Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Interpretation Training Influences Memory For Prior Interpretations, E. Salemink, Paula T. Hertel, B. Mackintosh

Psychology Faculty Research

Anxiety is associated with memory biases when the initial interpretation of the event is taken into account. This experiment examined whether modification of interpretive bias retroactively affects memory for prior events and their initial interpretation. Before training, participants imagined themselves in emotionally ambiguous scenarios to which they provided endings that often revealed their interpretations. Then they were trained to resolve the ambiguity in other situations in a consistently positive (n = 37) or negative way (n = 38) before they tried to recall the initial scenarios and endings. Results indicated that memory for the endings was imbued with …

How Tibet Buddhists In The United States Negotiate Mental Health Concerns, Paul Peter Sireci

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

No abstract provided.

Anxiety And Depression : Exploring Associations With Suicidality : A Thesis Based Upon An Investigation In The Burlingame Center For Psychiatric Research And Education At The Institute Of Living (Hartford, Ct) In Collaboration With Dr. Stephen Woolley, Monica Marie Tronsky

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine if anxiety diagnoses were associated with increased risk for suicidality and to examine if comorbid anxiety and depression diagnoses have a synergistic effect on suicidality. In a sub-analysis, we assessed associations between anxiety and/or depression symptoms (versus diagnoses) with suicidality in order to inform a future study. Completed at the Burlingame Center for Psychiatric Research and Education at the Institute of Living (IOL) in Hartford, CT, this quantitative, cross-sectional study involved 20,823 adult inpatients admitted for psychiatric care from 2000-2009. Estimates of effects calculated were odds ratios (ORs) qualified at 95% confidence …

Causal 'Mapping' Of Depression And Anxiety Among Prostate Cancer Patients: A Preliminary Interview Study, Christopher Sharpley, Vicki Bitsika, David Christie

Vicki Bitsika

Background: Men with prostate cancer experience elevated levels of anxiety and depression, with some previous data suggesting that this is due to loss of previously-available social and personal reinforcing pleasant activities and abilities. Little is currently known about the range of activities/abilities that these patients lose, leaving open the question of how to best target lifestyle changes designed to help them overcome these negative effects on their mental health. This study used personal interviews to gather details of the pattern of lost activities/abilities from a sample of men with prostate cancer so that a self-report questionnaire might be developed for …

The Contribution Of Anxiety And Depression To Fatigue Among A Sample Of Australian University Students: Suggestions For University Counsellors, Vicki Bitsika, Christopher Sharpley, Ryan Bell

Ryan Bell

Responses to the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS: Zung, W. (1971). A rating instrument for anxiety disorders. Psychosomatics, 12, 371-379), the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS: Zung, W. (1973). From art to science: The diagnosis and treatment of depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 29, 328-337) and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) developed by Krupp and colleagues (Krupp, L.B., LaRocca, N.G., Muir-Nash, J., & Steinberg, A.D. (1989). The fatigue severity scale: Application to patients with multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Archives of Neurology, 46, 1121-1123) were collected from 200 Australian university students to explore the links between these three disorders. Reliability …

Associations Between Mindfulness And Symptoms Of Anxiety., Leisa L. Wells

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This cross-sectional exploratory study considered the associations between mindfulness and symptoms of anxiety. The participants in this study were 183 undergraduate students at a regional university in the southeastern United States. The general hypothesis was that higher levels of mindfulness would be associated with lower levels of anxiety. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine the association between a variety of aspects of mindfulness and symptoms of anxiety while controlling for a variety of demographic and historical variables, including previous experience with meditation. Results suggest that not all aspects of mindfulness were related to anxiety. Of the 12 specific …

Positive (But Not Negative) Punishment Predicts Anxiety And Depression Among Prostate Cancer Patients: An Exploration Of The Behaviour Analytic Model Of Depression, Vicki Bitsika, Christopher Sharpley, David Christie

Vicki Bitsika

The relative power of Positive and Negative Punishment as predictors of anxiety and depression was investigated within the gender-specific population of Prostate Cancer patients. As well as being a more powerful predictor of total test scores, Positive Punishment was also a stronger predictor of the presence of clinical levels of anxiety and depression. Examination of the particular Positive Punishment events that were significantly associated with clinical anxiety and depression showed considerable overlap, supporting the concept of a combined anxiety-depression disorder. Suggestions for behavioural interventions with this patient group are made.

Helping Prostate Cancer Patients Understand The Causes Of Anxiety And Depression: Comparing Cancer-Caused Vs Patient Response Events, Christopher Sharpley, Vicki Bitsika, David Christie

Vicki Bitsika

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) patients have elevated anxiety and depression, often showing impairments in decision-making and weakened relationships with their partner and family. Although treatment for these psychological side-effects of PCa is strongly recommended, relatively little is known of the causal processes underlying them. This study compared cancer-based lifestyle changes vs patient behavioural responses to cancer as predictors of anxiety and depression among PCa patients. Methods: PCa patients (381) were surveyed for their responses to standardised anxiety and depression questionnaires, plus a questionnaire designed to assess the kinds of lifestyle changes that had occurred to them and their responses to …

Experience And Regulation Of Positive Emotions As Predictors Of Anxiety And Depression In Adolescents And Children, Ann Schlegelmilch

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The high rate of comorbidity between anxiety and depression in children and adults raises questions concerning whether these disorders are two distinct disorders or a broad, but unitary construct. Clark and Watson's (1991) tripartite model purports that these disorders can be differentiated by two factors, positive affect (PA) and physiological hyperarousal (PH), in which low PA is unique to depression and PH is specific to anxiety. However, little is known about how specific positive emotions or their various facets may be related to depression and anxiety in children. Using 162 elementary and 148 middle school children (49% male, 66% Caucasian), …

Subjective Anxiety And Behavioral Avoidance: Gender, Gender Role, And Perceived Confirmability Of Self-Report, Carmen P. Mclean, Debra A. Hope

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Commonly reported gender effects for differential vulnerability for anxiety may relate to gender socialization processes. The present study examined the relationship between gender role and fear under experimental conditions designed to elicit accurate fear reporting. Undergraduate students (N = 119) completed several self-report measures and a behavioral avoidance task (BAT) with a tarantula while wearing a heart rate monitor. Gender roles were operationalized as instrumentality and expressiveness, as measured by the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1975). As expected, women reported greater subjective anxiety and were more avoidant of the tarantula than men. Regardless of gender, low …

Selective Attention For Masked And Unmasked Emotionally Toned Stimuli: Effects Of Trait Anxiety, State Anxiety, And Test Order, Mark Edwards, Jennifer Burt, Ottmar Lipp

Mark Edwards

We investigated selective attention for masked and unmasked, threat, and positively valenced words, in high trait anxious (HTA) and low trait anxious (LTA) individuals using the emotional Stroop colour-naming task. State anxiety was varied within participants through the threat of electric shock. To investigate whether the sequencing of the state anxiety manipulation affected colour-naming latencies, the ordering of the shock threat and shock safe conditions was counterbalanced across participants. The results indicated that the ordering of the state anxiety manipulation moderated masked and unmasked threat bias effects. Specifically, relative to LTA individuals, HTA individuals showed a threat interference effect, but …

Spiritual Bypass: A Preliminary Investigation, Harriet L. Glosoff, Craig S. Cashwell, Chereé Hammond

Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works

The phenomenon of spiritual bypass has received limited attention in the transpersonal psychology and counseling literature and has not been subjected to empirical inquiry. This study examines the phenomenon of spiritual bypass by considering how spirituality, mindfulness, alexithymia (emotional restrictiveness), and narcissism work together to influence depression and anxiety among college students. Results suggested that mindfulness and alexithymia accounted for variance in depression beyond what is accounted for by spirituality and that all 3 factors (mindfulness, alexithymia, and narcissism) accounted for variance in anxiety beyond what is accounted for by spirituality. Implications for counselors are provided.

Earthquake Anxiety May Be Indicator Of Future Trouble, Cari Bourette

Cari Bourette

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Anxiety On The Measurement Of Reading Fluency And Comprehension, Jeffrey A. Tysinger, P. Dawn Tysinger, Terry D. Diamanduros

Georgia Educational Researcher

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between anxiety and performance on measures of reading fluency and reading comprehension in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students. The study found that there is a significant negative correlation between social anxiety and reading comprehension but no significant correlation between social anxiety and reading fluency. These findings further demonstrate the distinction between the cognitive processes that underlie reading fluency and reading comprehension. The results also align with the tenets of Processing Efficiency Theory in that more complex tasks that significantly tax working memory (like reading comprehension) are more likely …

Behind The Mask: The Influence Of Mask-Type On Amygdala Response To Fearful Faces, M Justin Kim, Rebecca A. Loucks, Maital Neta, F. Caroline Davis, Jonathan A. Oler, Emily C. Mazzulla, Paul J. Whalen

Dartmouth Scholarship

In this study, we compared the effects of using neutral face masks vs non-face pattern masks on amygdala activity to masked fearful faces. Twenty-seven subjects viewed 18 s blocks of either fearful or happy faces masked with either neutral faces or patterns, while their brain activity was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Results replicated increased amygdala activation to face-masked fearful vs happy faces. In the pattern mask condition, the amygdala discriminated between masked fearful and happy faces, but this effect manifested as a decrease in activation to fearful faces compared to happy faces. This interactive effect between facial expression …

Effects Of Chlordiazepoxide On Predator Odor-Induced Reductions Of Playfulness In Juvenile Rats, Stephen M. Siviy, Courtney L. Steets, Lauren M. Debrouse

Psychology Faculty Publications

The extent to which a non-sedative dose of chlordiazepoxide (CDP) is able to modify the behavioral responses toward a predator odor was assessed in juvenile rats. Play behavior was suppressed and defensive behaviors were enhanced in the presence of a collar previously worn by a cat, when tested 24 hours later in the same context as that where the exposure occurred, and when tested in a context different than that in which the exposure occurred for up to 3 hours after exposure. CDP had no effect on the ability of cat odor to suppress play when rats were tested in …

The Impact Of Adolescent Chronic Pain On Functioning: Disentangling The Complex Role Of Anxiety, Lindsey L. Cohen, Kevin E. Vowles, Christopher Eccleston

Psychology Faculty Publications

A number of adolescents with chronic pain have clinically significant disability across physical, social, and academic activities, and pain severity only explains a portion of the variance in functioning. Thus, it is important to identify therapeutic options to improve adolescents’ functioning. In contrast to studies with adults with chronic pain, research in pediatric pain has not consistently found anxiety to be a good predictor of pain-related disability. The present study evaluated pain, anxiety, and functioning in 222 adolescents with chronic pain. Results indicated that pain was consistently and linearly related to disability across measures of physical and social functioning, school …

Cognitive Habits And Memory Distortions In Anxiety And Depression, Paula T. Hertel, F. Brozovich

Psychology Faculty Research

When anxious or depressed people try to recall emotionally ambiguous events, they produce errors that reflect their habits of interpreting ambiguity in negative ways. These distortions are revealed by experiments that evaluate performance on memory tasks after taking interpretation biases into account—an alternative to the standard memory-bias procedure that examines the accuracy of memory for clearly emotional material. To help establish the causal role of interpretation bias in generating memory bias, these disortions have been simulated by training interpretation biases in nondisordered groups. The practical implications of these findings for therapeutic intervention are discussed; future directions are described.

The Impact Of Blatant Stereotype Activation And Group Sex-Composition On Female Leaders, Crystal L. Hoyt, Stefanie K. Johnson, Susan Elaine Murphy, Kerry Hogue Skinnell

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

The individual and combined impact of blatant stereotype activation and solo status or mixed-sex groups on the self-appraisals, performance, and anxiety of female leaders was examined across three laboratory studies. The first study utilized a two-condition, two-stage design in which female leaders were exposed to a blatant stereotype threat or control condition after which they completed a leadership task. In the second stage, the threatened leaders received a solo status manipulation (leading a group of men) while the control condition did not. In the second study a 2 (blatant threat, no blatant threat) by 2 (solo status, all-female group) fully …

The Effect Of Homesickness On Air Force Academy Cadets, Earl J. Banning

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

A slightly modified version of the Homesickness Questionnaire (HQ) was administered to 176 Air Force Academy cadets during the spring semester of 2010. Total HQ scores were positively correlated with cadet somatic complaints. Total HQ scores were negatively correlated with cadet Grade Point Average (GPA), but only for male cadets. Factor analysis of the HQ revealed two factors, as in previous studies, disliking the Academy and attachment to home. There were no significant correlations found between cadet HQ total score and Military Performance Average (MPA), Physical Education Average score (PEA), or number of demerits received. Cadets were less likely to …

Library Anxiety Of Law Students: A Study Utilizing The Multidimensional Library Anxiety Scale, Stacey L. Bowers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether law students experienced library anxiety and, if so, which components contributed to that anxiety. The Multidimensional Library Anxiety Scale (MLAS) developed by Dr. Doris Van Kampen was used to assess library anxiety levels of law students. The MLAS is a 53 question Likert scale instrument that measures the construct of library anxiety. Participants in the study were law students enrolled in a private Midwestern university during the 2009-2010 academic year who completed the survey instrument.

Law students are a unique graduate school population who undergo an extremely rigorous and competitive …

Ecstasy (Mdma) And Its Relationship With Self Report Depression, Anxiety And Schizotypy, Lisa Woods, Emma Barkus

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract. Aims: The relationship between ecstasy and affective psychological symptoms are still subject to debate. We aimed to examine the relationship between Ecstasy use and self-report depression, anxiety and schizotypy. Design: Data were collected via structured remote self-report questionnaires. Participants: Participants were split into three groups: a control group with no ecstasy use, a light ecstasy user group (<50 >times), and a heavy ecstasy user group (>50 times). Measurements: Amount and patterns of ecstasy use were recorded, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) measured depression and anxiety respectively, and schizotypal traits were measured using the …

Library Anxiety Of Law Students: A Study Utilizing The Multidimensional Library Anxiety Scale, Stacey L. Bowers

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this study was to determine whether law students experienced library anxiety and, if so, which components contributed to that anxiety. The Multidimensional Library Anxiety Scale (mlas) developed by Dr. Doris Van Kampen was used to assess library anxiety levels of law students. The mlas is a 53 question Likert scale instrument that measures the construct of library anxiety. Participants in the study were law students enrolled in a private midwestern university during the 2009-2010 academic year who completed the survey instrument. Law students are a unique graduate school population who undergo an extremely rigorous and competitive course …

Effect Of Individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy On Depression And Anxiety In Older Adults With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease : A Feasibility Study, Eileen Lightner

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in older adults has been associated with a high prevalence of depression and anxiety (Kunik et al., 2005). The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a COPD-specific individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention on depression and anxiety in older adults with COPD. Three older adult patients with moderate to severe COPD and comorbid depression and anxiety were recruited from a large hospital affiliated pulmonary practice to participate in this single subject multiple baseline feasibility study. Pre-test-post test assessments were conducted utilizing the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the State …

Learning Statistics Using Concept Maps: Effects On Anxiety And Performance, Patrick Francis Cravalho

Master's Theses

The aim of this thesis was to study the use of concept mapping in an

undergraduate statistics course in order to examine the effects on statistics anxiety and

academic performance by means of a two-group quasi-experimental design. Two

undergraduate statistics classes were recruited for this study with one serving as the

treatment (concept map) group and one serving as the control (standard instruction)

group. It was hypothesized that the use of concept mapping would decrease the statistics

anxiety and improve the academic performance of students in the concept map group

when compared with the control group. The statistics anxiety of …

Priming God-Related Concepts Increases Anxiety And Task Persistence, Tina M. Toburen, Brian P. Meier

Psychology Faculty Publications

Research on the relationship between religiosity and anxiety has been mixed, with some studies revealing a positive relation and other studies revealing a negative relation. The current research used an experimental design, perhaps for the first time, to examine anxiety and task persistence during a stressful situation. Christians and Atheists/Agnostics/Others were primed with God-related or neutral (non-God related) concepts before completing an unsolvable anagram task described as a measure of verbal intelligence. The results revealed that the God-related primes increased both task persistence and anxiousness, which suggests that experimentally induced God-related thoughts caused participants to persist longer on a stressful …

Play And Adversity: How The Playful Mammalian Brain Withstands Threats And Anxieties, Stephen M. Siviy

Psychology Faculty Publications

Most mammals play, but they do so in a dangerous world. The dynamic relationship between the stresses created by their world and the activity of play helps to explain the evolution of play in mammals, as the author demonstrates in evidence garnered from experiments that introduce elements of fear to rats at play. The author describes the resulting fearful behavior and quantifies the fluctuation in play that results, and then he investigates how these are modified by increased maternal care or the use of benzodiazepines. In conclusion, he discusses how such research can help shed light on the neurobiology underlying …

Children's Weekend Activities In Four Countries : Context For Personal And Social Development, Asil Ozdogru

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Out-of-school time constitutes a major context of social and emotional development for children across cultures. Because it is not constrained by school attendance, weekend time allows cultural and gender differences in time usage to emerge. In this study, children's weekend activities, choice, and some of the related emotional outcomes were examined for fourth-grade students in four countries. A total of 1,265 children of families from middle socioeconomic status in Bulgaria, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United States completed an activity survey asking them to state their typical activity for each of 12 hours on Saturday, their enjoyment of the activity, and …

Cognitive Appraisals, Stress And Emotion About Environmental Contamination In The Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, Christina A. Papadopoulos-Lane

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study explored the long term impact of white collar environmental crime, i.e., illegal disposal of toxins by ALCOA and GM foundry, on Akwesasne Mohawk Territory. Specifically this study focused on whether toxic contamination was perceived by Akwesasne residents as a chronic stressor, and how residents appraised and coped with the long term consequences of contamination. Data were collected from retrospective interviews using a non random targeted snow ball method. Lazarus's theory of stress and emotion was used to analyze the responses of 47 residents of Akwesasne about environmental contamination. Respondents who were aware of the contamination appraised it as …

Test-Retest Reliability Of Self-Reports Of Depression And Anxiety Among Students With High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders, Jill Williams

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Anxiety and depression are more prevalent in children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) than in the general population. Due to their cognitive impairments, and questions concerning the validity and reliability of their responses, it is unknown whether these individuals can accurately self-report their internalizing disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate the internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability of self-reports of depression and anxiety amongst children and adolescents with ASDs. The study used a convenience sample of 31 subjects aged 8 to 17 with a diagnosis of high-functioning autism. Self-reports were administered using the Child Depression …