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Title: SOCIAL ANXIETY AND SUBTYPES OF EMPATHY: THE MODERATING INFLUENCE OF BIOLOGICAL SEX.
Creator: Berg, Samantha K, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Only a few studies have examined relationships between social anxiety and subtypes of empathy. Findings are mixed. The present study examined social anxiety severity on a continuum and how it related to affective and cognitive empathy in 684 nonpsychiatric adults (77% female). Participants completed an online battery of measures that included: a self-report measure of social anxiety severity (Fear of Negative Evaluation), a self-report measure with subscales for affective and cognitive...
Show moreOnly a few studies have examined relationships between social anxiety and subtypes of empathy. Findings are mixed. The present study examined social anxiety severity on a continuum and how it related to affective and cognitive empathy in 684 nonpsychiatric adults (77% female). Participants completed an online battery of measures that included: a self-report measure of social anxiety severity (Fear of Negative Evaluation), a self-report measure with subscales for affective and cognitive empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index), and a behavioral measure of cognitive empathy (Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task; MIE). After statistically covarying for general anxiety severity, biological sex moderated the relationship between social anxiety severity and performance on the MIE task. In women, a higher severity of social anxiety related to better performance on the MIE. This relationship was not statistically significant in men. IRI subscale scores did not show significant main effects or interactions with sex in relation to social anxiety. The findings suggest a possible difference in how each sex experiences and/or develops social anxiety. This has implications for assessment and treatment. Future research should examine these relationships in more diverse psychiatric samples.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFH2000449, ucf:45871
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000449

Title: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PSYCHOMETRICALLY-DEFINED SOCIAL ANXIETY AND WORKING MEMORY PERFORMANCE.
Creator: Paskowski, Timothy, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Anxiety disorders are among the most commonly diagnosed class of mental illness in the United States, and often involve abnormally high levels of stress and social fear. Despite high lifetime prevalence rates, social anxiety disorder (SAD) has remarkably low diagnosis and treatment rates. Furthermore, while individuals with other specific psychiatric disorders tend to exhibit significant neuropsychological deficits, neuropsychological functioning in individuals with SAD remains largely...
Show moreAnxiety disorders are among the most commonly diagnosed class of mental illness in the United States, and often involve abnormally high levels of stress and social fear. Despite high lifetime prevalence rates, social anxiety disorder (SAD) has remarkably low diagnosis and treatment rates. Furthermore, while individuals with other specific psychiatric disorders tend to exhibit significant neuropsychological deficits, neuropsychological functioning in individuals with SAD remains largely untested. A majority of the few existing studies concerning neuropsychological performance in SAD samples focus on specific functions, and their limited results are highly mixed. The primary objective of this investigation was to provide a more thorough, broad assessment of both auditory and visual working memory as related to psychometrically-defined social anxiety disorder. In addition, this study aimed to help clarify as to whether such deficits are related to the construct of social anxiety, or whether any potential deficits are better explained by generalized state and/or trait (in-the-moment) anxiety. The implications of a deficit in the visual and/or auditory working memory domains are multifaceted. For example, such a deficit may lead to the inability to detect visual cues in social situations. The inability to process these social cues has the potential to exacerbate some SAD- related symptoms, such as fear of humiliation and judgment. Twenty-nine college students completed both phases of this study, including an assessment of state and trait anxiety as well as social phobia and a four-part working memory battery. An analysis of the Phase II data indicates that individual scores on the four measures of both visual and auditory working memory did not relate to trait and/or state anxiety or psychometrically-defined social anxiety. Thus, it appears that social, generalized trait, and generalized state anxiety do not relate to a neuropsychological deficit in either type of working memory in this sample population. However, we did find a statistical trend suggesting that as social anxiety increased, there was a relative decrease in visual vs. auditory working memory. This statistical trend remained after covarying for state and trait anxiety respectively. Therefore, future research in this area should examine the discrepancy in performance between the auditory and visual working memory domains as it relates to both diagnosed social phobia and psychometrically-defined social anxiety.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFH0003798, ucf:44744
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0003798

Title: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STROOP TASK PERFORMANCE AND DELUSION-PRONENESS IN NON-PSYCHIATRIC ADULTS.
Creator: Orem, Diana, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Delusions are symptomatic of a number of psychiatric disorders; however, nonpsychiatric adults have also been shown to vary on a propensity toward delusional thought, or "delusion-proneness." The current study examined whether there is a relationship between an individual's degree of delusion proneness (on a continuum) and performance on the Stroop task, a cognitive task thought to measure conflict response monitoring. It was theorized that reduced conflict response monitoring ability may...
Show moreDelusions are symptomatic of a number of psychiatric disorders; however, nonpsychiatric adults have also been shown to vary on a propensity toward delusional thought, or "delusion-proneness." The current study examined whether there is a relationship between an individual's degree of delusion proneness (on a continuum) and performance on the Stroop task, a cognitive task thought to measure conflict response monitoring. It was theorized that reduced conflict response monitoring ability may relate to (and perhaps cause) increased delusional propensity. A total of 35 nonpsychiatric college students completed a measure of delusion-proneness (Peter's et al. Delusion Inventory-21 item version; PDI-21), and a computerized version of the Stroop task with three conditions- congruent, incongruent, and neutral. It was hypothesized that PDI-21 scores would be positively correlated to Stroop interference contrast scores. Results revealed that delusion-proneness showed a statistically significant positive correlation with the Stroop reaction time contrast score, but not the accuracy constrast score, in the incongruent/congruent contrasts. Our pattern of results suggests that efficiency (i.e. reaction time) of Stroop performance is more sensitive to delusion-proneness, compared to the more gross measure of accuracy. This study appears to be the first to report this relationship across a continuum of delusion-proneness in a nonpsychiatric sample, and overall, the findings suggest that delusion-proneness is related to performance on a behavioral measure of conflict response monitoring and inhibitory control. This research may have implications on treatment interventions used with patients presenting with clinical delusions.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001638, ucf:47225
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001638

Title: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SELF-REPORTED CHRONIC STRESS AND DIVIDED ATTENTION PERFORMANCE.
Creator: Petrac, Diane, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: While previous research has extensively examined the effect of acute stress on cognitive performance, relatively little research has explored the relationship between chronic stress and cognitive performance. The current study aimed to control for current state anxiety to better isolate more chronic stress, when examining the relationship with performance on divided attention tasks. Fifty-four university undergraduates, who self-reported a wide range of perceived chronic stress (10-item...
Show moreWhile previous research has extensively examined the effect of acute stress on cognitive performance, relatively little research has explored the relationship between chronic stress and cognitive performance. The current study aimed to control for current state anxiety to better isolate more chronic stress, when examining the relationship with performance on divided attention tasks. Fifty-four university undergraduates, who self-reported a wide range of perceived chronic stress (10-item Perceived Stress Scale), completed the Trail-Making Test and a dual (auditory and visual) Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Hierarchical regressions were performed to explore cognitive predictors of chronic perceived stress. After covarying for state anxiety (state portion of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), the most statistically significant predictor (via stepwise entry) was the auditory omission error change score (dual minus single condition), which showed a medium effect size (r = .36). Results have practical safety implications, as the implementation of an efficient and inexpensive measure of self-reported stress may predict future job-related errors in high-stress professions that require divided attention.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0001509, ucf:47125
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001509

Title: THE RELATIVE SENSITIVITY OF AN OLFACTORY IDENTIFICATION DEFICIT IN INDIVIDUALS WITH SCHIZOTYPAL PERSONALITY FEATURES.
Creator: Kamath, Vidyulata, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Olfactory identification deficits have received recent attention as a potentially useful endophenotype for schizophrenia. Examination of this deficit in individuals with schizotypal personality features (SPF) offers an alternative approach to multiple confounds present when examining individuals with schizophrenia. The aim of the current study was to compare the relative sensitivity of performance on measures of olfaction identification and sustained attention to the presence of SPF. Twenty...
Show moreOlfactory identification deficits have received recent attention as a potentially useful endophenotype for schizophrenia. Examination of this deficit in individuals with schizotypal personality features (SPF) offers an alternative approach to multiple confounds present when examining individuals with schizophrenia. The aim of the current study was to compare the relative sensitivity of performance on measures of olfaction identification and sustained attention to the presence of SPF. Twenty-six undergraduates were defined as having SPF based on scoring in the top 10% of the Abbreviated Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ-B; mean age 19.6, SD = 1.1; 62% female). These individuals were compared to twenty-six controls (scoring lower than half a standard deviation above the mean; mean age 19.8, SD = 1.6; 62% female). All participants were administered the Schizotypal Personality Disorder (SPD) section of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II). In addition, participants were administered the Brief Smell Identification Test (B-SIT) and a six-minute degraded-stimuli Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Group differences in performance indices of the CPT did not approach statistical significance. Similarly, there were no statistically significant group differences for males or females in performance on the B-SIT. Correlational analyses examined cognitive performance with a dimension score derived by summing quantitative ratings from the SPD items on the SCID-II. The SPD dimension score showed a statistically significant positive correlation with several performance indices of the CPT, including omission errors (rs(52) = .51, p < .001) and commission errors (rs(52) = .38, p < .005). In contrast, the B-SIT scores were not correlated with the SPD dimension score for males or females. Contrary to our hypothesis, results from the current study suggest that olfactory identification deficits may not represent a robust endophenotype consistently found in samples with schizotypal personality features. With regard to sustained attention, our differential findings suggest that schizotypal traits may be more adequately assessed through an interview by trained clinicians who use clinical judgment to determine the presence of phenotypic aspects of SPD (e.g., SCID-II), rather than relying on self-report measures (e.g., SPQ-B). Implications as well as limitations and future directions of these findings are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001675, ucf:47211
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001675

Title: DOES MENTAL STATUS MODERATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY HISTORY AND LIFE SATISFACTION?.
Creator: Payne, Charlotte A, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) history has been linked to damaged cognition and poorer quality of life. While this link has been established, there is not much known about this relationship in older adult populations experiencing normal cognitive decline. In the current study, mental status was predicted to moderate the relationship between TBI history and life satisfaction among older adults. Additionally, details of the injury - years since injury and time spent unconscious - were expected to...
Show moreTraumatic brain injury (TBI) history has been linked to damaged cognition and poorer quality of life. While this link has been established, there is not much known about this relationship in older adult populations experiencing normal cognitive decline. In the current study, mental status was predicted to moderate the relationship between TBI history and life satisfaction among older adults. Additionally, details of the injury - years since injury and time spent unconscious - were expected to play a role in this relationship. Per analyses, there was no relationship found between TBI history, mental status, and life satisfaction. Moreover, there was no link found between time since injury, time spent unconscious, mental status and life satisfaction. While insignificant, these results yield important findings. The results lend support to more positive long-term outcomes for those with a history of TBI than initially expected, especially if the TBI was mild and resulted in no loss of consciousness or a loss of consciousness less than 5 hours.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFH2000475, ucf:45896
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000475

Title: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BROAD ASPECTS OF PERSONALITY FUNCTIONING AND GENERALIZED ANXIETY SEVERITY.
Creator: Lee Lum, Ashley A, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study looked at the relationship between personality functioning and generalized anxiety severity with the use of the Level of Personality Functioning - Self-Report Scale (LPFS-SR). This scale looks at the four core functions of personality: Identity, Intimacy, Empathy and Self-Direction. The population consisted of undergraduate students from the University of Central Florida who completed the study online (n = 1335; 63.7% female; mean age = 19.85, SD = 3.64, range = 18-57). Findings...
Show moreThis study looked at the relationship between personality functioning and generalized anxiety severity with the use of the Level of Personality Functioning - Self-Report Scale (LPFS-SR). This scale looks at the four core functions of personality: Identity, Intimacy, Empathy and Self-Direction. The population consisted of undergraduate students from the University of Central Florida who completed the study online (n = 1335; 63.7% female; mean age = 19.85, SD = 3.64, range = 18-57). Findings revealed that generalized anxiety severity related to more identity and empathy problems in both men and women. For both findings, women showed a stronger effect size than men. Future longitudinal research in a psychiatric sample can help clarify causal directions of these relationships. The results of this study can be applied to clinical settings to raise clinicians' awareness to further explore identity and empathy problems in individuals exhibiting generalized anxiety.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFH2000512, ucf:45632
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000512

Title: ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN POSITIVE HEALTH BEHAVIORS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS.
Creator: Monroig, Marlaine, Bedwell , Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Research examining the relationship between psychological distress and health behaviors is limited, as most of these studies examine one type of psychological distress and relate it to one type of health behavior. To address this limitation, an exploratory study was conducted that included online self-report measures of a wide range of positive health behaviors (Health Behavior Checklist; HBC) and a wide range of different types of psychological distress (Brief Symptom Inventory; BSI)....
Show moreResearch examining the relationship between psychological distress and health behaviors is limited, as most of these studies examine one type of psychological distress and relate it to one type of health behavior. To address this limitation, an exploratory study was conducted that included online self-report measures of a wide range of positive health behaviors (Health Behavior Checklist; HBC) and a wide range of different types of psychological distress (Brief Symptom Inventory; BSI). Participants were 762 undergraduate students from the University of Central Florida (55% female). Results revealed that the total BSI score showed statistically significant negative correlations with the HBC total score and all four HBC subscales. Thus, participants reporting more overall psychological distress reported that they engaged in fewer positive health behaviors, across all health behavior subtypes. Stepwise regressions that examined the nine BSI subscales and their relationship with the HBC total score revealed that the Hostility subscale of the BSI was the strongest and most consistent predictor of positive health behaviors (in a negative direction). Stepwise regressions also revealed additional relationships of the BSI subscales of Depression and Phobia to particular HBC subscales. The results of this exploratory study provide an initial model on the relationships of particular types of psychological distress that are related to particular types of health behaviors, which will inform future studies on this important topic area.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFH0003854, ucf:44700
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0003854

Title: CHILDHOOD CAT BITES AND DISORGANIZED SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOTYPY IN ADULTHOOD.
Creator: Kolpakova, Jenya, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: During recent years of schizophrenia research, many etiologies have been emphasized, some of them implicating infectious and autoimmune diseases. Many different infectious agents have been examined, but the root seems to stem from the secondary autoimmune deregulation, which can be caused by different infectious agents. Among the effects that autoimmune deregulation has on the body, one prominent effect is on the brain, resulting in either severe or mild encephalitis. The mild encephalitis...
Show moreDuring recent years of schizophrenia research, many etiologies have been emphasized, some of them implicating infectious and autoimmune diseases. Many different infectious agents have been examined, but the root seems to stem from the secondary autoimmune deregulation, which can be caused by different infectious agents. Among the effects that autoimmune deregulation has on the body, one prominent effect is on the brain, resulting in either severe or mild encephalitis. The mild encephalitis that has been implicated as one of the causes of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders has been associated with different pathogens, many of which can be transmitted by the household cat. Thus in the present research we have used the schizotypy personality construct model as an analog for schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and the relationship between current schizotypy and childhood household cat interactions were examined. An online questionnaire was completed by 356 undergraduate students and assessed the current schizotypy using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire Brief Revised (SPQ-BR), as well as questions about cat ownership and cat bites (puncturing skin) prior to age 13. While no significant relationship was found between childhood cat ownership and current schizotypy, individuals endorsing a cat bite prior to age 13 (N = 66) reported a significantly higher level of current overall schizotypy, which was largely driven by the Disorganized factor of the SPQ-BR.. This relationship should be explored further by examining the antibodies and sera of individuals with the schizophrenia spectrum disorder.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFH0004374, ucf:45024
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004374

Title: SUBTYPES OF ANHEDONIA AND FACIAL ELECTROMYOGRAPHYRESPONSE TO NEGATIVE AFFECTIVE PICTURES IN HEALTHY ADULTS.
Creator: Kadison, Lisa, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Flat affect (i.e., diminished expressivity) and self-reported anhedonia (i.e., lack of pleasure) are associated with many psychiatric disorders. There is a need to examine the relationship between specific anhedonia subtypes and flat affect in a non-clinical sample. Forty-seven undergraduate students (59% male; mean age 20.37; SD = 4.74) completed self-report questionnaires assessing four subtypes of anhedonia - consummatory/anticipatory by social/non-social. Participants then viewed 15...
Show moreFlat affect (i.e., diminished expressivity) and self-reported anhedonia (i.e., lack of pleasure) are associated with many psychiatric disorders. There is a need to examine the relationship between specific anhedonia subtypes and flat affect in a non-clinical sample. Forty-seven undergraduate students (59% male; mean age 20.37; SD = 4.74) completed self-report questionnaires assessing four subtypes of anhedonia - consummatory/anticipatory by social/non-social. Participants then viewed 15 randomly-presented pictures (five neutral, ten negative) from the International Affective Pictures System while facial muscle activity (electromyography; EMG) was recorded. Male participants reporting a greater level of anhedonia, particularly consummatory social anhedonia, showed greater EMG activity change in the corrugator supercilii muscle to negative pictures, as compared with neutral pictures. Females showed the opposite pattern: more consummatory social anhedonia related to less EMG activity change in the corrugator muscle. In summary, consummatory social anhedonia in particular showed a strong relationship with facial expressivity that interacted with sex. In the presence of more consummatory social anhedonia, males show more negative facial reactions to negative stimuli while females show a more flattened affect. These findings may help explain discrepancies in existing research examining anhedonia and flat affect in clinical populations and have implications for etiology and treatments.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFH0004377, ucf:44993
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004377

Title: NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING IN SOCIAL PHOBIA.
Creator: Sutterby, Scott, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of the current study was to clarify the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying social phobia. Previous research has identified some specific group differences in neurocognitive functioning between individuals diagnosed with social phobia and nonpsychiatric controls, but has failed to administer a comprehensive neuropsychological battery to a social phobia patient group, resulting in a piecemeal understanding of the neurocognitive functioning of this population and an incomplete...
Show moreThe purpose of the current study was to clarify the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying social phobia. Previous research has identified some specific group differences in neurocognitive functioning between individuals diagnosed with social phobia and nonpsychiatric controls, but has failed to administer a comprehensive neuropsychological battery to a social phobia patient group, resulting in a piecemeal understanding of the neurocognitive functioning of this population and an incomplete picture of the neuropsychological profile inherent to this group. The present research utilized a broader collection of neuropsychological tests to assess nine cognitive domains: Verbal Learning, Verbal Delayed Memory, Visual Immediate Memory, Visual Delayed Memory, Visual-Spatial Processing, Verbal Working Memory, Visual Working Memory, Executive Functioning, and Attention. A mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not reveal a significant group by cognitive domain interaction, nor a significant main effect of group. As this was the first study to examine multiple cognitive domains in a single sample of individuals with generalized social phobia, exploratory univariate analyses were performed to examine group differences for the specific cognitive domains. This revealed significant group differences specific to the Visual Working Memory domain, with the social phobia group scoring significantly lower than the nonpsychiatric control group. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002859, ucf:48049
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002859

Title: ASSOCIATION BETWEEN UNIRHINAL OLFACTORY PROCESSING AND SELF-REPORTED EMPATHY IN SCHIZOPHRENIA.
Creator: Kamath, Vidyulata, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Empathy represents one multifaceted component of social cognition that is thought to be significantly impaired in individuals with schizophrenia. Psychophysical tasks of smell identification and hedonic processing of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant odors share common neural networks involved in empathy. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between odor identification, odor ratings, and self-reported empathy in 25 outpatients with schizophrenia and 25 nonpsychiatric individuals. Group...
Show moreEmpathy represents one multifaceted component of social cognition that is thought to be significantly impaired in individuals with schizophrenia. Psychophysical tasks of smell identification and hedonic processing of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant odors share common neural networks involved in empathy. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between odor identification, odor ratings, and self-reported empathy in 25 outpatients with schizophrenia and 25 nonpsychiatric individuals. Group differences on empathy scores and unirhinal smell identification performance (with hedonic and intensity ratings) were examined, along with the relationships between smell identification scores, self-reported empathy, and schizophrenia symptomatology. The preliminary findings suggest that individuals with schizophrenia display significant differences from controls on measures of self-reported empathy, odor identification, and hedonic ratings of odors. Deficits in self-reported global and affective empathy were influenced by group and sex, whereas cognitive empathy was reduced across all patients in comparison to controls. Patients displayed reduced unirhinal odor identification accuracy for pleasant but not neutral or unpleasant odors in comparison to controls. Central to the overall aim of the current study, a robust positive correlation was observed between left- and right-nostril hedonic ratings for pleasant odors and self-reported global and affective empathy scores across all participants. In patients, we also found a statistical trend between affective empathy and left-nostril identification accuracy across all odors. Collectively, the results lend support to the role of olfactory-limbic brain regions in the hedonic processing of odors and suggest that aberrant performance observed in schizophrenia may be related to abnormalities in the anatomical and physiological substrates that also subserve empathy.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002759, ucf:48132
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002759

Title: THE INFLUENCE OF EMOTIONAL STIMULI ON COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN RELATION TO DELUSION INTENSITY IN SCHIZOPHRENIA.
Creator: Orem, Diana, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Previous research has suggested that there are multiple psychological processes underlying delusional thought. While it appears that cognitive biases in certain reasoning and attention processes are related to delusion-proneness, the influence of emotion on these processes is not well understood. The overall objective of this study was to investigate the effect of emotional content on performance on tasks thought to measure attentional bias, preferential recall, and probabilistic reasoning in...
Show morePrevious research has suggested that there are multiple psychological processes underlying delusional thought. While it appears that cognitive biases in certain reasoning and attention processes are related to delusion-proneness, the influence of emotion on these processes is not well understood. The overall objective of this study was to investigate the effect of emotional content on performance on tasks thought to measure attentional bias, preferential recall, and probabilistic reasoning in individuals with schizophrenia and demographically matched controls. In order to account for level of delusion-proneness, participants also completed a multidimensional measure of delusional thought. It was hypothesized that individuals with schizophrenia would perform more poorly on both the emotional and neutral versions of these tasks compared to controls. It was also hypothesized that within each group, there would be a statistically significant emotion effect, indicated by a difference in performance on the emotional (compared to neutral) condition of each task. This emotion effect was expected to be larger in the schizophrenia group. Finally, it was hypothesized that the emotion effect would increase as the severity of delusional proneness increased for all participants, regardless of group. As hypothesized, the schizophrenia group performed more poorly on the tasks overall, though expected emotion effects were generally absent. There were no differences in the size of emotion effects between the groups on any of the cognitive tasks administered, and the emotion effect did not appear to increase as severity of delusion-proneness increased. Factors that may have contributed to this pattern of results are discussed. Implications of these findings on theoretical models of delusions and future directions for research in this area are also discussed.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002765, ucf:48091
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002765

Title: DOES CHRONIC STRESS ACCELERATE LATE-AGING COGNITIVE DECLINE IN MEMORY AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING?.
Creator: Robinson, Diane, Bedwell, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Few studies exist examining the relationship between self-reported stress and cognitive function in healthy nonpsychiatric older adults, and even less studies have examined whether high levels of self-reported stress accelerate the cognitive decline found in normal late-aging populations. A group of older nonpsychiatric adults, ages 54 years and above, were asked to complete three measures assessing their self-perceived stress over the past month, past year, and their lifetime. Sixty-one...
Show moreFew studies exist examining the relationship between self-reported stress and cognitive function in healthy nonpsychiatric older adults, and even less studies have examined whether high levels of self-reported stress accelerate the cognitive decline found in normal late-aging populations. A group of older nonpsychiatric adults, ages 54 years and above, were asked to complete three measures assessing their self-perceived stress over the past month, past year, and their lifetime. Sixty-one adults between the ages of 54 and 88 (52% female) participated in a second phase in which neuropsychological tasks were administered to assess three cognitive domains; memory, learning, and executive functioning. A hierarchical regression examined each of the three domain scores to explore whether self-perceived acute and chronic stress, after covaring for state anxiety, was related to neuropsychological performance. No statistically significant regressions were found, which was predicted for the learning domain, but contrary to the hypotheses for the memory and executive functioning domain. The potential influence of age in this study was explored in a series of ANOVAs examining the interactions between the three stress measures with state anxiety and age on the three cognitive domains. A statistically significant interaction was found between age and perceived lifetime stress when examining the memory domain score. In the young-old participants an increase in stress showed a non-significant relationship with a decrease in memory performance, while in the older-old participants the opposite non-significant tendency was found. The current study also partially replicated an earlier report of a relationship between an increase in recent self-reported stress and a decrease in performance on a specific divided attention task, and extended this finding to include older adults. While the majority of the studyÃ‚Â's hypotheses were not supported, these preliminary findings provide the field with interesting areas to explore in future studies.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003256, ucf:48515
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003256

Title: Comorbidity of Psychopathy in Schizotypy: Skin Conductance to Affective Pictures.
Creator: Ragsdale, Kathleen, Bedwell, Jeffrey, Cassisi, Jeffrey, Sims, Valerie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Prior research substantiates a relationship between psychopathy and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, which has begun to elucidate why some individuals with schizophrenia are violent. Unfortunately, this relationship has been limited to self-report. To objectively corroborate this finding, undergraduate students were recruited from an online screening administration of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. This resulted in 56 participants (52% male) with a mean age of 20.37 (SD = 4.74)...
Show morePrior research substantiates a relationship between psychopathy and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, which has begun to elucidate why some individuals with schizophrenia are violent. Unfortunately, this relationship has been limited to self-report. To objectively corroborate this finding, undergraduate students were recruited from an online screening administration of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. This resulted in 56 participants (52% male) with a mean age of 20.37 (SD = 4.74) and a wide range of schizotypy scores who participated in the experiment. Following completion of self-report measures, participants viewed 15 pictures (five neutral, five threatening, and five of others in distress) from the International Affective Pictures System while electrodermal activity was recorded from one palm. As expected, all participants exhibited increased peak skin conductance (SC) to both threat and distress pictures compared to neutral pictures; however; no difference was found between threat and distress pictures. Although the self-report relationship was replicated, neither total psychopathy nor total schizotypy were related to any SC variable. Therefore, it does not appear that increased schizotypy was related to a differential SC response to emotional pictures in our sample, even after testing for the potential moderating influence of anxiety and the Self-Centered Impulsivity factor of psychopathy. Total schizotypy was, however, significantly and positively related to the Personality Assessment Inventory Aggression scale (including the subscales of Aggressive Attitude and Physical Aggression) and the total score on the Beck's Anxiety Inventory. Overall findings suggest that despite presence of the comorbidity in this subclinical population, subthreshold levels of both constructs do not relate to a reduced SC response to affective pictures as is seen in clinical psychopathy.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004426, ucf:49357
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004426

Title: Cardiac Autonomic Control in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome.
Creator: Mitchell, Jonathan, Cassisi, Jeffrey, Bedwell, Jeffrey, Beidel, Deborah, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) encompasses metabolic abnormalities that substantially increase risk for chronic illnesses. MetS and stress are closely related; the pathophysiology of MetS involves dysregulated stress response in both the physiological and psychological domains. In an effort to further clarify the relationship between metabolic abnormalities and autonomic dysregulation, we used ambulatory impedance cardiography to examine indicators of cardiac autonomic control (CAC) in a sample of...
Show moreMetabolic syndrome (MetS) encompasses metabolic abnormalities that substantially increase risk for chronic illnesses. MetS and stress are closely related; the pathophysiology of MetS involves dysregulated stress response in both the physiological and psychological domains. In an effort to further clarify the relationship between metabolic abnormalities and autonomic dysregulation, we used ambulatory impedance cardiography to examine indicators of cardiac autonomic control (CAC) in a sample of 50 adult primary care patients with and without MetS. Indices of sympathetic and parasympathetic influences on cardiovascular functioning were assessed in the context of psychological stressors and compared across experimental groups and examined in relation to self-reported health measures. Primary results suggest that while our experimental groups did not differ significantly on baseline measures, patterns of responses to experimentally induced stressors were largely consistent with our predictions, and demonstrate that individuals with MetS responded to stress cues with more maladaptive CAC scores. Moreover, in line with previous work, we found that elements of CAC in our sample were predictive of both cardiovascular disease and self-reported environmental quality of life. Overall, our results suggest that maladaptive physiological manifestations of the stress response are evident among individuals with MetS and may also be related to long-term health outcomes. The present study carries implications for both evaluation and assessment as well as treatment delivery and monitoring. In addition, the ambulatory nature of data collection demonstrated here supports trends toward mHealth and related initiatives in emerging modes of healthcare delivery.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006359, ucf:51519
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006359

Title: Visual Scanpath Training for Facial Affect Recognition in a Psychiatric Sample.
Creator: Chan, Chi, Bedwell, Jeffrey, Cassisi, Jeffrey, Sims, Valerie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Social cognition is essential for functional outcome and quality of life in psychiatric patients. Facial affect recognition (FAR), a domain of social cognition, is impaired in many patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. There is evidence that abnormal visual scanpath patterns may underlie FAR deficits, and metacognitive factors may impact task performance. The present study aimed to develop a brief, individually-administered, computerized training program to normalize scanpath...
Show moreSocial cognition is essential for functional outcome and quality of life in psychiatric patients. Facial affect recognition (FAR), a domain of social cognition, is impaired in many patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. There is evidence that abnormal visual scanpath patterns may underlie FAR deficits, and metacognitive factors may impact task performance. The present study aimed to develop a brief, individually-administered, computerized training program to normalize scanpath patterns in order to improve FAR in patient with a psychosis history or bipolar I disorder. The program was developed using scanpath data from 19 nonpsychiatric controls (NC) while they completed a FAR tasks that involved identification of mild or extreme intensity happy, sad, angry, and fearful faces, and a neutral expression. Patients were randomized to a waitlist (WG; n = 16) or training group (TG; n = 18). Both patient groups completed a baseline FAR task (T0), the training (or a repeated FAR task as a control for WG; T1), and a post-training FAR task (T2). Patients evaluated their own performance and eyetracking data were recorded. Results indicated that the patient groups did not differ from NC on FAR performance, metacognitive accuracy, or scanpath patterns at T0. TG was compliant with the training program and showed changes in scanpath patterns during T1, but returned to baseline scanpath patterns at T2. WG and TG did not differ at T2 on FAR performance, metacognitive accuracy, or scanpath patterns. Across both patient groups, FAR performance for mild intensity emotions were more sensitive to the effect of time than for extreme intensity emotions. Exploratory analysis showed that at baseline, greater severity of negative symptoms was associated with poorer metacognitive accuracy (i.e., accuracy in their evaluation of their performance). Limitations to the study and future directions are discussed.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006280, ucf:51613
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006280

Title: Measurement Of Negative Affectivity In Psychometrically Defined Schizotypy Using Facial Electromyography.
Creator: Mitchell, Jonathan, Cassisi, Jeffrey, Bedwell, Jeffrey, Beidel, Deborah, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Schizotypy is a sub-threshold syndrome associated with schizophrenia. Much of the research on schizotypy concerns its component features, one of which being blunted or constricted affect. While several investigations have addressed this common (")negative(") symptom within the context of schizophrenia, few have focused on schizotypy directly, and none have utilized psychophysiological measurement to examine affective constriction. The present investigation uses facial electromyography (EMG)...
Show moreSchizotypy is a sub-threshold syndrome associated with schizophrenia. Much of the research on schizotypy concerns its component features, one of which being blunted or constricted affect. While several investigations have addressed this common (")negative(") symptom within the context of schizophrenia, few have focused on schizotypy directly, and none have utilized psychophysiological measurement to examine affective constriction. The present investigation uses facial electromyography (EMG) to measure patterns of affective expression within a psychometrically defined schizotypal population when presented threatening and distressing pictures from the IAPS. Twenty-eight individuals with elevated schizotypal features and 20 healthy controls were recruited for this investigation. The participants observed the series of pictures and provided self-report ratings of affective valance and arousal while their physiological responses were recorded. The protocol used here closely matched that used by Bradley and Lang (2007) and produced a similar pattern of results across all participants on self-reported ratings and physiological measures. Results further suggest that those with schizotypal features did not differ from control participants in self-reported ratings of negative affect or autonomic arousal. A three-way interaction in facial EMG measurement revealed that while schizotypic males demonstrated the expected pattern of blunted facial affective expression, schizotypic females displayed the opposite pattern. That is, females with psychometrically schizotypy demonstrated significant elevations in negative facial affective expression while viewing distressing pictures. We argue that these findings reflect unidentified sex differences in affective expression in schizotypy, and we discuss implications for assessment and diagnostic procedures among individuals with personality disorders.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0004721, ucf:49808
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004721

Title: An Event-Related Potential Investigation of Error Monitoring in Adults with a History of Psychosis.
Creator: Chan, Chi, Bedwell, Jeffrey, Cassisi, Jeffrey, Sims, Valerie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Metacognition, which involves monitoring and controlling of one's thoughts and actions, is essential for guiding behavior and organization of information. Deficits in self-monitoring have been suggested to lead to psychosis and poor functional outcome. Abnormalities in event-related potentials originating from the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a brain region associated with error detection, have been consistently reported in individuals with schizophrenia during error monitoring tasks....
Show moreMetacognition, which involves monitoring and controlling of one's thoughts and actions, is essential for guiding behavior and organization of information. Deficits in self-monitoring have been suggested to lead to psychosis and poor functional outcome. Abnormalities in event-related potentials originating from the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a brain region associated with error detection, have been consistently reported in individuals with schizophrenia during error monitoring tasks. This study sought to examine whether these abnormalities are present in individuals with a history of psychosis across diagnostic categories and whether they are associated with subjective appraisal of self-performance and personality traits related to psychosis. The error-related negativity (ERN), the correct response negativity (CRN), and the error positivity (Pe) were recorded in 15 individuals with a history of psychosis (PSY) and 12 individuals without a history of psychosis (CTR) during performance on a flanker task. Participants also continuously rated their performance on the task and completed the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (-) Brief Revised (SPQ-BR). Compared with the CTR group, the PSY group exhibited reduced ERN and Pe amplitudes during error trials, but normal CRN and Pe amplitudes during correct trials. The PSY group also was less accurate at identifying their errors than the CTR group but just as accurate at identifying correct responses. Across all participants, smaller ERN amplitudes were associated with greater scores on the Disorganized factor of the SPQ-BR and smaller Pe amplitudes were associated with greater scores on the Cognitive Perceptual factor of the SPQ-BR. Individuals with a history of psychosis regardless of diagnosis demonstrated abnormal neural activity during error monitoring. Error monitoring deficits may be associated with vulnerability for psychosis across disorders.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0005312, ucf:50506
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005312

Title: Development During Middle School: An Ecological-Transactional, Cross-Section Examination of Early Adjustment.
Creator: White, Rachel, Renk, Kimberly, Bedwell, Jeffrey, Sims, Valerie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study utilized an ecological framework to investigate the types of variables that influence adolescent adjustment during middle school and how influences change or stay the same depending on grade level. A cross-sectional approach was taken in which students entering the beginning of their Sixth Grade year and students nearing the end of their Eighth Grade year were administered a comprehensive questionnaire including items about psychological adjustment, parenting characteristics,...
Show moreThis study utilized an ecological framework to investigate the types of variables that influence adolescent adjustment during middle school and how influences change or stay the same depending on grade level. A cross-sectional approach was taken in which students entering the beginning of their Sixth Grade year and students nearing the end of their Eighth Grade year were administered a comprehensive questionnaire including items about psychological adjustment, parenting characteristics, community support characteristics, ethnic identity, acculturation status, and socio-economic status. Findings suggest that Sixth and Eighth Graders' experience of emotional and behavioral problems is influenced differently. This is particularly salient as it pertains to parenting support and acculturation variables. Findings support the notion that individualized, multi-systemic style interventions are valuable even within the developmental period of adolescence as important changes in risk and protective factors are taking place as one moves from early- to mid-adolescence.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004459, ucf:49347
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004459

schizophrenia (5)	+ -
schizotypy (4)	+ -
empathy (3)	+ -
social cognition (3)	+ -
Stress (2)	+ -

facial electromyography (2)	+ -
metacognition (2)	+ -
sex (2)	+ -
social anxiety (2)	+ -
Adolescence (1)	+ -
Aging (1)	+ -
Anxiety Disorders (1)	+ -
Attention (1)	+ -
Auditory Working Memory (1)	+ -
CBT-I (1)	+ -
Cancer (1)	+ -
Cardiac Autonomic Control (1)	+ -
Cognitive Decline (1)	+ -
College Students (1)	+ -
Coping (1)	+ -
Declarative memory (1)	+ -
Delusion-Proneness (1)	+ -
Delusions (1)	+ -
Distress Tolerance (1)	+ -
Divided Attention (1)	+ -
Ecological (1)	+ -
Emotion Dysregulation (1)	+ -
Emotion Regulation (1)	+ -
Executive Functioning (1)	+ -
Exernalizing Problems (1)	+ -

ETD Collection (18)	+ -
Honors Collection (7)	+ -

University of Central Florida (25)	+ -
Bedwell, Jeffrey (24)	+ -
Sims, Valerie (6)	+ -
Cassisi, Jeffrey (5)	+ -
Beidel, Deborah (3)	+ -

Chan, Chi (2)	+ -
Deptula, Andrew (2)	+ -
Kamath, Vidyulata (2)	+ -
Mitchell, Jonathan (2)	+ -
Orem, Diana (2)	+ -
Renk, Kimberly (2)	+ -
Robinson, Diane (2)	+ -
Bedwell , Jeffrey (1)	+ -
Berg, Samantha K (1)	+ -
Blaney, Cerissa (1)	+ -
Carlton, Patricia (1)	+ -
Fiore, Stephen (1)	+ -
Janz, Bruce (1)	+ -
Kadison, Lisa (1)	+ -
Kamrath, Mark (1)	+ -
Kolpakova, Jenya (1)	+ -
Lee Lum, Ashley A (1)	+ -
Mauer, Barry (1)	+ -
Modianos, Doan (1)	+ -
Monroig, Marlaine (1)	+ -
Negy, Charles (1)	+ -
Nicasio, Andel (1)	+ -
Paskowski, Timothy (1)	+ -
Paulson, Daniel (1)	+ -
Payne, Charlotte A (1)	+ -

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