Department of Psychology

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Access to Autism Spectrum Disorder Services for Rural Appalachian Citizens
Scarpa, Angela; Jensen, Laura S.; Gracanin, Denis; Ramey, Sharon L.; Dahiya, Angela V.; Ingram, L. Maria; Albright, Jordan; Gatto, Alyssa J.; Scott, Jen Pollard; Ruble, Lisa (2020-01)
Background: Low-resource rural communities face significant challenges regarding availability and adequacy of evidence-based services. Purposes: With respect to accessing evidence-based services for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), this brief report summarizes needs of rural citizens in the South-Central Appalachian region, an area notable for persistent health disparities. Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data during focus groups with 33 service providers and 15 caregivers of children with ASD in rural southwest Virginia. Results: Results supported the barriers of availability and affordability of ASD services in this region, especially relating to the need for more ASD-trained providers, better coordination and navigation of services, and addition of programs to assist with family financial and emotional stressors. Results also suggested cultural attitudes related to autonomy and trust towards outside professionals that may prevent families from engaging in treatment. Implications: Relevant policy recommendations are discussed related to provider incentives, insurance coverage, and telehealth. Integration of autism services into already existing systems and multicultural sensitivity of providers are also implicated.
Acquired German Accent: A Functional Neural Systems Approach to Foreign Accent Syndrome
Harrison, Patti Kelly; Klineburger, Philip C.; Campbell, Ransom W.; Harrison, David W. (2016-01-27)
First described by French neurologist Pierre Marie in 1907, foreign accent syndrome (FAS) is a rare speech disorder in which individuals take on, what is perceived by observers, to be a distinct accent differing in many respects from the individual’s native accent. FAS has been of great interest in the neuropsychological literature because its unique features have challenged our understanding of the neural systems underlying the production of speech, shedding light on neural structures that had previously not been regarded as integral to speech production. In the approximately 60 reported cases of FAS, nearly all have involved a stroke or traumatic brain injury resulting in relatively small lesions (in comparison with one resulting in expressive aphasia) of the language dominant hemisphere in the prerolandic motor cortex, insular cortex, the frontal motor association cortex, and/or the striatum of the language dominant hemisphere (Blumstein & Kurowski, 2006). Several FAS cases with neuroimaging data have also shown lesions of the frontoparietal regions, right hemisphere, basal ganglia, and the right cerebellum (Marien, Verhoeven, Engelborghs, Rooker, Pickut, & De Deyn, 2006).
Adaptation aftereffects reveal how categorization training changes the encoding of face identity
Soto, Fabian A.; Escobar, Karla; Salan, Jefferson (2020-10)
Previous research suggests that learning to categorize faces along a novel dimension changes the perceptual representation of such dimension, increasing its discriminability, its invariance, and the information used to identify faces varying along the dimension. A common interpretation of these results is that categorization training promotes the creation of novel dimensions, rather than simply the enhancement of already existing representations. Here, we trained a group of participants to categorize faces that varied along two morphing dimensions, one of them relevant to the categorization task and the other irrelevant to the task. An untrained group did not receive such categorization training. In three experiments, we used face adaptation aftereffects to explore how categorization training changes the encoding of face identities at the extremes of the category-relevant dimension and whether such training produces encoding of the category-relevant dimension as a preferred direction in face space. The pattern of results suggests that categorization training enhances the already existing norm-based coding of face identity, rather than creating novel category-relevant representations. We formalized this conclusion in a model that explains the most important results in our experiments and serves as a working hypothesis for future work in this area.
Aging and the Social Cognitive Determinants of Physical Activity Behavior and Behavior Change: Evidence from the Guide to Health Trial
Anderson-Bill, Eileen Smith; Winett, Richard A.; Wojcik, Janet R.; Williams, David M. (Hindawi, 2011-04-28)
Part one of this study investigated the effect of aging on social-cognitive characteristics related to physical activity (PA) among adults in the baseline phase of a health promotion intervention. Participants' questionnaire responses and activity logs indicated PA levels and self-efficacy declined with age, while social support and the use of self-regulatory behaviors (e.g., goal setting, planning, and keeping track) increased. With age participants were also less likely to expect PA to interfere with their daily routines and social obligations. Part two of the study was among overweight/obese, inactive participants completing the intervention; it examined whether improvements in psychosocial variables might counteract declining PA associated with age. After treatment, participants were more active and decreased body weight regardless of age, and improved self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and self-regulatory behaviors. In a causal model, increases in self-efficacy at 7-months lead to increased PA levels and, albeit marginally, weight loss at 16 months; increased PA was associated with greater weight loss. Aging adults who were more confident exercised more and as a result lost more weight. This longitudinal study suggests interventions that offset the effect of aging on self-efficacy may be more successful in helping older participants become more active and avoid weight gain.
Alexithymia as a Transdiagnostic Precursor to Empathy Abnormalities: The Functional Role of the Insula
Valdespino, Andrew; Antezana, Ligia; Ghane, Merage; Richey, John A. (Frontiers, 2017-12-21)
Distorted empathic processing has been observed across multiple psychiatric disorders. Simulation theory provides a theoretical framework that proposes a mechanism through which empathy difficulties may arise. Specifically, introspection-centric simulation theory (IST) predicts that an inability to accurately interpret and describe internal affective states may lead to empathy difficulties. The purpose of this review is to synthesize and summarize an empirical literature suggesting that simulation theory provides insights into a cognitive and neurobiological mechanism (i.e., alexithymia and insula pathology) that negatively impacts empathic processing, in addition to how disruptions in these processes manifest across psychiatric disorders. Specifically, we review an emerging non-clinical literature suggesting that consistent with IST, alexithymia and associated insula pathology leads to empathy deficits. Subsequently, we highlight clinical research suggesting that a large number of disorders characterized by empathy pathology also feature alexithymia. Collectively, these findings motivate the importance for future work to establish the role of alexithymia in contributing to empathy deficits across clinical symptoms and disorders. The current review suggests that simulation theory provides a tractable conceptual platform for identifying a potential common cognitive and neural marker that is associated with empathy deficits across a wide array of diagnostic classes.
Altered reward system reactivity for personalized circumscribed interests in autism
Kohls, Gregor; Antezana, Ligia; Mosner, Maya G.; Schultz, Robert T.; Yerys, Benjamin E. (2018-01-30)
Background Neurobiological research in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has paid little attention on brain mechanisms that cause and maintain restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests (RRBIs). Evidence indicates an imbalance in the brain’s reward system responsiveness to social and non-social stimuli may contribute to both social deficits and RRBIs. Thus, this study’s central aim was to compare brain responsiveness to individual RRBI (i.e., circumscribed interests), with social rewards (i.e., social approval), in youth with ASD relative to typically developing controls (TDCs). Methods We conducted a 3T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to investigate the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent effect of personalized circumscribed interest rewards versus social rewards in 39 youth with ASD relative to 22 TDC. To probe the reward system, we employed short video clips as reinforcement in an instrumental incentive delay task. This optimization increased the task’s ecological validity compared to still pictures that are often used in this line of research. Results Compared to TDCs, youth with ASD had stronger reward system responses for CIs mostly within the non-social realm (e.g., video games) than social rewards (e.g., approval). Additionally, this imbalance within the caudate nucleus’ responsiveness was related to greater social impairment. Conclusions The current data support the idea of reward system dysfunction that may contribute to enhanced motivation for RRBIs in ASD, accompanied by diminished motivation for social engagement. If a dysregulated reward system indeed supports the emergence and maintenance of social and non-social symptoms of ASD, then strategically targeting the reward system in future treatment endeavors may allow for more efficacious treatment practices that help improve outcomes for individuals with ASD and their families.
Angry rumination and effortful control: Mediating effects on reactive but not proactive aggression
White, Bradley A.; Turner, K. Amber (2013-08-01)
Anger rumination and self-regulation deficits have been previously identified as risk factors for aggression. We hypothesized that anger rumination would relate to reactive but not proactive aggression, and that this association would be mediated by lower levels of trait selfregulation. Undergraduate students (N = 359) completed self-report measures of anger rumination, effortful control, and aggression. Mediation was tested using PROCESS (Hayes, 2012). After controlling for proactive aggression, anger rumination was associated with reactive aggression, and this relationship was partially mediated by effortful control. Anger rumination was also uniquely related to proactive aggression, but without mediation by effortful control. Gender did not moderate these relationships. Effortful control may be a viable treatment target for reactive aggression, whereas addressing anger rumination may help reduce both reactive and proactive aggression.
Annual Report Executive Summary, 2008-09 Department of Psychology
(Department of Psychology, 2009)
Annual Report Executive Summary, 2009-10 Department of Psychology
(Department of Psychology, 2010)
Anxiety Disorders and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders (OCD)
Maddox, Brenna B.; Kerns, Connor M.; Franklin, Martin E.; White, Susan W. (Springer, 2016-02-04)
Anxiety is known to be a commonly, co-occurring phenomenon with autism. Also, in daily practice, these symptoms often are confused with core symptoms of autism. Accurately determining OCD and anxiety from autism has important implications for treatment. This chapter reviews current methods and procedures available to help make these distinctions.
Associations between Parental Anxiety/Depression and Child Behavior Problems Related to Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Roles of Parenting Stress and Parenting Self-Efficacy
Rezendes, Debra L.; Scarpa, Angela (Hindawi, 2011-12-13)
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have been shown to experience increases in stress, depression, and anxiety, which are also associated with child behavior problems related to ASDs. Literature-examining potential mechanisms that underlie the relationship of child behavior problems and parental anxiety/depression in this population are scarce. The current study sought to examine the roles of parenting stress and parenting self-efficacy as mediators between child behavior problems and parental anxiety/depression. Using a sample of 134 mothers, these potential mediators were tested. Hypotheses were supported, indicating that parenting stress mediated the relationship between child behavior problems and decreased parenting self-efficacy, and decreased parenting self-efficacy in turn partially mediated the relationship between parenting stress and increased depression/anxiety.
Associations between peer attachment and neural correlates of risk processing across adolescence
Asscheman, J. Susanne; Deater-Deckard, Kirby; Lauharatanahirun, Nina; van Lier, Pol A. C.; Koot, Susanne; Casas, Brooks; Kim-Spoon, Jungmeen (2020-04)
Adolescence is a period of increased risk-taking behavior where individual differences in risk taking may relate to both adverse and positive experiences with peers. Yet, knowledge on how risk processing develops in the adolescent brain and whether this development is related to peer attachment is limited. In this longitudinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we collected data from 167 adolescents (53% male) followed for four annual assessments across ages 13-17 years. At each assessment, participants completed a lottery choice task to assess neural risk processing and reported on their perceived attachment to peers and parents. Behaviorally, risk-preference on the lottery choice task decreased linearly with age. Neural activation during risk processing was consistently found in the insula and dACC across the four assessments and increased linearly from ages 13-17 years. Furthermore, higher peer attachment was related to greater right insula risk processing for males but not for females, even after controlling for parental attachment. The magnitudes of this association did not change with age. Findings demonstrate that neural risk processing shows maturation across adolescence and high peer attachment may be associated with low risk taking by heightening neural sensitivity to potential risks for male adolescents.
Attentional control mediates fearful responding to an ecologically valid stressor
Richey, John A.; White, Bradley A.; Valdespino, Andrew; Ghane, M.; Schmidt, N. B. (Taylor & Francis, 2016-01-02)
Background and Objectives: Attentional control (AC) is defined as the ability to voluntarily shift and disengage attention, and is thought to moderate the relationship between pre-existing risk factors for fear and the actual experience of fear. Design: This longitudinal study elaborates on current models of attentional control by examining whether AC moderates or mediates effects of an ecologically valid stressor (a college exam), and also whether AC is predictive of state-like fear over longer timescales than previously reported. Methods: Based on previous findings we hypothesized that AC would moderate the relationship between trait anxiety and affective distress in response to the exam stressor. We also tested a competing mediational model based on attentional control theory (Eysenck et al., 2007). These models were tested in two separate samples (Sample 1 N=219; Sample 2 N=129; Total N= 348) at two time points, at the beginning of a college semester in a large undergraduate class, and five minutes prior to a college exam. Results: Mediation but not moderation of anxiety by AC was supported in both samples using multiple dependent measures. Conclusion: We conclude that AC may be useful in predicting affective distress in naturalistic settings, particularly in cases where anxiety is anticipatory.
Behavioral and neural concordance in parent-child dyadic sleep patterns
Lee, Tae-Ho; Miernicki, Michelle E.; Telzer, Eva H. (Elsevier, 2017-06-15)
Sleep habits developed in adolescence shape long-term trajectories of psychological, educational, and physiological well-being. Adolescents’ sleep behaviors are shaped by their parents’ sleep at both the behavioral and biological levels. In the current study, we sought to examine how neural concordance in resting-state functional connectivity between parent-child dyads is associated with dyadic concordance in sleep duration and adolescents’ sleep quality. To this end, we scanned both parents and their child (N= 28 parent-child dyads; parent Mage =42.8 years; adolescent Mage=14.9 years; 14.3% father; 46.4% female adolescent) as they each underwent a resting-state scan. Using daily diaries, we also assessed dyadic concordance in sleep duration across two weeks. Our results show that greater daily concordance in sleep behavior is associated with greater neural concordance in default-mode network connectivity between parents and children. Moreover, greater neural and behavioral concordances in sleep is associated with more optimal sleep quality in adolescents. The current findings expand our understanding of dyadic concordance by providing a neurobiological mechanism by which parents and children share daily sleep behaviors.
Brain reorganization as a function of walking experience in 12-month-old infants: implications for the development of manual laterality
Corbetta, Daniela; Friedman, Denise R.; Bell, Martha Ann (Frontiers, 2014-03-21)
Hand preference in infancy is marked by many developmental shifts in hand use and arm coupling as infants reach for and manipulate objects. Research has linked these early shifts in hand use to the emergence of fundamental postural-locomotor milestones. Specifically, it was found that bimanual reaching declines when infants learn to sit; increases if infants begin to scoot in a sitting posture; declines when infants begin to crawl on hands and knees; and increases again when infants start walking upright. Why such pattern fluctuations during periods of postural-locomotor learning? One proposed hypothesis is that arm use practiced for the specific purpose of controlling posture and achieving locomotion transfers to reaching via brain functional reorganization. There has been scientific support for functional cortical reorganization and change in neural connectivity in response to motor practice in adults and animals, and as a function of crawling experience in human infants. In this research, we examined whether changes in neural connectivity also occurred as infants coupled their arms when learning to walk and whether such coupling mapped onto reaching laterality. Electroencephalogram (EEG) coherence data were collected from 43 12-month-old infants with varied levels of walking experience. EEG was recorded during quiet, attentive baseline. Walking proficiency was laboratory assessed and reaching responses were captured using small toys presented at mid-line while infants were sitting. Results revealed greater EEG coherence at homologous prefrontal/central scalp locations for the novice walkers compared to the prewalkers or more experienced walkers. In addition, reaching laterality was low in prewalkers and early walkers but high in experienced walkers. These results are consistent with the interpretation that arm coupling practiced during early walking transferred to reaching via brain functional reorganization, leading to the observed developmental changes in manual laterality.
Capacity theory: A neuropsychological perspective on shared neural systems regulating hostile violence prone behavior and the metabolic syndrome
Harrison, Patti Kelly; Walters, Robert P.; DeVore, Benjamin B.; Harrison, David W. (2016-01-13)
The check-up: in-person, computerized, and telephone adaptations of motivational enhancement treatment to elicit voluntary participation by the contemplator
Walker, Denise D.; Roffman, Roger A.; Picciano, Joseph F.; Stephens, Robert S. (2007-01-08)
Countless barriers come between people who are struggling with substance abuse and those charged with providing substance abuse treatment. The check-up, a form of motivational enhancement therapy, is a harm reduction intervention that offers a manner of supporting individuals by lowering specific barriers to reaching those who are untreated. The check-up was originally developed to reach problem drinkers who were neither seeking treatment nor self-initiating change. The intervention, marketed as an opportunity to take stock of one's experiences, involves an assessment and personalized feedback delivered with a counseling style termed motivational interviewing. Check-ups can be offered in care settings to individuals who, as a result of screening, manifest risk factors for specific disorders such as alcoholism. They can also be free-standing and publicized widely to the general public. This paper will discuss illustrations of in-person, computerized, in-school, and telephone applications of the free-standing type of check-up with reference to alcohol consumers, adult and adolescent marijuana smokers, and gay/bisexual males at risk for sexual transmission of HIV. The paper's major focus is to highlight how unique features of each application have the potential of reducing barriers to reaching specific at-risk populations. Also considered are key policy issues such as how check-up services can be funded, which venues are appropriate for the delivery of check-up interventions, pertinent competency criteria in evaluating staff who deliver this intervention, how marketing can be designed to reach contemplators in untreated at-risk populations, and how a check-up's success ought to be defined.
Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Modified for Pervasive Developmental Disorders
Scahill, Lawrence; McDougle, Christopher J.; Williams, Susan K.; Dimitropoulos, Anastasia; Aman, Michael G.; McCracken, James T.; Tierney, Elaine; Arnold, L. Eugene; Cronin, Pegeen; Grados, Marco; Ghuman, Jaswinder; Koenig, Kathleen; Lam, Kristen S. L.; McGough, James; Josey, David J.; Ritz, Louise; Swiezy, Naomi B.; Vitiello, Benedetto (Elsevier, 2014-01-01)
Objective: To examine the psychometric properties of the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scales (CYBOCS) modified for pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs). Method: Raters from five Research Units on Pediatric Psychopharmacology (RUPP) Autism Network were trained to reliability. The modified scale (CYBOCS-PDD), which contains only the five Compulsion severity items (range 0-20), was administered to 172 medication-free children (mean 8.2 ± 2.6 years) with POD (autistic disorder, n = 152; Asperger's disorder, n = 6; POD not otherwise specified, n = 14) participating in RUPP clinical trials. Reliability was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and internal consistency by Cronbach's a coefficient. Correlations with ratings of repetitive behavior and disruptive behavior were examined for validity. Results: Eleven raters showed excellent reliability (ICC= 0.97). The mean CYBOCS score was 14.4 (± 3.86) with excellent internal consistency (α = .85). Correlations with other measures of repetitive behavior ranged from r = 0.11 to r = 0.28 and were similar to correlations with measures of irritability (r = 0.24) and hyperactivity (r = 0.25). Children with higher scores on the CYBOCS-PDD had higher levels of maladaptive behaviors and lower adaptive functioning. Conclusions: The five- item CYBOCS-PDD is reliable, distinct from other measures of repetitive behavior, and sensitive to change.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Versus a Counselling Intervention for Anxiety in Young People with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial
Murphy, Suzanne M.; Chowdhury, Uttom; White, Susan W.; Reynolds, Laura; Donald, Louisa; Gahan, Hilary; Iqbal, Zeinab; Kulkarni, Mahesh; Scrivener, Louise; Shaker-Naeeni, Hadi; Press, Dee A. (2017-11)
The use of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) as a treatment for children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been explored in a number of trials. Whilst CBT appears superior to no treatment or treatment as usual, few studies have assessed CBT against a control group receiving an alternative therapy. Our randomised controlled trial compared use of CBT against person-centred counselling for anxiety in 36 young people with ASD, ages 12-18. Outcome measures included parent- teacher- and self-reports of anxiety and social disability. Whilst each therapy produced improvements in participants, neither therapy was superior to the other to a significant degree on any measure. This is consistent with findings for adults.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Japanese Children and Adolescents with Anxiety Disorders: A Pilot Study
Ishikawa, Shin-ichi; Motomura, Naoyasu; Kawabata, Yasuo; Tanaka, Hidetaka; Shimotsu, Sakie; Sato, Yoko; Ollendick, Thomas H. (Cambridge University Press, 2012-05)
Background: Thirty-three Japanese children and adolescents diagnosed with an anxiety disorder participated in individual or group Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) that was modelled after evidence-based intervention programs developed in Western countries. Method: The treatment consisted of: (a) building rapport and education; (b) identifying emotions and recognizing cognitive self-talk; (c) challenging anxious self-talk; (d) developing an anxiety hierarchy and in vivo exposures; and (e) planning for future challenges. Results: Three months following treatment, 20 of the 33 children and adolescents (60.91%) no longer met criteria for their principal anxiety disorders and 16 (48.48%) were free from all anxiety disorders. Self-reported anxiety, depression, and cognitive errors also decreased significantly from pre- to post-treatment and these gains were maintained at 3-month follow-up. For the most part, similar outcomes were found in both the group and individual formats of CBT. Conclusions: This study provides preliminary support for the transportability of CBT in both an individual and group format to Japan.

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