Psychology Commons^™

The Interpersonal Theory Of Suicide, Scott R. Braithwaite, Kimberly Van Orden, Tracy K. Witte, Kelly C. Cukrowicz, Edward A. Selby, Thomas E. Joiner Jr.

Faculty Publications

Suicidal behavior is a major problem worldwide and at the same time has received relatively little empirical attention. This relative lack of empirical attention may be due in part to a relative absence of theory development regarding suicidal behavior. The current paper presents the Interpersonal Theory of Suicidal Behavior. We propose that the most dangerous form of suicidal desire is caused by the simultaneous presence of two interpersonal constructs—thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness (and hopelessness about these states)—and further, that the capability to engage in suicidal behavior is separate from the desire to engage in suicidal behavior. According to the …

Social Support And The Reactivity Hypothesis: Conceptual Issues In Examining The Efficacy Of Received Support During Acute Psychological Stress, Wendy C. Birmingham, Bert N. Uchino, Mckenzie Carlisle, Allison A. Vaughn

Faculty Publications

Social support has been reliably related to better physical health outcomes. One influential model suggests that social support is related to lower cardiovascular disease mortality because it reduces the potentially deleterious consequences of cardiovascular reactivity during acute stress. However, received support and perceived support are separable constructs and epidemiological research suggests variability in links between received support and health. This is important because most social support and acute laboratory stress studies are essentially based on the receipt of support. In this paper, we focus on the conceptualization of received support and its implications for understanding links to support laboratory reactivity …

On The Importance Of Knowing Your Partner’S Views: Attitude Familiarity Is Associated With Better Interpersonal Functioning And Lower Ambulatory Blood Pressure In Daily Life, Wendy C. Birmingham, David M. Sanbonmatsu, Bert N. Uchino

Faculty Publications

Background—Relationships have been linked to significant physical health outcomes. However, little is known about the more specific processes that might be responsible for such links. Purpose—The main aim of this study was to examine a previously unexplored and potentially important form of partner knowledge (i.e., attitude familiarity) on relationship processes and cardiovascular function. Methods—In this study, 47 married couples completed an attitude familiarity questionnaire and ambulatory assessments of daily spousal interactions and blood pressure. Results—Attitude familiarity was associated with better interpersonal functioning between spouses in daily life (e.g., greater partner responsiveness). Importantly, attitude familiarity was also related to lower overall …

The Influence Of Depressive Symptomatology And Perceived Stress On Plasma And Salivary Oxytocin Before, During And After A Support Enhancement Intervention, Wendy C. Birmingham, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Kathleen C. Light

Faculty Publications

Oxytocin (OT) activity increases in response to stress as well as to warm social contact. Subclinical depression is associated with higher stress but less reward from social contacts. The present investigation was intended to examine whether husbands and wives with high depressive symptomatology scores have increased plasma and salivary OT that may be mediated partly by higher perceived stress, and also to assess whether an intervention to convey partner support through ‘‘warm touch’’ may reduce effects of depressive symptoms on OT. In this study, 34 healthy married couples (n = 68) ages 20—39 provided self reports of depressive symptoms (CESD) …

Intraclass Correlation Associated With Therapists: Estimates And Applications In Planning Psychotherapy Research, Scott A. Baldwin, David M. Murray, William R. Shadish, Sherri L. Pals, Jason M. Holland, Jonathan S. Abramowitz, Gerhard Andersson, David C. Atkins, Per Carlbring, Kathleen M. Carroll, Andrew Christensen, Kari M. Eddington, Anke Elhers, Daniel J. Feaster, Ger P. J. Keijsers, Ellen Koch, Willem Kuyken, Alfred Lange, Tania Lincoln, Robert S. Stephens, Steven Taylor, Chris Trepka, Jeanne Watson

Faculty Publications

It is essential that outcome research permit clear conclusions to be drawn about the efficacy of interventions. The common practice of nesting therapists within conditions can pose important methodological challenges that affect interpretation, particularly if the study is not powered to account for the nested design. An obstacle to the optimal design of these studies is lack of data about the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), which measures the statistical dependencies introduced by nesting. To begin the development of a public database of ICC estimates, the authors report ICCs for a variety outcomes reported in 20 psychotherapy outcome studies. The magnitude …

Evaluating Models For Partially Clustered Designs, Scott A. Baldwin, Daniel J. Bauer, Eric Stice, Paul Rohde

Faculty Publications

Partially clustered designs, where clustering occurs in some conditions and not others, are common in psychology, particularly in prevention and intervention trials. This paper reports results from a simulation comparing five approaches for analyzing partially clustered data, including Type I errors, parameter bias, efficiency, and power. Results indicate that multilevel models adapted for partially clustered data are relatively unbiased and efficient and consistently maintain the nominal Type I error rate when using appropriate degrees of freedom. To attain sufficient power in partially clustered designs, researchers should attend primarily to the number of clusters in the study. An illustration is provided …

A Primer On Meta-Analysis In Clinical Psychology, Scott A. Baldwin, William R. Shadish

Faculty Publications

The authors provide a primer on meta-analysis. Topics are covered at an introductory level and references are provided for readers wanting further information. Topics covered include literature search procedures, coding manuals and extracting information from studies, calculating effect sizes, combining effect sizes, fixed and random effects analysis, influence analysis, moderator analysis, multivariate meta-analysis, and publication bias. All analyses are illustrated using k= 18 behavioral marital therapy versus control studies. The authors conclude by considering criticisms of meta-analysis, introducing reporting standards in meta-analysis, and reviewing software options for meta-analysis. An appendix for the paper includes the data and annotated Stata code …

Necessity Of Hippocampal Neurogenesis For The Therapeutic Action Of Antidepressants In Adult Nonhuman Primates, Tarique D. Perera, Andrew J. Dwork, Kathryn A. Keegan, Lakshmi Thirumangalakudi, Cecilia M. Lipira, Niamh Joyce, Christopher Lange, James Dee Higley, Gorazd Rosoklija, Rene Hen, Harold A. Sackeim, Jeremy D. Coplan

Faculty Publications

Background: Rodent studies show that neurogenesis is necessary for mediating the salutary effects of antidepressants. Nonhuman primate (NHP) studies may bridge important rodent findings to the clinical realm since NHP-depression shares significant homology with human depression and kinetics of primate neurogenesis differ from those in rodents. After demonstrating that antidepressants can stimulate neurogenesis in NHPs, our present study examines whether neurogenesis is required for antidepressant efficacy in NHPs. Materials/Methodology: Adult female bonnets were randomized to three social pens (N = 6 each). Pen-1 subjects were exposed to control-conditions for 15 weeks with half receiving the antidepressant fluoxetine and the rest …

The Effects Of Using Clinical Support Tools To Prevent Treatment Failure, Tiffany K. Washington

Theses and Dissertations

To date, outcome research suggests that providing clinicians with patient progress feedback and problem-solving tools is effective in improving therapeutic outcome for clients who are predicted to have a negative treatment outcome. To expand upon this body of research, the current study examined the efficacy of using these problem-solving tools (Clinical Support Tools; CST) to reduce the risk of treatment failure and enhance positive outcome with 118 clients who were not identified as at -risk for a negative outcome. Results of this study indicated that the intervention failed to lower the rate of becoming an at-risk case or to enhance …

Bullying Trends And Reporting Preferences Among An Urban, Suburban, And Rural School, Noemi E. Olsen

Theses and Dissertations

Every student has the right to a safe learning environment, yet so many students have been targets of or witnesses of bullying incidents. In spite of school administration efforts to create effective reporting systems and to implement anti-bullying programs, many students remain silent victims. The present study analyzes data collected from a School Safety Survey through SchoolTipline. This data was used to determine the bullying trends, reporting trends, and reporting preferences of 562 7th and 8th grade students at an urban, suburban, and rural school. The results of this study indicate that bullying continues to be a prevalent issue that …

Quantitative Template For Subtyping Primary Progressive Aphasia, Marsel Mesulam, Christina Wieneke, Emily Rogalski, Derin J. Cobia, Cynthia Thompson, Sandra Weintraub

Faculty Publications

Objective—To provide a quantitative algorithm for classifying primary progressive aphasia (PPA) into agrammatic (PPA-G), semantic (PPA-S) and logopenic (PPA-L) variants, each of which is known to have a different probability of association with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD).

Design—Prospectively and consecutively enrolled 16 PPA patients tested with neuropsychological instruments and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Setting—University medical center. Participants—PPA patients recruited nationally in the USA as part of a longitudinal study.

Results—A two-dimensional template, reflecting performance on tests of syntax (Northwestern Anagram Test) and lexical semantics (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test), classified all 16 patients in concordance with a …

Provide Visual Structure For Students With Asd, Tina Taylor

Faculty Publications

World renowned animal scientist and autism self-advocate Temple Grandin said, "People on the autism/Asperger spectrum have uneven skills. They are often good at one type of learning and bad at another. Educators need to work on building up the area of strength." She explains that three cognitive areas of strength are those who are visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, and word thinkers. Visual thinkers are more inclined to think in pictures rather than words. They may excel in graphic design, industrial design, animation, geometry, or trigonometry. Pattern thinkers have abstract visual thoughts where they can see patterns and relationships between numbers. …

Dkefs Performance As A Measure Of Executive Dysfunction In Adult Adhd, Thad Q. Lloyd

Theses and Dissertations

The evidence suggesting Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has neurodevelopmental roots with specific impairment in executive functioning continues to grow. However, no known study to date has explored the relationship between adult males with a diagnosis of ADHD and performance on a measure of executive functioning, the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (DKEFS). The current investigation attempted to explore (1) whether adult males with ADHD show an overall pattern of executive dysfunction as measured by the DKEFS, (2) potential group differences on both level-of-performance and process-oriented measure scores, and (3) the clinical utility of the DKEFS in diagnosing ADHD in adult males. A …

Throwing The Baby Out With The Bathwater: When Can We Trust Self Report With The Smi Inpatient Population?, Jeffrey A. Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Reliability of self-report outcome assessment is often called into question with the severely mentally ill population. In the context of inpatient care, demand characteristics may further complicate self-report measures. Although clinician-completed outcome measures, such as the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-Expanded Version (BPRS-E), have become industry standard with this population, self-report assessment may be useful under certain conditions. This study sought to explore the relationship between a clinician-completed, the BPRS-E, and a self-completed measure, the SOQ, within the SMI inpatient population. A total of 357 adult participants with a minimum of three assessment iterations were analyzed. The results of the analysis …

Cognitive Impact Of Genetic Variation Of The Serotonin Transporter In Primates Is Associated With Differences In Brain Morphology Rather Than Serotonin Neurotransmission, Hank P. Jedema, Peter J. Gianaros, Phillip J. Greer, Dustin D. Kerr, Shijing Liu, James Dee Higley, Stephen J. Suomi, Adam S. Olsen, Jessica N. Porter, Brian J. Lopresti, Ahmad R. Hariri, Charles W. Bradberry

Faculty Publications

A powerful convergence of genetics, neuroimaging and epidemiological research has identified biological pathways mediating individual differences in complex behavioral processes and related risk for disease. Orthologous genetic variation in non-human primates represents a unique opportunity to characterize the detailed molecular and cellular mechanisms which bias behaviorally- and clinically-relevant brain function. We report that a rhesus macaque orthologue of a common polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene (rh5-HTTLPR) has strikingly similar effects on behavior and brain morphology to those in humans. Specifically, the rh5- HTTLPR Short allele broadly impacts cognitive choice behavior and brain morphology without observably affecting 5-HT transporter or …

Sudden Gains In Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy For Eating Disorders, Adriane Ito De Queiroz Cavallini

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined whether or not the temporal pattern of symptom change defined as sudden gains is applicable to and has significant ramifications for understanding recovery from eating disorders. Sudden gains were defined as stable and clinically significant changes that take place between two sessions of treatment. Data for the current study were drawn from an efficacy study of CBT for eating disorders which included session-by-session measures of eating disorder symptomatology. Predictors of sudden gains were measured by an observer coded scale that included ratings of therapist use interventions, client change in behaviors and beliefs, client engagement, and homework …

The Group Selection Questionnaire: Discriminant Outcomes And Effectiveness, Jeffrey Lee Elder

Theses and Dissertations

The Group Selection Questionnaire (GSQ; Cox et al., 2004) is a measure that has been developed to facilitate clinical decisions about a client's readiness for group psychotherapy. The GSQ has demonstrated an ability to predict which clients will experience a reduction in distress through the use of group psychotherapy. This dissertation examines the Group Selection Questionnaire's ability to measure client characteristics that predict the client's ability to benefit from receiving group psychotherapy compared to the ability to benefit from receiving another form of treatment, such as individual or a combination of individual and group psychotherapy, as measured by improved scores …

Effects Of Teaching Emotions To Students With High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders Through Picture Books, Jennifer M. Fletcher

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) struggle with identifying others' emotions, which impacts their ability to successfully interact in social situations. Because of the increasing number of children identified with ASD, effective techniques are needed to help children identify emotions in others. The use of technology is being researched as a way to help children with emotion identification. However, technology is not always available for teachers to use in classrooms, whereas picture books are much easier to access and have been successfully used to improve students' social skills. Picture books are naturally used in classroom, home, and therapy settings. This …

Difference In Scores Between Teacher Certification Program Students With And Without Paraprofessional Experience, Sarah Caroline Dunn

Theses and Dissertations

Demand for highly effective, qualified teachers grew as legislation such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) raised the requirements for teachers and paraprofessionals. One suggestion for meeting this demand for teachers who can bring about the required classroom outcomes is to encourage paraprofessionals to become certified teachers—with the expectation that paraprofessionals' prior experience in the school environment will make them likely to excel as teachers. This study examined whether Brigham Young University Special Education teacher candidates with paraprofessional experience differed from candidates without paraprofessional experience in terms of performance scores during a …

Improving Undergraduate Education In Psychology Using An End-Of-Major Standardized Assessment And A Teaching Resources Wiki, David L. Mason

Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally, appeals for improving the teaching of psychology at the post-secondary level have focused on increasing teacher training and motivation. However, wide-scale success may be limited because both approaches involve significant demands on teachers' time. I describe two recommendations that may improve teaching while requiring minimal time investment from individual teachers. The first is the development of an end-of-major assessment taken by undergraduate psychology majors that would provide valuable feedback to teachers on which areas of the curriculum need improvement. The second recommendation is to create a new database of research on teaching and learning that focuses on streamlining relevant …

Evaluation Of Psychological Recovery In Patients With Major Medical Illnesses, Kelly Marie James

Theses and Dissertations

The OQ-45.2 (Outcome Questionnaire-45.2) is a measure of psychological distress that examines patients' emotional states and level of functioning in society. This measure was administered at admission and discharge to inpatients at a level II trauma center with in- and outpatient populations in addition to the BBHI-2 (Brief Battery for Health Improvement-2) and FIM (Functional Independence Measure). Results suggested that patients demonstrated psychological improvements from admission to discharge. In addition, the OQ-45.2 was found to correlate with nearly all subtests of the BBHI-2. Finally, diagnosis, length of stay, and number of psychotherapy sessions were not predictive of improvements on the …

Social Relationships And Mortality Risk: A Meta-Analytic Review, Timothy B. Smith, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, J. Bradley Layton

Faculty Publications

Background: The quality and quantity of individuals' social relationships has been linked not only to mental health but also to both morbidity and mortality. Objectives: This meta-analytic review was conducted to determine the extent to which social relationships influence risk for mortality, which aspects of social relationships are most highly predictive, and which factors may moderate the risk. Data Extraction: Data were extracted on several participant characteristics, including cause of mortality, initial health status, and pre-existing health conditions, as well as on study characteristics, including length of follow-up and type of assessment of social relationships. Results: Across 148 studies (308,849 …

Change Trajectories And Early Warning System To Identify Youth At Risk For Negative Psychotherapy Outcome, Philip Legrand Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

The field of mental health treatment is making efforts to better serve all psychotherapy clients, but especially the 5–10% of clients who deteriorate in treatment (Lambert & Ogles, 2004) and the 30–60% who drop out prematurely (Pekarik & Stephenson, 1988). These efforts involve collaboration between research and practice. Both research and practice have been treatment focused for much of their history, primarily examining treatment efficacy or effectiveness, and never quite settling on the generalizability or applicability of specific treatments. The patient-focused research paradigm has shifted the focus from treatment outcomes on the group level to outcomes on the individual client …

Adolescents' Perceptions Of Bullying Involving Male Relational Aggression: Implications For Prevention And Intervention, Brian C. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Recent bullying research contradicts the stereotypes that only females use relational bullying and confirms that males use this type of bullying equally or more than females. No existing research could be found which examined differences in how each gender interprets relational bullying. Using a survey adapted from research on the rape myth and four video clips, researchers sought to examine gendered difference in the perception of relational bullying by males among adolescents. Two video clips depict scenes of cross-gender bullying and two clips depict scenes of male to male bullying. In total, 314 students in grades 8-12 participated in the …

Social Validity Of A Behavioral Support Model, Nancy Yanette Miramontes

Theses and Dissertations

As more schools turn to School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) for help with academic and problem behaviors in their schools, the need to adequately evaluate these programs on a socially relevant level increases. The present study employs social validation measures to evaluate Utah's Academic, Behavioral & Coaching Initiative (ABC-UBI), a Positive Behavior Support (PBS) initiative, on socially relevant issues. Participants from across the state of Utah who were active consumers of ABC-UBI's program, were polled for their opinion on the acceptability of the treatment goals, procedures and outcomes of the program. The results outlined several areas of much needed improvement …

Kindergarten And First Grade Teachers' Perceptions Of Bystander Bullying: Resolution Strategies In Selected Picture Books, Mary Lane Newman

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research suggests that most incidents of bullying occur in school settings. However, teachers are not always aware of bullying incidences and often do not intervene. As bullying has negative long-term consequences for the bully, victim, and bystander, it is important to identify effective ways to reduce this problem. Responding to incidents of bullying at school, bibliotherapy is a cost effective way to support students and teach coping strategies. Numerous bully-themed books model a variety of strategies to deter bullying. Because of their busy schedule and limited opportunities to review books, teachers may need assistance in identifying books that promote …

Parent Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Interventions For Sleep Problems In Children With Autism, Sarah Lynn Lemmons

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to learn what interventions have been effective in alleviating sleep problems among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) according to parent report. This study also investigated resources from which parents received information regarding possible interventions and to what degree these resources were helpful. The participants in this study were 48 parents and caregivers of children with ASD from both the United States and Canada. Background information was attained from participants regarding themselves and their child with ASD. Participants then answered likert-type and open-ended questions regarding their child's sleep problem(s) and the resources they have …

Positive Versus Negative Neuroimaging In Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Outcome: A Meta-Analysis, Thomas Jeffrey Farrer

Theses and Dissertations

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) can be broken into two categories; complicated and uncomplicated. These categories are based on structural imaging scans during the assessment of the injury. If abnormalities appear in the scan, we refer to it as complicated. The present research aims at determining whether there are differences in the neuropsychological deficits in the presences of positive neuroimaging as opposed to negative neuroimaging. This was accomplished with meta-analytic techniques. It was found that neuroimaging does not predict neuropsychological functioning in the chronic state of mTBI.

Gender Differences And Similarities In Perceptions And Experiences Of Secondary Public School Safety, Bryan K. Young

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a description of male and female secondary students' experiences of safety in public schools. Gender differences in reported victimization and perceptions of school safety have been noted. The National Center for Educational Statistics ([NCES], 2006) reported that boys were the victims of violent acts in the schools more often than girls. Many studies have reported different results relating to how safe students perceive their schools to be (Addington et al., 2002; Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1997). This study considered gender differences and similarities in students' perceptions of school safety. The study utilized a qualitative research …

Parents' Perceptions Of Bullying Prevalence, Type, And Intervention Efforts In Utah Schools, Brittney Roberts Warburton

Theses and Dissertations

Bullying is a pervasive and disruptive issue in the schools (Stockdale, Hanguduambo, Duys, Larson, & Sarvela, 2002). It has been shown to have serious negative consequences for students who are frequently targeted, including lower academic achievement, lower self-esteem, and more interpersonal problems in adulthood compared to their non-targeted peers (Eisenberg & Aalsma, 2005; Olweus & Limber, 1999; Rigby, 2003; Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005; Yoneyama & Rigby, 2006). However, when parents are engaged as active members of the school community, significant benefits accrue for children, educators, and parents. Such benefits include improved grades and test scores for students, greater job satisfaction …