Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2009, Counselor Education (Education)

Research indicates that people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder have a high rate of unemployment. This qualitative phenomenological study was designed to explore the perceptions of eight individuals with either disorder who have secured employment after diagnosis. The rationale for this study arises from the researcher‘s desire to find the process which was used by individuals with either disorder to become employed. It was the researcher‘s assumption that uncovering such a process could lead to implementation of employment as a therapeutic goal of treatment with such individuals.The purposefully selected sample consisted of eight individuals from a Midwestern state who have been diagnosed with either disorder. The primary method of data collection was three in-depth interviews. The data were organized according to the research and field-developed questions asked of participants. Analysis and interpretation of findings were completed using the van Kaam method of qualitative data processing. The research revealed that participants in the study interpreted recovery as living in asmuch of a perceived degree of normalcy as possible. Recovery was found to be a developmental concept among participants. The six following categories were developed from the data: self-help; employment; assistance with employment; benefits of employment; functioning at a perceived normal level while living as full a life as possible with the illness; and recovery to employment. Five themes were found: self-care; supports; issues of employment; rewards of employment; and recovery process. Fourteen sub-themes emerged from the analysis of data. They were as follows: medication compliance; stress reduction; approaching employment gradually and carefully; stigma; disclosure of condition; formal accommodations; change of employers due to problems of disability; lack of failure; family and friends; governmental support; private supports; intrinsic rewards of employment; extrinsic rewar (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Tracy C. Leinbaugh PhD (Committee Chair); Jerry Olsheski PhD (Committee Member); Patricia Beamish PhD (Committee Member); Gregory Janson PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Rehabilitation

Master of Arts (M.A.), University of Dayton, 2022, Psychology, Clinical

This study assesses sex and age of onset of illness differences for two possible positive symptoms (i.e., multimodal and command hallucinations) of schizophreniaspectrum disorders that have not received extensive research despite their implications for the population experiencing them and the general population. Multimodal hallucinations are when an individual with psychosis experiences hallucinations in two or more sensory modalities (Toh et al., 2019). These hallucinations can be related or concurrent but do not have to be (Toh et al., 2019). Multimodal hallucinations are receiving increased attention and validation as awareness of their prevalence in the schizophrenia-spectrum population increases (McCarthy-Jones et al., 2017). Command hallucinations are a type of auditory hallucination where a voice tells the person having the hallucination what to do (Braham et al., 2004). These hallucinations occur with relative frequency (Braham et al., 2004) and can be related to self-harm (Rogers et al., 2002), harm of others (McNiel et al., 2000; Rogers et al., 2002), and severe personal distress (Ellet et al., 2017). Differences in sex and age of onset of illness were assessed because of the literature supporting their effects on other symptomology in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Patients in an inpatient schizophrenia research unit 3 were interviewed with three semi-structured interviews. This study did not find evidence of a relationship between sex or age of onset of illness and the number of hallucination sensory modalities reported. Additionally, sex and age of onset of illness did not appear to impact whether individuals in this sample had command hallucinations. Further research would be needed to determine whether these factors are important to multimodal and command hallucinations.

Committee: Lucy Allbaugh (Committee Member); Jackson Goodnight (Committee Member); Julie Walsh-Messinger (Advisor) Subjects: Clinical Psychology

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2008, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Social Work, The Ohio State University, 1962, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Social Work, The Ohio State University, 1961, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.), Xavier University, 2024, Psychology

It has been well established that individuals with schizophrenia have significant impairments in various cognitive processes, including the domain of executive function. There has been a recent push to understand the role genetic etiology may play in such deficits, especially through research on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Polymorphisms of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) have been studied in a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders with associated cognitive sequelae, including schizophrenia, though the role of such SNPs in specific cognitive domains remains unclear. The current study examined executive functioning in individuals with schizophrenia, their siblings, and healthy controls as well as the impact of possessing an EGFR SNP, rs845551, on their performance. Data from 72 individuals with schizophrenia, 12 of their siblings, and 69 age-matched controls (from the Northwestern University Schizophrenia Data and Software Tool [NUSDAST] database) were analyzed. Consistent with previous research, individuals with schizophrenia performed significantly worse than their siblings as well as healthy controls on measures of executive function, Trail Making Test-Part B (TMT-B; time to completion) and the Wisconsin Cart Sorting Test (WCST; perseverative errors). Notably, among those with schizophrenia, individuals with polymorphism rs845551 performed significantly worse on both TMT-B and the WCST than those who do not have polymorphism rs845551. A 2 (group membership) x 2 (presence of polymorphism) ANOVA demonstrated significant main effects for group membership and presence of polymorphism, with individuals with schizophrenia as well as individuals with rs845551 performing significantly worse on TMT-B and the WCST. There was no significant interaction for these factors. The implications of the current findings, as well as suggestions for future directions, are discussed.

Committee: Kathleen Hart Ph.D., ABPP (Committee Chair); Marla (Perna) Sunderman Ph.D. (Committee Member); Nicholas Salsman Ph.D., ABPP (Committee Member) Subjects: Genetics; Psychobiology; Psychology

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2024, Antioch Seattle: Clinical Psychology

This mixed-methods study explored the quality of life and lived experiences of adult individuals with diagnoses of schizophrenia spectrum disorders residing and receiving treatment on the Social Learning Program (SLP) at Fulton State Hospital, a high-security state forensic facility. Eleven participants completed the WHOQOL-BREF quantitative quality-of-life measure. Ten participants completed in-depth, semi-structured, qualitative interviews. Interviews were transcribed then analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The major themes that emerged included “Working the Program,” “Relationship Dynamics with Self and Others,” “Meaning,” “I've Been Having Breakthroughs,” and “Areas for Improvement in the Program.” Combined, the findings of the present investigation demonstrate the utility of the SLP and highlight the importance of studying the lived experience and quality of life of individuals with diagnoses of schizophrenia spectrum disorders residing in forensic facilities.

Committee: Michael J. Toohey PhD, ABPP (Committee Chair); Alicia Pardee PhD (Committee Member); Melissa Kennedy PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Mental Health; Psychology; Rehabilitation; Social Research

PHD, Kent State University, 2023, College of Public Health

Background: People with schizophrenia (PWS) face a substantial risk of criminal justice system (CJS) encounters. Understanding PWS's behavior that attracts CJS's attention, and the role substance use disorder (SUD) and long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics treatment play on the risk is critical to prevent the vicious cycle of CJS encounters. Methods: PWS (N=976) who received services at the Community mental health centers in Summit County, Ohio, from 2010-2017, were included. Offenses from their first CJS encounters through 2018 were characterized. The role of SUD on the risk of CJS encounters was assessed using the time-to-event analysis. Rates of CJS encounters were compared between first-generation antipsychotics LAI (FGA-LAI) and second-generation antipsychotics LAI (SGA-LAI), across LAI antipsychotics, and treatment and non-treatment periods fitting Poisson regression models. For the former two comparisons, separate models were fitted for PWS with and without prior CJS encounters and PWS with and without SUD. Results: About 51% had > 1 encounter (median: 4.5) during 32.22 years of median follow-up. PWS were booked for an array of offenses and the most common were non-violent related to public disorder (23.28%), court order (17.45%), property (12.74%), and substance (11.07%). Two-fifth of the study sample had SUD (40%). Compared to the no SUD group, the hazards of getting CJS encounters were 1.88 and 1.83 for those with 1 (21.09%) and > 2 SUD (18.99%), respectively. Alcohol-alone (HR: 2.90), other single drug-alone (HR: 2.82), and polysubstance (HR: 1.91) use disorders had a significant negative effect on time-to-first CJS encounters. SGA-LAI vs. FGA-LAI treatment groups comparison showed no significant differences in the rates of CJS encounters. However, specific LAI comparison showed higher encounter rates among the risperidone treatment group compared to the PP1M group among those with prior CJS encounters (RR: 2.14) and SUD (RR: 1.95). PWS durin (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Madhav P. Bhatta (Committee Chair); Deric R. Kenne (Committee Member); Tianyuan Guan (Committee Member); Douglas A. Smith (Committee Member) Subjects: Epidemiology; Mental Health; Public Health

MS, Kent State University, 2022, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Biological Sciences

Schizophrenia is a debilitating multi-etiological neurodevelopmental disorder with neural underpinnings that are most often linked to dysregulations in the dopaminergic and glutamatergic systems. However, there is also evidence that the oxytocin (Oxt) system may contribute to some of the negative symptoms, such as impaired social interactions and social motivation. Here, we wanted to explore how the presence or absence of oxytocin receptor signaling would affect behaviors in a phencyclidine (PCP)-withdrawal mouse model of schizophrenia. We hypothesized that mice lacking functional Oxt receptors (Oxtr) would have impaired social motivation and social approach behaviors following withdrawal from subchronic PCP treatment up and above that observed in control mice. To test this hypothesis, adult male Oxt wildtype (+/+), Oxt knockout (–/–), Oxtr wildtype (+/+), and Oxtr knockout (–/–) mice, generated from heterozygous breeding pairs, were administered subchronic PCP (5mg/kg) intraperitoneally, twice daily for seven days. Control animals were injected with an equivalent volume of saline on the same schedule. Following the week of injections, experimental animals were given another seven days to withdrawal; this has been shown to induce schizophrenia-like symptoms. In Experiment 1, on the first day following withdrawal, mice underwent a training protocol to learn how to complete a novel social motivation task. In Experiment 2, adult male Oxtr +/+ and Oxtr –/– mice were tested for locomotor activity in an open field test, sociability using a 3-chamber social interaction test, and depressive-like behaviors using a forced swim test across three consecutive days. Following the forced swim test, brain tissue was collected, sliced, and immunostained for expression of the c-fos immediate early gene. When analyzed, the data did not support our hypothesis as we found no genotypic-dependent effects of PCP on any of the behaviors measured. However, as would be expected, PCP-injected (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Heather Caldwell (Advisor); Devin Mueller (Committee Member); John Johnson (Committee Member) Subjects: Neurosciences

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Criminal Justice

Previous research has illustrated that not only are cognitive deficits associated with antisocial behavior and criminal offending, but cognitive deficits are also observed in individuals suffering from severe mental illness, or more specifically, psychotic disorders. Much of the focus of this literature has only examined whether deficits are present in mentally ill violent offenders, while little attention has been given to the mediating influences of cognitive functioning on the associations between psychotic disorders and violent behavior. Moreover, even less attention has been dedicated to the nexus of cognitive functioning, symptoms, and violent behavior in the period prior to a diagnosable psychotic disorder, also called the prodromal phase. To address these gaps, the current study assessed the extent to which cognitive functioning mediated the relationship between psychotic symptomology and self-reported violent behavior within the context of the prodromal phase. Data from wave 1 (baseline) and wave 3 (2-year follow-up), were extracted from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The analytic sample was comprised of n = 1,194 participants (588 females, 606 males), aged 8 to 11 years old at baseline. The current research question was assessed through a series of mediated path models with Sattora-Bentler correction. The results revealed nonsignificant mediation effects of cognitive functioning between symptom count and number of endorsed violent acts in all models. Percentile bootstrapping confirmed these nonsignificant effects. Several models did reveal significant direct paths consistent with the literature. Thus, practitioners should continue to address both positive psychotic symptoms and cognitive functioning over the course of the youth's treatment to decrease the likelihood of violent offending. Keywords: mediation; path analysis; schizophrenia; cognitive functioning, prodromal

Committee: Joseph Nedelec Ph.D. (Committee Member); John Wooldredge Ph.D. (Committee Member); Hexuan Liu Ph.D. (Committee Member); Danielle Boisvert Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Criminology

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2022, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

This systematic literature review explores the relationship between mental disorders and nutrition through a review 547 available articles. Of these, 74 were selected for inclusion in this review. The research question guiding this inquiry was: What is the effect of nutrition on the mental health of individuals in the United States? A PRISMA flow diagram was used to develop systematic assessments of the existing research to produce a dataset of literature to answer the research question. It was found that nutrition and health are critically linked, with supplements being associated with positive health outcomes. It was also found that research is shifting to focus on the connection between the gut and the brain. The culmination of this review is that nutritional changes and support can positively impact anxiety and depression, and probiotic treatments have been linked to better dopamine regulation. Each disease is reviewed in relation to existing evidence on nutritional supplements that impact health symptoms. The findings of this review indicated that nutrition could have a notable impact on managing health conditions. It is recommended that models for health and nutrition be updated to encompass nutritional issues in the treatment of mental health disorders with a critical focus on patients' nutritional intake. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu.

Committee: Brett Kia-Keating EdD (Committee Chair); Christina Donaldson PhD (Committee Member); Kelli Davis PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Health; Mental Health; Nutrition; Psychobiology; Psychology

Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences (MSBS), University of Toledo, 2022, Biomedical Sciences (Bioinformatics and Proteomics/Genomics)

Alzheimer's Disease and schizophrenia are debilitating disorders that drastically reduce the quality of life of those afflicted. Although the pathology and symptoms of these conditions are known and treatment for said symptoms have been developed, the root cause of these conditions remains unknown. However, recent research suggests a common link between these two disorders, namely, dysregulation in signaling pathways caused by aberrant protein kinase activity. In this project, we aim to demonstrate that the protein kinase AKT1 is significantly dysregulated in both Alzheimer's and schizophrenia using three different data types obtained using the PamStation12 kinome array. These data types include recombinant AKT1 to determine the activity of AKT1 in vitro, AKT1 perturbation studies using cell culture to determine the activity of AKT1 in the context of its local environment, and region-level postmortem brain tissue obtained from patients with Alzheimer's, Schizophrenia, and cell-matched healthy controls. We will use Kinopedia, an interactive web application to analyze these and compare these different data types to obtain a deeper understanding of the role that AKT1 plays in these disorders.

Committee: Robert Smith (Committee Chair); Alexei Fedorov (Committee Member); Sadik Khuder (Committee Member) Subjects: Biomedical Research; Biostatistics; Neurobiology; Neurology; Neurosciences

Master of Science (MS), University of Toledo, 2020, Biomedical Sciences (Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders)

Neuropsychiatric disorders are major contributors to the burden of disease, with major depressive disorder (MDD) affecting approximately 300 million people and schizophrenia affecting approximately 1% of the adult population, globally. Both of these disorders have some extent of sexual dimorphism. MDD typically affects ¬more women and schizophrenia typically affects more men. Several studies have found that there is altered gene expression in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in MDD and schizophrenia. Telomeres, which are found at the end of chromosomes and serve to protect the genome, are shortened in MDD and schizophrenia subjects. Telomere length is regulated by telomerase, but research in yeast has proposed another regulator: the KEOPS complex. This complex has been well-studied in yeast and has multiple functions, but it has rarely been studied in humans, and never studied in postmortem tissue or neuropsychiatric disorders. For the first time the KEOPS complex has been characterized in human postmortem brain tissue for subjects with neuropsychiatric disorders. Gene expression and telomere length were analyzed with qPCR and qPCR-based methods. GON7 mRNA expression was increased in male schizophrenia subjects, and TPRKB mRNA had increased expression in MDD subjects who were on medication at the time of death. There were no significant differences in other KEOPS expression or telomere length in MDD or schizophrenia. This data is supported through bioinformatic analyses and suggests that the KEOPS complex does not function as a telomere regulator in neuropsychiatric disorders.

Committee: Robert McCullumsmith (Committee Chair); Sinead O'Donovan (Committee Member); Bruce Bamber (Committee Member); Jennifer Hill (Committee Member); Jiayang Du (Committee Member) Subjects: Neurosciences

Master of Arts in Psychology, Cleveland State University, 2020, College of Sciences and Health Professions

Previously, Iancu and Poreh (2005) constructed a measure for the assessment of Positive and Negative Symptoms Questionnaire (PNS-Q). This self-report measure was designed to clarify the insight of schizophrenic patients as well as be used to examine changes in their presenting symptoms across time. This measure was used in a variety of studies with mixed results. The current study aimed to update the PNS-Q questions, improve the content validity, and provide preliminarily psychometric properties of the revised scale. Additionally, the study examined the construct validity of the revised scale by correlating with the McEvoy's Vignettes (McEvoy, 1993), a measure of insight and acute psychopathology. The study shows that there was a linear relationship between subscales Bizarre disorganization, Alogia, Avolition, and the McEvoy scale. The study also provides partial support for the construct validity of the new measures with a high internal consistency of the overall measure at .928. Additionally, there was partial support in obtaining distinct positive and negative components within the scale. In sum, this study provides some preliminary evidence regarding the reliability and validity of the revised. However, due to the small sample size, lack of diversity, and lack of participates with the diagnosis of schizophrenia additional research is needed.

Committee: Amir Poreh (Advisor); Elizabeth Goncy (Committee Member); Ilya Yaroslavsky (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

PHD, Kent State University, 2020, College of Arts and Sciences / School of Biomedical Sciences

Oxytocin (Oxt) is known for its cardinal role in the neuromodulation of social behavior. Given its importance in social functioning and its ability to interact with many other systems within the brain, it is no surprise that this neuropeptide has become one of the most widely studied for treatment of social behavior impairments in many neuropsychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and addiction. Interestingly, Oxt has been identified to be dysregulated in both schizophrenia and addictive disorders, such as alcohol use disorder (AUD). Evidence of genetic polymorphisms in Oxt and Oxt receptor (Oxtr) have been found in both and play a major role in either symptom severity, treatment efficiency, or risk of addiction. Further, researchers have found that intranasal Oxt treatment reduces psychotic symptoms, improves theory of mind and social perception, and increases facial expressivity in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. While in AUD patients, intranasal treatment has shown promising effects in reducing alcohol withdrawal symptoms. While Oxt disruption may not be the lone cause of these disorders, it may be that disruption of the Oxt system can predispose a person to developing schizophrenia, AUD or both, as AUD is a common comorbidity of schizophrenia. Unfortunately, what we know about the mechanism by which Oxt effects behavior is still somewhat rudimentary, especially when discussing schizophrenia and AUD. Thus, in this dissertation, we sought out to investigate the role Oxt plays in social behavior and motivation (Specific Aim 1 and 2), as well as alcohol consumption (Specific Aim 3). While it seems that Oxt is essential for proper social functioning in and possibly protective of some symptoms within these disorders, we hypothesize that Oxt or Oxtr dysfunction will have detrimental effects on both social behavior and alcohol consumption. In Specific Aim 1, we have adapted a social operant task that will allow us to test social motivation. In Specific Aim 2, we (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Heather Caldwell Ph.D. (Advisor); Colleen Novak Ph.D. (Committee Member); Eric Mintz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Gary Koski Ph.D. (Committee Member); Douglas Delahanty Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Biomedical Research

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2019, Neurosciences

Acetylcholine (ACh) is a neurotransmitter well-known to play essential roles in modulating sensory and higher cognitive functions. The basal forebrain is a major source of ACh to the neocortex and its activity is heightened during cognitive processes. Activation of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChR) has several functional consequences in the neocortex. At the behavioral level, it is required for attention maintenance and working memory. At the circuit level, it facilitates long term potentiation and enhances the coding capacity of a population of neurons. At the cellular level, it increases neuronal excitability by modulating a constellation of ionic currents. It also allows the cell to maintain its activity beyond the stimulus, a phenomenon termed “persistent activity”, which is often seen as the cellular hallmark of working memory. In spite of the extensive observations made with respect to mAChR activation at different levels, the cellular mechanisms of these phenomena are not well understood. In this work, I used electrophysiological, optogenetic, and imaging methods to investigate the cellular basis of various phenomena of mAChR activation. In the first part of my results, I investigated the ionic mechanism of persistent activity triggered by depolarizing stimuli following mAChR activation, and found that Ether-a-Go-Go Related Gene (ERG) Potassium channel was down-modulated post-stimuli, which, in turn, depolarized the cell and increased neuronal excitability. ERG blockers abolished persistent firing in temporal and prefrontal association cortices. Next, I investigated what ionic current was responsible for the increase in excitability upon mAChR activation. With optogenetic tools, I stimulated cholinergic fibers originating from the basal forebrain in the neocortex, and found that mAChR activation increased neuronal excitability during the stimulus by down-modulating a component of spike frequency adaptation (SFA) mediated by ERG. I found that SFA red (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ben Strowbridge (Advisor); Lynn Landmesser (Committee Chair); Richard Zigmond (Committee Member); Diana Kunze (Committee Member); Christopher Ford (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Biophysics; Neurobiology; Neurosciences

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2019, English (Arts and Sciences)

This thesis is a collection of essays, prose, and experimental works of creative nonfiction aimed at exploring how the psychological theory of ambiguous loss lends itself to creative nonfiction as an anchor, and as a tool for analogous investigation. The thesis includes a critical introduction that defines this theory at length, observing its occurrence in the sphere of nonfiction writing. The critical introduction places this author in conversation with writers also working with themes conversant with ambiguous loss like Sarah Manguso, Maggie Nelson, and Emily Rapp. As this thesis is a collection of various forms of factual narratives including personal essays, memoir, and digital compositions, the critical introduction also depicts the author's craft techniques and intentional design choices when working with nonfiction storytelling.

Committee: Dinty W Moore (Committee Chair); Eric LeMay (Committee Co-Chair); Edmond Chang (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Psychology; Composition; Design; Environmental Studies; Fine Arts; Personal Relationships; Personality; Psychology

BA, Kent State University, 2019, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English

This collection of poetry explores the complexities of living with multiple overlapping minority identities, and the experience of existing as a Jewish schizophrenic lesbian in the 21st century. This work includes themes of mental illness and therapy, sexuality and gender, love between women, family relationships, and Judaism.

Committee: Katherine Orr (Advisor); Edward Dauterich (Committee Member); Kimberly Winebrenner (Committee Member); Lauren Vachon (Committee Member) Subjects: Composition; Gender; Glbt Studies; Literature; Mental Health; Modern Literature

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2018, Neuroscience Graduate Studies Program

Cognitive deficits in executive functions such as attention and cognitive control form a core symptom cluster in schizophrenia that is most predicative of functional outcomes for patients, such as the ability to return to work. Unfortunately this class of symptoms is poorly treated with currently available neuroleptics and so far adjunctive treatment with potential pro-cognitive compounds has not yielded improvements in global cognition. Not only are alternative treatment strategies necessary, but there is a need for better validated preclinical tasks and animal models. The current work seeks to validate the rodent Target Detection Task (rTDT) and the embryonic kynurenine (EKYN) model as a platform for assessing the efficacy of cognitive training via prior experience in a cognitively demanding task. The central hypothesis guiding the experiments in this dissertation is that gestational elevations of kynurenine will induce a profile of translationally relevant attentional deficits in the rTDT and these deficits can be reversed with cognitive training. The first aim consisted of a validation of the rTDT. It was found that rTDT acquisition follows a stable and repeatable pattern. Additionally, rTDT performance is sensitive to manipulations of stimulus parameters including the reduction of stimulus duration and contrast. These manipulations result in predictable impairments in sensitivity, or the ability to discriminate between target and non-target stimuli. The rTDT was also shown to be sensitive to pharmacological challenges with agents that impair glutamatergic and cholinergic neurotransmission. These neurotransmitter systems are known to be essential for intact attentional processing. The second aim consisted of a validation of the EKYN model. EKYN animals, compared to control animals, showed disruptions of attentional processing and cognitive control. These deficits did not present during task acquisition but emerged upon challenge with task parameters that enhance (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Bruno John (Advisor); Golomb Julie (Committee Member); Lenz Kathryn (Committee Member); Lindquist Derick (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Psychology; Neurobiology; Neurosciences

PHD, Kent State University, 2018, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

Among individuals with schizophrenia disorders, the experience of trauma during childhood is common. Childhood trauma has been connected to numerous adverse outcomes, yet its impact on the phenomenology of schizophrenia is still largely unknown. The present study's primary aim was to test the relationships of emotion perception, paranoia, and social functioning with self-reported childhood traumatic experiences in a sample of community mental health outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Potential mechanisms of these relationships were tested in two sets of mediation models: the first set tested if the effect of childhood trauma acted on paranoia through emotion perception, and the second tested if the effect of childhood trauma acted on social functioning through emotion perception and paranoia. We also tested the relationships of these variables with specific symptoms in schizophrenia. Results indicated significant relationships between emotion perception and paranoia, as well as between paranoia and social functioning. Analyses found no evidence of significant relationships between childhood trauma and any of the other tested variables. Consequently, both sets of mediation models did not show evidence of significant mediational effects. Exploratory results indicated that paranoia displays different relationships depending upon whether contextual information is present (i.e., accidental situations) or not (i.e., ambiguous situations). Findings and limitations are discussed in detail, as well as possible explanations for the hypothesized relationships that were not supported by our results. To conclude, implications of this study are examined and potential future research is suggested to continue improving early detection of those at risk for worse deficits in schizophrenia.

Committee: Nancy Docherty Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jeffrey Ciesla Ph.D. (Committee Member); John Updegraff Ph.D. (Committee Member); Deborah Barnbaum Ph.D. (Committee Member); Richard Adams Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology