Browsing by Subject "Anxiety"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Anxiety's effect on the experience of supervision of genetic counseling students
    (2013-08) MacFarlane, Ian Michael
    Genetic counseling has been a recognized profession in North America for over 40 years. Supervised clinical experiences with patients comprise a critical component of genetic counseling student education. Previous research has found genetic counseling students s tend to be more anxiety prone than the general population (Jungbluth et al., 2011), and anxiety related to supervision has been found in genetic counseling (e.g., Hendrickson et al., 2002) and related fields (e.g., Skovholt & Ronnestad, 2003). The present study investigated how anxiety affects the experience of supervision for genetic counseling students. Second year genetic counseling students (~N = 200) were invited to participate through email invitations distributed via training directors of the 33 programs accredited by the American Board of Genetic Counseling. The initial online survey contained the trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger et al., 1983) to estimate anxiety proneness in this population and an invitation to participate in a 1-hour interview focusing on students' experiences in supervision. The interviews questions investigated seven research questions focusing on satisfaction with training, interactions with patients and supervisors, perceptions of the structure and processes of supervision, and experiences related to anxiety. High, moderate, and low trait anxiety groups were created using STAI scores, and the high and low groups' interview responses were compared using consensual qualitative research methodology (CQR; Hill, 2012). Analysis discovered relatively few differences between groups. The high anxiety group was more likely to describe problematic supervisory relationships, appreciate the supervisor's ability to help them when they get stuck in sessions, and feel their anxiety had a negative effect on their performance in general and in supervision. Common themes included supervisors' balancing support and guidance, the importance of feedback, ego-centric responses, and supervisors as focal points. Students unanimously reported positive levels of satisfaction with their clinical rotations in general and supervision specifically. The results of the present study are largely consistent with the literature, including recently published supervision competencies (Eubanks Higgins et al., 2013). Further research findings and research, practice, and training recommendations are provided.
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    HBCU vs. PWI: institutional integration at PWIs and Black doctoral student depression, anxiety, and stress
    (2014-07) Williams, Marcuetta D.
    This study sought to explore the experiences of Black doctoral students at PWIs. Utilizing Tinto's (1975) theory of college student retention as a foundation, this research was guided by the premise that Academic and Social Integration are related to mental health outcomes for Black doctoral students at PWIs, and that type of undergraduate institution attended prior to graduate education is an important factor. The purpose of this study was (a) to determine whether there is a relationship between Academic Integration (as measured by Academic and Intellectual Development and Faculty Concern for Student Development and Teaching) Social Integration (as measured by Peer Interactions and Interactions with Faculty), Depression, Anxiety, and Stress for Black doctoral students at PWIs and (b) to determine whether type of undergraduate institution (attending an HBCU or PWI) is a factor that indicates differences in these variables. A total of 140 Black doctoral students from PWIs across the Midwestern, Northeastern, and Southern regions of the United States completed a demographic form, the Institutional Integration Scale (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1980), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), the College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES; Owen & Freeman, 1988), and the Scale of Perceived Social Self- Efficacy Scale (PSSE; Smith & Betz, 2000). Analyses conducted in this study included correlational, standard multiple regression, and MANOVA. Results of the correlational analyses showed a significant negative relationship between Depression and all four measures of Academic and Social integration. Also, Peer-group Interactions and Academic and Intellectual Development both had a significant negative relationship with Anxiety and Stress. Results of the regression analyses showed that the three models, including all four measures of Academic and Social Integration, were significant in predicting Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. Peer-group Interactions was a significant predictor across all three models. Academic and Intellectual Development was also a significant predictor in the model predicting depression. Results of the MANOVA showed that type of undergraduate institution was a significant factor in differences between Academic and Intellectual Development and Anxiety for this sample of Black doctoral students at PWIs. Clinical implications and areas for future research are also described.
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    Neural mechanisms of anxiety during opiate withdrawal:role of the ventral tegmental area and extended amygdala.
    (2011-07) Radke, Anna Kay
    Exposure to addictive drugs alters neural circuits involved in reward and motivation, executive control, habit formation, learning and memory, and negative affect, and all except the last are known to depend on changes in the mesolimbic dopamine system. Negative affective symptoms of withdrawal are common to all drugs of abuse and negatively reinforce drug taking behavior. Using potentiation of the acoustic startle reflex as a measure of anxiety during withdrawal from acute morphine exposure, the experiments detailed in this thesis tested the hypothesis that µ-opioid receptor-mediated activation of VTA dopaminergic neurons is responsible for triggering negative emotional symptoms of withdrawal via recruitment of the extended amygdala. These experiments demonstrate the emergence of a negative affective state that occurs during withdrawal from direct infusion of morphine into the ventral tegmental area (VTA), the origin of the mesolimbic dopamine system. Potentiation of startle during withdrawal from systemic morphine exposure requires a decrease in ì-opioid receptor stimulation in the VTA and can be relieved by systemic or intra-nucleus accumbens administration of a dopamine receptor agonist. Investigation of mechanisms downstream of dopaminergic signaling found a role for type 2 corticotropin-releasing factor receptors following the very first, but not subsequent, opiate exposures. Together these results suggest that transient activation of the VTA mesolimbic dopamine system triggers the expression of anxiety during opiate withdrawal, possibly via direct recruitment of the extended amygdala. This conclusion provides unique insight into the neural mechanisms responsible for negative reinforcement of drug taking during the earliest stages of dependence.
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    Neurocircuitry of Generalization of Avoidance Behavior following Pavlovian Conditioning in Adults with High and Low Trait Anxiety
    (2016-08) van Meurs, Brian
    One of the cardinal features of many anxiety disorders is maladaptive avoidance. While behavioral avoidance is important for survival and adaptive when danger is present, in the absence of a threat it is maladaptive. Signaled avoidance depends on Pavlovian learning that a neutral conditioned stimulus signals an ensuing aversive unconditioned stimulus. Maladaptive signaled avoidance could therefore result from abnormalities in Pavlovian conditioning. Overgeneralization of conditioned fear is one such abnormality that has been demonstrated in several anxiety disorders. To assess the relationship between anxiety and generalization of signaled avoidance behavior, 22 participants, with a range of trait anxiety scores split into two group of high and low anxiety, completed a generalization gradient, approach-avoidance fMRI task following Pavlovian discrimination conditioning. Results indicated the expected curvilinear generalization gradient in avoidance responses and ratings of risk, with group differences in avoidance responses. There were several functional regions of interest which also demonstrated the expected curvilinear gradient as well as group differences in percent BOLD signal change across the gradient. This was true for both Pavlovian trials, as well as during the decision making stage of the Instrumental trials. There were also several regions in which activations were significantly related to avoidance behavior. These results indicate that individuals with higher levels of trait anxiety are at increased risk of ‘maladaptive’ avoidance of safe stimuli that resemble danger-cues. Moreover brain areas such as the anterior insula and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, and primary visual cortex, which are involved in the Pavlovian generalization of fear, are also involved in the overgeneralization of the avoidance response. Additional unexpected findings highlight the role of the cerebellum, somatosensory cortex, and gender in production and maintenance of an avoidance response.
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    The Role of Parental Responsiveness in the Development of Co-occurring ADHD and Anxiety Symptoms: Interplay of Genotype and Environment
    (2016-08) Yaylaci, Fatima Tuba
    Using a novel index of co-occurring psychopathology, this study aims to clarify three research questions: (1) Is co-occurring ADHD-anxiety in school years a continuation of these problems in preschool period? (2) Is parental unresponsiveness in the early years of life a risk factor in the development of co-occurring ADHD and anxiety problems in preschool and school age? (3) Does genetic risk moderate the effect of parental unresponsiveness on ADHD-anxiety co-occurrence? Participants included 361 families from the Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS), which employs a prospective adoption design. In each family unit, data were collected from the child adopted at birth, the adoptive mother and father, and the biological mother. For the present study, adoptive parent’s responsiveness was assessed at child age of 9, 18, and 27 months; biological parent ADHD symptoms were assessed at 56 months; child ADHD and anxiety symptoms were assessed when children are at 41/2 and 6 years of age. Path analyses were conducted for maternal and paternal responsiveness, separately. In both models, ADHD-anxiety co-occurrence at age 41/2 years significantly predicted ADHD-anxiety co-occurrence at 6 years. Neither maternal responsiveness, nor paternal responsiveness had a main effect on child co-occurrence of ADHD-anxiety at 41/2 years. There were significant interactions between genetic risk and maternal/paternal responsiveness in infancy predicting co-occurring ADHD-anxiety problems at 41/2 years. Findings highlight the importance of attending to excessively high parental responsiveness in the context of genetic risk, which is associated with higher co-occurring ADHD and anxiety problems around ages 41/2 and 6.
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    The roles of personal relevance, anxiety, and source medium in understanding belief and transmission of rumors in the News.
    (2010-06) Weeks, Brian Edward
    This thesis extends social-psychological theories of rumor belief and transmission to the study of mass communication. In particular, this study uses a mixed-design experiment with a sample of 90 college students to 1) compare the effects of television and newspaper coverage on believability and intended transmission of two prominent rumors; and 2) assess the role of personal relevance (high vs. low) in determining rumor effects. In addition, four OLS regression models explored the impact of anxiety, personal relevance, and uncertainty on rumor belief and transmission. Results provide some support for the hypothesis that rumors reported on television are more believable and are more likely to be transmitted than rumors reported in newspapers. Evidence also points to personal relevance as an important factor as the highly relevant rumor created more anxiety and intention to transmit than did the low-relevance rumor. Additionally, personal relevance was found to be the only significant predictor of intended rumor transmission. Perhaps most importantly, findings here indicate that people are willing to transmit rumors that they do not believe. Results and implications are discussed in the context of rumors reported in the news.