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Psychopathy & Perceptions of Control
Get PDFPsychopathy is a complex personality disorder characterized by egocentricity, antisocial tendencies, and emotionally insensitive behavior. One trait of psychopathy is a grandiose sense of self-worth, related to positive self-regard and egocentricity. A few studies have shown relationships between psychopathy traits and self-report measures of locus of control. However, less is known about how psychopathy traits, including grandiose self-worth, relate to perceptions of control in the moment using computer-based tasks. This study explored the correlation between psychopathy traits and perceptions of control in undergraduate students. We hypothesized that: (1) overall psychopathy scores would negatively correlate with perceptions of control, and (2) egocentricity scores would positively correlate with perceptions of control. As part of a larger study, undergraduate students (n = 71) completed the Psychopathic Personality Inventory to measure psychopathy traits (overall psychopathy scores, egocentricity scores) and a computer task to assess perceptions of control across different noise conditions. We also controlled for demographic variables related to the dependent variables in our analyses. Results suggested partial support for the first hypothesis with a trend-level negative correlation between overall psychopathy scores and perceptions of control in the 30% noise condition (r = -.22, p = .069), after controlling for age and sex. The second hypothesis was not supported, with significant negative correlations between egocentricity and both 75% (r = -.27, p = .022) and 90% (r = -.25, p = .039) noise conditions. Overall, the findings suggest psychopathy and egocentricity traits may be associated with lower perceptions of control in the moment
Content Analysis of Backyard Conservation Websites
Get PDFBackyard conservation program websites are common, but it is unknown how effective they are. The purpose was to create a content analysis of the persuasive techniques/appeals that communication theory suggests are effective
Lucas\u27 Empire: Star Wars and Nazi Germany
Get PDFThrough research, I aimed to find why a director like George Lucas would model the Empire after a group like the Nazis. In my research, though, I found that the Nazis were not the only influences on the films, or even the Empire
Human Zoo Healthcare at the 1904 World’s Fair
Get PDFHuman Zoo Healthcare at the 1904 World’s Fair
Were precautions taken or put into place for the Human Zoo performers at the 1904 World’s Fair? This topic has been overlooked and understudied by historians, there are few articles written and we do not know the true death toll which shows the racism towards these indigenous peoples. The research for this project was conducted at the State Historical Society of Missouri, the St. Louis Mercantile Library, Newspapers.com, Archives.com, St. Louis Public Library, and the Missouri Historical Society, including research on primary sources such as official World’s Fair committee meeting minutes, hospital records, vaccination records and immigration records, as well as library research in secondary sources. A substantial number of indigenous peoples died at the fair due to improper healthcare for multiple reasons: They were brought to live here without proper vaccinations upon arrival; they were treated as sub-human. They were not prepared for the weather or diseases that they were introduced to, they were not properly clothed, all while on display and gawked at for being “savage”. This is a relevant topic as we deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately affected poorer people and people of color, demonstrating the connection between social inequality and poor health. The racism and inequality in the U.S. today emerged out of the racist attitudes evident at the fair over a century ago, so research on the World’s Fair helps us understand the legacy of racism today and its impact on public health
Leveraging qualitative approaches to guide sustainable international research collaborations
Get PDFQualitative research approaches were used to launch an international research collaboration between the U. S. and Cambodia. Cambodian officials requested assistance in learning qualitative approaches to complement the research skills of Cambodian mental health providers. This article provides a description of how U. S. researchers responded to that request and engaged with Cambodian psychiatrists to explore mental health needs and interventions in both countries and initiate a sustainable relationship. The early focus on qualitative research methodologies may be an avenue that mitigates some of the challenges that can characterize international research. In this study, early communications involved developing a plan to teach qualitative methods while also collecting and analyzing data in both countries that would address the mental health concerns experienced by respective care providers. A case study exemplar was embedded with a scripted focus group guide to collect data from U. S. focus groups, then share with Cambodian psychiatrists. Components of hermeneutic phenomenological interviewing and descriptive content analysis were used to simultaneously teach and enact the research methods, gather data in both countries to analyze, and inspire participants to replicate the methods in their ongoing work. Cambodian psychiatrists were able to demonstrate competence in facilitating focus groups after being participant-observers. Researcher/practitioners from both U. S. and Cambodian teams gained new understandings about the mental health needs of their patients. The mutual engagement of a research focus is an effective way to establish cross-cultural relationships. The challenges of staying with stable teams over times remain, but the content shared and learned in a participatory structure yields understandings that cross cultural boundaries. Anticipated and unexpected challenges may be offset by an intention of reciprocity and mutual engagement. The use of qualitative methodologies, early and repeatedly, can facilitate relational understanding. Figure
Post-traumatic stress and future substance use outcomes: leveraging antecedent factors to stratify risk
Get PDFBackground: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis) are highly comorbid. Many factors affect this relationship, including sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics, other prior traumas, and physical health. However, few prior studies have investigated this prospectively, examining new substance use and the extent to which a wide range of factors may modify the relationship to PTSD. Methods: The Advancing Understanding of RecOvery afteR traumA (AURORA) study is a prospective cohort of adults presenting at emergency departments (N = 2,943). Participants self-reported PTSD symptoms and the frequency and quantity of tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use at six total timepoints. We assessed the associations of PTSD and future substance use, lagged by one timepoint, using the Poisson generalized estimating equations. We also stratified by incident and prevalent substance use and generated causal forests to identify the most important effect modifiers of this relationship out of 128 potential variables. Results: At baseline, 37.3% (N = 1,099) of participants reported likely PTSD. PTSD was associated with tobacco frequency (incidence rate ratio (IRR): 1.003, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.01, p = 0.02) and quantity (IRR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.001, 1.01, p = 0.01), and alcohol frequency (IRR: 1.002, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.004, p = 0.03) and quantity (IRR: 1.003, 95% CI: 1.001, 1.01, p = 0.001), but not with cannabis use. There were slight differences in incident compared to prevalent tobacco frequency and quantity of use; prevalent tobacco frequency and quantity were associated with PTSD symptoms, while incident tobacco frequency and quantity were not. Using causal forests, lifetime worst use of cigarettes, overall self-rated physical health, and prior childhood trauma were major moderators of the relationship between PTSD symptoms and the three substances investigated. Conclusion: PTSD symptoms were highly associated with tobacco and alcohol use, while the association with prospective cannabis use is not clear. Findings suggest that understanding the different risk stratification that occurs can aid in tailoring interventions to populations at greatest risk to best mitigate the comorbidity between PTSD symptoms and future substance use outcomes. We demonstrate that this is particularly salient for tobacco use and, to some extent, alcohol use, while cannabis is less likely to be impacted by PTSD symptoms across the strata
Conceptualizing Nazism in America through Alternative History Media
Get PDFEven before the United States\u27 entry into World War II, there has been a unique fascination regarding the prospect of the triumph of Nazism over the collective Allied powers. While every work exists as a product of its time, all share common themes and examine historical facts with an allohistorical lens to imagine a world wherein Hitler and the German Reich were successful in their schemes of world domination and the Final Solution. Despite plenty of historical narratives available for review and analysis, the idea of Nazism surviving beyond the confines of a doomed Germany has remained the most explored, written about, and discussed by a wide margin. Through exploration of various allohistorical examples, or alternative histories, one may map how attitudes regarding how Nazism and the destruction of the German Reich have changed over time, what life under an oppressive Nazi regime would’ve been like in more contemporary settings, as well as how the usage of Nazism in allohistorical narratives allows historians to dispel historical nostalgia commonly used by populist movements throughout the Cold War into the modern age. Each work presents an ever-evolving perception of Nazism, speaking to the author’s beliefs and those of greater society
Effects of Foster Children’s Epigenetics in Abusive Environments
Get PDFAbstract: Effects of Foster Children’s Epigenetics in Abusive Environments
Shamika Ellis, Theresa A. Moore, Hannah B. White, PhD
This presentation will review the literature on the epigenetics of abused foster children, and the subsequent acute, delayed, and long-term physiological, cognitive, and behavioral effects. One study experimentally investigated the effects of sexual and physical abuse on 150 foster children from 8 to 19 years of age and found post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was diagnosed in 64% of children who experienced sexual abuse and 42% of children who experienced physical abuse Further, of the foster children who had not experienced either form of abuse, 18% were still diagnosed with PTSD (Dubner & Motta, 1999). In consideration of this, other findings were imperative to investigate literature concerning how chronic exposure to adverse environments, such as a history of trauma abuse, may alter gene expression over time to better understand the epigenetic changes associated with negative physiological, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes. One such gene implicated in stress response and regulation is known as the FKBP5 gene, which is responsible for altering glucocorticoid receptor responsiveness to stress signaling (Tyrka et al., 2015). A latter study indicated child maltreatment exposure may lead to the demethylation of FKBP5 in individuals with a high-risk variant of the gene, resulting in structural and functional brain alterations (Tozzi et al., 2018). As demethylation of the FKBP5 gene decreases the body’s ability to regulate stress, it is related to a variety of negative consequences, including an increased chance of developing mood disorders (Tozzi et al., 2018). Therefore, childhood maltreatment substantially raises the probability of behavior problems and mental delays due to environmental stressors (Dubner & Motta, 1999; Tyrka et al., 2015), and FKBP5 demethylation is related to those changes (Tozzi et al., 2018), the current review gathered research concerning the physiological, cognitive, and behavioral effects associated with altered FKBP5 expression, and other epigenetic outcomes, in abused foster children, in order to inform future prevention and intervention practices from a biological perspective.
Keywords: foster children, abuse, epigenetics, FKBP5, methylatio
Telehealth Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Missouri’s Urban and Rural Areas Prior to and Since COVID-19
Get PDFOpioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic health condition that can be adequately treated when individuals have access to needed services. Telehealth services can be delivered remotely through audio-visual technological communications rather than in-person visits, which can greatly improve care accessibility. Following the onset of COVID-19, there were swift clinical and policy adaptations to promote telehealth services across medical and behavioral health fields. This study aims to identify changes in the frequency of telehealth for OUD treatment in Missouri’s rural and urban counties prior to and since the onset of COVID-19. Chi-square tests and analysis of changes between years and across urban and rural counties demonstrated telehealth utilization was dependent on both year and rurality, with lower than expected utilization seen in Missouri’s rural areas in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Instead, utilization of telehealth in urban areas was higher than would be expected in 2021 and 2022, compared to 2020. Statewide, there was a 31.8% increase in telehealth for OUD in 2021 and 2022 (combined), compared to total telehealth use in 2019 and 2020. However, there was an overall decrease of 27% in telehealth utilization in 2022, suggesting telehealth service delivery has begun to return closer to pre-pandemic levels. Findings from this study can contribute to the discussion of client preferences and treatment effectiveness related to telehealth services, as well as what barriers may prevent or facilitate treatment access for individuals living in rural areas
Third Reich in Harry Potter: Fiction Imitating Fact
Get PDFNazi Germany makes an appearance in numerous forms of media, however none so popular across the world as the Harry Potter book series. This poster will be examining how J.K Rowling incorporates aspects of the Third Reich in her writing of the Harry Potter series