plasticity as they learn to read. This study aims at identifying the neural bases of phonological and semantic processing in early childhood by using a combination of univariate and multivariate pattern analysis. Nineteen typically developing children between the age of five and seven performed visual word-level phonological (rhyming) and semantic (related meaning) judgment tasks during functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. Our multivariate analysis showed that young children with good reading …

The Provider Perspective On Behavioral Health Care For Transgender And Gender Nonconforming Individuals In The Central Great Plains: A Qualitative Study Of Approaches And Needs, Natalie Holt, Debra A. Hope, Richard Mocarski, Heather Meyer, Robyn King, Nathan Woodruff

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

Purpose—Transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals interact with mental health care systems at high rates and experience substantial barriers to care. Rural TGNC individuals face additional disparities in accessing appropriate mental health services. Little research has focused on the mental healthcare providers who work with TGNC individuals in underserved areas. The current study sought to describe the mental health care services delivered by providers perceived as affirming by TGNC community members in the Central Great Plains.

Methods—We conducted qualitative interviews with 10 providers to understand how providers seek cultural competency and conceptualize and work with their TGNC clients given the …

Political Centrism, Perspective Taking, And Outgroup Derogation: An Integrated Model, David Kesler

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The relationship between perspective taking abilities, political centrism, and outgroup derogation is not defined at this time. While previous research has demonstrated a negative relationship between political centrism and outgroup derogation (Van Prooijen, Krouwel, Boiten, & Eendebak, 2015), the relationship between the other variables is unclear. Therefore, the current study sought to measure the relationship between (1) perspective taking abilities and political centrism, (2) perspective taking and outgroup derogation, (3) political centrism and outgroup derogation and lastly, (4) whether the relationship between perspective taking abilities and political outgroup derogation would be mediated by an individual's level of political centrism.

The Relationship Between Social Media Engagement And Psychological Well-Being In College Students At The University Of New Hampshire, Emily G. D'Antonio

Honors Theses and Capstones

Social media use has increased substantially in recent years, and for the college-aged population, social media is often the leading method of communication. Research indicates this reliance on digital connection could have a negative impact on the health of young adults (Bagroy et al., 2017). The college years are a time of personal growth and defining actions, yet can also be burdened by mental health issues related to stress, anxiety, and depression (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010). Acknowledging these trends, the current study explores how college students’ specific frequency and intentionality while interacting on social media relates to their psychological well-being. …

Factors Of Physical Activity In Youth, Joshua Held

Capstone Showcase

JOSHUA HELD

Factors of Physical Activity (PA) Levels in Youth

PA levels in youth can help to predict PA levels in adults, improve cognitive function in youth, and is associated with improved health-quality of life, blood pressure, and even mental health in adults. Thus, it is imperative to understand the various factors associated with motivating and hindering PA levels in youth and how these factors can translate into the PA habits of their adult lifestyles. The factors analyzed in this study are socio-economic status, adult influence, social influence, sedentary lifestyle, and physical/mental health. These factors overlap and differ in their …

The Role Of Awareness In Traumatic Brain Injuries: Interviews With Experts, Dominique Chao

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Approximately 2.8 million US citizens sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) annually, with more than 275,000 requiring inpatient rehabilitation (Taylor, Bell & Breiding, 2013). As rehabilitation techniques are refined and adapted to increase the speed of recovery and functional independence following TBIs, there is an ongoing need for better prognostic assessment tools. Research has shown that a lack of self-awareness following TBI is associated with poorer outcomes (e.g. employability, community reintegration) following discharge from inpatient hospitalizations (Cheng & Man, 2006; Robertson & Schmitter, 2016) and can result in decreased motivation (Simmonds & Fleming, 2003), compromised safety, poor community re-integration, and …

Exploring The Heteromeric Interface Of The 5-Ht2a-Mglu2 Receptor Complex, Mohamed Aarif Abdul Kareem

Theses and Dissertations

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder characteristic of several neurotransmitters including dopamine, serotonin, and glutamate being in imbalance. Early therapies focused solely on dopamine antagonism and second-generation antipsychotics focused on the dopamine and serotonin systems and their respective G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) proteins. Although debate for dimerization of certain classes of GPCR exist, the establishment of an mGlu2-5-HT_2A heterocomplex, which is implicated in schizophrenia is of interest. Previous studies have used a mutation-based approach to identify transmembrane domain 4 (TM4) as the domain responsible in mGlu2 for mediating heteromerization before narrowing down the individual amino acids responsible for …

Genetic Taster Status As A Mediator Of Neural Activity And Swallowing Mechanics In Healthy Adults, Angela M. Dietsch, Ross M. Westemeyer, William G. Pearson Jr., Douglas H. Schultz

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

As part of a larger study examining relationships between taste properties and swallowing, we assessed the influence of genetic taster status (GTS) on measures of brain activity and swallowing physiology during taste stimulation in healthy men and women. Twenty-one participants underwent videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during trials of high-intensity taste stimuli. The precisely formulated mixtures included sour, sweet-sour, lemon, and orange taste profiles and unflavored controls. Swallowing physiology was characterized via computational analysis of swallowing mechanics plus other kinematic and temporal measures, all extracted from VFSS recordings. Whole-brain analysis of fMRI data assessed blood …

An Exploratory Study Of How Millennials Approach And Communicate Mental Health In The Workplace, Johanna I. Seitenbach

Student Theses and Dissertations

Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting more than 300 million people. As more millennials take on leadership positions, it is important to understand how companies are currently addressing mental health in the workplace and compare this to how millennials approach the subject. The quantitative analysis completed through this study helped to determine what a mentally healthy workplace looks and feels like for millennials. Companies are increasingly investing in mental health initiatives for several reasons: to increase brand recognition, to improve company culture, to mitigate potential lawsuits, and to increase employee engagement and retention. This survey assessed how …