Degree Level

Depression and Heart Rate Variability in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease (open access)

Depression and Heart Rate Variability in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease

Depression is an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Altered autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, a common feature of depression, is also a risk factor for cardiac events in patients with CAD. Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects ANS activity, and reduced HRV predicts morbidity in cardiac populations. The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences in HRV exist between depressed and nondepressed patients with CAD. Twenty-one depressed inpatients, with angiographically documented CAD were retrospectively matched to 21 nondepressed CAD patients by sex, age, and smoking status. Demographic, medical, psychological interview data, and 24-hour ECG recordings were obtained. Depressed subjects had significantly lower HRV, or trends toward lower HRV, than nondepressed subjects, even after controlling for severity of CAD. Subject groups did not differ on left ventricular ejection fraction, history of myocardial infarction, or any other relevant medical variable assessed. These results suggest that depression is associated with decreased HRV in patients with CAD, and may help to explain the increased rates of cardiac events observed in CAD patients with depression.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Saunders, Roger D. (Roger Dean)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Performance of Psychiatric and Head Injury Patients on the General Neuropsychological Deficit Scales (open access)

Performance of Psychiatric and Head Injury Patients on the General Neuropsychological Deficit Scales

Reitan and Wolfson's General Neuropsychological Deficit Scale and Left and Right Neuropsychological Deficit Scales were applied to Halstead-Reitan test data of individuals with psychotic or substance abuse disorders with and without a head injury.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Collingwood, Lisa M. (Lisa Marie)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Cautioning and Education in the Detection of Malingered Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (open access)

Effects of Cautioning and Education in the Detection of Malingered Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

This study examined the effectiveness of cautioning and education on simulating a mild traumatic brain injury on several neuropsychological measures. The measures used included the Word Memory Test (WMT), Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales® - Third Edition (WAIS®-III), Wechsler Memory Scales®-3rd Edition instrument (WMS®-III), 16-item version of the Rey Memory Test, and a self-report symptom checklist. Five experimental groups were used including clinical and non-clinical controls, as well as three simulation groups. The design and implementation of this study also attempted to correct several methodological short comings of prior research by increasing the incentives for participants, expanding the generalizability of findings and examining research compliance and participant self-perception through debriefing. Discriminant analysis was utilized to determine if specific functions existed that would correctly classify and distinguish each experimental group. Several discriminant functions had at least moderate canonical correlations and good classification accuracy. Results also include utility estimates given projected varying base rates of malingering.
Date: May 2006
Creator: Scholtz, Brendon P.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The History, Modern Development, and Future of the Lutheran Theological Seminary (Hong Kong) (open access)

The History, Modern Development, and Future of the Lutheran Theological Seminary (Hong Kong)

This study is an historical and institutional analysis of The Lutheran Theological Seminary (LTS) in Hong Kong. The study first traces the seminary's theological and missiological roots and its history from 1913 to 1948, from its founding in Hubei Province, China to its move to Hong Kong because of civil war. Next, it describes major events of the early years in Hong Kong and the factors which contributed to an institutional crisis in the late 1960's. The study then analyzes the modern development of the institution, specifically the years 1971 to 1993. During this period several regional church groups joined together to create a collaborative educational effort through LTS, the school gained regional accreditation, expanded the ranks of its Chinese faculty, developed Asian financial support, and constructed a new campus. The modern development of the institution cannot be understood apart from a comprehension of the twenty-two year administration of Andrew Hsiao, the first Chinese president of the school. A chapter is therefore included on Andrew Hsiao's personal and academic background, the distinctives of his administration, and the strengths and weaknesses of his presidency. A current profile of the school is provided including its purposes, theology, organizational structure, faculty, student body, …
Date: December 1996
Creator: Lowder, Tom C. (Tom Charles)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Life Stress and Adjustment: Effects of Cognitive Content and Cognitive Organization (open access)

Life Stress and Adjustment: Effects of Cognitive Content and Cognitive Organization

Individual differences of cognitive organization and content were investigated as they relate to adaptation to remote, recent, and immediate life stress. Outside the field of stress, prior researchers have implicated cognitive organization with adjustment and cognitive content with specific psychopathology. As for behavioral adaptation to life stress, cognitive organization was viewed as a major factor in emotional vulnerability and adjustment, and cognitive content as a major factor in the mood disturbance of depression. Behavioral adaptation was defined in terms of current emotional vulnerability, adjustment and negative changes in the immediate (last six months), recent (over six months), and remote (over one year) past.
Date: May 1985
Creator: Hickox, Sherrie Danene
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
NEPSY profiles in children diagnosed with different ADHD subtypes. (open access)

NEPSY profiles in children diagnosed with different ADHD subtypes.

The purpose of this study was to determine if attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) subtypes (predominantly hyperactive/impulsive, ADHD-HI; predominantly inattentive, ADHD-IA; combined, ADHD-C) exhibit distinct neuropsychological profiles, using the Attention and Executive Function subtests of the Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment, (NEPSY) and the omission and commission scores obtained on the Conners' Continuous Performance Test-II (CPT-II), a test that assesses attention processes. The sample was selected using archival data collected in a neurodevelopmental clinic over the past decade and consisted of 138 children between the ages of 6 and 12 years old. Using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) (DSM-IV) criteria, the children were placed in either the ADHD-HI (n = 40), ADHD-IA (n = 35), or ADHD-C (n = 36) group, or a symptom free comparison group (n = 27). It was hypothesized that children with elevations on the impulsivity/ hyperactivity (ADHD-HI and ADHD-C) scale would be impaired on measures of inhibition and those with elevations on the inattention scale (ADHD-IA and ADHD-C) would be impaired on tests of attention, vigilance, and other executive functions. A one-way multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) was conducted (Group X Task), with significant results for overall main effect for group on the 7 …
Date: December 2006
Creator: Couvadelli, Barbara
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Psychophysiological Effects of a Running Program on Depression, Self-Esteem and Anxiety (open access)

The Psychophysiological Effects of a Running Program on Depression, Self-Esteem and Anxiety

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the psychophysiological effects of exercise on measures of cardiovascular fitness, depression, self-esteem, and anxiety. The 1.5 mile run (Cooper, 1972) was used to determine changes in cardiovascular fitness. The Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale was used to measure varying levels of depression. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was used to measure self-esteem. The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was used to measure state anxiety. An Electromyographic Assay and Digital Skin Temperature were performed on the Experimental and Corrective Therapy Groups in order to measure physiological concomitants of anxiety. A Body Composition Assay was performed in order to measure changes in body composition.
Date: December 1983
Creator: Hannaford, Charles P. (Charles Page), 1951-
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Feigning Cognitive Deficits on Neuropsychological Evaluations: Multiple Detection Strategies (open access)

Feigning Cognitive Deficits on Neuropsychological Evaluations: Multiple Detection Strategies

Individuals undergoing forensic neuropsychological evaluation frequently stand to gain in some manner if neurocognitive dysfunction is diagnosed. As a result, neuropsychologists are customarily asked to test for neurocognitive feigning during the assessment. The current study employed an analogue design with a clinical comparison group to examine the utility of the TOCA (Rogers, 1996) as a measure of feigned neurocognitive impairment. Two groups of simulators (one cautioned about the presence of detection strategies and one not cautioned) were compared to clinical and normal control groups. Fourteen scales were developed based on five detection strategies: symptom validity testing, performance curve, magnitude of error, response time, and floor effect. Each was employed during both verbal and nonverbal tasks. Significant differences were revealed among groups when subjected to ANOVA. Classification rates from subsequent utility estimates and discriminant function analyses on the scales ranged from 58.8% to 100%. Combining strategies yielded a classification rate of 95.7%. The effect of cautioning simulators was modest; however, a trend was noted on some scales for cautioned simulators to appear less obviously impaired than noncautioned. Although the results require crossvalidation, preliminary data suggest that the TOCA is a sensitive and specific measure of feigned neurocognitive performance. Strengths and weaknesses …
Date: December 2000
Creator: Bender, Scott D.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Feigning ADHD: Effectiveness of Selected Assessment Tools in Distinguishing Genuine from Simulated ADHD (open access)

Feigning ADHD: Effectiveness of Selected Assessment Tools in Distinguishing Genuine from Simulated ADHD

Research indicates that some college students may be strongly motivated to feign AHDD symptoms for desired external incentives, such as stimulant medication or academic accommodations. To date, literature examining feigned ADHD has been primarily focused on ADHD specific self-report measures (e.g., CAARS) and continuous performance tests (e.g., CPTs); however, little attention has been devoted to the use of multi-scale inventories in detecting feigned ADHD. For CPT measures, virtually no literature exists on the effectiveness of the TOVA to identify feigned ADHD, despite its frequent clinical use for establishing this diagnosis. The current study utilized a between-subjects simulation design to validate feigning cut scores on ADHD-specific measures using 66 feigners and 51 confirmed ADHD cases. As prior literature suggested, the results convincingly demonstrated that face-valid ADHD assessment measures were easily faked. Across both TOVA modalities (e.g., Auditory and Visual), the ADHD simulators performed significantly poorer than those diagnosed with ADHD. As an innovative approach, a Dissimulation-ADHD (Ds-ADHD) scale was developed and initially validated. The Ds-ADHD is composed of ten MMPI-2-RF items mistakenly believed to be clinical characteristics associated with ADHD. Requiring cross-validation, Ds-ADHD optimized cut scores and classification of ADHD feigners appears promising. They were clearly distinguishable from ADHD client, as …
Date: August 2016
Creator: Robinson, Emily
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

Bipolar Spectrum Traits in Day-to-Day Life: Ecological Momentary Assessment of Reward Sensitivity, Circadian Timing, and Experience of Reward in the Environment

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
The current study examined 236 undergraduate students in a week long twice-per-day ecological momentary assessment exploring the influence of baseline reward sensitivity and interactions between circadian variables (i.e., total sleep time, sleep quality) and daily measures of reward. Though primary study findings did not support reward sensitivity related moderation of sleep-reward pathways, a number of notable findings emerged. We found evidence of specific domains of reward sensitivity (anticipatory reward and reward responsiveness) which are uniquely related to daily experiences of reward. In addition, bidirectional circadian-reward pathways were found between sleep quality and daily rewards which suggests pathways towards reward-related engagement. Evidence also supported interactions between sleep quality and total sleep time on experience of daily reward, further highlighting the complexity of sleep-reward pathways and their relevance to mood symptoms.
Date: August 2019
Creator: Smith, Patrick M.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effect of Emotional Stimulation on Recognition and Inference (open access)

Effect of Emotional Stimulation on Recognition and Inference

The purpose of this study was to make an assessment of the probable effects of extraneous stimulation on both cognitive achievement or learning, and emotional reactions and autonomic arousals of students. While the focus of interest was upon possible disruptive effects, the kinds of measurements projected would make it possible to observe some effects of either kind, disruptive or facilitative.
Date: August 1966
Creator: Haddan, Eugene E.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hormones, Distress, and Immune Functioning in Women (open access)

Hormones, Distress, and Immune Functioning in Women

The present study set out to investigate the biopsychosocial model of illness using variables previously identified as directly impacting illness or as mediating the relationship between other variables and illness. Oral contraceptive use, stress, and negative affect were investigated as predictors of immunological competence, measured by the level of Immunoglobulin G antibodies to Epstein-Barr Virus Viral Capsid Antigen (EBV-VCA IgG).
Date: August 1998
Creator: Rubino-Watkins, Maria Francesca
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Negative affect and positive symptoms of psychosis. (open access)

Negative affect and positive symptoms of psychosis.

The current study utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the factor-to-factor relations and temporal associations between disturbances in negative affect (NA) and positive symptoms of psychosis (PP). Data were drawn from a large, public-domain data set (MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study). A dimensional approach was used to conceptualize and identify latent variables of NA (depression, anxiety, and guilt) and PP (hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorder) among individuals with a diagnosis of primary psychotic disorder. Results showed that anxiety, guilt, and depressed mood modeled an NA latent variable, and that hallucinations and unusual thought content modeled a PP latent variable. As predicted, results revealed strong, significant cross-sectional (synchronous) associations between NA and PP at each measured time-frame, suggesting that NA and PP occurred concurrently within the sample. Contrary to predictions, no significant cross-lagged effect between NA and PP was identified (10 weeks and 20 weeks respectively).
Date: December 2009
Creator: Crutchfield, Audra
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Behold the Fields: Texas Baptists and the Problem of Slavery (open access)

Behold the Fields: Texas Baptists and the Problem of Slavery

The relationship between Texas Baptists and slavery is studied with an emphasis on the official statements made about the institution in denominational sources combined with a statistical analysis of the extent of slaveholding among Baptists. A data list of over 5,000 names was pared to 1100 names of Baptists in Texas prior to 1865 and then cross-referenced on slaveownership through the use of federal censuses and county tax rolls. Although Texas Baptists participated economically in the slave system, they always maintained that blacks were children of God worthy of religious instruction and salvation. The result of these disparate views was a paradox between treating slaves as chattels while welcoming them into mixed congregations and allowing them some measure of activity within those bodies. Attitudes expressed by white Baptists during the antebellum period were continued into the post-war years as well. Meanwhile, African-American Baptists gradually withdrew from white dominated congregations, forming their own local, regional, and state organizations. In the end, whites had no choice but to accept the new-found status of the Freedmen, cooperating with black institutions on occasion. Major sources for this study include church, associational, and state Baptist minutes; county and denominational histories; and government documents. The four …
Date: May 1993
Creator: Elam, Richard L. (Richard Lee)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library

Richard Thompson Archer and the Burdens of Proprietorship: The Life of a Natchez District Planter

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
In 1824 a young Virginia aristocrat named Richard Thompson Archer migrated to Mississippi. Joining in the boom years of expansion in the Magnolia State in the 1830s, Archer built a vast cotton empire. He and his wife, Ann Barnes, raised a large family at Anchuca, their home plantation in Claiborne County, Mississippi. From there Richard Archer ruled a domain that included more than 500 slaves and 13,000 acres of land. On the eve of the Civil War he was one of the wealthiest men in the South. This work examines the life of Richard Archer from his origins in Amelia County, Virginia, to his death in Mississippi in 1867. It takes as its thesis the theme of Archer's life: his burdens as proprietor of a vast cotton empire and as father figure and provider for a large extended family. This theme weaves together the strands of Archer's life, including his rise to the position of great planter, his duties as husband and father, and his political beliefs and activities. Archer's story is told against the background of the history of Mississippi and of the South, from their antebellum heyday, through the Civil War, and into the early years of Reconstruction. …
Date: December 2001
Creator: Hammond, Carol D.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Selected Behavioral Effects of Food Sensitivity (open access)

Selected Behavioral Effects of Food Sensitivity

The problem of this study was the ingestion of certain foods and their observed effects on behavior. The purpose of the study was to investigate the possible relationships between specific foods and (1) weight loss and gain; (2) hunger urges; (3) depression scores; (4) hand-eye coordination; (5) short-term auditory memory; and (6) heart rate. The subject in this study had previously been diagnosed as having sensitivities to certain foods. To determine the effects of certain foods on the subject a repeated measure design was employed. Specifically, an A-B-B-A-B-A design was used where A phases represented a 6-day period in which the subject ate foods to which she was sensitive. During earlier testing, the subject was found to be sensitive to corn, citrus fruit, pork, lamb, carrots, nuts, watermelon, and pineapple. These foods were found to induce irregular psycho-behavioral and physiological characteristics upon repeated and systematic testing procedures. Her nonreactive foods include fish, chicken, most green and yellow vegetables, bananas, cantaloupe, pears, apples, strawberries, and blueberries.
Date: May 1981
Creator: Greenberg, Martin R.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The utility of the McCarron-Dial System in determining location of brain lesion. (open access)

The utility of the McCarron-Dial System in determining location of brain lesion.

Among the goals of neuropsychological assessment are to detect the presence of brain damage, localize which areas of the brain may be dysfunctional, and describe subsequent functional impairments. The sensitivity of neuropsychological instruments in carrying out these functions has long been a question of debate. The purpose of the present study was to determine the utility of various performance level indictors and lateralizing indicators from the McCarron-Dial System Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (MDS) in ascertaining the presence or absence of brain damage as well as location of lesion. Models used in the present study appear to provide increased classification accuracy compared to other studies utilizing the MDS. The MDS was also shown to be comparable to other well-known neuropsychological batteries, including the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery (HRB) and the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery (LNNB) with regard to distinguishing between those with brain damage and normal controls, and also localizing brain lesion. The results of this study offer clinicians parsimonious models to evaluate for presence of lesion and its location so this information may be used to make accurate, thorough diagnoses and appropriate treatment and rehabilitation recommendations.
Date: August 2004
Creator: Taylor, Erin Kathleen
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Detection of Malingering on Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices and the Booklet Category Test (open access)

Detection of Malingering on Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices and the Booklet Category Test

The capacity of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) and the Booklet Category Test (BCT) to discriminate between groups of brain-injured, simulated malingering, and normal participants was investigated in this study. Exploratory analyses were also conducted to examine the differences between groups categorized as sophisticated and naive fakers. Clinical decision rules and discriminant function analyses were utilized to identify malingerers. Clinical decision rules ranged in hit rates from 41% to 78%, in sensitivity from 2% to 100%, and in specificity from 86% to 100%. Discriminant functions ranged in hit rates from 81% to 86%, in sensitivity from 68% to 73% and in specificity from 82% to 87%. Overall, the least helpful detection method examined was below chance responding on either measure, while the most efficient was gross errors for SPM.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Isler, William C. (William Charles)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
US-Japan Relations during the Korean War (open access)

US-Japan Relations during the Korean War

During the Korean War, US-Japan relations changed dramatically from the occupation status into one of a security partnership in Asia. When North Korea invaded South Korea, Washington perceived Japan as the ultimate target. Washington immediately intervened in the Korean peninsula to protect the South on behalf of Japanese security. Japanese security was the most important objective of American policy regarding the Korean War, a reality to which historians have not given legitimate attention. While fighting in Korea, Washington decided to conclude an early peace treaty with Japan to initiate Japanese rearmament. The issue of Japanese rearmament was a focal point in the Japanese peace negotiation. Washington pressed Japan to rearm rapidly, but Tokyo stubbornly opposed. Under pressure from Washington, the Japanese government established the National Police Reserve and had to expand its military forces during the war. When the Korean War ceased in July 1953, Japanese armed forces numbered about 180,000 men. The Korean War also brought a fundamental change to Japanese economic and diplomatic relations in Asia. With a trade embargo on China following the unexpected Chinese intervention in Korea, Washington wanted to forbid Sino-Japanese trade completely. In addition, Washington pressed Tokyo to recognize the Nationalist regime in Taiwan …
Date: May 1995
Creator: Kim, Nam G. (Nam Gyun)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Zale Corporation: A Texas Success Story (open access)

The Zale Corporation: A Texas Success Story

The study begins by examining economic, political, and social conditions in Tsarist Russia that prompted the Zale family to immigrate to the United States. They eventually settled in Texas where, as a boy, Morris Zale was introduced to the jewelry business. In his first store in Wichita Falls Zale developed the idea of mass marketing his merchandise, and in order to do so he offered credit to his customers. He also made extensive use of advertising. Both of those approaches were revolutionary in the retail jewelry industry. This study examines various methods used by Zale's to expand its holdings. In addition, attention is given to Zale's diversification in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Emphasis is given in the study to Zale's development of a vertically integrated structure. By purchasing diamonds directly from the Diamond Trading Company, Zale's has been able to process the stones at each stage—cutting, polishing, mounting, and marketing. Such an arrangement eliminated middlemen at each step, permitting Zale's to reduce markups and margins and still maintain necessary profit levels. This study examines several serious adversities that have confronted the company—racial and religious prejudice, the Depression, shortages brought on by World War II, potential competition from a …
Date: May 1984
Creator: Stringer, Tommy W. (Tommy Wayne)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Masters No More: Abolition and Texas Planters, 1860-1890 (open access)

Masters No More: Abolition and Texas Planters, 1860-1890

This dissertation is a study of the effects of the abolition of slavery on the economic and political elite of six Texas counties between 1860 and 1890. It focuses on Austin, Brazoria, Colorado, Fort Bend, Matagorda, and Wharton Counties. These areas contain the overwhelming majority of Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred," the original American settlers of Texas. In addition to being the oldest settled region, these counties contained many of the wealthiest slaveholders within the state. This section of the state, along with the northeast along the Louisiana border, includes the highest concentration of Texas' antebellum plantations. This study asks two central questions. First, what were the effects of abolition on the fortunes of the planter class within these six counties? Did a new elite emerge as a result of the end of slavery, or, despite the liquidation of a substantial portion of their estates, did members of the former planter class sustain their economic dominance over the counties? Second, what were abolition's effects on the counties' prewar political elite, defined as the county judge? Who were in power before the war and who were in power after it? Did abolition contribute to a new kind of politician?
Date: December 2010
Creator: Ivan, Adrien D.
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Understanding the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) of Data Professionals in United States Academic Libraries (open access)

Understanding the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) of Data Professionals in United States Academic Libraries

This study applies the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) framework for eScience professionals to data service positions in academic libraries. Understanding the KSAs needed to provide data services is of crucial concern. The current study looks at KSAs of data professionals working in the United States academic libraries. An exploratory sequential mixed method design was adopted to discover the KSAs. The study was divided into two phases, a qualitative content analysis of 260 job advertisements for data professionals for Phase 1, and distribution of a self-administered online survey to data professionals working in academic libraries research data services (RDS) for Phase 2. The discovery of the KSAs from the content analysis of 260 job ads and the survey results from 167 data professionals were analyzed separately, and then Spearman rank order correlation was conducted in order to triangulate the data and compare results. The results from the study provide evidence on what hiring managers seek through job advertisements in terms of KSAs and which KSAs data professionals find to be important for working in RDS. The Spearman rank order correlation found strong agreement between job advertisement KSAs and data professionals perceptions of the KSAs.
Date: December 2021
Creator: Khan, Hammad Rauf
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Criterion Validity Study of the MMPI-2 and PAI Spanish Versions with DIS Diagnosis: Implications for Clinical Practice (open access)

A Criterion Validity Study of the MMPI-2 and PAI Spanish Versions with DIS Diagnosis: Implications for Clinical Practice

New Spanish versions of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) were assessed with the Spanish translation of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) as the gold standard. Findings from categorical and dimensional analyses suggest that, although the degree of diagnostic concordance of both measures with the DIS was found to be moderately high, the MMPI-2 clinical scales yielded greater specificity but lower sensitivity than the PAI scales on two of four diagnostic categories (i.e., Major Depression, and Schizophrenia). Both measures failed to correctly diagnose Anxiety Disorders, while the MMPI-2 also showed poor diagnostic accuracy with Alcohol Dependence.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Fantoni, Patricia (Patricia Maria Angelica)
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Training and Practice Effects on Performance Attributions Among Non-Depressed and Depressed Older Persons (open access)

Training and Practice Effects on Performance Attributions Among Non-Depressed and Depressed Older Persons

Previous research examining the impact of training and practice effects on modifying performance of fluid intelligence tasks (Gf) and crystallized intelligence tasks (Gc) were extended to include self-rated performance attributions among non-depressed and depressed older persons. The following general questions were addressed. How does level of depression affect performance on Gf and Gc measures and performance attributions? How does level of depression and degree of benefit from either training or practice relate to changes in attributional styles? The framework used for predicting shifts in attributional styles was the reformulated learned helplessness model. Three hundred twenty-five community-dwelling older persons completed the Gf/Gc Sampler, Beck Depression Inventory, and Attributions for Success/Failure Questionnaire at pretest, posttest (one week), and follow-up (one month). Between the pretest and posttest sessions, subjects participated in one of three experimental conditions; (a) cognitive (induction) training, (b) stress inoculation training, and (c) no-contact control groups. The results from univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance procedures provided partial support for the hypotheses. At pretest, both non-depressed and depressed older persons had internal attributional styles, although based on differential performance outcomes. The depressed persons were found to have more failure experiences as a result of their significantly poorer performance on Gf …
Date: December 1987
Creator: Segal, Carolyn
Object Type: Thesis or Dissertation
System: The UNT Digital Library