Psychology Commons^™

Integrating Clinical Reasoning Into Mental Health Diagnosis: A Conceptual Framework For Counseling Practice, Ashley F. Waddington, Alexander M. Fields, Haley Ault

Journal of Human Services Scholarship and Interprofessional Collaboration

Clinical reasoning has long guided diagnostic accuracy in nursing and medical fields, but its application in mental health counseling remains limited. This paper presents a conceptual diagnostic decision-making (DDM) process to embed clinical reasoning into the diagnostic process for counselors, incorporating two vital constructs: counselor self-efficacy and counselor bias (implicit and explicit). Grounded in Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy (1977) and Carvalho et al.’s (2017) clinical reasoning model, the framework highlights the cognitive, behavioral, and contextual factors that shape diagnostic decision-making in early-career counselors, including counselor biases. The paper calls for reform in counselor training, emphasizing curriculum enhancements as pathways to …

A Macrocognitive Design Taxonomy For Simulation-Based Training Systems: Bridging Cognitive Theory And Human-Computer Interaction, Jessica M. Johnson

Virginia Digital Maritime Center (VDMC) Faculty Publications

Simulation-based training systems are increasingly deployed to prepare learners for complex, safety-critical, and dynamic work environments. While advances in computing have enabled immersive and data-rich simulations, many systems remain optimized for procedural accuracy and surface-level task performance rather than the macrocognitive processes that underpin adaptive expertise. Macrocognition encompasses higher-order cognitive processes that are essential for performance transfer beyond controlled training conditions. When these processes are insufficiently supported, training systems risk fostering brittle strategies and negative training effects. This paper introduces a macrocognitive design taxonomy for simulation-based training systems derived from a large-scale meta-analysis examining the transfer of macrocognitive skills from …

Improving Pediatric Emergency Department Lethal Means Safety Documentation Rates For Adolescents With Mental Health Concerns, Cassandra L. Stegall, Ana-Maria Mcgill, John Fanton, Paul C. Mullan

Department Psychiatry & Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

Introduction:

Lethal means safety counseling (LMSC) is recommended for children presenting to the emergency department (ED) for a mental health (MH) evaluation. Currently, no gold-standard guidelines exist for documenting LMSC in the ED.

Methods:

This quality improvement project was conducted in the ED of a tertiary children's hospital. Baseline data were analyzed for access to any LMSC documentation (ALD) for "firearms/guns," "sharps," or "medication," and for complete LMSC documentation (CLD) if access to all 3 types was documented. The first intervention period added open-ended screening questions about access to lethal means to the MH-licensed clinical social worker note template. Intervention …

Living In A Bubble: How Children And Adults Use Generics To Talk About Social Kinds In Unique Sociocultural Contexts, Ny Vasil, Alejandro Curiel, Tiffany Zhu, Anna Pederneschi, Katherine Ritchie

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Generics like "kids love sugar" convey generalizations. But what is their scope? Are they taken to be global, or can generics communicate regularities restricted to "sociocultural bubbles"? Two studies examined the developing capacity for contextual restriction of generics in 137 4-7-year-olds (63/70/4 female/male/other) and 222 adults (128/89/5 female/male/other). Participants evaluated generics attributing group properties prevalent globally vs. "within-bubbles," with contextual cues that speakers conveyed broad vs. contextually restricted regularities. Both children and adults appreciated that generics can communicate group characteristics occurring within narrow sociocultural contexts. Adults selectively endorsed global or local generics depending on context, but younger children allowed socially …

Startle Habituation And Vagally Mediated Heart Rate Variability Influence The Use Of Emotion Regulation Strategies, Xiao Yang, Fang Fang, Angela Ximena Babb

Psychology Faculty Publications

Emotion regulation refers to the processes through which people modulate their emotional experiences and expressions, and difficulties in these processes underpin many forms of psychopathology. According to the process model, emotion regulation encompasses five classes of strategies, commonly grouped into antecedent-focused strategies (e.g., cognitive reappraisal) and response-focused strategies (e.g., expressive suppression). These strategies involve both explicit and implicit processes, which can be objectively assessed using physiological indices. The present study examined the effects of startle habituation and vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) on the use of cognitive appraisal and suppression. Forty-nine college-aged participants were recruited, and their resting heart …

Gaze Transition Entropy And Automation Trust In Multitasking Workspace, Yusuke Yamani, Austin Jackson, Tetsuya Sato, Feyishola Ashimi, Michael S. Politowicz, Eric T. Chancey, Makoto Itoh

Psychology Faculty Publications

Safe flight operation requires visual scanning across multiple displays in a cockpit, which collectively represent the state of the aircraft and supporting automation. Trust is a crucial factor that drives human-automation interaction, and recent work has suggested a relationship between an operator's visual attention and automation trust. One index that captures predictability of eye movements between different areas of interest is gaze transition entropy. The current work reanalyzed data from Sato et al., which examined eye movement patterns and trust in automation associated with the system monitoring task of the Multi-Attribute Task Battery. Results showed credible positive correlations between the …

I Can't Stop: The Effects Of Psychological Climate For Overwork On Recovery Experiences, Jeffrey Drake Terry, Konstantin P. Cigularov

Psychology Faculty Publications

Recovery experiences are important for many health and well-being outcomes. One potential threat to an individual's recovery experiences in the workplace is psychological climate for overwork. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between psychological climate for overwork and recovery experiences. Using a multi-wave research design (N = 202), we found that psychological climate for overwork had direct effects on psychological detachment and indirect effects on psychological detachment and relaxation through cognitive workaholism and work-recovery guilt. These results suggest that psychological climate for overwork may contribute to an individual's experience of cognitive workaholism and work-recovery guilt, …

From Molecules To Minds: Integrative Multi-Omics In Psychiatry, Hossein Abbasi, Sage E. Hawn, Arash Javanbakht, Soraya Seedat, Kyle Bourassa, Sinead M. Sinnott, Antonia V. Seligowski, Sian Hemmings, Nathan A. Kimbrel, Alicia K. Smith, Leslie Brick, Divya Mehta

Psychology Faculty Publications

Psychiatric disorders are biologically complex conditions arising from interactions across genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and metagenomic layers. Single-omics approaches rarely capture more than a fraction of the variance in complex conditions, underscoring the importance of integrative multi-omics frameworks. This mini-review summarizes key methodologies and their application in psychiatric research, with a focus on systems-level integration of genomic risk scores, transcriptomic networks, and neuroimaging data to advance biological understanding of disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease. We also outline the infrastructural requirements for effective multi-omics research, including standardized biobanking, Laboratory Information Management Systems, adherence to FAIR data principles, …

Reward Deficits In Co-Occurring Social Anxiety And Depression: The Roles Of Anhedonia, Boredom, Loneliness, And Covid-19 Social Restriction, Nathan M. Hager, Alicia L. Milam, Hannah C. Hamrick, Benjamin Swanson, Matt R. Judah

Psychology Faculty Publications

Prior research points toward reward deficits as crucial to the link between social anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder. However, studies have not explored specific types of reward deficits or how social-environmental factors may impact them. The current study examined whether the indirect effects of three reward deficits (anhedonia, boredom, and loneliness) accounted for the connection between social anxiety and depression. Questionnaires were collected in a sample of college students (N = 523) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing examination of environmental stressors (i.e., remote learning and current friend network size) on reward deficits. Indirect effect models …

Best Practices For Using Biological Data In Psychological Research, Sage E. Hawn, Sinead M. Sinnott, Alicia K. Smith, Kyle Bourassa, Leslie Brick, Sian Hemmings, Soraya Seedat, Arash Javanbakht, Lauren Smith, Antonia V. Seligowski, Nathan A. Kimbrel, Divya Mehta, Hossein Abbasi, Erika Wolf

Psychology Faculty Publications

Advances in statistical techniques for analyzing biological data have driven the need for larger sample sizes, which are ultimately made possible through team science efforts. Findings from these efforts have led to a significant shift in approaches to biological data collection over the past decade, from traditional approaches relying on single measures or assays collected by individual investigators in small lab-based studies to high-dimensional methodologies embedded within large cohorts or multi-site studies. These recent large scale consortium efforts necessitate careful consideration across the full data pipeline, from pre-data generation and sample collection to processing and statistical analysis, while addressing challenges …

A Real-Time Examination And Comparison Of Differentiation Among Suicidal Thinking And Affect Items In An Adolescent Sample, Elizabeth A. Edershile, Kinjal K. Patel, Annabelle M. Mournet, Richard T. Liu, Catherine R. Glenn, Evan M. Kleiman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Suicide risk assessments require individuals to differentiate among types of suicidal thoughts (e.g., passive vs. active); yet most research relies on aggregate metrics that obscure this differentiation. Indeed, more severe forms of suicidal thinking are thought to involve the simultaneous experience of multiple forms of thoughts at high intensities. The present study draws on concepts from the affect differentiation literature to (a) examine different ways to operationalize differentiation in suicidal thinking and (b) compare differentiation in suicidal thinking with differentiation in affect. Adolescents (N = 200) recently hospitalized for suicidal thoughts and behaviors completed a 28-day ecological momentary assessment …

Contemporary Approaches To Group Psychotherapy Supervision, Michelle A. Collins-Greene (Ed.), Molyn Leszcz, Nina W. Brown, Ellen Wright, Scott Giacomucci, Les R. Greene, Susan P. Gantt, Leah M. Niehaus, Francis Kaklauskas, Tony L. Sheppard

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

This chapter captures the work of contemporary supervisors of group psychotherapy, all of whom have practiced many years and have trained and supervised innumerable group leaders. They demonstrate the diversity of settings and theoretical orientations that are prominent in the current era. Their essays speak for themselves and provide wonderful illustrations and models for supervisors-in-training and consultation to emulate. They also talk about who influenced, mentored, and supervised them.

Maintaining Balance And Wellness In Remote Work, Michelle Bartlett

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

In today's rapidly evolving work environments, remote work has become more than a trend; it is now a mainstay and rising (Ewers & Kangmennaang, 2023). This shift has necessitated a re-evaluation of traditional work paradigms, particularly in the realms of work-life balance and employee wellness. This chapter details the core strategies for thriving in remote work settings by setting boundaries, combating isolation, and fostering supportive corporate cultures. Transitioning from offices to remote work can blur the lines between personal and professional lives (Bella, 2023; Beňo, 2023). This section provides practical advice on how remote workers can effectively delineate these aspects. …

[Review Of The Book The Prescription-To-Prison Pipeline: The Medicalization And Criminalization Of Pain, By M. Smirnova], Hayley Jackey

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

[Introduction] Smirnova’s The Prescription-to-Prison Pipeline offers a critical examination of the impacts of prescription drugs as well as the over-policing and policies created to push individuals into the carceral system rather than providing other options for assistance. Smirnova further captures the social inequalities of race and class of those encased in this pipeline. Within this understanding of the detriment that the system, medical providers, and society place on those who use substances, Smirnova’s use of interviews allows for a clear understanding of how these systems work in conjunction to uphold the pipeline.

The Interplay Between Loneliness, Cortisol, And Nk Cell Function: The Role Of Cortisol In Nk Cell Dysfunction, Abhinav Saurabh, Yvonne Baumer, Laurel G. Mendelsohn, Elizabeth M. Aquino Peterson, Dana Sadler, Shirley J. Lopez De Leon, Ayushi Dave, Andrew S. Baez, Lola R. Ortiz-Whittingham, Mario A. Pita, Manuel A. Cintron, Hannatu A. Tarfa, Sandy T. Reynolds, Shelby R. Hicks, Sonal Sharda, J. Eleanor Seo, Maria Lopez-Ocasio, Pradeep K. Dagur, Skyler A. Kuhn, Neelam R. Redekar, James F. Troendle, Ayanna L. Wells, Marie Marah, Katherine J. Tolentino, Michael J. Corley, Alika K. Maunakea, Lynnette K. Nieman, Marcus R. Andrews, Tiffany M. Powell-Wiley

Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences Faculty Publications

Chronic psychosocial stressors contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and related risk factors, particularly in under-resourced communities. Psychosocial stressors activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, leading to sustained cortisol action on immune cells. Natural killer (NK) cells are altered in distribution and function in cardio-metabolic diseases; however, pathways linking cortisol as a marker of chronic stress to NK cell dysfunction remain understudied. We recruited 186 African American women from the Step It Up Community-Engaged, Digital Health Physical Activity Intervention study and collected cortisol, NK cell measures, and psychosocial stress measures using validated questionnaires, including chronic stress and loneliness. Plasma cortisol levels were …

Hungarian Validation Of The Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory - 20 (Pfdi-20) Questionnaire And The Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire - 7 (Pfiq - 7), Barbara Kozma, Bence Kozma, Peter Takacs, Dávid Rátonyi, Nelli Farkas, Attila G. Sipos, Balint Farkas

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Faculty Publications

Introduction and Hypotheses

Pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) affect women's quality of life through physical, psychological, and social domains. The Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20 (PFDI-20) and the Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire-7 (PFIQ-7) are validated tools for assessing symptom severity and quality of life impact. The current study aim to investigate the reliability and validity of the Hungarian versions of these questionnaires in women with PFD symptoms.

Methods

This validation study was carried out at the University of Debrecen among women with clinically confirmed pelvic floor disorders. The PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 questionnaires were translated into Hungarian using independent native English speaker in …

Eeg Signatures Of Motor Development In Early Childhood: A Systematic Review, Sonia Khurana, Ashwini Kulkarni, Thomas C. Bulea, Hunter J. Bennett

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Early identification of motor developmental disorders is limited due to lack of objective neural markers that characterize typical neurodevelopmental patterns. This systematic review interprets and synthesizes existing evidence to propose a framework of EEG signatures associated with motor development in children aged 0-5 years, which may help inform future benchmarks for early assessment and intervention.

Methods

Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched published and gray literature across five databases between 2000 and 2025 (registered protocol). Included studies examined EEG during task-based, resting-state, or sleep studies linked to motor milestones, task performance, or standardized motor assessments. Study quality was assessed using …

Maternal Child Maltreatment And Intimate Partner Violence: Effects On Perceptions Of Infant Temperment And The Mediating Role Of Emotion Regulation And Responsiveness, Jewelian N. Fairchild, G. Anne Bogat, Amy K. Nuttall, Alytia A. Levendosky, Joseph S. Lonstein, Maria Muzik

Psychology Faculty Publications

Purpose

Maternal adverse experiences, such as maltreatment in childhood and later intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy, can disrupt the mother-child relationship and influence maternal perceptions of infant temperament. The present study explored how these adversities influence mothers’ views of their infants’ temperaments and examined the role of maternal emotion regulation and responsiveness to their infants as mediators of these relationships.

Methods

Using data from a longitudinal study of highly stressed, vulnerable women, 355 mothers retrospectively reported on their own childhood maltreatment, as well as their experiences of IPV and emotion regulation during pregnancy. Maternal responsiveness was coded using mother-infant …

Advancing Models Of Ptsd-Aud Comorbidity: Protocol For A Multimethod Framework Using Genetics And Ecological Momentary Assessment, Elizabeth A. Stinson, Samhita Lellapalli, Sage E. Hawn, Natalie Merrill, Lance M. Rappaport, Christina M. Sheerin, Vasiliki Michopoulos, Silviu-Alin Bacanu, Roseann E. Peterson, Abigail Powers, Ananda B. Amstadter

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD), which are moderately heritable, frequently co-occur and contribute to significant public health burdens, particularly among economically disadvantaged urban communities. There are noted sex differences in PTSD and AUD outcomes, with evidence suggesting women have heightened susceptibility to stress-related alcohol use. Preliminary PTSD-AUD ecological momentary assessment (EMA) findings support bidirectional associations across clinical outcomes. However, no studies to date have used PTSD-AUD comorbidity models as organizing frameworks to examine the temporal ordering and stability of within-person symptom dynamics underlying the maintenance or exacerbation of PTSD and AUD symptoms, including bidirectional and …

Establishing Hierarchical Classification Responding: Directly Trained And Emergent Responses, George H. Noell, Kristin A. Gansle, Hannah M. Sliman, Danielle M. De Lucia

Psychology Faculty Publications

Hierarchical classification responding (HCR) describes a collection of responses that require discrimination of logical relationships between stimuli based on their position in a categorical hierarchy. This study established HCR for a new hierarchy in young children through discrete trial instruction. Participants selected pictures corresponding to different hierarchical levels of categorization. We tested for the emergence of naming that matched the level of hierarchy presented, transformation of function, and class inclusion responding for the trained and novel stimuli. Correct responding to the target hierarchy was established and resulted in the emergence of class naming and transformation of function without direct instruction. …

Parental Psychological Distress And Perceived Child Externalizing Behaviors: Examining Mediators And Bidirectional Effects, Abigail J. Anderson, Christina M. Rodriguez, James M. Henson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Parental psychological distress is a commonly examined risk factor for the emergence of child problem behaviors, but the factors that contribute to that relationship—such as limited parental resources like greater social support and coping skills—have not been adequately explored, particularly with attention to potential bidirectional relations that incorporate child evocative effects. The current longitudinal study examined maternal and paternal psychological distress in relation to perceived child externalizing behaviors, considering parental resources as mediators within a bidirectional model. The sample included a racially and socioeconomically diverse group of 201 primiparous mothers and 151 fathers. Mothers and fathers reported their current psychological …

Rude Awakening: An Examination Of The Incivility-Sleep Relationship Via Affect, Mallory A. Mccord, Gargi Sawhney, Nastassia M. Savage, Kristen M. Fisher

Psychology Faculty Publications

Despite the prevalence of incivility at work and the essential nature of sleep, study of this relationship is comparatively sparse in the organizational sciences literature. Further, although impaired sleep could logically impact how one interprets subsequent interpersonal interactions at work, the dominant approach is to study sleep as an outcome of perceived incivility. Therefore, we drew upon affective events theory, the affect-as-information hypothesis, and sleep physiology to argue that state affect, both positive and negative, can explain the relationship between perceived incivility and sleep quality in either direction. The hypotheses were tested using a between-subjects design with one-month time lags …

Examining The Factor Structure And Subgroup Invariance Of The Deliberate Denial Of Disordered Eating Behaviors Scale, Lindsay Howard, Sage Hawn, Kayla D. Pitchford, Riley Mcgrath, Aubri Farniok, Arturo Sesma, Kristin E. Heron

Psychology Faculty Publications

The denial, concealment, or omission of disordered eating behaviors has received limited attention in the eating disorder literature, partly due to the lack of reliable and valid measures. This study re-examined the factor structure of the Denial of Disordered Eating Behaviors Scale (DDEBS-12) and tested measurement invariance across gender identity, racial identity, and levels of disordered eating in a non-clinical undergraduate sample (N = 3285). Confirmatory factor analyses did not support the original unidimensional structure. Instead, a seven-item model assessing denial of dietary restriction demonstrated the best fit and was renamed the DDEBS-restriction. The revised scale showed good internal consistency …

Increasing Honest Statements In Young Children Through Presentation Of Social Contingencies And Emotionally Evocative Stimuli, George Noell, Kristin Gansle, Ella Wheelbarger, Hannah Sliman, Danielle De Lucia

Psychology Faculty Publications

Honesty is fundamental to interpersonal relationships and civil society. Although immediate contingencies often favor lying, many individuals respond honestly even when lying would be more efficient for contacting reinforcement. Across two experiments, we evaluated strategies for increasing honest responding by young children through exposure to social contingencies and emotionally evocative stimuli when material contingencies continued to reinforce lying. The stimuli were pictures of faces of children displaying happiness and sadness. The first experiment found that presession pairing of happy faces with honesty and sad faces with lying did not affect behavior; however, pairings combining verbal rule statements and faces contingent …

An Insidious Interstice: Understanding Cognition And Language Behaviour Through The Eyes Of Juvenile Justice Professionals, Anne M. Perrotti, Allison T. Chappell, Tancy Vandecar-Burdin

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

Introduction

Despite evidence suggesting language and cognition deficits are prevalent for justice involved youth, little research explores how juvenile justice personnel experience language and cognition behaviours in the youth they serve.

Aims

This qualitative study explored how juvenile justice personnel understand language and cognition skills and deficits in justice involved youth.

Methods

Twenty-two U.S. juvenile justice professionals participated in individual, semi-structured interviews. Questions focused on individual understanding of receptive language, expressive language, social communication, and cognition (i.e., problem-solving, predicting consequences and impulsiveness) in juveniles served. Using a phenomenological lens, transcripts were coded identifying themes and sub-themes of participant responses.

Results …

Seeing The Invisible Load: Xr+ Multimodal Sensing For Cognitive Ergonomics In Industrial Training, Jessica M. Johnson, Andwele Grant

Virginia Digital Maritime Center (VDMC) Faculty Publications

Extended reality (XR) technologies are increasingly positioned as disruptive Industry 5.0 tools for human-centric industrial training and intelligent human–system integration. Coupled with multimodal sensing (eye tracking, EEG, HRV, GSR, and other physiological signals), XR environments promise to make otherwise invisible cognitive demands observable, especially for novice trainees entering complex industrial settings. Yet the evidence base is fragmented: (1) there is no quantitative synthesis of the cognitive ergonomics benefits of XR plus sensing; (2) little is known about which XR–sensor configurations yield the strongest effects; (3) prior reviews rarely focus on industrial and manufacturing tasks; (4) multimodal signals are used predominantly …

Preoperative Patient Sentiment Is Associated With Postoperative Outcomes In Adult Spinal Deformity Surgery, Ross J. Gore, David Mazur-Hart, Mohan K. Sunkara, Aaqib Ali, Qizar Ali, Christopher J. Lynch, Christopher Ames

Center for Secure and Intelligent Critical Systems (CSICS) Publications

Study Design: Prospective observational pilot study of adult spinal deformity surgery patients.

Objective: To determine whether preoperative patient sentiment, quantified using a 21-class valence scale extending the CARP paradigm implemented through an offline Large Language Model, predicts postoperative outcomes.

Summary of Background Data: Predicting adult spinal deformity surgery outcomes remains challenging with traditional clinical and radiographic parameters alone. Although patient psychological factors and expectations significantly influence postoperative satisfaction and quality of life, systematic approaches to capture these factors are underdeveloped. Offline Large Language Models offer scalable, privacy-preserving psychological risk stratification.

Materials and Methods: We prospectively enrolled 18 patients undergoing adult …

Regional Pain Is Associated With Functional Performance In People With Parkinson's Disease, Ryan P. Duncan, Monica R. Hendricksen, Luke Ekdahl, Kevin Smaller, Benjamin Friedman, Miriam R. Rafferty

Department of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background and Purpose:

Little is known about how pain influences physical function in people with mild Parkinson disease (PwPD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between physical function and pain presence, location, and intensity in PwPD who were evaluated in an early physical therapy program.

Methods:

Retrospective cross-sectional analysis of electronic medical records from patients with PD evaluated at a single center (2016-2023). Pain presence, location, and intensity (0-10 scale) were recorded at the initial physical therapy evaluation. Functional outcomes included 5-time sit-to-stand, 10-meter walk test, 6-minute walk test, timed up and go, mini-BESTest, and Functional …

Perceived Benefits Of Adapted Fitness Participation Among Adults With Physical Impairments, Leslie R. Prom, Beth E. Jamali, Christopher K. Rhea, Brittany S. Samulski, Cailee E. Welch Bacon, Julie M. Cavallario

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Background/Objectives: Regular physical activity is recommended to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Individuals with physical impairments have barriers that limit their participation in traditional exercise. Understanding their perceptions of adapted fitness programming can aid in the large-scale development and implementation of such programs. The aim of this study was to identify perceived benefits of adults with physical impairments participating in an adapted fitness program. Methods: Eight adapted fitness program participants (7 males and 1 female) with various neurologic diagnoses or bilateral lower extremity amputation completed the study. A consensual qualitative research (CQR) design with a semi-structured interview guide with evidence of …

Walking It Off: Habituation Of Gait At Virtual High Elevation, Kelly Poretti, Toby J. Ellmers, Christopher K. Rhea, Tiphanie Raffegeau

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Introduction: Fear and anxiety about falling can disrupt gait control, leading to activity restriction and increased fall risk in older adults. VR can be used to induce postural threat (e.g., by simulating high elevation settings) within a controlled environment, inducing fall-related anxiety and cautious gait (i.e. slower, shorter steps) in young and older adults. However, it is unknown how emotional and motor responses to VR postural threat habituate across time because existing studies feature short exposures (10 seconds or less). Before VR-induced postural threat can be translated into an intervention, it is critical to understand threat-related gait habituation across time. …