Affective Brain Patterns As Multivariate Neural Correlates Of Cardiovascular Disease Risk, Peter J. Gianaros, Thomas E. Kraynak, Dora C.-H. Kuan, James J. Gross, Kateri Mcrae, Ahmad R. Hariri, Stephen B. Manuck, Javier Rasero, Timothy D. Verstynen

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

This study tested whether brain activity patterns evoked by affective stimuli relate to individual differences in an indicator of pre-clinical atherosclerosis: carotid artery intima-media thickness (CA-IMT). Adults (aged 30–54 years) completed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tasks that involved viewing three sets of affective stimuli. Two sets included facial expressions of emotion, and one set included neutral and unpleasant images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). Cross-validated, multivariate and machine learning models showed that individual differences in CA-IMT were partially predicted by brain activity patterns evoked by unpleasant IAPS images, even after accounting for age, sex and known cardiovascular …

Development And Initial Validation Of A Brief Questionnaire On The Patients’ View Of The In-Session Realization Of The Six Core Components Of Acceptance And Commitment Therapy, Thomas Probst, Andreas Mühlberger, Johannes Kühner, Georg Eifert, Christoph Pieh, Timo Hackbarth, Johannes Mander

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background: Assessing in-session processes is important in psychotherapy research. The aim of the present study was to create and evaluate a short questionnaire capturing the patients’ view of the in-session realization of the six core components of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Method: In two studies, psychotherapy patients receiving ACT (Study 1: n = 87) or Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) (Study 2, Sample 1: n = 115; Sample 2: n = 156) completed the ACT session questionnaire (ACT-SQ). Therapists were n = 9 ACT therapists (Study 1) and n = 77 CBT trainee therapists (Study 2).

Results: Factor structure: Exploratory factor …

Parent Responses To Pediatric Pain: The Differential Effects Of Ethnicity On Opioid Consumption, Candice D. Donaldson, Brooke N. Jenkins, Michelle A. Fortier, Michael T. Phan, Daniel M. Tomaszewski, Sun Yang, Zeev N. Kain

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

Within the context of the United States opioid epidemic, some parents often fear the use of opioids to help manage their children's postoperative pain. As a possible consequence, parents often do not dispense optimal analgesic medications to their children after surgery, putting their children at risk of suffering from postsurgical pain. The objective of this research was to assess ethnicity as a predictor of both pain and opioid consumption, and to examine how Hispanic/Latinx and Non-Hispanic White parents alter their child's opioid consumption in response to significant postsurgical pain.

Methods

Participants were 254 children undergoing outpatient tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy …

The Experience Of Equanimity Expressed Through Art: How Artmaking Facilitates The Practice Of Equanimity, Seyma Cavusoglu

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to explore the experience of equanimity expressed through art and its implications for the field of Expressive Therapies by examining the artmaking process of six participants (an illustrator, a visual artist, a musician, an art therapist, an expressive arts therapist, a clinical psychologist who is an art therapy practitioner). The participants were recruited based on their involvement in a contemplative practice that supported their practice of equanimity. The study utilized qualitative and arts-based research methods. Data were collected in the form of art (visual arts, poetry and music), interviews, journaling and artmaking by …

China’S “Three Warfares”: People’S Liberation Army Influence Operations, Edwin S. Cochran, U.S. Department Of Defense, Retired

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The following article—whose author is both a retired US Army officer and retired Department of Defense civilian employee with multiple publications—focuses on Chinese information operations. Readers might wish to speculate on matters such as why the Chinese have organized the way they have, whether the organization leads to optimal integration of tools of national security/political power, and how vulnerable specific populations and even intelligence cultures are to specific types of information operations. One might even conclude that the only thing that has not changed in thousands of years has been the technology available to influence others.

This article examines the …

Exploration Of The Link Between Migration And Acculturation Related-Stress, Attachment Style, And Psychological Distress In Arab Immigrants, Refugees, And Asylees, Hayat Nadar Psy.D.

Dissertations

Abstract

The migration process is fraught with experiences of ethnic discrimination and has been linked to heightened levels of psychological and acculturative stress. Interestingly, earlier research revealed a higher prevalence of insecure attachment in migrant compared to non-migrant populations. Attachment style may be influenced by sociocultural and sociopolitical forces and the associated prejudice and discrimination experienced by a particular migrant population. The current study was conducted to explore whether higher levels of sociocultural adversity were associated with increased psychological distress and attachment insecurity and to test attachment as a mediator between sociocultural adversity and psychological distress. Using a cross-sectional design, …

The Political Personality Of 2020 Democratic Vice-Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris, Anne Marie Griebie, Aubrey Immelman, Yitao Zhang

Psychology Faculty Publications

This preliminary report presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of U.S. senator Kamala Harris, Democratic vice-presidential nominee in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Harris were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index …

Wrongful Conviction Documentaries: Influences Of Crime Media Exposure On Mock Juror Decision-Making, Patricia Y. Sanchez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Psychology and law researchers have urged colleagues to collaborate with the makers of popular media, such as documentary filmmakers, in efforts to educate the general public about wrongful convictions (Kassin, 2017; Wells et al., 2000). Recently, programs depicting wrongful convictions, such as Making a Murderer (Demos & Ricciardi, 2015) and When They See Us (DuVernay, 2019) have garnered substantial viewership. Research on general and case-specific pretrial publicity (Daftary-Kapur et al., 2014; Kovera, 2002) and the effects of crime media (Baskin & Sommers, 2010; Schweitzer & Saks, 2007) demonstrate that although consuming crime-related media and being exposed to information about a …

Exploring Inclusion In A Therapeutic Theater Production, Angelle Cook

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experiences of participants in an inclusive therapeutic theater production. This study was approached through a post-intentional phenomenological lens, informed by critical dis/ability theory. Ten participants with various dis/abilities took part in semi-structured interviews and eight of the ten participated in a focus group. The researcher followed a post-reflexion plan during the data collection and analysis process to bridle her biases and assumptions. Data were analyzed using the phenomenological method of thematic analysis. An art-based research process was undertaken, and a script, using direct quotes from the participant’s interviews and the …

Therapeutic Assessment With Couples: An Intervention To Enhance Healthy Relational And Marital Practices, Alexis C. Kenny

Dissertations, 2020-current

This dissertation details the creation and implementation of a new model of psychological assessment with partnered dyads, Therapeutic Assessment with Couples (TAC). As research continues to document the link between individual and relational/marital well-being (Jaremka, Glaser, Malarkey, & Kiecolt-Glaser, 2013; Kiecolt-Glaser & Newton, 2001; Sollenberger, et al., 2013), the cultivation of healthy practices from an interpersonal, romantic context becomes ever more crucial. Reviews of the shifting landscape of love and marriage in the U.S. are offered, along with compelling data concerning both the positive and negative implications associated with processes of partnering as well as relevant literature concerning Collaborative / …

Psychology Of Politics, Lisa Babel

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Occupational Therapy’S Role In Addressing Sex And Intimacy For Individuals With Progressive Neuromuscular Disorders, Lindsay N. Richards, Becki Cohill, Katrhyn Ellis, Susan Macdermott

San Marcos, Summer 2020

Individuals with progressive neuromuscular disorders (PND); specifically, Parkinson’s disease (PD), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Huntington’s Disease (HD), and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) often face physical, psychological, and social challenges related to sex and intimacy. Occupational therapy (OT) practitioners are experts in activity analysis and are equipped with unique knowledge of performance skills and client factors to address deficits in occupational performance.

Though there is literature presenting the effects of PND on sexual occupations, a gap exists as it relates to qualitative data from the perspective of the individual and their partners. A mixed-methods survey was conducted examining the lived experience of …

Predictors Of Social Distancing And Mask-Wearing Behavior: Panel Survey In Seven U.S. States, Plamen Nikolov, Andreas Pape, Ozlem Tonguc, Charlotte Williams

Economics Faculty Scholarship

This paper presents preliminary summary results from a longitudinal study of participants in seven U.S. states during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to standard socio-economic characteristics, we collect data on various economic preference parameters: time, risk, and social preferences, and risk perception biases. We pay special attention to predictors that are both important drivers of social distancing and are potentially malleable and susceptible to policy levers. We note three important findings: (1) demographic characteristics exert the largest influence on social distancing measures and mask-wearing, (2) we show that individual risk perception and cognitive biases exert a critical role in influencing …

Optimism And Risk Of Incident Hypertension: A Target For Primordial Prevention, Laura D. Kubzansky, Julia K. Boehm, Andrew R. Allen, Loryana L. Vie, Tiffany E. Ho, Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald, Hayami K. Koga, Lawrence M. Scheier, Martin E. P. Seligman

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Aims

Optimism is associated with reduced cardiovascular disease risk; however, few prospective studies have considered optimism in relation to hypertension risk specifically. We investigated whether optimism was associated with a lower risk of developing hypertension in U.S. service members, who are more likely to develop high blood pressure early in life. We also evaluated race/ethnicity, sex and age as potential effect modifiers of these associations.

Methods

Participants were 103 486 hypertension-free U.S. Army active-duty soldiers (mean age 28.96 years, 61.76% White, 20.04% Black, 11.01% Hispanic, 4.09% Asian, and 3.10% others). We assessed optimism, sociodemographic characteristics, health conditions, health behaviours and …

Special Issue - Call For Papers: Rethinking The Future Police Department: Examining The Role Of Testing And Assessment, Dennis Doverspike, Alexandra Petruzzelli, Marc Cubrich

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

No abstract provided.

Stress And Negative Affect As Mediators In The Association Between Parental Social Support And Lung Function In Adolescents With Asthma, Amber Osorno, Eric Sternlicht, Pornchai Tirakitsoontorn, Azucena Talamantes, Anchalee Yuengsrigul, Zeev N. Kain, Brooke Jenkins

SURF Posters and Papers

Asthma is the leading chronic condition amongst children in the United States as 7.5% of children are diagnosed with asthma. Studies have shown that positive social support is associated with positive asthma management. A strong social support system predicts good management of asthma symptoms; however, current literature has not yet examined how social support impacts lung function as opposed to merely symptom management. Stress and negative affect have been revealed to be associated with worse asthma control, as well as exacerbation of symptoms. Stressful situations, such as the death of a family member, unemployment, and familial tensions lead to worsening …

The Political Personality Of 2020 Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden, Anne Marie Griebie, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This working paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of former U.S. vice president Joe Biden, Democratic nominee in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data about Biden were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and …

You Are Resilient: Trauma-Informed, Strengths-Based Treatment For Low-Ses, Urban Youth, Courtney Molina

Dissertations

The focus in this review was to explore the benefits and optimal use of trauma-informed, strengths-based care for the therapeutic treatment of low-socioeconomic status (SES), urban youth. Specific focus was given to evidence-based research on the treatment of emotional and behavioral dysregulation among low-SES, urban youth. The review was guided by the following research questions: How can emotional and behavioral dysregulation be symptoms of trauma among low-SES, urban youth; What makes trauma-informed and strengths-based care optimal for the treatment of low-SES, urban youth with dysregulation; and What are clear guidelines for providing trauma-informed, strengths-based care to low-SES, urban youth with …

School Psychologists And School Counselors’ Perceptions Of Preparation Received For The Provision Of School-Based Mental Health Services, Sherika Mckenzie

Education (PhD) Dissertations

School psychologists and school counselors are increasingly playing an essential role in the provision of school-based mental health services (SBMHS). This is especially true in California. Unfortunately, there are a few studies that have examined how California school psychologists and school counselors perceive their training to provide SBMHS, how they perceive their role in providing these services, and what they regard as their needs for professional development. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which California school psychologists and school counselors believe that their formal pre-service education and later in-service professional experiences have prepared them to …

The Mediating Effects Of Drinking Refusal Self-Efficacy On The Associations Between Alcohol Protective Behavioral Strategies And Alcohol Use Outcomes, Kray Scully

Dissertations

Alcohol use continues to pose a serious public health problem at universities across the U.S., largely due to the extent of consumption and frequency of negative consequences experienced among college students. Alcohol protective behavioral strategies (PBS-A) are an empirically supported repertoire of safe drinking behaviors college students can use to monitor and control their alcohol consumption as well as limit harm while drinking. However, there remains a need to better understand how cognitive mechanisms, such as drinking refusal self-efficacy (DRSE), help explain college student safe alcohol use behaviors to enhance evidenced-based intervention and prevention efforts. Recently, studies that examined the …