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Attention and Information Processing Variables in Hypothetically Psychosis-Prone College Students (open access)

Attention and Information Processing Variables in Hypothetically Psychosis-Prone College Students

Considering the explanations of schizophrenia that presume schizophrenia spectrum disorders (e.g., schizotypal personality disorder, schizoaffective disorder, etc.) to be genetically related to schizophrenia, the purpose of this study was to investigate the attention and information processing abilities of individuals who have been identified as schizotypal or psychosis-prone (i.e., schizophrenia spectrum functioning in individuals who do not have schizophrenia). Research indicates that persons identified as psychosis-prone may show attention and information processing deficits similar to individuals with schizophrenia. The identification and description of individuals who later decompensate into schizophrenia would advance the understanding of schizophrenia and its causes. The Chapman's PER-MAG scale (Perceptual Aberration-Magical Ideation) was used to identify 35 hypothetically psychosis-prone college students (schizotypy group) and 42 normal college students (nonschizotypy group) out of the 806 volunteer subjects. Their attention and information processing abilities were measured by COGLAB (a multiparadigmatic cognitive test battery that represents a continuum of cognitive functions, from preattentional to attentional, to conceptual). Their social adjustment was measured by the Premorbid Adjustment Scale (PAS). The hypotheses of the study were that the hypothetically psychosis-prone subjects would perform poorer than controls on COGLAB measures and that COGLAB measures of a more molar nature would better predict social adjustment …
Date: December 1995
Creator: Ottesen, James McBride
System: The UNT Digital Library
Distorted Time Perception as an Underlying Factor of Psychosis Proneness and Dissociation (open access)

Distorted Time Perception as an Underlying Factor of Psychosis Proneness and Dissociation

Distortions in the perception of time historically have been associated with dissociation and psychosis in clinical populations. However, the relations among dissociation, psychosis, and time perception in sub-clinical populations have not been investigated. In the present study, college undergraduates scoring either normally or deviantly high on the Per-Mag were given a Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and a computerized time-estimation/production task. Participants scoring high on the Per-Mag obtained higher scores on the DES than participants scoring low on the Per- Mag. Per-Mag scores also correlated positively with DES scores across 608 total participants screened. The relation between dissociative and psychotic symptomatology is discussed considering dichotomous versus continuous conceptualizations of psychopathology. The effects of intelligence, social desirability, malingering, gender, and post-traumatic stress on the measures used are also discussed.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Koehler, Gregory C. (Gregory Charles)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Influence of Relationship Quality and Preventability of Death on Perceptions of Funerals in Bereaved Adults (open access)

The Influence of Relationship Quality and Preventability of Death on Perceptions of Funerals in Bereaved Adults

Four hundred and thirty-eight participants who had lost a close friend or family in the last 2 years completed questionnaires regarding their experiences with the funeral. Results indicated individuals emotionally close to the deceased person reported higher levels of participation in funeral rituals and greater levels of bereavement adjustment. Those emotionally distant from the deceased person reported greater satisfaction with the funeral. Individuals who viewed the deceased person as a central figure in their lives had greater participation in the funeral. Those who viewed the deceased person as a peripheral figure had higher levels of bereavement adjustment. Additionally, those who viewed the death as unpreventable reported greater satisfaction with the funeral, and had higher levels of bereavement adjustment.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Pinkenburg, Lisa
System: The UNT Digital Library
Parenting Stress and the Family Environment of Mothers Who Have Returned to College (open access)

Parenting Stress and the Family Environment of Mothers Who Have Returned to College

Stress plays a key role in our daily lives, influencing our emotional state, productivity, and health. One particular role in life, being a parent, has attracted significant attention in the research world in terms of the amount of stress parents experience in relation to different aspects of being parents. A life change that many parents, particularly mothers, are experiencing in increasing numbers is their return to college. This study compared reports of parenting stress and perceptions of the family environment between two groups of mothers. The first is a group of 32 mothers who were working 30 or more hours a week outside the home and were not enrolled in college while the second group consists of 31 mothers who were in college full-time and working less than 10 hours a week outside the home. All of the mothers were between the ages of 25 and 45 and had at least one child between the ages 5 and 12 years old. In both groups the mothers verified that their child(ren) was (were) without any diagnosis of an emotional, behavioral, or learning problem. A series of one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVAs) were performed. Results indicated there were no significant group …
Date: December 1995
Creator: McCal, Kevin J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chronically Ill Children: Maternal Stress and Psychological Symptomatology (open access)

Chronically Ill Children: Maternal Stress and Psychological Symptomatology

This study used a parenting stress and coping model to identify predictors of symptomatology for 13 8 mothers of medically compromised children. This model proposed that: child characteristics (severity of the chronic illness and child related parenting stressors); parent characteristics (self-esteem, sense of competence, and parents' perceived stress/distress); and environmental characteristics (social support, general life stressor events, and demographic variables) contribute to psychological symptomatology for these mothers. Multiple regression analysis found a relationship between general life stressor events, severity of the children's chronic conditions, lower satisfaction with social support, lower self-esteem, and younger mothers' ages and greater symptomatology. Trends toward significance were found for more parenting stress and lower parenting sense of competence predicting greater symptomatology. Predicted relationships between family socioeconomic status and parenting daily hassles and symptomatology were not supported.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Driskill, Gail
System: The UNT Digital Library
Perseveration Errors in the Performance of Dichotic Listening Tasks by Schizophrenics: The Role of Stimulus Fusion (open access)

Perseveration Errors in the Performance of Dichotic Listening Tasks by Schizophrenics: The Role of Stimulus Fusion

The purpose of the present study was to compare the number of perseverations on fused (no delay) versus unfused (0.5 msec delay) CV-DL tasks with measures on a battery of executive functions across three groups: Schizophrenics (SCZ), Manic-Depressives (MD), and normal controls (NC).
Date: December 1995
Creator: Gard, Diane M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cultural Differences in Pain Experience and Behavior among Mexican, Mexican American and Anglo American Headache Pain Sufferers (open access)

Cultural Differences in Pain Experience and Behavior among Mexican, Mexican American and Anglo American Headache Pain Sufferers

Review of previous research on cultural differences in pain experience and/or pain behavior revealed that cultural affiliation affects pain perception and response. Unfortunately, the many inconsistent findings in the literature on cultural differences in pain experience and behavior have made interpretations and comparisons of results problematic. These inconsistent findings could be attributed to variations in acculturation level among cultural groups. The purpose of this study was to investigate cultural differences in pain experience (assessed by McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Box Scale, the Headache Pain Drawing, and the Headache Questionnaire) and pain behavior (measured by determining medication use and interference of daily functioning due to headaches) among Mexican (n = 43), Mexican American (n = 36), and Anglo American (n = 50) female chronic headache pain sufferers. The contribution of acculturation to differences in pain experience and behavior among cultural groups was measured by the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans. The three cultural groups of women significantly differed on pain experience and pain behavior. Specifically, Mexican women experienced their headache pain more intensely, severely, and emotionally than Mexican American and Anglo American women. Furthermore, Mexican women were more willing to verbally express their pain than the other two groups. As …
Date: December 1995
Creator: Sardas, Isabela
System: The UNT Digital Library
Testing the Construct Validity of the Sulliman Scale of Social Interest (open access)

Testing the Construct Validity of the Sulliman Scale of Social Interest

The purpose of the present study was to further explore evidence for the construct-related validity of the Sulliman Scale of Social Interest (SSSI) through the implementation of both convergent and discriminant procedures. This was done through (a) replicating St. John's 1992 study, (b) extending the findings of that study by incorporating additional psychological measures, and (c) examining SSI itself by means of principal axis factor analytic procedures. First, all nine of the relationships demonstrated between the SSSI and other variables in the St. John (1992) study were replicated in the present study. Second, in extending the findings of that study, 22 of 26 hypothesized relationships between the SSSI and other psychological measures were in the predicted direction. Third, the results of the factor analysis produced three factors labeled "contextual harmony," "positive treatment/response," and "confidence and trust." Taken together, the outcomes of both studies appear to offer some support for the SSI's construct validity and to provide possible directions for future research.
Date: August 1995
Creator: St. John, Chris (Christopher Lynn)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Experimental Psychological Stress on Human Physiological Functioning: Mediation by Affiliation (open access)

Effects of Experimental Psychological Stress on Human Physiological Functioning: Mediation by Affiliation

This investigation sought to identify differences in the human psychophysiological stress response when mediated by affiliation, by assessing heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), electrodermal activity (EDA), serum Cortisol (SC) concentration, interleukin-2 (IL-2) concentration, and state anxiety among subjects who underwent an anagram solution task. Thirty male subjects from the University of North Texas were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions and asked to solve a series of difficult anagrams either alone or with a companion. Subjects assigned to the control condition were asked to copy permutations of the anagrams. Before, and immediately after the anagram/copying tasks HR, SBP, DBP were measured, blood samples drawn, and The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) administered to all subjects. EDA was measured throughout all trials. Changes from baseline through the experimental period for all dependent variables were analyzed by employing difference scores derived from contrasting baseline and experimental measures. These scores were subjected to an analysis of variance (ANOVA) resulting in one significant between group effect among all dependent variables examined. Contrary to stated hypotheses, the alone condition significantly differed from the companion and control conditions by demonstrating a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure from baseline …
Date: August 1995
Creator: Walker, Douglas W. (Douglas Wallace)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Correlates and Predictors of Medication Noncompliance in Patients with Schizophrenia (open access)

Correlates and Predictors of Medication Noncompliance in Patients with Schizophrenia

The treatment of schizophrenia today consists of a multi-component system of services. Mental health professionals generally agree that anti-psychotic medications are an essential treatment for schizophrenia. However, adherence to medication regimens by patients with schizophrenia is notoriously poor. To identify correlates and predictors of medication compliance, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS), a semi-structured diagnostic interview, was administered to 90 outpatients with schizophrenia. The results suggest that there are specific variables (i.e., mood symptoms, psychotic symptoms, and socio-demographic variables) that predict medication compliance. In addition, the confirmation of these variables was effective (90.0%) at identifying non-compliant patients. The results suggest that schizophrenia is a complex disorder composed of heterogeneous symptoms. However, a specific group of symptoms is proposed which may provide a screening measure for predicting patients who are likely to be non-compliant with their medications.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Duncan, Julianne Christine
System: The UNT Digital Library
Influence of Family Environment on Ease of Discussion of Sexual Issues With a Partner (open access)

Influence of Family Environment on Ease of Discussion of Sexual Issues With a Partner

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between ease of discussion of sexual likes and dislikes with a sexual partner and religious, expressive, and affectional influences in the family of origin.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Broodo, Beth (Beth Lauren)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Cross-Sectional Study of Custodial Grandparenting: Stresses, Coping Skills, and Relationships with Grandchildren (open access)

A Cross-Sectional Study of Custodial Grandparenting: Stresses, Coping Skills, and Relationships with Grandchildren

This cross-sectional study compared three groups of grandparents, two custodial and one noncustodial, to identify and delineate the unique challenges and expectations faced by custodial grandparents due to their nontraditional roles while attempting to disentangle grandparental role demands from child-specific problems as sources of distress. Those grandparents raising grandchildren demonstrating neurological, physical, emotional, or behavioral problems exhibited the most distress, the most disruption of roles, and the most deteriorated grandparent-grandchild relationships. Although the custodial grandparents raising apparently normal grandchildren demonstrated less distress, less disruption of roles, and less deterioration of the grandparent-grandchild relationship than those grandparents raising grandchildren displaying problems, they still demonstrated higher levels than did traditional grandparents. Those grandparents who reported fewer resources, demonstrated poor attitudes regarding seeking mental health services, and reported raising grandchildren displaying problems had the lowest levels of adjustment.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Emick, Michelle Adrianna
System: The UNT Digital Library
Effects of Acute and Chronic Glycemic Control on Memory Performance in Persons with Type II Diabetes Mellitus (open access)

Effects of Acute and Chronic Glycemic Control on Memory Performance in Persons with Type II Diabetes Mellitus

Memory performance was measured in 48 persons between the ages of 40 - 65 with Type II diabetes. Correlations between performance on the California Verbal Learning Test, tests of Working Memory, Priming Memory, and Prospective Memory and several predictor variables were examined. These variables included the Slosson Intelligence Test Scores, demographic variables, presence of diabetic complications, finger-stick and HbA1c measures. Subjects performed worse than the normative sample on the California Verbal Learning Test. Higher chronic and acute blood glucose tended to be associated with worse performance on the CVLT, Priming, and Working Memory. However, after the effects of intelligence, education, and sex were statistically controlled, glycemic status predicted performance on just a few memory measures. These were short-delay recall compared with recall on List A trial 5, and List B on the CVLT, and recall accuracy on digit forward of the Working Memory Test. Glucose status was unrelated to performance on a prospective memory test. Several other demographic and diabetic complication factors predicted performance beyond the contribution of intelligence. These results contrast with previous studies which found strong effects of glycemic control, but did not statistically control for the contribution of intelligence. Differential effects of diabetic status on different aspects …
Date: August 1995
Creator: Hall-Johnson, Richard Earl
System: The UNT Digital Library
Attributional Style as a Predictor of Academic Success for Students with Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder in Postsecondary Education (open access)

Attributional Style as a Predictor of Academic Success for Students with Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder in Postsecondary Education

Thirty one students with learning disabilities (LD) and/or with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) completed a combined Academic Attributional Style and Coping with Academic Failures Questionnaire. The reformulated learned helplessness model (Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978) predicted that students with negative attributional styles (i.e., internal-stable-global attributions) experienced motivational, cognitive, and emotional deficits. The present study examined college achievement (grade point average) of students with LD and/or ADHD. The Prediction that students with LD and/or ADHD with negative attributional styles would achieve less academic success than comparable students with positive attributional styles (i.e., extenal-unstable-specific attributions) was supported by the research results.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Tominey, Matthew F.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship of Assertiveness and Bulimia to Psychological Separation (open access)

The Relationship of Assertiveness and Bulimia to Psychological Separation

The purpose of this study was to examine how parental separation is related to eating disturbances and assertiveness in females who struggle with bulimic symptoms. Two-hundred ninety-two undergraduate females from the University of North Texas comprised the subject group. Using pen and paper measures of assertiveness, bulimia, and parental separation, support was found for the prediction that there would be a relationship between assertiveness and parental separation. Likewise, partial support was found for the prediction that there would be a relationship between bulimia and parental separation. Parental separation was found to affect levels of bulimia and assertiveness. Finally, it was found that subjects endorsed greater emotional independence from fathers than from mothers.
Date: August 1995
Creator: O'Loughlin, Mary Ann, 1957-
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Role of Anger/Hostility on Physiological and Behavioral Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease (open access)

The Role of Anger/Hostility on Physiological and Behavioral Risk Factors for Coronary Heart Disease

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of anger/hostility on physiological and behavioral coronary heart disease risk factors. It was hypothesized that anger/hostility would contribute to the severity of CHD via consummatory behaviors such as smoking, poor diet, and excessive alcohol consumption. Some researchers suggest that negative consummatory behaviors play a direct causal role in CHD. The present study proposed that hostility predisposes an individual to these behaviors, and that these behaviors in turn, contribute to CHD. Further, it was proposed that some of the anger that exists in CHD patients may result from the individual being unable to participate in some of their previous consummatory behaviors after suffering a myocardial infarction. Also, it was hypothesized that the construct of anger/hostility would be differentially related to consummatory behaviors.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Buri, Robert J. (Robert John)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Longitudinal Investigation of Different Exercise Modalities on Social Physique Anxiety (open access)

A Longitudinal Investigation of Different Exercise Modalities on Social Physique Anxiety

The current study examined if students' levels of social physique anxiety vary depending on the type of exercise setting they select. The study determined the degree to which social physique anxiety changed over the course of semester-long involvements in different exercise settings.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Diehl, Nancy S. (Nancy Sue)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Assessment of Cognitive Functioning of Persons with Schizophrenia: Identification of Neuropsychological Markers (open access)

The Assessment of Cognitive Functioning of Persons with Schizophrenia: Identification of Neuropsychological Markers

The present study was conducted to clarify and expand knowledge of cognitive functioning in chronic schizophrenia patients (N=21) as compared to a bipolar group (N=20) and a normal group (N=20).
Date: December 1995
Creator: Hall, Janice Anne Crawford
System: The UNT Digital Library
Characterization of Tolerance and Cross-tolerance between Noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) Antagonists in Rats Trained to Self-administer Ketamine (open access)

Characterization of Tolerance and Cross-tolerance between Noncompetitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) Antagonists in Rats Trained to Self-administer Ketamine

Ketamine and phencyclidine (PCP) are noncompetitive antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type of ligand-gated glutamate receptors. Both agents have high abuse liability, and may produce dependence. Tolerance to the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse is widely regarded as a key component of the dependence process. Therefore, the present study was conducted to examine whether tolerance develops to the reinforcing effects of ketamine, and whether PCP and dizocilpine, a noncompetitive NMDA antagonist with negligible abuse liability, produce cross-tolerance to the reinforcing effects of ketamine. Further, identification of the neural mechanisms that underlie tolerance to the reinforcing effects of drugs may yield information regarding drug dependence.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Ward, Amie S. (Amie Sue)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coping with Job Loss and Career Stress: Effectiveness of Stress Management Training with Outplaced Employees (open access)

Coping with Job Loss and Career Stress: Effectiveness of Stress Management Training with Outplaced Employees

A stress management intervention was developed and integrated into the services provided by one of the nation's largest outplacement consultants. The purpose of the intervention was to aid outplacement clients in the management and resolution of stress associated with job loss and career transition. Based on the results of this study, the intervention had the effect of helping treatment participants maintain their levels of effective coping when compared to nonparticipants. This study supports the hypothesis that stress management training can be helpful for unemployed individuals and may impact their emotional well-being as they go through the job search process.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Maysent, Anne Miya
System: The UNT Digital Library
Biopsychosocial Factors Related to Health among Older Women (open access)

Biopsychosocial Factors Related to Health among Older Women

Older adults are more vulnerable to the ill effects of life stress due to physiological changes associated with aging that result in decreased immunocompetence. Stressors interacting with an aging immune system may produce further declines in health. Variables shown to modulate the effect of stressors on neuroendocrine and immune function and health include social support, personality, coping style, and health locus of control. A comprehensive model is proposed that includes: life stressors, social resources, psychological resources, interaction between stressors and social resources, neuroendocrine and immune function, and symptomatology. This model was evaluated using structured equation modeling. Participants were 97 active, community dwelling, older women, ranging in age from 60 to 93 years.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Carter, Alice Powers
System: The UNT Digital Library
Memory Functions among Children Irradiated for Brain Tumor (open access)

Memory Functions among Children Irradiated for Brain Tumor

Children who have received radiation therapy for the treatment of brain tumors have been shown to experience neurocognitive deficits which appear to increase over time. The purpose of this study was to examine the memory functioning of 22 children irradiated for brain tumor and 22 healthy children of the same age who had not received irradiation. Subjects were administered a brief form of the WISC-III, to obtain an IQ, and the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML), to evaluate visual and verbal memory. Results indicated that, although there were no significant differences between the IQ scores of healthy children and children who had been irradiated, children who have received radiation therapy for brain tumor evidence memory deficits which effect visual and verbal memory abilities. Among the children who had been irradiated, as time since treatment increased, visual memory and overall memory functioning appeared to decline. Findings also suggested that children who received total tumor resection may evidence greater memory deficits than those who received only a partial resection. Visual memory was more closely related to IQ in the children irradiated for brain tumor than in the healthy children. The overall importance of research with this population lies in …
Date: December 1995
Creator: McCormack, Sarah (Sarah Smith)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Relationship between Cause of Death, Perceptions of Funerals, and Bereavement Adjustment (open access)

The Relationship between Cause of Death, Perceptions of Funerals, and Bereavement Adjustment

Although funerals are seen as universal rituals to honor the death of a loved one, their value in facilitating the grief process is not known. The present study explored the relationships between cause of death, feelings and attitudes toward the funeral, and subsequent bereavement adjustment.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Ragow, Dina P. (Dina Paige)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Information Processing in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: A Discriminant Analysis Study (open access)

Information Processing in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: A Discriminant Analysis Study

A study was conducted in which a computerized battery of information processing tasks (called the COGLAB) was administered to three subject groups: patients with schizophrenia, patients with bipolar disorder, and normal controls. The tasks included Mueller-Lyer illusion, reaction time, size estimation, Wisconsin Card Sort, backward masking. and Asarnow Continuous Performance.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Tam, Wai-Cheong Carl
System: The UNT Digital Library