This study examined the clinical utility of the recently released National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH) research domain criteria (RDoC) by replicating and extending earlier work by using a demographically novel sample. Information retrieval and natural language processing of archival clinical records was used to achieve two main objectives: (1) estimate how well the RDoC domains match language used by clinicians by creating domain scores and (2) examine the differences between the DSM's and RDoC's ability to predict treatment outcome using these domain scores and DSM diagnoses. The social systems RDoC category was found to be the strongest predictor of treatment outcome across all diagnostic measures.

Daytime cognitive performance and sleep/wake cycles are strongly interrelated, and cognitive dysfunction has been extensively investigated in relation to insomnia. However, methods and outcomes vary widely by study, making comparison difficult without more systematic evaluation. Review of the literature reveals discrepant findings for the relationship between both subjective and objective measures of cognitive performance and insomnia. The current meta-analysis included 42 studies investigating the relationship between insomnia and cognitive performance. Results confirmed the discrepant nature of previous findings and suggest that type of cognitive performance (e.g., simple attention, procedural memory, verbal functions) is important to consider when discussing the impact of insomnia. Mixed-effect meta-analysis of aggregate effect sizes suggest impairments in working memory, complex attention, and episodic memory are significantly associated with insomnia. Analysis of the grouped subjective cognitive performance effect size revealed no significant impact of insomnia. Average age and gender makeup of the sample, study quality, and type of insomnia measure (i.e., clinical or diagnostic criteria, validated scale, or single unvalidated item) did not consistently moderate findings. These results confirm the equivocal nature of the relationship between insomnia and cognitive performance. Overall, about 44% of the studies included in the analysis failed to use DSM or ICSD criteria …

In the current study, the relation of the frequency of sport participation and gender to CRF, muscular strength and flexibility, body composition, physical activity self-efficacy, and physical self-concept in a sample of 629 sixth graders were examined. Because both physical activity and sport participation have been related to similar outcomes, activity through physical education was controlled by including only 6th graders who were part of a required school class. MANCOVA analyses demonstrated that sport involvement was significantly related to improvements in physical fitness (i.e., CRF and muscular strength), physical activity self-efficacy, and physical self-concept (CRF and muscular strength). The interaction between sport involvement and gender was not significant, suggesting these relationships existed equally for the boys and girls.

We hypothesized that the formation of malevolent introjects undermines the development of self-compassion, which in turn produces greater feelings of shame. We hypothesized that these feelings of shame account for concurrent depressive symptoms in adulthood. To test these hypotheses, we proposed a multiple mediator mediation model in which our independent variable was childhood maltreatment. We modeled child maltreatment as negatively predicting our first mediator, self-compassion, which in turn positively predicted internalized shame. We modeled internalized shame as positively predicting scores on our dependent variable, adult depressive symptoms. Participants were 158 adults fluent in English who were community members and college students living in a southwestern American metroplex. The model accounted for 61.8% of the variance in depressive symptoms in adulthood. A significant indirect effect from child maltreatment passed through both our mediators and ended in depressive symptoms in adulthood. We discuss limitations and theoretical and clinical implications, and future directions.

The present study aims to examine which maladaptive and Big Five personality traits, as well as which lower order facets, are related to symptoms specific to PTSD (i.e., intrusions and avoidance). Unique effects were isolated by controlling for nonspecific general depression that occurs in the disorder but is not specific to it. 707 undergraduate students were administered a self-report online survey to assess their personality, trauma history, PTSD and mood symptoms. Additionally, data from 536 9/11 World Trade Center (WTC) responders who have been administered personality, PTSD, and mood surveys as part of a longitudinal study were analyzed. As expected, neuroticism was highly correlated with PTSD, but had fewer associations with PTSD dimensions after controlling for depression. Trust and agreeableness emerged as important, being negatively related to PTSD, while most maladaptive personality domains and facets were positively related to PTSD (perceptual dysregulation had the highest association). Other traits, such as antagonism and openness, were not significantly related to PTSD. There is growing evidence that clinical interventions can change personality traits; the present study provides new personality targets for intervention that are uniquely related to PTSD.

The current research recruited 200 college students from the University of North Texas to explore the direct and indirect effects of familial ethnic-racial socialization on selected psychosocial variables (i.e., general self-efficacy, life satisfaction, and psychological distress) via ethnic-racial identity variables: exploration, affirmation, and resolution. The results indicated that cultural socialization from family predicted life satisfaction via exploration and resolution, predicted general self-efficacy via affirmation and resolution, and predicted psychological distress via affirmation. Additionally, patterns between exploration, affirmation, and resolution were explored through cluster analyses, and six ethnic-racial identity clusters were identified. The amount of familial ethnic-socialization and general self-efficacy reported by participants varied significantly among the identified ethnic-racial identity clusters. Implications of the findings for therapeutic interventions, university programs, and ethnic-racial identity measurement as well as limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Chronic short sleep duration is also a significant public health problem and has been linked to several markers and outcomes of cardiovascular disease. To date, inconsistency of assessments of sleep duration and insufficiency, use of covariates, and cardiovascular disease measurement across studies limits strong conclusions about the relationship between sleep duration, sleep insufficiency, and cardiovascular disease. The current study examined the association between sleep duration, sleep insufficiency, and a marker of preclinical coronary heart disease (i.e., carotid intima-media thickness) in a community sample using a cross-sectional design. Some evidence for a relationship between sleep duration and cIMT was found, with longer sleep duration predicting higher cIMT in some segments. Additionally, the interaction between sleep duration and sleep insufficiency was significant. However, neither of these effects were significant after adjusting for age and in some cases race/ethnicity, suggesting demographics may explain this association. Actigraphy and sleep diary duration assessments demonstrated significantly different correlations with cIMT in some segments, suggesting the nature of the assessment method may impact the strength or direction of the relationship between sleep duration and cIMT. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

Research has illustrated the interrelatedness of childhood physical fitness and psychological wellbeing, psychological wellbeing and academic achievement, as well as physical fitness and academic achievement. In this study, we proposed that psychological wellbeing (self-esteem and depression) serves as a mediator between physical fitness and academic achievement during adolescence. In a sample of middle school children (N = 1,530), significant correlations were found between all three variables (p.0001). A hierarchical regression analysis was performed to assess the associations between physical fitness, psychological wellbeing, and academic achievement. The regression analysis reported a significant partial mediation effect. The results of this study supported the proposed hypotheses, including a mechanism of psychological wellbeing partially mediating the relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement. The findings of this study support the importance of encouraging activities to promote both physical fitness and psychological wellbeing in schools.

Collegiate and elite female athletes have been identified as a subpopulation at heightened risk for disordered eating and pathogenic weight management practices. It was hypothesized that this increases risk may be related to sport specific pressures (such as team conducted weigh-ins), or the use and frequency of self-weighing. It appears that mandatory, team conducted weigh-ins are not salient to female athletes in regards to experiencing internalization, body image concerns, dietary restraint, negative affect, and bulimic symptomatology. Results, however, indicate that frequency of engagement in self-weighing may be influential in the engagement of disordered eating symptoms. Specifically, athletes who weighed themselves three or more times per week reported significantly more internalization of general societal ideals and athletic body ideals. For body image concerns, athletes who weighed three or more times per week reported being more concerned with their body size/shape than all others. With respect to dietary behaviors, athletes who weighed themselves three or more times per week reported engaging in significantly more caloric restriction than did those who weighed less frequently. For negative affect, the athletes who weighed themselves three or more times per week reported significantly higher levels of both anger and guilt. Finally for bulimic symptomatology, athletes who …

Dating violence (DV) among young adults, specifically in college settings, is a serious issue with potential severe repercussions – both physically and psychologically – for victims of DV (DV victimization), and even financially on societal institutions as a whole. Exposure to parental intimate partner violence (IPV) has been associated with DV in young adults. Such violent behaviors appear to be associated with a recurrent pattern of aggressive thought processes, content, and arousing emotions. This study investigated the mediating effects of explicit socio-cognitive processes, through the reformulated social information processing (SIP) model, and implicit cognitive processes for exposure to parental IPV on DV perpetration and victimization, as well as the moderating effects of identification with parental figures and emotional arousal for exposure to parental IPV on predicting DV perpetration and victimization. 85 college students (men n = 23, M age = 22.29) were recruited for the study and results revealed that exposure to father-to-mother IPV predicted DV victimization, and that the interaction between exposure to father-to-mother IPV and identification with maternal figure predicted DV victimization. Conversely, identification with a parental figure negatively predicted DV victimization. The results revealed that SIP processes did not mediate the relationship for exposure to parental IPV …

Based on theoretical reasoning and empirical evidence, the present study examined the unique and shared effects of attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, and acculturation on attitudes toward seeking professional help among Latino college students. The research participants included 149 bilingual Latino college students from a large, public southwestern university. Results of a multiple regression analysis indicated that attachment avoidance was positively associated with both the recognition of need for psychological help and stigma of seeking professional help. Acculturation to American society was found to be statistically insignificant in predicting help-seeking attitudes in this sample of the population. Findings from exploratory questions suggested that Latino individuals would most likely seek help from parents, close friends, and then professionals. This study suggested that Latino individuals with high attachment avoidance acknowledge the potential benefit of professional help-seeking but distrust the process of approaching others for help. Limitations, implications, and future research directions will be discussed.

Despite a substantially greater risk factor profile, Hispanics in the United States (US) consistently demonstrate better health outcomes compared to their non-Hispanic White counterparts, an epidemiologic phenomenon termed the Hispanic Mortality Paradox. Emerging hypotheses suggest cultural values regarding relational interconnectedness and social support may help to explain these surprising health outcomes. The present study sought to inform these hypotheses via two aims: the first was to examine racial/ethnic differences in perceived social support, and the second was to examine the relationship between acculturation and perceived social support among Hispanic college students. Non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic college students (N = 330) completed an online survey for course credit. Contrary to expectations, no racial/ethnic differences in perceived social support were observed, nor was an association between acculturation and perceived social support evident among the sampled Hispanic students. The limited sample size, homogeneity in social support levels across groups, and the restricted range of age and acculturation may have obscured relationships that may exist outside the college environment. Future work should consider a more heterogeneous sampling strategy to better assess these associations.

Epidemiological studies show that China has a lower prevalence rate of major depression than that of Western countries. The disparity in prevalence is commonly attributed to the tendency of Chinese to somatize depression. Empirical evidence of Chinese somatization has yielded mixed results. The present study thus aimed to 1) examine differences in somatic and psychological symptom reporting between Chinese from Macau and Americans in America and 2) identify cultural and psychological variables that would predict somatization. Independent and interdependent self-construals, sociotropy, and emotional approach coping were hypothesized to predict somatization of depression. Participants included 353 Chinese and 491 American college students who completed self-report measures online. Contrary to prediction, results indicated that Americans endorsed a higher proportion of somatic symptoms than Chinese did. Sociotropy predicted both relative endorsement and severity of somatic symptoms for the American sample, whereas emotional expression coping was related to somatization in the Chinese sample. The findings challenge the common assumption of greater Chinese somatization and highlight the importance of context in understanding the relationships between somatization and cultural and psychological variables. Implications of the present study and future directions are discussed.

Measures of adult attachment developed in English have been translated and validated in multiple Spanish-speaking countries, yet to this date no self-report adult attachment instrument has been systematically examined for validation with Latinos/Hispanic Americans. The present study examined psychometric properties of a Spanish version of a widely used adult attachment scale, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECRS), with a bilingual college student sample. Following the dual-language split half (DLSH) quantitative method of evaluating semantic equivalence, 209 bilingual, Latinos/Hispanic American college students recruited from a large public university completed a DLSH version of the ECRS (half English, half Spanish). Internal consistency reliability and DLSH reliability were within acceptable limits, although significantly smaller than coefficients of the English ECRS completed by a large Caucasian sample (n = 459); 3- to 8-week test-retest reliability was also adequate. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor solution with 35 items accounting for 40% of the variance, which was similar to the English ECRS. Convergent validity was supported by findings that showed significant associations of attachment dimensions with social self-efficacy, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and comfort with self-disclosure, but not interpersonal trust. Evidence for discriminant validity was found in that attachment dimensions were not significantly associated with …

Substantial evidence demonstrates that marriage is associated with better health outcomes and lower mortality risk. Some evidence suggests that there are gender and race/ethnicity differences between the marriage-health benefits association. However, previous studies on marriage and health have mainly focused on non-Hispanic White-Black differences. Limited information is available regarding the roles of Hispanics. The present study examined marital status, gender, and the differences between non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks, and Hispanics, in health outcomes. A retrospective cohort analysis of 24,119 Hispanic, NH White, and NH Black adults admitted to a large hospital was conducted. A total of 16,661 patients identified as either married or single was included in the final analyses. Consistent with the broader literature, marriage was associated with beneficial hospital utilization outcomes. With respect to differences in these benefits, results suggest that married patients, Hispanic patients, and women, were less likely to experience in-hospital mortality. Similar effects were observed in aggregated length of stay with married Hispanic women hospitalized nearly 2 days less than their single counterparts (6.83 days and 8.66 days, respectively). These findings support existing literature that marriage is associated with health benefits, add to the emerging research of a Hispanic survival advantage, and broaden the understanding …

Prior research has identified risk factors that may contribute to the development of maternal stress reactions following childbirth. Specifically, situational factors (e.g., factors associated with childbirth), individual factors, and personality factors, have been explored in a multitude of prior studies. The current study sought to build upon this literature by examining both risk and resilience in a sample of both mothers and fathers via a prospective longitudinal investigation. Baseline assessment of expectant parents occurred prior to the birth of their child, with additional assessment at approximately 1, 6, and 9 weeks post-childbirth. A total of 50 participants completed all four of these assessments. Results indicated approximately 20% (n = 10) of participants endorsed moderate or greater stress symptoms after birth, while 22% (n = 11) also exhibited symptoms of moderate or greater depressive symptoms. Stress reactions were assessed with the Perinatal Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire (PPQ); validity analyses indicated the PPQ had significantly stronger correlations with convergent measures than discriminant measures. Additionally, participants were randomized into one of two post-delivery study arms: an expressive writing group or an active control group. Although expressive writing results were inconclusive, there was a general effect of time, which may be reflective of a …

Psychological assessment relies on accurate and forthright reporting to determine valid clinical presentations. However, it has long been recognized that examinees may be motivated to present a "better picture" through Positive Impression Management (PIM). Within the PIM domain, two distinct motivations (i.e., defensiveness and social desirability) emerge that have not been clearly differentiated in empirical literature. This thesis addressed the research gap for detecting PIM distortion of personality pathology, utilizing the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5). In this investigation, 106 psychiatric inpatients were recruited from the adult Co-Occurring Disorders and Trauma Programs at University Behavioral Health. Using a mixed within- and between-subjects design, participants engaged in simulation via scenarios to be considered for a highly valued rehabilitation program (defensiveness) or employment (social desirability). As expected, inpatients showed elevated levels of problematic personality traits when reporting genuinely, but suppressed them under PIM conditions. These findings highlight that the PID-5, like all multiscale inventories, is highly vulnerable to intentional PIM distortion. Interestingly, respondents in the social desirability condition generally engaged in more total denial than those in the defensiveness condition. Empirically- and theoretically-based validity scales were developed to identify simulators and differentiate between conditions. Besides PIM, higher levels of experienced stigma were …

The purpose of the present study was to further investigate the effects of frustration on the reward value of a goal object. Under the assumption that animals will learn to take the shortest path to a goal and that the reward value of an object will increase as effort increases, the following hypothesis was proposed: If rats are frustrated in the short path of a single choice maze (experimental group) then the experimental group's running time for the long path will be less than that of a control group not frustrated in the short path.

The problem of this study was to determine the relationship between the nature of an individual's self-concept and belief system to his orientation toward internal versus external control of reinforcement. This study was designed to investigate the relationship of two variables, self-concept and open versus closed belief system, to a third variable, locus of control.

It was the purpose of this present study to investigate the effects of two types of music, tonic and sedative, on the gross motor activity of profound mental retardates. The primary objective was to determine if therapeutic benefits resulting from the application of music could be extended to profound retardates as has already been demonstrated with other levels of retardation.

It was the purpose of this study to investigate the nature of the relationships among anxiety, achievement, and intelligence. It was deduced that anxiety and intelligence work together mainly at the level of average intelligence. At this level, the addition of drive in the form of anxiety increases performance level, while a lack of drive or anxiety decreases that level. The influence of anxiety on academic achievement is insignificant at other levels due to the overriding effects of intelligence.

An exploratory study was conducted to examine feelings of alienation in high school and college students.

The investigation examined the effects of formal and semantic intralist stimulus similarity (ISS) on transfer of stimulus differentiations in the A-B, A-C paradigm.

This study has a twofold purpose. The first is to determine the consequences related to labeling deviant behaviors, especially as these effects are reflected in the person who labels and defines deviant behavior. The second is to evaluate the medical model of abnormality in relation to the labeling of deviant behavior.