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Thursday, October 04, 2007
7:00pm-9:00pm
Poster Session I (Reception with Cash Bar)
1. The relationship between parental Major Depressive Disorder and adolescent psychopathology: An examination of gender patterns.
Authors: 1. Ana DiRago [University of Minnesota - Twin Cities]
2. Erin Tully [University of Minnesota - Twin Cities]
3. William Iacono [University of Minnesota - Twin Cities]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Background: Many previous investigations on the psychological adjustment of the offspring of depressed parents have not considered the gender of the parent or the offspring. Most studies have focused only on maternal depression, with little attention paid to paternal depression. Practical issues of participant recruitment and base rates of paternal and maternal psychopathology have contributed to the lack of attention to paternal influences on psychopathology. Our study explores whether the vulnerability to psychopathology is differentially transmitted depending on the gender of the depressed parent and gender of the offspring. Further, we explore whether comorbid externalizing disorders and/or spousal concordance for psychiatric disorders helps explain the associations between paternal depression and behavioral disorders in offspring.
Methods: Participants are 17-year old male and female adolescents and their biological parents from the 11-year-old and 17-year old cohorts of the Minnesota Twin Family Study (MTFS). The MTFS is a population-based, longitudinal study of twins and their parents designed to examine factors related to the etiology of psychopathology. Lifetime diagnoses of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in parents and multiple forms of psychopathology in adolescents, including internalizing psychopathology (anxiety and mood disorders), substance use disorders (alcohol and illicit drug abuse/dependence) and externalizing psychopathology (Conduct Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Adult Antisocial Behavior) are used to examine whether the vulnerability to psychopathology is differentially transmitted depending on the gender of the parent and offspring. Maternal and paternal externalizing diagnoses are examined in order to assess whether comorbidity and assortative mating explain the increased risk of externalizing psychopathology in offspring of depressed parents.
Results: Gender of the adolescent did not act as a moderator in the relationship between parental depression and adolescent psychopathology. While maternal depression significantly predicted a wide range of disorders (both internalizing and externalizing psychopathology) in offspring, paternal depression did not predict any psychopathology (including depression) in the offspring. Maternal MDD predicted externalizing disorder in offspring above and beyond paternal externalizing and maternal externalizing diagnoses.
2. Emotion-modulated startle in major and minor depression
Authors: 1. April Taylor-Clift [University of South Florida]
2. Beth Morris [University of South Florida]
3. David Drobes [Moffitt Cancer Center, University of South Florida]
4. Jonathan Rottenberg [University of South Florida]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Cognitive theories of depression predict potentiated responding to negative emotional stimuli in major depressive disorder (MDD). However, recent findings using the emotion-modulated startle paradigm have indicated an absence of emotion-modulated startle (flattened response across valenced pictures) in MDD (Dichter et al., 2004; Allen, et al., 1999). Interestingly, individuals with mild major depression have exhibited intact emotion-modulated startle (Forbes et al., 2005; Kaviani et al., 2004). The effect of depression severity on startle modulation is poorly understood. To address this issue, we assessed the emotion-modulated startle magnitudes in three groups of varying depressive severity (a) current MDD, (b) current episode of minor depression (mD), and (c) never depressed controls. Participants viewed 12 each of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures in randomized order for 6 seconds. Startle was elicited with 50ms of white noise 3.5-5.5s into 27 of 36 pictures and 9 intertrial intervals. We predict that MDD individuals will show a lack of emotion-modulated startle across pictures, whereas mD individuals will show potentiated startle during unpleasant pictures compared to controls. To test our predictions, a 3 (picture valence) x 3 (group) ANOVA will be conducted on startle magnitude. Implications of possible non-linear effects of mood severity on emotional reactivity will be discussed.
3. Self-Criticism, Neediness, Connectedness, and Symptom Specificity in Major Depression
Authors: 1. Eric Bulmash [Queens University]
2. Jeremy Stewart [Queens University]
3. Michael Bagby [Centre for Addiction and Mental Health]
4. Kate Harkness [Queens University]
The relation of personality to depressive symptomatology is important to conceptualizing depressive subtypes and developing individualized treatments. Recent research has shown that extreme personality Self-Criticism is associated with cognitive symptoms of depression. However, the relation of interpersonal Dependency to symptom specificity is less clear, possibly because Dependency has recently been shown to comprise adaptive (‘Connectedness’) and maladaptive (‘Neediness’) subfactors. In the current investigation we examined the relations of Self-Criticism, Neediness, and Connectedness to symptom specificity in 140 outpatients with Major Depression who completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory. Regression analyses were performed using the cognitive and somatic subscales, and the individual items, of the BDI-II as dependent variables. High scores on Self-Criticism and Neediness were associated with higher scores on the cognitive subscale of the BDI-II. More specifically, Self-Criticism was uniquely associated with ‘sense of failure’, and ‘self-accusation’, whereas Neediness was uniquely associated with ‘social withdrawal’ and ‘body image distortions’. No evidence was found for a relation of Connectedness and BDI-II subtypes or symptoms. These results validate the separation of Dependency into adaptive and maladaptive subfactors and suggest that the personality traits of Self-Criticism and Neediness are associated with content-congruent depressive symptom patterns.
4. Cognitive Biases in Comorbid Depression and Social Anxiety Disorder
Authors: 1. Joelle LeMoult [University of Miami]
2. Jutta Joormann [University of Miami]
Research has demonstrated that biased processing of emotional material is a feature of social anxiety disorder and depression. The specificity of cognitive biases, the nature of biased processing in comorbid conditions, and the functional role of biases in the onset and maintenance of these disorders, however, remain open to debate. The present study compared attention and memory biases among individuals with depression (MDD), social anxiety (SAD), and comorbid depression and social anxiety (CMD). Using a dot-probe paradigm, sub- and supraliminal attentional biases were examined for faces expressing sadness, anger, disgust, and happiness. Recognition of the faces was tested subsequently. MDD and CMD were expected to show an attentional bias toward sad faces presented supra- but not subliminally. Given depressed individuals’ engagement in ruminative elaboration, MDD and CMD were also expected to exhibit a memory bias for sad faces. In line with the vigilance-avoidance hypothesis, SAD and CMD were expected to show an attentional bias toward angry and disgust faces presented sub- but not supraliminally. Furthermore, SAD and CMD were expected to exhibit no memory bias. Preliminary findings support these hypotheses. The implications of our findings for the understanding of the onset, maintenance, and treatment of comorbidity are discussed.
5. The Impact of Depressive and Anxious Symptoms on Postpartum Work Adjustment: A Social Cognitive Model
Authors: 1. Joy E. Moel [University of Iowa]
2. Saba R. Ali [University of Iowa]
3. Scott Stuart [University of Iowa]
4. Michael O'Hara [University of Iowa]
This study employed structural equation modeling to examine a sociocognitive model of work adjustment with a community sample of 274 postpartum women. It has been estimated that 10% to 20% of women experience depressive symptomatology in the postpartum period that significantly interferes with functioning, including occupational functioning. Moreover, depression and anxiety are often co-morbid with many overlapping symptoms. Within the proposed model, depressive and anxious symptoms were assessed and conceptualized as an affective state and learning experience hypothesized to predict postpartum work adjustment through self-efficacy. A recently developed 64-item self-report instrument designed to assess symptoms of depression and anxiety based on DSM-IV symptom criteria was utilized in the current study. The presence of these symptoms significantly impacted almost every other measured variable and predicted work adjustment in expected ways. Significant relationships were found between depressive and anxious symptoms and work-family conflict, the availability of role models, perceived support, self-efficacy, work-family enrichment, job satisfaction, and social class. Suggestions for future research and implications of the findings will be presented.
6. Differential Relations of Symptoms of Depression and Social Anxiety to the Facets of Extraversion/Positive Emotionality
Authors: 1. Kristin Naragon [University of Iowa]
2. David Watson [University of Iowa]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Depression and social anxiety are highly prevalent disorders that are frequently comorbid. Previous research has shown that symptoms of both disorders are characterized by low levels of extraversion/positive emotionality (E/PE). However, little is known about the relations of the lower-order components of E/PE with symptoms of depression and social anxiety. This study utilized multiple measures of each hypothesized facet of E/PE, as well as multiple measures of depression symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, and neuroticism/negative emotionality. Self-report data were collected from large samples of college students and psychiatric outpatients. Separate principal factor analyses in each sample revealed a five-factor structure of E/PE, consisting of the facets of Sociability, Positive Emotionality, Energetic Drive, Ascendance, and Fun-Seeking. This structure was highly robust and replicated well across the student and patient samples. The E/PE facets demonstrated differential relations with Social Anxiety and Depression factors in each sample: namely, Social Anxiety was broadly related to the facets of E/PE (particularly low Sociability and low Ascendance), whereas Depression was most strongly related to low Positive Emotionality. Implications for assessment and structural models of psychopathology are discussed, as well as directions for future research.
7. Sociotropy Moderates the Relationship Between Major Depression and Interspousal Criticality Bias
Authors: 1. Kristina Peterson [University of Notre Dame]
2. Jeremy Montemarano [University of Notre Dame]
3. David Smith [University of Notre Dame]
Depressed people are biased in their reports of spousal criticism (Peterson, 2007). Depressed people may be especially vulnerable to bias when certain cognitive schemas are activated. Sociotropic people have dysfunctional beliefs around the need for approval (Beck, 1983) that may predispose them to be sensitive to criticism. This study tests sociotropy as a moderator of the relationship between criticality bias and clinical depression.
Married couples were classified as either depressed (e.g., one spouse with current MDD) or not based on SCID interviews (First, Gibbon, Spitzer, & Williams, 2001). Videotapes of a 10-minute spousal interaction were coded for criticism in 30-second intervals by spouses and by independent judges. Ratings were compared on each interval to determine criticality bias via signal detection methods (Macmillan & Creelman, 2005).
The Sociotropy scale (Robins et al., 1994) moderated the relationship between depression and criticality bias, ß = -1.66, R2 change =.07, p < .05. Sociotropy may make those who are depressed especially vulnerable to over-perceiving spousal criticism. Because perceived criticism is a predictor of relapse (Hooley & Teasdale, 1989), people high in sociotropy may be more prone to relapse or longer duration of depressive episodes especially to the extent that they evidence criticality bias.
8. Circadian Rhythmicity in Positive and Negative Affect and its Relationship to Depression, Neuroticism, and Extroversion
Authors: 1. Laura Benson [Illinois Institute of Technology]
2. Michael Young [Illinois Institute of Technology]
3. Dror Ben-Zeev [Illinois Institute of Technology]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Several studies provide evidence for an endogenous circadian rhythm of positive affect (PA), but not negative affect (NA). However, these studies have various methodological limitations, including single-item good-bad mood assessment, few data points per day, few days of data, and only nonclinical samples. The current study compared the NA/PA circadian rhythmicity of depressed and normal individuals and their relationships to personality factors (neuroticism, extroversion). Data were collected multiple times per day across an entire week with the Experience Sampling Method, yielding more data points and greater time resolution with which to assess circadian rhythms. Use of a standard rating scale measure of affect (the Positive and Negative Affect Scale; PANAS) yielded mood data with greater reliability and meaning.
Participants consisted of 26 depressed individuals (21 females, 5 males) and 25 nondepressed controls (16 females, 9 males), recruited from the community. Depressed participants were required to meet criteria for an Axis I diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder as determined through the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR in addition to having a Beck Depression Inventory-II score of 13 or higher (actual range: 13-47, M = 34.4, SD = 8.7). Controls, in contrast, needed a BDI-II score of 7 or less (actual range: 0-6, M = 2.3, SD = 1.9). All individuals with recent drug or alcohol abuse, a lifetime diagnosis of bipolar disorder or psychosis, and/or any other DSM-IV Axis I disorder within the last 5 years were excluded. Neuroticism and extroversion were assessed with the short-scale Eysenck Personality Questionnaire – Revised.
The Experience Sampling Method was used to obtain representative self-reports of momentary affect. For approximately 7 days, each participant carried a Personal Data Assistant (PDA) which produced an auditory signal and a computerized version of the twenty item PANAS every 1.5 hours +/-10 minutes between 9 A.M. and 10 P.M. Responses were required within 5 minutes of the signal; approximately eight data entries were generated per day. The number of signals received (M = 56.3, SD = 3.7) and PANAS questionnaires completed (M = 50.4, SD = 6.4) were almost identical for both depressed individuals and controls.
Circadian rhythmicity is described by three parameters: amplitude, phase (clock time of the rhythm peak), and percent rhythmicity (proportion of variance in mood accounted for by the rhythm). Values of these parameters for NA and PA for each participant were derived using cosinor analysis. The relationships between these circadian variables and neuroticism, extroversion, and diagnostic status (depressed, control) were examined. Based on previous research on circadian functioning in mood and physiology, we made the following specific hypotheses. 1. Rhythmicity will be evident in PA, but not NA. 2. Depressed participants will exhibit blunted amplitude in PA. 3. Neuroticism will be associated with both lower percent PA rhythmicity and blunted amplitude in PA.
9. Work in Progress: Relationship Attributions as a Moderator of Major Depressive Disorder and Marital Discord
Authors: 1. Rebeccah L. Schweers [University of Notre Dame]
2. Lora Smitham [University of Notre Dame]
The attributional underpinnings of depression and marital discord raises the possibility that the two are related because of a shared attributional mechanism (Horneffer & Fincham, 1996, Abramson et al., 1978, Paykel et al., 1969). This study seeks to illuminate this process by looking at whether relationship attributions moderate the association between depression and marital discord.
180 married couples from the community completed the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996), Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS; Spanier, 1976), and the Relationship Attribution Measure (RAM; Fincham & Bradbury, 1992).
For husbands, after entering the DAS and the RAM, adding the DAS x RAM interaction significantly improved BDI-II prediction, Fchange(1,148) = 8.77, p < .005. For wives, the DAS x RAM interaction did not improve BDI-II prediction, Fchange(1,149) =.001, n.s.
As predicted, marital discord and depression were especially strongly associated for men who were predisposed toward making negative relationship attributions about their wives. However, this hypothesis was not supported for wives. The conference presentation will address this same question using diagnostic status (SCID) in addition to symptomatology (BDI-II).
10. The Heritability of the Internalizing Spectrum: Evidence for Moderation by Marital Satisfaction
Authors: 1. Susan South [University of Minnesota, Twin Cities]
2. Robert Krueger [University of Minnesota, Twin Cities]
Past research suggests that patterns of comorbidity among depression, generalized anxiety, and panic are due to their membership in a common internalizing spectrum, which may also encompass the personality trait of neuroticism. In addition, the etiology of comorbidity between the internalizing spectrum and relationship distress has yet to be examined, even though poor marital quality is a reliable correlate of internalizing problems. In the current study, we explored these ideas by first examining genetic and environmental influences on the internalizing spectrum constructs of major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and neuroticism, to see whether there are unique genetic and environmental influences on specific syndromes after accounting for a common factor. We found no specific genetic influences on individual internalizing syndromes after accounting for genetic influences on the general internalizing factor, but there was residual genetic influence on neuroticism. Biometrical moderation models were then used to examine whether marital quality moderated the genetic and environmental effects on the internalizing factor. We found greater genetic effects on the internalizing factor at lower levels of marital quality, suggesting that those with a genetic predisposition to internalizing syndromes may be more likely to express this predisposition in the context of a dissatisfying marriage.
11. Self-System Therapy for Depression: A Follow-Up Study
Authors: 1. Megan McCrudden [Duke University]
2. Timothy Strauman [Duke University]
Self-System Therapy (SST) is a brief, structured psychotherapy for depression based on regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 1997; Vieth et al., 2003). It is designed to help individuals whose depression is characterized by deficits in the successful pursuit of promotion goals. Previous research has indicated that therapies shown to be efficacious in the treatment of depression are less effective in treating depressed individuals who have experienced chronic failure to achieve promotion goals (Strauman et al., 2001). In a recently published study, Strauman et al. (2006) compared the efficacy of SST and Beck’s Cognitive Therapy (CT) in treating depressed individuals. The authors found that, on average, patients showed similar responses to the two treatments. However, individuals whose socialization history lacked an emphasis on promotion goals showed significantly greater improvement when randomized to receive SST treatment compared to CT. In addition, treatment with SST led to a greater reduction in dysphoric responses to the priming of promotion goals compared to CT, and this change was significantly correlated with symptom reduction. Analyses are currently underway to determine whether this same pattern of results is present at one year follow-up. Findings will help determine the both the specific efficacy of SST and its potential value in relapse prevention. They will also serve to comment on the value of treatment matching in depression, as well as a theory-based translational approach to treatment design and selection in psychopathology.
Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52, 1280–1300.
Strauman, T. J., Kolden, G. G., Stromquist, V., Davis, N., Kwapil, L., Heerey, E., & Schneider, K. (2001). The effect of treatments for depression on perceived failure in self-regulation. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 25(6), 693-712.
Strauman, T.J., Vieth, A.Z., Merrill, K.A., Kolden, G.G., Woods, T.E., Klein, M.H., et al. (2006). Self-system therapy as an intervention for self-regulatory dysfunction in depression: A randomized comparison with cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 367-376.
Vieth, A. Z., Strauman, T. J., Kolden, G. G., Woods, T. E., Michels, J. L., & Klein, M. H. (2003). Self-System Therapy (SST): A theory-based psychotherapy for depression. Clinical Psychology and Scientific Practice, 10, 245-268.
12. Increased Amygdala Response in Children as a Function of the
Serotonin Transporter Polymorphism
Authors: 1. Melissa L. Henry [Department of Psychology, Stanford University]
2. Moriah E. Thomason [Department of Psychology & Neurosciences Program, Stanford University]
3. Jutta Joormann [Department of Psychology, University of Miami]
4. Jarold P. Hamilton [Department of Psychology, Stanford University]
5. Joachim Hallmayer [Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University]
6. Ian H. Gotlib [Department of Psychology, Stanford University]
Recent studies indicate that the effect of life stress on depression is moderated by a polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR). Being a carrier of one or two copies of the short allele of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism has been found to be associated with greater vulnerability to the depressogenic effects of stress. This polymorphism has also been linked to aberrant patterns of brain activation during the processing of emotional stimuli. Although the association between the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and vulnerability to affective disorders has been documented in adult samples, we know little about the relation between this polymorphism and patterns of brain activation in children. In this study we scanned healthy 9- 14-year-old children as they performed a dot-probe emotional face task. Stimuli included angry and fearful faces paired with neutral faces, presented both subliminally and supraliminally. All participants were screened for current psychopathology, completed questionnaires, and were genotyped. Preliminary analyses indicated that S-allele carriers exhibited greater amygdala response while viewing both angry and fearful faces, presented subliminally and supraliminally, than did children who were homozygous for the long allele. Implications of these results for our understanding of the development of psychopathology will be discussed.
13. Rejection and Women’s Depression: A Longitudinal Examination of Individual-Level and Dyadic-Level Variables
Authors: 1. Renee Thompson [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]
2. Howard Berenbaum [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]
Past research has consistently found that interpersonal rejection and women’s depression are positively associated. We hypothesized that the relation between depression and rejection would be best understood by: (a) examining dyadic-level variables; and (b) separating concurrent and longitudinal associations. Participants were 99 dating couples from the community. We contrasted the ability of individual-level rejection variables (i.e., women’s reports of rejection and their romantic partners’ reports of how rejecting they were of the women) with a dyadic level variable (the difference between the women’s reports of rejection and their partners’ reports of how rejecting they were). Once a month for three months, we measured: (a) women’s self-reported anhedonic depression; (b) women’s reported rejection; and (c) partners’ reports of rejection. Longitudinal analyses indicated that: (a) rejection predicted later depression, whereas depression did not predict later rejection; (b) the dyadic-level variable fit the data better than did individual-level variables; and (c) in the presence of romantic partners reporting being rejecting, perceiving low rejection was associated with lower depression concurrently, but increased depression longitudinally. Thus, although perceiving lower rejection than one’s partner reported is associated with less depression concurrently, it is associated with increased levels of depression one month later.
14. Anxiety Moderates Relations between Frontal EEG Alpha Asymmetry and Depression
Authors: 1. Robin Nusslock [University of Wisconsin-Madison]
2. Alexander Shackman [University of Wisconsin-Madison]
3. Brenton McMenamin [University of Wisconsin-Madison]
4. Larry Greischar [University of Wisconsin-Madison]
5. Maria Kovacs [University of Pittsburgh]
6. Richard Davidson [University of Wisconsin-Madison]
Decreased relative left frontal alpha (8-13Hz) EEG activity at baseline has been observed in individuals with a lifetime history of depression. It remains unknown, however, whether this profile of frontal EEG asymmetry is present among depressed individuals with a co-morbid anxiety disorder. Indeed, research indicates that individuals with high subclinical levels of anxious apprehension (i.e., worry, verbal rumination) show the opposite pattern of frontal EEG asymmetry: increased relative left frontal EEG activity. Accordingly, the current study examined whether the presence of an anxiety disorder characterized by prominent levels of anxious apprehension (Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) moderates relations between frontal EEG asymmetry and depression. Consistent with prediction, depressed females with no anxiety disorder (n = 37) had decreased relative left lateral-frontal activity at baseline compared to both healthy control females and depressed females with clinically significant anxious apprehension (n = 18). Furthermore, depressed females with comorbid anxious apprehension were not statistically distinguishable from controls. Taken together, these results suggest that clinical levels of anxious apprehension may “mask” relations between frontal EEG asymmetry and depression.
15. Personality Disorders as a Risk Factor for Perinatal Depression
Authors: 1. Sarah Brand [Emory University]
2. Sherryl Goodman [Emory University]
Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in women. Perinatal depression is important to examine because of its impact on the fetus and infant. Knowledge of risk factors and correlates has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of preventive interventions benefiting both mothers and infants. While there is some evidence that personality disorders are associated with depression, personality disorders in perinatally depressed women are a neglected topic.
We will describe findings from a study of 81 pregnant women with histories of major depression episodes, who were thus at risk for recurrence of depression during pregnancy or post-partum (68% actually had a recurrence). Women completed the International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE) screen. Women who developed perinatal depression endorsed significantly more trait criteria for personality disorders (22.20 ± 8.7 versus 11.23 ± 5.6) F(2,76) = 13.23, p = .001 than did women who did not become depressed during this time. IPDE scores also predicted 33% of the variance in severity of depression during pregnancy F(1,79)=38.84, p = .001 and 15% during postpartum F(1,73) = 13,06, p = .001.
Findings will be interpreted within Hammen’s (2002) stress generation model whereby personality disorders characterizing women with perinatal depression may be predominant among the mechanisms where women generate additional stressors, including increasing the likelihood of the offspring being exposed to further episodes.
16. Implicit Depression and Hopelessness in Remitted DepressedIndividuals
Authors: 1. Tiffany Meites [Harvard University]
2. Christen Deveney [Harvard University]
3. Katherine Steele [Harvard University]
4. Diego Pizzagalli [Harvard University]
Both Beck’s cognitive theory of depression (1979) and Abramson’s hopelessness theory of depression (1989) posit the existence of automatic cognitive vulnerabilities that might predispose individuals to develop major depressive disorder (MDD). Potential vulnerabilities include individuals’ views towards the self and the future, which might remain opaque to self-report assessments. The present study examined implicit attitudes towards these vulnerabilities among 20 remitted depressed individuals and 23 healthy controls. Participants completed two Implicit Association Tests (IATs), underwent a negative mood induction, and then repeated the two IATs. In the depression IAT, as compared to healthy controls, remitted depressed participants exhibited a significantly lower tendency to view themselves positively before the mood induction. Contrary to hypotheses, this bias was not further modulated by the mood induction in remitted depressed participants. However, controls displayed a significantly decreased tendency to view themselves positively on the depression IAT following the sad mood induction. For remitted depressed participants only, changes in explicit dysfunctional attitudes predicted post-mood induction depression IAT values. No significant findings emerged when considering the hopelessness IAT. Results build on previous IAT research in MDD and help clarify that the hypothesized vulnerabilities may be more specific to individuals’ conceptualization of the self rather than the future.
17. Comparing Items from Personality Instruments: An Item Response Theory Analysis of the NEO PI-R and DAPP-BQ
Authors: 1. Douglas Samuel [University of Kentucky]
2. John Livesley [University of British Columbia]
3. Thomas Widiger [University of Kentucky]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) currently conceptualizes personality disorders (PDs) as categorical syndromes that are distinct from normal personality. However, an alternative dimensional viewpoint is that PDs are extreme, maladaptive versions of general personality traits. This hypothesis was tested using item response theory (IRT) analyses comparing the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology (DAPP-BQ) to the NEO Personality Inventory – Revised (NEO PI-R). The results indicate that items from the DAPP-BQ and the NEO PI-R items assess shared latent constructs at similar levels. However, statistical tests reveal that the NEO PI-R provides a significantly better assessment of the lowest (i.e., adaptive) ends of the trait continuum while the DAPP provides more psychometric information at the uppermost (i.e., maladaptive) extremes. In addition, behaviorally specific items, such as those from the DAPP-BQ suicidality scale, provide an assessment at substantially more extreme levels than does the NEO PI-R. The results support the notion that PDs can be conceptualized as extreme variants of general personality traits and suggest the need to further utilize IRT methodologies in creating and refining instruments to provide a high-fidelity assessment of personality across the entire latent trait continuum.
18. Shared Genetic Variance Between Affective Instability and Suicide Attempts in An Australian Twin Sample
Authors: 1. Christine Durrett [University of Missouri]
2. Stephanie Stepp [University of Missouri]
3. Marika Solhan [University of Missouri]
4. Marissa Grimmer [Queensland Institute of Medical Research]
5. Nicholas Martin [Queensland Institute of Medical Research]
6. Tim Trull [University of Missouri]
Affective instability (AI) is a core feature of borderline personality disorder that is believed to lead to a number of problematic behaviors including suicidal behavior. Although studies have shown both AI and suicidal behavior to be influenced by genetic factors, the association or overlap between these genetic factors is not known. An unselected, population-based sample of 274 complete twin pairs (134 MZ pairs and 140 DZ pairs; mean age = 23, range=18-33) completed measures assessing affective instability (PAI-Borderline Features Affective Instability subscale; Morey, 1991) and a lifetime history of suicide attempt (0=no, 1-yes). Mplus 4.2 (Muthen & Muthen, 2006) was used to estimate the fit of a series of genetic models that estimated the relative contribution of genetic, shared environment, and unique environment influences on affective instability scores (continuous) and lifetime history of suicide attempts (categorical), respectively. In both univariate cases, the model specifying genetic (A) and unique environment (E) influences fit the data best. For affective instability, the AE model ?2 (7)=5.501, p=.5991, CFI=1.0, TFI=1.0, RMSEA=0.0, a2=.35, and e2=.65. For suicide attempts, the AE model ?2 (4)=1.292, p=.8630, CFI=1.0, TFI=1.0, RMSEA=0.0, a2=.75, and e2=.25. A bivariate Cholesky decomposition model was used to estimate the degree of overlap between genetic and environmental factors that influence affective instability scores and lifetime history of suicide attempt. The correlation between latent genetic factors affecting these scores (rg=0.506) suggests that about one-half of the genetic variance affecting affective instability results from genetic influences that also affect suicide attempts.
19. The Structure of Impulsive Behaviors
Authors: 1. Leigh Wensman [University of Iowa]
2. Lee Anna Clark [University of Iowa]
Impulsive behaviors are implicated in many pathological disorders as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (APA, 1994). However, there is little agreement as to the boundaries and structure of the personality trait of impulsivity and its behavioral manifestations. A large (N = 518) sample of undergraduates completed a battery of self-report trait-level measures in a broadly defined domain of impulsivity; a subset of these participants (n=409) completed a retrospective measure of behaviors of moderate frequency in the impulsive spectrum, and a subgroup of these participants (n=145) also completed a 2-week prospective measure of daily behaviors in the impulsive spectrum. The results show a clear two-factor structure of moderate-frequency impulsive behaviors, with factors representing behaviors associated with Sex and Legal Problems, and with an Irresponsible orientation. A clear three-factor structure of daily impulsive behaviors emerged, with factors representing Spontaneous/Cautious, Nonplanning/Planful and Antisocial behaviors. Additionally, factor-specific relations with the self-report scales were found for both of these domains. These data point to the possibility that the construct of impulsivity encompasses many specific, structurally distinct personality trait dimensions that all lead to impulsive behavior.
20. Identifying distinct personality disorder symptom change trajectories: Two-part growth mixture modeling in the Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders (LSPD)
Authors: 1. Michael Hallquist [SUNY-Binghamton]
2. Mark Lenzenweger [SUNY-Binghamton]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Longitudinal studies of personality disorders increasingly indicate that personality disorder symptoms decline over time (Lenzenweger, 2006). Although techniques such as hierarchical linear modeling reveal interindividual variation in symptom change, extant growth modeling in the PD literature nevertheless treats the study population as a single group with normal, continuous variation around mean parameters. However, in a heterogeneous population of individuals selected for Axis II symptomatology, but not selected for a particular PD, symptom change at the disorder and cluster levels likely represents a mixture of individuals with and without particular PD features. Little is known about the potential development of personality disorder symptoms among some individuals initially assessed as non-symptomatic.
The present study primarily utilized two-part growth mixture modeling (Muthén, 2001) to examine whether latent subgroups characterized symptom change trajectories for DSM-III-R PD clusters among at-risk and not-at-risk individuals in the LSPD. Support for distinct trajectory classes was found for all PD clusters. Results will be discussed in terms of their implications for PD symptom change over time. In addition, this presentation will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of modern longitudinal analytic models.
* This research was funded in part by NIMH Grant (MH-45448)
21. Therapist competence and adherence as a predictor of treatment efficacy
Authors: 1. Radha Dunham [University of Miami]
2. Amy Weisman de Mamani [University of
Miami]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
The importance of empirically evaluating psychological treatments is now widely recognized. However, before treatment gains can be attributed to the specific components of an intervention, it is essential to measure the extent to which therapists adhere to the treatment under investigation. Furthermore, it is important to assess how therapist performance relates to treatment efficacy including psychiatric symptoms and consumer satisfaction. Using a sample of approximately 50 participants, the current study will examine whether therapist competence and adherence to a family focused, Culturally Informed Therapy for Schizophrenia (CIT-S) predicts treatment efficacy. Therapist competence/adherence will be rated using the CIT-S-Therapist Competence and Adherence Scale, based on approximately 60 videotaped therapy sessions. Treatment outcome will be rated based on patient symptoms on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale at the end of treatment while controlling for baseline symptoms), treatment dropout, and consumer satisfaction ratings. The results from this study will help clarify how competence/adherence relates to treatment outcome and to clients’ own perceptions of treatment efficacy. These finding may have general implications for reducing drop-out rates and improving treatment success for manualized interventions.
22. Normalization of amygdala function in generalized anxiety disorder patients following treatment with venlafaxine
Authors: 1. Desmond Oathes [Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology]
2. Issidoros Sarinopoulos [Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology]
3. Mai Lor [Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology]
4. Ned Kalin [University of Wisconsin, Madison, Department of Psychiatry]
5. Jack Nitschke [Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology]
Patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) experience excessive worry about the future, which is supported by behavioral findings of faster response times and heightened vigilance. GAD patients also engage in avoidance strategies, consistent with cardiovascular and pupillometry findings of hyporesponsivity in direct response to affective stimuli. Using a rapid event-related fMRI paradigm, we scanned GAD patients and healthy controls while they anticipated and viewed both aversive and neutral pictures. GAD patients then began an 8-week trial of venlafaxine ER, at the conclusion of which all subjects were scanned again using the same paradigm. Of the brain regions previously identified as being activated by this paradigm, only the amygdala showed group differences. We found that GAD patients showed pretreatment anticipatory hyperactivation preceding the pictures as well as reduced reactivity in response to the pictures. Normalization of amygdala function was observed following treatment, consistent with the symptom improvement observed for the GAD patients. The diminished anticipatory response for the GAD group suggests a reduction in hypervigilance. Following from theoretical assertions that avoiding negative emotions contributes to the maintenance of pathological anxiety, the increase in amygdala response to the pictures suggests a reduction in avoidance following successful treatment.
23. PTSD Symptom Clusters as Predictors of Emotional Responding in Vietnam Combat Veterans
Authors: 1. Lauren B. McSweeney [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System]
2. Michael K. Suvak [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System; Boston University]
3. Kathryn L. Humphreys [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System]
4. Denise M. Sloan [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System; Boston University]
5. Brett T. Litz [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System; Boston University]
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with two emotion regulation challenges: Patients contend with intense negative affect and physiological arousal when exposed to reminders of the trauma and they report deficits in the ability to experience and express emotions or "emotional numbing" (APA, 1994). In light of research demonstrating heterogeneity in the expression of PTSD (e.g., Miller, 2003), we examined the unique association of PTSD symptom clusters and emotional behavior. Vietnam veterans with and without PTSD viewed and rated 72 standardized pleasant and unpleasant images (36 of each) varying in their intensity or arousal-inducing qualities (low, medium, and high) while their physiological responses, including eyeblinks to startle probes, were recorded. Preliminary analyses revealed that PTSD symptom cluster C (avoidance and numbing) was associated with smaller initial startle responses in the PTSD group, while no other symptom cluster was related to the startle response. Subsequent analyses will examine whether this affect is moderated by the valence and arousal of the stimuli across a number of indicators of emotional response (e.g., facial EMG, Heart-rate, skin-conductance).
24. When the Need to Belong Goes Wrong: The Expression of Social Anhedonia and Social Anxiety in Daily Life
Authors: 1. Leslie Brown [University of North Carolina at Greensboro]
2. Paul Silvia [University of North Carolina at Greensboro]
3. Inez Myin-Germeys [Maastricht University]
4. Thomas Kwapil [University of North Carolina at Greensboro]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Baumeister and Leary (1995) proposed that people possess an innate “need to belong” that drives social interactions. Aberrations in the need to belong, such as social anhedonia and anxiety, characterize the schizophrenia spectrum and provide a point of entry for examining this need. The current study employed experience sampling methodology to explore deviations in the belongingness need in the daily lives of 245 undergraduates. PDAs signaled participants eight times daily for a week to complete questionnaires regarding affect, thoughts, and behaviors. As predicted, social anhedonia was associated with increased time alone, a preference for solitude, and lower positive affect. Social anxiety, on the other hand, was associated with higher negative affect and unassociated with time alone. Furthermore, social anxiety was associated with greater self-consciousness and preference to be alone while interacting with unfamiliar people. Thus, deviations in the belongingness need affect social functioning differently depending on whether the belongingness need is absent or thwarted. Social impairment is characteristic of the prodromal, active, and residual phases of schizophrenia. ESM provides a useful method for assessing social dysfunction in daily life and may aid in the early identification of individuals at risk for schizophrenia and spectrum disorders.
25. Extremity and Dysfunction: The Relations Between FFM PD Prototype Extremity and GAF Scores.
Authors: 1. David D. Vachon [Purdue University]
2. Donald R. Lynam [Purdue University]
3. Joshua D. Miller [University of Georgia]
4. R. Michael Bagby [Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Much recent research has examined the possibility that the DSM personality disorders can be understood and assessed using a dimensional model of personality—the Five-Factor Model. One particular approach has matched individual participant profiles to expert prototypes to generate PD scores. Although this approach has gained some support, several issues remain unresolved; most notably is the role of impairment or distress, which is assumed within this approach to directly vary with trait extremity. We test this assumption directly in a outpatient psychiatric sample of 501 participants using GAF scores as an index of dysfunction. First, we examine the nature (linear vs. curvilinear) and strength of the relation between impairment and prototype similarity; second, we compare these relations to those obtained using DSM-IV symptom counts. Finally, we examine which specific aspects of the expert profiles account for the relations observed. Results provide some support for the initial assumption. Relations between the GAF and FFM PD scores are generally linear; the curvilinear relations that are observed suggest floor effects in the GAF rather than threshold effects. Comparisons with explicit DSM counts are also discussed and the roles of Neuroticism and Extraversion in predicting GAF are highlighted.
26. Gene-environment interplay in child temperament and the early home environment
Authors: 1. Elizabeth Hayden [University of Western Ontario]
2. Lea Dougherty [University at Stony Brook]
3. Thomas Olino [University at Stony Brook]
4. Emily Durbin [Northwestern University]
5. Margaret Dyson [University at Stony Brook]
6. Haroon Sheikh [University of Western Ontario]
7. Shiva Singh [University of Western Ontario]
8. Daniel Klein [University at Stony Brook]
Many investigations of genetic and environmental contributions to behavior have treated the two as independent influences, despite theorists’ assertions to the contrary (e.g., Rutter, 2007). However, empirical investigators of associations between measured genes and environments are rare to date (Jaffee & Price, 2007). To address this gap, we examined the association between child temperament, the early home environment, and measured genetic variants in a community sample of two hundred preschool-aged children and their mothers. Parenting styles were assessed using standardized laboratory tasks, and laboratory and parent report measures of child temperament were collected. Child DNA was obtained from buccal swabs, and children were genotyped for a variety of common gene variants thought to influence serotonergic and dopaminergic systems. Preliminary results indicate significant relationships between child temperament and measured genes in children. Measured child genes are also associated with observed parenting styles. Implications for understanding mechanisms of risk in developmental psychopathology will be discussed.
27. Coercive Processes in the Families of Preschoolers with ADHD
Authors: 1. Emily Neuhaus [University of Washington]
2. Theodore Beauchaine [University of Washington]
3. Lisa Kopp [University of Washington]
4. Jane Chipman [University of Washington]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Longitudinal research indicates that Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can reflect the beginning of a developmental pathway that ends in antisocial behavior. Parent-child interactions involving a coercive cycle of escalation, the tendency to match or exceed a partner’s level of aversiveness, are thought to contribute to children’s progression along this pathway. The current study explored the role of escalation in a group of preschoolers, some of whom had ADHD. It was hypothesized that escalation in interactions would be positively correlated with both children’s level of oppositional behavior, as well as with children’s baseline physiological dysregulation. Parent-child interactions on a laboratory task were coded for escalation, and oppositional behavior was assessed via parent report and observational ratings. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a psychophysiological measure of emotion dysregulation, was also collected. Escalation by the child was positively correlated with oppositional behavior, with a stronger relationship found for observational ratings than for parent report. Escalation was not correlated with RSA as predicted, but RSA was negatively associated with observed emotional dysregulation and opposition. Escalation and RSA emerged as independent correlates of oppositional behavior. Future research will explore these relationships longitudinally and with detailed sequential analysis, as they may have implications for prevention of antisocial behavior.
28. The FFM Assessment of Psychopathy: An Item Response Theory Analysis
Authors: 1. Karen Derefinko [University of Kentucky]
2. Douglas Samuel [University of Kentucky]
3. Donald Lynam [Purdue University]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Lynam and colleagues (Lynam & Derefinko. 2006; Widiger & Lynam, 1998) have argued that psychopathy can be understood as a constellation of traits from a model of general personality functioning--the five-factor model of personality (FFM). Several studies demonstrate that psychopathy assessed using a measure of the FFM looks and behaves like psychopathy assessed using more traditional measures (Derefinko & Lynam, 2006; Miller & Lynam, 2003). However, due to its status as a measure of general personality, it is not clear whether the FFM adequately assesses the extremes of the psychopathy construct. The present study used item response theory to compare the characteristics of items from three psychopathy measures, including the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996), Hare’s Self-Report Psychopathy scale (HSRP; Hare, Harpur & Hemphill, 1989), and the FFM psychopathy index (FFP; Miller, Lynam, Widiger & Leukefeld, 2001) completed by 346 undergraduates. Results indicate that while all three measures demonstrate excellent discrimination, high scores on the PPI are associated with significantly higher levels of psychopathy than the HSRP or the FFP. However, between group differences in item information functions were not significant, suggesting that all three measures are providing similar information across levels of the latent trait.
29. Response Bias among Vietnam Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder
Authors: 1. Kathryn L. Humphreys [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System]
2. Brian P. Marx [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System; Boston University School of Medicine]
3. Denise M. Sloan [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System; Boston University School of Medicine]
4. Danny G. Kaloupek [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System; Boston University School of Medicine]
5. Terence M. Keane [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System; Boston University School of Medicine]
Many Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also meet criteria for antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) (Kulka et al., 1990). Due to the conning and deceitful nature of those with ASPD (APA, 2000), individuals diagnosed with both ASPD and PTSD may exhibit response biases relative to veterans with PTSD without a comorbid personality disorder. In a secondary analysis of 206 Vietnam veterans, we compared age, education, and race matched groups of those with ASPD only, PTSD only, comorbid ASPD and PTSD, and a control group on MMPI-2 indicators of response bias as well as on rates of service-connected disability compensation. Relative to the others, those with ASPD and PTSD displayed significantly higher F scores, suggesting greater deviant responding. However, both the comorbid and PTSD only group had significantly higher scores than the two non-PTSD groups on several other validity indices, including the Fptsd scale. The proportion of individuals in the comorbid group with service-connected compensation did not significantly differ from those in the PTSD only group (43.6% and 43.3%, respectively). These findings provide some evidence that the presence of ASPD may influence response style, though it may not affect the rates of disability compensation among veterans with PTSD.
30. Psychophysiological Responding in Comorbid
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder
Authors: 1. Kathryn L. Humphreys [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System]
2. Brian P. Marx [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System; Boston University School of Medicine]
3. Lauren B. McSweeney [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System]
4. Denise M. Sloan [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System; Boston University School of Medicine]
5. Danny G. Kaloupek [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System; Boston University School of Medicine]
6. Terence M. Keane [National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System; Boston University School of Medicine]
Research has found that individuals with antisocial tendencies exhibit reduced psychophysiological responding (e.g., Benning et al., 2005; Osumi et al., 2007). In contrast, other research shows enhanced psychophysiological responding among individuals with PTSD (e.g., Keane et al., 1998). However, no study has examined the psychophysiological reactivity among those with both PTSD and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). In a secondary analysis, we compared 179 Vietnam veterans matched for age, education and ethnicity from four groups: those with PTSD only, those with ASPD only, those with comorbid PTSD/ASPD, and a control group. All participants viewed combat stimuli accompanied by matching audio, during which changes in physiologic arousal were measured and self-reported distress levels were collected. We used regression analysis to determine the relation between physiologic arousal and self-reported distress and then compared the four groups on the derived index. Those in the comorbid group were more likely than the others to show a discordant pattern of responding characterized by greater than expected self-reported distress relative to levels of physiologic arousal. The results from this study suggest that veterans with comorbid ASPD/PTSD may be among those with PTSD who show little physiologic activity but do report arousal when exposed to traumatic stimuli.
31. Assessing attention to reward in substance abusers with a change-detection task and eye-tracking performance
Authors: 1. Hope Cantrell [Indiana University, Bloomington]
2. Lyuba Bobova [Indiana University, Bloomington]
3. Tracy Emerson [Indiana University, Bloomington]
4. Martin E. Rickert [Indiana University, Bloomington]
5. Peter R. Finn [Indiana University, Bloomington]
Evidence suggests that, relative to controls, substance-dependent individuals show bias in visual attention directed to reward cues, even when there is a cost to allocating attention to those cues. Reported here are both behavioral and eye-tracking results for a flicker-induced change blindness paradigm experiment that included participants with and without substance use problems. Stimuli consisted of three types of motivationally relevant (MR) images (i.e., sexual, substance-related, and aversive) as well as neutral images. In this change-detection task, four images were presented simultaneously in non-overlapping regions of a computer display on every trial with the number of MR images varying from 1-3 across blocks of trials.
Subjects were asked to identify in which of the regions the change occurred. Change-detection performance is summarized in terms of proportion of correct identifications (both unconditional and conditioned on MR) and response latency. The association between behavioral data and eye-tracking measures, including number of fixations and average fixation duration, is examined.
32. Attention to affective and substance-related cues in substance abusing individuals.
Authors: 1. Lyuba Bobova [Indiana University]
2. Martin Rickert [Indiana University]
3. Richard Viken [Indiana University]
4. Peter Finn [Indiana University]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Attention biases in young adults with and without substance abuse or dependence were examined by analyzing similarity ratings of photographs varying with respect to two theoretically relevant factors: (1) valence of affect as portrayed by the facial expression of young adult models, and (2) the relative quantity of either alcohol- or drug-related items shown in the images. Participants included individuals with alcohol dependence and no drug abuse, individuals abusing marijuana, individuals abusing two or more drugs, and individuals with neither alcohol nor drug abuse. Non-metric weighted multidimensional scaling (WMDS) solutions were obtained from similarity ratings of two stimulus sets (alcohol vs. drug stimuli) separately for male and female participants. Both, the group stimulus configurations and individual subject weights derived from alcohol and drug ratings for each gender will be discussed and interpreted using individual substance abuse diagnoses, severity of substance abuse, disinhibited personality, and individual eye-tracking data recorded concurrently with the similarity rating task. Specifically, number of gaze fixations on specific areas of interest within images (i.e., facial vs. substance-related cues), average fixation duration, and self-report substance abuse and personality factors will be used to interpret WMDS results.
33. An Alternative Procedure for Assessing the Go / No Go Performance of Disinhibited Persons
Authors: 1. Michael Endres [Indiana University]
2. Martin Rickert [Indiana University]
3. Peter Finn [Indiana University]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Theory of Signal Detectability (TSD) was used to examine individual differences in three mixed-incentive Go/No-Go tasks reflecting distinct reward and punishment reinforcement probabilities. Estimates of participant (N=368) sensitivity (d’) and response criterion (C) were tested for separate categorical and dimensional designs of Substance-Related Psychopathology. Contrasts revealed that those endorsing the highest symptomology returned the lowest (d’), but not (C), values. Structural equations modeling confirmed these results and revealed that the TSD assumption of (d’) and (C) parameter independence was violated when reward was more probable than punishment. The independence rule did hold when punishment probabilities were equal-to or greater-than reward. We concluded that increases along our hypothetical SRDP continuum predicts an increased vulnerability for difficulties discriminating between conflicting cues for reward and punishment, regardless of signal salience. Furthermore, regardless of whether or not reward and punishment reinforcement was equally probable, SRDP is not associated with a significant increase in proclivity for active approach responding. However, for the special case when rewarding information is more probable then that of punishment, the disinhibited persons proclivity for active approach responding may depend on his / her ability to discriminate highly salient reward signals form less salient signals for punishment.
34. A dimensional model of disinhibited phenotypes: Integrating psychopathology, personality traits, and cognition
Authors: 1. Tim Bogg [Indiana University]
2. Peter Finn [Indiana University]
Recent research suggests the possibility of an underlying continuum of psychopathology and personality traits related to impulsivity and socialization that can help explain the multi-morbidity of externalizing problems (e.g., Krueger & Markon, 2006). Using two samples (Ns = 558 and 507) with heterogeneous psychopathology (i.e., with and without substance-use and conduct diagnoses), the current research examined the structure of a dimensional approach to psychopathology and personality traits. In addition, based on established relations between working memory, short-term memory, and psychopathology and traits related to impulsivity and socialization, an integration of a dimensional model of disinhibited phenotypes and cognitive abilities was examined in one of the samples. Structural equation modeling showed a three-factor model best accounted for the pattern of covariation among the six personality trait indicators and the four substance-use and conduct-problem symptom count indicators. Specifically, correlated latent variables reflecting impulsivity, responsibility, and externalizing psychopathology demonstrated the best fit and conformed to research on the lower-order structure of conscientiousness. The inclusion of latent factors representing working memory and short-term memory yielded a sensible and substantive pattern of relations to the dimensional model of disinhibited phenotypes. Overall, the results represent an additional step toward a dimensional and systemic view of psychopathology.
35. Attentional and intentional switching: Determining the nature of context processing deficits in schizophrenia
Authors: 1. Paul Kieffaber [Carnegie Mellon University]
2. Brian O'Donnell [Indiana University Bloomington]
3. Anantha Shekhar [Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis]
4. William Hetrick [Indiana University Bloomington]
Questions about how cognition is “controlled” in the service of goal-relevant behavior are central to the study of cognitive deficits in clinical disorders such as schizophrenia. While there is consensus that deficits of cognitive control and context processing are central features of the profile of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, questions remain about the specific mechanisms that precipitate the observed behavioral dysfunction. In this study, we replicate and extend earlier research with the task-switching paradigm using a new task that provides unique indices of the “attentional” and “intentional” components of context processing to behavioral performance in schizophrenia. The findings confirm that intentional context processing may be a source of previously reported context processing deficits in schizophrenia, but suggest that this deficit may have unexpected effects in the context of the task-switching procedure. While switches of attentional context yielded behavioral “costs” that were equivalent between individuals with schizophrenia (N=17) and healthy control (N=17) participants, switches that required changes to both attentional and intentional context processing yielded additional switch-costs only in the healthy control group. Moreover, individuals with schizophrenia, unlike healthy control participants, demonstrated an increased sensitivity to stimulus conflict that was intentional in nature. These results are discussed in terms of a computational model that incorporates both attentional and intentional context in its articulation of context processing.
36. Sensorimotor Gating in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
Authors: 1. Emily E. Cahill [Indiana University]
2. Chad R. Edwards [Indiana University]
3. Brain F. O’Donnell [Indiana University]
4. William P. Hetrick [Indiana University]
Sensory and sensorimotor gating are mechanisms by which the healthy central nervous system protects itself from sensory overload and cognitive fragmentation. Symptoms such as thought disorder, which characterize psychotic episodes exhibited in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, are hypothesized to arise from underlying deficits in gating. This study measured prepulse inhibition (PPI) as an index of sensorimotor gating in three groups of age-matched participants: schizophrenic (n=34), bipolar (n=34), and healthy control (n=34). Electromyography (EMG) recordings of the acoustic startle reflex measured the reactivity to a startle probe (PA) when presented alone as well as when paired with a non-startling prepulse (PP), and PPI were assessed. Previous research indicated a sensitivity of PPI to factors such as gender and smoking status; therefore, a second aim of this study was to examine differences in acoustic startle PPI across gender and smoking status. The findings revealed significantly less startle reactivity to the probe alone and, as a result, less PPI in bipolar patients as compared to controls. PPI did not significantly differ across gender or smoking status.
37. P300 ERP Generation is Affected by Distinct Neuronal Processes in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
Authors: 1. Jason Johannesen [Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis]
2. Brian O'Donnell [Indiana University]
3. Anantha Shekhar [Indiana University]
4. William Hetrick [Indiana University]
The P300 event-related potential (ERP) generated to an infrequent “oddball” stimulus is considered a psychophysiological index of attention allocated to salient changes in the sensory environment. Evidence for impaired P300 generation in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, combined with genetic linkage to several common chromosomal locations, has lead to postulation regarding diagnostic overlap in underlying neuropathology. The present study examined an alternative hypothesis: diagnosis-specific disruption of early sensory processing in schizophrenia, indexed by event-related gamma activity, has a distinct impact on later P300 generation. Fifty-two age-matched schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar (BP), and healthy comparison (HC) subjects completed an auditory oddball procedure. N100, P300, and spectral power of early (0-256 ms) low frequency (1-20 Hz) and gamma (20-50 Hz) responses were analyzed. Initial comparisons confirmed that P300 amplitude and peak latency were deviant in SZ and BP. Linear regression analyses were conducted for each group separately to identify early ERP components that most strongly predict P300 amplitude. The gamma response to standard stimuli entered significantly for both BP and HC, but not SZ. Including this variable as a covariate in comparisons of P300 amplitude did not alter effects between BP and HC groups, but normalized P300 in SZ. Results suggest that dysfunction in early gamma activation affects P300 generation in schizophrenia, while abnormal P300 in bipolar disorder appears to reflect distinct, and inferentially later occurring (i.e., > 256 ms), information processing deficits.
38. The Effect of Cold Pressor Stress on P50 Amplitude and Suppression in Healthy Adults
Authors: 1. Sherrie All [Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science]
2. Aileen Hartzell [Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science]
3. David Charles [Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science]
4. Roland Erwin [Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science]
Sensory gating deficits of the P50 component of the auditory evoked potential in schizophrenia may be endophenotypic markers of this illness. However, transient stress related P50 abnormalities can occur in healthy individuals. Previous studies indicate that stress impairs P50 suppression; however, it may also affect P50 expression. This study examines changes in P50 produced by a cold-pressor stress manipulation using 32-channel recordings. P50, heart rate and blood pressure data was collected from 40 healthy controls before, immediately after, and 25 minutes after a cold stressor. Repeated measures ANOVA will be used to examine P50 across the three conditions. We expect to replicate a previous study that found transient P50 suppression deficits. We also plan to conduct P50 subcomponent analyses using information from all recording sites. Previous work with this approach identified a midline subcomponent that was more sensitive to P50 expression deficits and a bilateral frontal-temporal subcomponent more sensitive to suppression deficits. This strategy will allow us to more precisely determine whether stress affects P50 expression as well as suppression. Results may help clarify stress related changes in P50 and whether different subcomponents of P50 may be contributing to this effect.
39. Temporal relationship between change in cognition and change in quality of life in schizophrenia
Authors: 1. Joanna Fiszdon [VACHS/Yale University]
2. Jimmy Choi [VACHS/Yale University]
3. Morris Bell [VACHS/Yale University]
The bulk of research establishing the relationship between cognition and functioning in schizophrenia has examined these variables either cross-sectionally or longitudinally. A related though unique question addressed here is the relationship between temporal change in cognition, and subsequent temporal change in functioning. We examined the relationship between change in cognition from intake to 6 months, and change in Quality of Life Scale (QLS) from intake to 12 months in 116 schizophrenia patients participating in a trial of work therapy with or without cognitive remediation. Bivariate correlations of cognitive indices and QLS at intake indicated significant correlations between QLS and memory and executive function factors. Results of multiple regression examining the relationship between change in cognition and change in QLS indicated that none of the cognitive indices made a significant contribution to predicting QLS at 12 months, once the effect of baseline QLS was considered. Similarly, whether or not individuals received cognitive remediation in addition to work therapy did not significantly improve predictive power of cognitive index change. These results differed from studies examining single-timepoint assessments. The complexity of measuring quality of life in schizophrenia, and variability between patient versus proxy measures will be discussed.
40. Errorless Learning for Work Performance of Schizophrenia Patients in Transitional Employment
Authors: 1. Robert Kern [UCLA]
2. Ayala Ofek [UCLA]
3. Stella Panos [Fuller Graduate School of Psychology]
4. Rhona Madrid [UCLA]
5. Michael Green [UCLA]
OBJECTIVE: The effects of errorless learning (EL) on work performance and tenure in a community-based transitional employment setting were compared in a controlled trial with conventional job training. METHODS: Participants were 40 clinically stable schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder outpatients randomly assigned to EL vs. conventional instruction (CI) at a thrift-type clothing store. EL participants received training based on principles of EL, such as minimizing errors or mistakes during skill acquisition and automating perfect task performance. CI participants received training common to other transitional employment settings that included verbal instruction, a visual demonstration, and trial-and-error practice with corrective feedback. Participants were scheduled to work two hours per week for twelve weeks. For both groups, training of assigned job tasks occurred during the first two weeks at the worksite. Work performance (assessed using the Work Behavior Inventory) and measures of self-esteem, job satisfaction, and work stress were administered at weeks 2, 4, and 12. Job tenure was defined as the number of weeks on the job prior to quitting or study end. RESULTS: The EL group performed better than the CI group on the measure of work quality, and the group differences were consistent over time. Results from the survival analyses of job tenure revealed a non-significant trend favoring EL. There were no group differences on self-esteem, job satisfaction, or work stress. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide modest support for the extensions of EL to community settings for enhancing work performance.
41. Examining the Relationship between Mismatch Negativity and Functional Outcome in Schizophrenia Patients
Authors: 1. Jonathan Wynn [UCLA]
2. William Horan [UCLA]
3. Shelly Crosby [UCLA]
4. Poorang Nori [UCLA]
5. Michael Green [UCLA]
Deficits in basic sensory processing are commonly seen in schizophrenia patients, though their impact on daily functioning is not well know. The current study examined an electrophysiological measure of early auditory sensory processing, mismatch negativity (MMN) and its relationship to various aspects of functional outcome. MMN and four components of functional outcome (work, independent living, social networks, and family networks) were examined in 33 (4 female) patients with schizophrenia and 43 (7 female) normal comparison participants. Schizophrenia patients exhibited a significantly reduced MMN compared to normal controls, consistent with findings from other studies. Furthermore, schizophrenia patients with larger MMN deficits exhibited poorer ratings of functional outcome, particularly in work outcome and independent living. A subgroup of patients with schizophrenia (n = 10) were identified whose MMN was comparable to normal controls. This subgroup tended to show greater levels of work and independent living compared to the remainder of the patients. These findings suggest that impairments in basic sensory processing, including those indexed by MMN, are associated with deficits in everyday living in schizophrenia patients. A greater understanding of this relationship and its neural mechanisms may lead to more effective treatments to improve daily functioning in schizophrenia.
42. Does Awareness of Having a Psychotic Disorder Mediate the Influence of Neurocognitive Factors on Work Outcome?
Authors: 1. Kenneth L. Subotnik [University of California, Los Angeles]
2. Keith Nuechterlein [University of California, Los Angeles]
3. Luana Turner [University of California, Los Angeles]
4. Joseph Ventura [University of California, Los Angeles]
5. Denise Gretchen-Doorly [University of California, Los Angeles]
Findings from our group and others have shown that executive functioning, immediate memory, and attention/vigilance are associated with insight as well as with work and school functioning. We examined whether insight mediates the relationship between neurocognitive deficits and functional outcome. Forty-seven outpatients recently diagnosed with schizophrenia participated in a 1-year clinical and research protocol involving treatment with risperidone, psychoeducation, individual case management, and group therapy. A battery of neurocognitive tests and comprehensive assessments of insight and work quality were administered at baseline and at 6 month intervals. A neurocognitive factor, Early Perceptual Processing and Maintenance in Working Memory (EPP&M; ß = 4.03, p < .03), as well as overall awareness of having a mental illness/disorder (ß = -3.2, p < .05), predicted poorer work quality during the first 6 months of the protocol even with baseline work quality included as a covariate. Path analysis supports the view that the effect of EPP&M on work quality is mediated through overall awareness of illness (AGFI=.91, CFI=.99, RMSEA=.02). We speculate that this neurocognitive factor facilitates greater awareness of illness, which in turn might contribute to increased participation in the work/school placement and support intervention, and subsequently to better quality of work/school functioning.
43. Predictors of occupational status in persons with a recent onset of psychosis six months after hospitalization
Authors: 1. Faith Dickerson [Sheppard Pratt]
2. Cassie Stallings [Sheppard Pratt]
3. Andrea Origoni [Sheppard Pratt]
4. Anne Sullens [Sheppard Pratt]
Participation in work or school contributes to illness recovery for individuals with a recent onset of psychosis. We measured the predictors of occupational status six months following hospitalization in a sample of n=71 adults with recent onset affective or non-affective psychosis. At baseline, participants were evaluated on cognitive functioning, symptom severity, and demographic factors. At follow-up, participants were categorized as to whether they had any current work or school activity. Results of a backwards stepwise logistic regression on occupational status yielded a significant model (chi2=21.71, p=.0001) with independent predictors of better cognitive functioning at baseline based on performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test; less severe depression at baseline measured by the Calgary Depression Scale; and better socioeconomic status measured by maternal education. Severity of psychosis at baseline, affective vs. non affective psychosis, and demographic variables were not associated with occupational outcome.
This study is one of a set of investigations we are performing with patients who are ascertained during a hospital admission within two years of psychosis onset. In addition to the topic of this abstract, we are also studying antibodies to infectious diseases and polymorphisms of genes related to the immune response in recent onset patients.
44. Effectiveness of Attention Shaping for Augmenting Social Skills Training
Authors: 1. Sarah Carson [University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey]
2. Will Spaulding [University of Nebraska-Lincoln]
3. Tony Menditto [Fulton State Hospital]
4.Adam Savitz [Weill Medical College of Cornell University]
5. Hannah Starobin [Weill Medical College of Cornell University]
6. Steven Silverstein [University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey]
Attentional deficits in schizophrenia can represent a combination of cognitive and motivational deficits, suggesting that cognitive remediation interventions that specifically address motivation may be effective. This presentation reports data from the first randomized, controlled, multi-site trial of a manualized version of attention shaping procedures (ASP). ASP involves the use of individualized, within-group, attentiveness goal-setting; specific behaviorally-oriented feedback procedures and interpersonal prompting techniques; and the systematic use, and eventual fading, of extrinsic reinforcers. Chronic schizophrenia patients were randomized to receive either ASP (n=47) within the context of social skills training [the UCLA Basic Conversation Skills module (BCS)], or to receive BCS in the standard format (control group; n=35). Outcome variables included pre-post changes in skill acquisition and overall attentiveness, slope of changes in within-group attentiveness over time, and symptomatology. Results indicated significantly greater changes in attentiveness (F(1,47)=10.66, p<.005) and rate of skill acquisition (F(1,38)=4.56, p<.05) in the ASP condition compared to controls. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between amount of learning and the change in total attentiveness between the first and last two study groups (N=44, r=.40, p<.01). These data suggest that ASP is an effective method for promoting attentiveness and skill acquisition among chronic schizophrenia patients who might otherwise be considered poor candidates for skills training.
45. Cognitive Training in Schizophrenia: Prefrontal Cortical Changes and Behavioral Correlates
Authors: 1. Kristen Haut [University of Minnesota]
2. Angus MacDonald [University of Minnesota]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Patients with schizophrenia suffer from a number of cognitive deficits, including those affecting working memory, that are resistant to medication. Cognitive training has shown promise for ameliorating these deficits, but there has been little research determining the neural effects underlying behavioral improvements. In this study, a group of patients with schizophrenia underwent cognitive training and were contrasted with a group of patients in an active control condition and a group of non-psychiatric comparison subjects. The subjects were tested on a word working memory task, which was practiced during cognitive training, an unpracticed picture working memory task, and a lexical decision task. The patients who received cognitive training showed significantly more behavioral improvement on both working memory tasks than either control group. In addition, the patients receiving cognitive training evidenced significant increases in fMRI activity in prefrontal cortical regions involved in working memory performance. These regions include the anterior cingulate, the anterior prefrontal cortex, and the middle frontal gyrus. This study provides evidence that behavioral improvements following cognitive training are related to functional plasticity in the networks underlying working memory.
46. Beliefs about hallucinated voices and aggression on the inpatient unit.
Authors: 1. Brady A. Berman [Hofstra University]
2. Kristine G. Duffy [Hofstra University]
3. Mark R. Serper [Hofstra University]
4. Stephanie C. Rodrigues [Hofstra University]
5. Jordan Levy [Hofstra University]
6. Emily D'Antonio [Hofstra University]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Prediction and control of aggressive acts committed by psychiatric inpatients remains elusive. While certain psychotic symptoms such as command hallucinations or presence of paranoid delusions have not been found to specifically predict aggressive behavior, no study to date has examined other aspects of patients' psychotic experiences as predictors of aggression. Recent research suggests that individuals who hallucinate voices develop a cognitive behavioral framework around them with beliefs about their content and purpose. One proposed dimension concerns the extent to which voices are perceived as omnipotent by the hallucinator. We hypothesized that hallucinators who believed their voices to be omnipotent were more likely to aggress on the inpatient unit compared to hallucinators who did not hold such beliefs about their voices. In the present study, 40 actively hallucinating inpatients were administered the the Belief About Voices Questionnaire (BAVQ-R), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Retrospective Overt Aggression Scale (ROAS). Results revealed that hallucinators with omnipotent beliefs about their voices engaged in significantly more aggressive acts than their non-believing counterparts. Moreover, belief of omnipotence of voices accounted for over 26% of unique variance in aggression prediction over a two week hospitalization period. These results support the need for the inclusion of patients' beliefs about their hallucinated voices to further ascertain future aggression risk on the psychiatric inpatient service.
47. Religiosity and Religious Coping among Relatives of Patients with Schizophrenia
Authors: 1. Eugenio Duarte [University of Miami]
2. Amy Weisman de Mamani [University of Miami]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Studies with nonpsychiatric populations indicate that holding greater spiritual and/or religious beliefs relates to better mental and physical health (Levin & Chatters, 1998). Studies also show that religious forms of coping predict emotional well-being better than non-religious forms of coping (Pargament et al., 1990, 1994, 1995) and better than general religious orientation (Pargament et al., 1990). This study will investigate how holding spiritual/religious beliefs relates to mental health among approximately 65 family members coping with schizophrenia in a close relative. Specifically, this study will examine whether religious coping (as measured with the Religious Coping Activities Scale - RCAS) predicts adjustment (as measured with the Depression-Anxiety Stress Scale - DASS) above and beyond non-religious coping (as measured with the COPE inventory; religious items will be removed to avoid confounding). This study will also examine whether general religiosity (as measured with the Family Environment Scale - FES) and religious coping (RCAS) each independently relates to adjustment (DASS). Results will elucidate whether previous findings of a positive relationship between religious coping and adjustment generalize to family members coping with severe psychopathology in a loved one. Such findings may guide clinicians in formulating family-focused interventions that capitalize on clients’ existing religious coping resources.
48. Does Ego Threat Increase Paranoia?
Authors: 1. David C. Cicero [University of Missouri-Columbia]
2. John G. Kerns [University of Missouri-Columbia]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
The goal of the current research was to test whether an ego threat increases paranoia, whether the increase in paranoia was mediated by state self-esteem, and whether the increase in paranoia was moderated by the personality characteristics of agreeableness and or neuroticism. Participants in the ego threat condition completed a very difficult “intelligence test” and were told that they scored poorly on it. There were three behavioral and questionnaire measures of paranoia including: a measurement of the distance participants sat from the experimenter during the debriefing, how much they trusted the experimenter, and the Suspiciousness subscale of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ-S; Raine, 1991). Overall, the results provide some support that ego threat increases paranoia. In addition, males tended to display more paranoia in response to the ego threat than did females. There is some support that the increase in paranoia was mediated by a decrease in state self-esteem. Participants low in agreeableness tended to score higher on the paranoia measures in the ego threat condition than in the control condition. These findings suggest that ego threat can increase paranoia and that the effect of ego threat on paranoia is moderated by levels of agreeableness.
49. The Relation Between Emotional Awareness and
Hallucinations and Delusions in a Psychiatric Inpatient Sample
Authors: 1. Andrew Corso [Hofstra University]
2. Ryan Quirk [Hofstra University]
3. Emily D'Antonio [Hofstra University]
4. Howard Berenbaum [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]
5. Mark Serper [Hofstra University]
Dating back to Bleuler (1911/1950), psychopathologists have posited that schizophrenia symptoms are related to disturbed emotional processes. Past research has found that cognitive-perceptual disturbances are associated with emotional awareness (i.e., attention to and clarity of emotion). There has been a dearth of research, however, examining the relation between emotional awareness and psychotic symptoms in acute psychiatric patients. We examined the relations between emotional awareness (measured using the TAS-20) and hallucinations and delusions (measured using the PANSS) in two samples of acute psychiatric inpatients: (a) patients with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder (n=34); and (b) patients with mood and/or substance dependence disorders (n=30). Among both groups of patients, lower levels of emotional clarity were associated with more severe hallucination ratings. Higher levels of attention to emotion were associated with more severe delusion ratings among mood/substance disorder patients, though not among schizophrenia spectrum patients. Contrary to expectations, among schizophrenia spectrum patients, lower levels of attention to emotion were associated with more severe hallucination ratings. All of these associations remained largely unchanged when removing shared variance with PANSS general psychopathology scores. Consistent with expectations, emotional awareness was associated with hallucinations and delusions but not with PANSS conceptual disorganization ratings, providing additional evidence of specificity.
50. Aggression Risk and Performance on the Iowa Gambling Task
in Acute Schizophrenic Patients
Authors: 1. Stephanie Rodrigues [Hofstra University]
2. Jennifer Newman [Hofstra University]
3. Brady Berman [Hofstra University]
4. Jennifer McKelvey [Hofstra University]
5. Kristina Booth [Hofstra University]
6. Mark Serper [Hofstra University]
While the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) was originally developed to assess emotional processing in brain injured patients, this measure has also been used more recently in the study of risk assessment and aggression. Previous research with suicidal patients has shown that poor performance on the gambling task may be linked to aggression and is speculated to be due to an emotional and cognitive dysfunction (Jollant et al., 2005). Based on these findings, the current study examined the relationship between aggression risk and performance on the IGT in schizophrenic inpatients. Participants (n = 53) were acute psychiatric inpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. All subjects completed the IGT and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). A supplemental scale of the PANSS, known as the aggression risk profile (consisting of ratings of anger, difficulty in delaying gratification, affective lability, excitement, hostility, and depression) was used as a measure of aggression risk. The results indicated that performance on the IGT predicted aggression risk and was related to patients' global psychopathology. Results are discussed in terms of emotional and neurocognitive mediators of aggression in schizophrenia.
51. The Relationship between Expressed Emotion and Shame in Relatives of Patients with Schizophrenia
Authors: 1. Stephanie Wasserman [University of Miami]
2. Amy Weisman de Mamani [University of Miami]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Expressed emotion (EE) is a measure of the family environment reflecting the amount of criticism/hostility and emotional over-involvement (EOI) expressed by a key relative towards an ill family member (Leff & Vaughn, 1985). Patients with schizophrenia living in high in EE households are significantly more likely to experience a relapse than are patients living in low EE homes. Despite the predictive validity of EE, questions regarding the theoretical nature of EE remain. Greenley (1986) and Jenkins and Karno (1992) suggested that EE may be understood as being the relative’s affective response to the patient’s illness. Using a sample of 65 relatives of patients with schizophrenia, the current study will examine the relationship between relatives’ EE (as measured using the Five Minute Speech Sample, Magaña, et al., 1986) and their shame about the illness (measured using the Self-Conscious Emotions for Schizophrenia Scale, Weisman de Mamani, 2007). According to Bentsen et al. (1998) shame often motivates anger, criticism, and attacking. Thus, it is hypothesized that a high degree of shame surrounding the patient’s illness will predict a higher rating on the criticism index of high EE. The relationship of shame to overall EE and to Emotional Over-Involvement will also be examined.
52. Association of Susceptibility Genes with Symptomology in Schizophrenia and Personality Pathology in the Relatives of Patients
Authors: 1. Vina Goghari [University of Minnesota]
2. Scott Sponheim [VA Medical Center & University of Minnesota]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Recent research implies a relationship between the symptomology of schizophrenia and personality pathology, thereby suggesting influence of candidate susceptibility genes. Evaluating continuous symptomology and continuous personality dimensions may capture genetic contributions to disorder pathophysiology regardless of diagnostic threshold. Symptomology in probands was assessed using the Operational Criteria for Psychotic Illness (OPCRIT) and personality pathology in the relatives was assessed using the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology – Brief Questionnaire (DAPP-BQ). We evaluated the relationship between COMT Val108/158Met polymorphism and pathology in the schizophrenia probands and their relatives. A motivation for selecting this polymorphism was the body of evidence supporting its functional relevance to the disorder’s pathophysiology. We found association of the Val allele to susceptibility for greater thought insertion in probands and lower narcissism and rejection of ideas in relatives. This is preliminary evidence for the role of a candidate susceptibility gene in conferring vulnerability to symptoms and personality characteristics broadly consistent with Schneiderian first-rank symptoms. Although specific functional polymorphisms related to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia have yet to be identified for glutamate genes (e.g. DTNBP1), single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for these genes will also be tested for association with schizophrenia and schizophrenia-spectrum phenomenology.
53. Imbalanced neural plasticity and different clinical profiles in schizophrenia
Authors: 1. Yossi Guterman [Tel-Hai Academic College and Tel-Aviv Yaffo Academic College, Israel]
Imbalanced plasticity of neural networks in the brain is proposed to underlie deficits in the integration of efferent and afferent processes in schizophrenia (Guterman, 2006). These deficits affect the priming of the behavior implementing systems by prior knowledge, and thus impair both controlled regulation and automatic activation of mental and motor processes. The sense of self as a distinct entity can consequently be undermined. In predominantly reality-distorting patients, hypo-plasticity of neural connectivity may cause the emergence of highly focused but inflexible patterns of activation in their representation and response systems. This may lead to dominance of prepotent patterns of activity in these systems and a relative inability of higher control systems to bias lower level activity towards congruence with the ongoing cognitive and motor context. By contrast, in predominantly disorganized patients hyper-plastic connectivity is suggested. This may lead to weakening of prepotent response tendencies but also, as in reality distorting patients, to less effective top-down contextual constraining.
In order to put to test the imbalanced plasticity hypothesis, data are being currently collected with patients and schizotypals using several paradigms: semantic priming, verbal fluency, sentence completion, visual size judgment. The predictions derived from the present hypothesis are contrasted with alternative ones based on the context processing hypothesis (Cohen & Servan-Schreiber, 1992) and the over-activation hypothesis (Maher, Manschreck, Hoover, & Weisstein, 1987)
References
Cohen, J. D., & Servan-Schreiber, D. (1992). Context, cortex, and dopamine: a connectionist approach to behavior and biology in schizophrenia. Psychological Review, 99(1), 45–77.
Guterman, Y. (in press). A neural plasticity perspective on the schizophrenic condition, Consciousness and Cognition (2006).
Maher, B. A., Manschreck, T. C., Hoover, T. M., & Weisstein, C. C. (1987). Thought disorder and measures of language production in schizophrenia. In P. Harvey & E. Walker (Eds.). Positive and Negative Symptoms in Psychosis: Description, Research and Future Directions (pp. 195–221). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
54. Relationship between visual feature modulation and art appreciation in schizophrenia
Authors: 1. Yue Chen [McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School]
2. Daniel Norton [McLean Hospital]
3. Dost Ongur [McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School]
The way schizophrenia patients view the world is largely mysterious. The artwork they create often contains visual features (e.g., color, elementary form, and/or configuration) that are drastically different from ordinary. The extraordinary visual expressions may serve as a window into the way schizophrenia patients perceive the world. Visual perception deficits are associated with schizophrenia. How these perceptual deficits are related to functions of everyday life such as appreciation of arts remains an open question. In this study, we seek to compare the effects of modulating visual features on beauty perception of artwork in schizophrenia patients (n=29) and in normal controls (n=30). Three pieces of art, the Starry Night (Van Gogh), Mona Lisa (Da Vinci) and a natural landscape photograph (anonymous), were manipulated in their colorfulness (color and black/white), spatial frequency content (blurred and high frequency passed) and noise level (with and without added noise). Subjects judged the beautifulness of the original and the visual-feature-modulated artwork, by rating [1 (the most beautiful) to 7 (the least beautiful)] and ranking [1 (the most beautiful) to 6 (the least beautiful)]. For the original artwork, averaged ratings and rankings in patients (3.22(1.17), 2.34(.93)) were similar to those in controls (3.01(.72), 1.91 (.75)). Yet, when the visual features of the original pieces were manipulated, patients exhibited significantly less changes in both rating and ranking (1.09 (.63), 1.39 (1.12)), as compared with controls (1.32 (.67), 1.92 (.86)). Insensitivity to visual feature modulation during beauty judgment suggests that deficient visual processing impacts not only the perception of simple stimuli but also appreciation of vivid and dynamic expressions contained in common and complex visual objects such as artwork. The combination of visual and aesthetical paradigms provides a new approach to assess the role of perceptual processing in determining the quality of everyday life in schizophrenia.
55. Movement abnormalities predict conversion to Axis I psychosis among prodromal adolescents.
Authors: 1. Vijay Mittal [Emory University]
2. Elaine Walker [Emory University]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Evidence suggests that movement abnormalities are a precursor of psychosis. The link between movement abnormalities and psychotic disorders is presumed to reflect common neural mechanisms that influence both motor functions and vulnerability to psychosis. While a further elucidation of this link during the premorbid period can inform theory and treatment, there have been no published prospective longitudinal investigations. In the present investigation, movement abnormalities were coded from videotapes of 40 adolescents at-risk for psychosis (designated prodromal on the Structured Interview for Prodromal Symptoms; SIPS). Following initial assessment, participants were evaluated for diagnostic status at four annual time points. Ten participants converted to an Axis I psychosis (schizophrenia, and affective disorders with psychotic features) over the four-year period. Comparisons with converted and non-converted participants at baseline indicated that the groups did not differ on demographic characteristics or levels of prodromal symptomatology, but those who converted exhibited significantly more baseline movement abnormalities. A series of logistic regressions, treating conversion to Axis I psychosis Y/N as a dichotomous outcome variable, indicated that abnormalities in face (OR = 2.98, 95% CI: 1.23, 7.19) and upper body (OR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.10, 2.37) regions were most predictive of conversion. Present findings suggest that individuals with elevated movement abnormalities may represent a subgroup of prodromal adolescents who are at the highest risk for conversion. The implications for neural mechanisms and for identifying candidates for preventive intervention are discussed.
56. Life events and high trait reactivity together predict psychotic symptom increases in schizophrenia
Authors: 1. Nancy Docherty [Kent State University]
2. Annie St-Hilaire [Kent State University]
3. Jennifer M. Aakre [Kent State University]
4. James P. Seghers [Kent State University]
Some schizophrenia patients become more symptomatic in the face of life stressors. The present study was part of a series investigating differences among patients in vulnerability to stress-related symptom exacerbations. Twenty-nine outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder completed self-report measures of trait emotional reactivity, and their symptoms were rated for severity using the PANSS. At follow-up nine months later, patients were assessed for the presence or absence of stressful life events during the month immediately preceding the follow-up session, and their symptoms were rated again. There was a significant main effect for presence of objectively-rated independent stressful life events in the prediction of increases in the psychotic symptoms of delusions and hallucinations. Most importantly, there also was a significant interaction effect between life events and trait reactivity. Among patients who experienced events, those high in trait reactivity showed greater increases in psychotic symptom severity than those low in trait reactivity. There were no such interaction effects for other symptoms: disorganization, emotional disturbance, or negative symptoms. These findings support the idea that individual differences in trait reactivity in patients influence the degree to which their psychotic symptoms will be exacerbated by stressful life events.
57. The Association between Deficit Syndrome and High Nailfold Plexus Visibility in Schizophrenia
Authors: 1. John P Vuchetich [University of Minnesota]
2. Willa L Leitten [University of Minnesota]
Assessment for the presence of either the Deficit syndrome or High Nailfold Plexus Visibility (NPV) has been proposed as a way to identify a more homogeneous subgroup of schizophrenia subjects with distinct clinical and biological features. The hope has been that studying such subgroups will increase the power of efforts to isolate genetic or other etiopathologic contributors to schizophrenia. These two subtypes of schizophrenia share a number of features, including their estimated prevalence, an increase in negative symptoms, and greater impairment in social and occupational functioning. However, to our knowledge these traits have never been assessed concurrently in the same subjects. The present study tests the hypothesis that Deficit Syndrome and High NPV co-occur at a greater than chance level in schizophrenia, such that these two assessments could be different measures of the same underlying construct. We are assessing 60 DSM-IV schizophrenia patients with both the Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome and the Plexus Visualization Scale, in addition to clinical, neuropsychological, and brain imaging measures. Strength of association is being measured by the Chi-Square statistic and the Phi coefficient. Final results will be presented at the meeting, although analysis of the first 20 subjects suggests that these traits occur independently.
58. Elephant in the room: exploring the generalized cognitive deficit in schizophrenia
Authors: 1. Dwight Dickinson [University of Maryland School of Medicine]
2. Daniel Ragland [University of California, Davis]
3. Monica Calkins [University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine ]
4. James Gold [Maryland Psychiatric Research Center]
5. Ruben Gur [University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine ]
Earlier work (Dickinson et al, 2004 Biol Psychiatry 55:826-833) suggested that the deficit in cognitive performance in schizophrenia patients (SZ) compared to healthy controls (HC) was generalized, cutting across narrower cognitive ability dimensions. Current analyses sought to extend these findings in a larger sample using a validated model of cognitive performance and a more comprehensive test battery. Seventeen neuropsychological variables, available for 148 schizophrenia subjects and 157 controls (mean ages 33.5 and 30.2 years), were subjected to structural equation modeling. Analyses incorporated a hierarchical model, previously validated in this sample (Dickinson et al, 2006 Schizophr Res 85: 20-29), grouping the variables into six familiar cognitive domains and linking these, in turn, to a higher-order, general cognitive ability factor. To investigate the between-groups deficit, we added diagnosis to the model as a grouping factor and estimated loadings from diagnosis to the general cognitive factor and, separately and simultaneously, to the domain factors. A model with the diagnosis effect mediated exclusively through the general cognitive factor fit the data adequately (e.g., RMSEA=.0620). Overall fit improved significantly with the addition of direct diagnosis effects on verbal memory and processing speed (e.g., RMSEA=.0504). In the final model, approximately 65% of the diagnosis-related variance in cognitive performance was mediated through the general factor, with smaller direct effects on verbal memory (16.8%) and processing speed (10.7%). Current results confirm and extend earlier analyses. The schizophrenia cognitive deficit is largely generalized across performance domains, with small, direct effects of diagnostic group confined to selected domains. Increasingly, it appears that this common cognitive ability factor has some biological basis in the brain and is not merely a statistical abstraction.
59. Altered temporal interaction in response to two light pulses in schizophrenia.
Authors: 1. Dan Norton [McLean Hopsital]
2. Dost Ongur [McLean Hopsital]
3. Charles Stromeyer [Harvard University (emeritus)]
4. Yue Chen [Mclean Hospital, Harvard University]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Disorganized behavior in schizophrenia implicates both sensory and cognitive processing. Coherent behavior relies on temporal interaction between neural responses to discrete external events. Previous studies have shown that the effects of one event on another temporally proximal event are abnormal in schizophrenia, both physiologically and perceptually (pre-pulse inhibition and visual masking). Whether these abnormal effects are due to sensory deficits, cognitive deficits or both has not been completely resolved. To isolate sensory processing we used a paradigm of a purely visual nature, with no semantic component, to examine the temporal interaction between two elementary visual events in schizophrenia patients. Two brief light pulses (5 ms) from a light emitting diode were presented, with systematically varied interstimulus intervals (ISIs). The number of the perceived flashes reflects the interaction between the temporal impulse functions generated in response to each light pulse. With normal temporal interaction in the visual system, a substantial proportion of the light pulse pairs are perceived, paradoxically, as three flashes, especially for ISIs between 90 and 190 ms. Subjects reported the number of flashes they perceived in each trial. Patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (n=22) perceived a significantly smaller proportion of trials as three flashes at the ISIs where perception of three flashes peaked (90 to 110 ms) in normal controls (n=23). On the other hand, at longer ISIs (230-310ms) patients perceived three flashes in more trials. Similar group differences were observed when the light pulses were presented in the periphery (12 degrees) and when shorter light pulses (1 ms) were used. For ISIs between and including 90 and 190ms, the perception of three flashes was correlated with total PANSS scores as well as its conceptual disorganization component. This pattern of perceptual results can be interpreted as interaction of muted multiphasic temporal impulse functions in schizophrenia. These results suggest that faulty temporal response in schizophrenia arises at basic sensory level, and may contribute to complex disorganization in thought and behavior.
60. Emotional Experience in Patients with Schizophrenia Revisited: Meta-analysis of Laboratory Studies
Authors: 1. Alex Cohen [Louisiana State University]
2. Kyle Minor [Louisiana State University]
3. Laura Brown [Louisiana State University]
Our understanding of the emotional deficits in schizophrenia is hazy, in part, because of inconsistent findings across relevant bodies of literature. Findings from studies employing self-report and interviewer-rated instruments suggest that patients have attenuated positive and increased levels of negative emotions. Conversely, laboratory studies have generally reported that patients and controls don’t differ in their self-reported reactions to emotionally valenced stimuli. In the present study, we conducted a meta-analysis of published studies employing laboratory mood-induction procedures in patients with schizophrenia versus controls. Overall, patients with schizophrenia reported less positive mood in response to positive stimuli (Hedge’s D = -.41), but there was little difference between groups in reaction to negative or neutral stimuli. This attenuated experience of positive emotion was not affected by stimuli type, medication status or gender proportion of the sample. A closer inspection of the data revealed that patients reported more dysphoria when experiencing positive stimuli (Hedge’ D = -.70) but reported experiencing positive emotions at the same intensity as controls when viewing these same stimuli (Hedge’s D = .05). Disruptions in the experience of positive emotions appear to be a feature of the disorder, although the nature of these disruptions may be different than previously conceptualized
61. First Rank Symptoms - Prevalence, Severity of Illness, and Recovery
Authors: 1. Megan Butler [University of Illinois at Chicago]
2. Martin Harrow [University of Illinois at Chicago]
3. Thomas Jobe [University of Illinois at Chicago]
4. Ellen Astrachan-Fletcher [University of Illinois at Chicago]
5. Linda Grossman [University of Illinois at Chicago]
Goal: Some theorists view First Rank Symptoms (FRS) as pathognomic of “true” schizophrenia. The current longitudinal research studied whether patients who have FRS are more severely disordered than patients with other types of psychotic symptoms by examining whether FRS are associated with poorer subsequent outcomes, no periods of recovery, and continued FRS over a 20-year period.
Method: 51 patients with schizophrenia and 45 patients with other types of psychotic disorders from the Chicago Followup Study were assessed during index hospitalization and then followed up 6 times over the next 20 years. Patients were evaluated at each followup for FRS and other positive and negative symptoms, psychosocial functioning, global outcome and medication treatment.
Results: 1. Patients with schizophrenia who have FRS at the acute phase have fewer subsequent periods of global recovery (p < .05). 2. Schizophrenia patients who have FRS at the 2-year followups are more vulnerable to subsequent psychosis over the next 18 – 20 years. 3. First-rank symptoms are not exclusive to schizophrenia, but they are less frequent in patients with other types of psychotic disorders.
Conclusions: FRS at the acute phase may not designate a separate and unique group of schizophrenia patients. However, these patients are more vulnerable to subsequent psychosis and have fewer periods of recovery. The results also provide data on the current DSM—IV classification criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia which lists two FRS as more severe psychotic symptoms.
62. The Dimensional Structure of the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales: Factor Identification and Construct Validity
Authors: 1. Thomas Kwapil [University of North Carolina at Greensboro]
2. Neus Barrantes-Vidal [Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona]
3. Paul Silvia [University of North Carolina at Greensboro]
The present study examined the factor structure underlying the Wisconsin Schizotypy Scales and the validity of these dimensions. Confirmatory factor analysis with 6,137 nonclinical young adults supported a two-factor model with positive and negative schizotypy dimensions. As predicted, the schizotypy dimensions were differentially related to psychopathology, personality, and social impairment. Both dimensions were related to schizotypal and paranoid symptoms. Positive schizotypy was uniquely related to psychotic-like experiences, substance abuse, mood disorders, and mental health treatment; whereas negative schizotypy was associated with negative and schizoid symptoms. Both dimensions were associated with poorer overall and social functioning, but negative schizotypy was associated with decreased likelihood of intimate relationships. The findings support the construct validity of a multidimensional model of schizotypy and the use of psychometric inventories to assess these dimensions.
63. Comparative Validity of SWAP-200 Five-Factor Model Scales
Authors: 1. Stephanie Mullins-Sweatt [University of Kentucky]
2. Thomas Widiger [University of Kentucky]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
A predominant dimensional model of adaptive and maladaptive personality structure is the five-factor model (FFM). Quite a number of alternative instruments have been developed to assess the domains of the FFM, including, more recently items from the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-200, a widely published model for the assessment of maladaptive personality. The current study compares the validity of two alternative versions of SWAP-200 FFM scales, one developed by Shedler and Westen (2004), the other by McCrae et al. (2005). Their comparative validity was examined in a clinically relevant sample of persons who evidenced personality disorder pathology (n = 94). The McCrae et al. neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness scales were superior to the respective Shedler and Westen scales. The Shedler and Westen extraversion scale was superior to the McCrae et al. extraversion scale. Neither research team developed an adequate openness scale. The implications of the findings are discussed with respect to alternative dimensional models of personality disorder.
64. Rates of Endorsement of Schizotypal Personality Features Using the Unmatched Count Technique: A follow-up study
Authors: 1. Shana Golembo [University of Hawaii at Manoa]
2. Jane Knock [University of Hawaii at Manoa]
3. Thomas Tsuji [University of Hawaii at Manoa]
4. Cecilia Lam [University of Hawaii at Manoa]
5. Jason Schiffman [University of Hawaii at Manoa]
Research suggests the possibility of inaccurate responding to sensitive personality questions on self report measures. Rate of item endorsement of schizotypal questions was studied using both a standard anonymous survey instrument, as well as the “unmatched count technique” (UCT). The UCT, an ultra-anonymous technique requiring respondents to endorse items as the number true within groups of questions, rather than as yes/no for separate specific items, is designed to reveal true base rates of endorsement. The UCT compares the mean of one group responding to sensitive items embedded within neutral questions (i.e., “I own dogs.”), to the mean of another group completing a control questionnaire containing only the neutral items. As a follow-up to a previously presented independent study using the SPQ, we examined endorsement rates on items from the Chapman Scales in a sample of undergraduates. This study also extends previous work by including various control questions to assess the validity of the UCT as a method of revealing true base rates. Preliminary analyses suggest differential responding to certain Chapman Scale items depending on the method of administration (i.e., UCT vs. standard). Analyses have the potential to provide accurate base rates of symptom endorsement in an undergraduate sample.
65. Child-Parent Agreement on the Prime Clinic Screen for the Prodrome
Authors: 1. Justin Maeda [University of Hawaii at Manoa]
2. Cecilia Lam [University of Hawaii at Manoa]
3. Nikki Armstrong [University of Hawaii at Manoa]
4. Elizabeth Jacobs [University of Hawaii at Manoa]
5. Jason Schiffman [University of Hawaii at Manoa]
Accurate screening and identification of youth in the schizophrenia prodrome is an essential step for early intervention and prevention research of psychosis. The Prime Clinic Screen for the Prodrome (Yale University Prime Clinic) is a 12 item self-report screening tool for the assessment of the prodrome. The Screen is based on the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS) and created by its authors. As caregivers are important in providing care and accessing health services for youth, research on caregiver-reported prodromal symptoms is also important. Due to the Screen’s novelty, little is known about the agreement of, or relationship between, youth and caregiver reports of prodromal symptoms. Therefore, to evaluate agreement rates between caregiver and child Screens, we administered the Screen to youths seeking mental health services, as well as a modified version to each youth’s primary caregiver. The study looks at approximately 23 youth, ages 13 to 18 (data collection ongoing, final anticipated n=40) receiving services at the University of Hawaii’s Child and Adolescent Thought Disorders Program. While preliminary analyses indicate low agreement between youth and caregiver, additional analyses will examine the relation between specific areas on the Screen. Implications of findings will be discussed.
66. Sex Differences In Neurocognitive Prediction Of Conversion To Axis I Psychosis In A Sample Of At-Risk Youth
Authors: 1. Deborah J. Walder [Brooklyn College of The City University of New York]
2. Vijay Mittal [Emory University]
3. Amanda McMillan [Emory University]
4. Elaine F. Walker [Emory University]
Recent research suggests neurocognitive deficits predate onset of acute psychosis. Trotman et al (2006) found baseline neurocognitive deficits in adolescents with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD). The current study aimed to extend these findings by examining the strength of neurocognitive deficits (among SPD adolescents) in predicting conversion to Axis I psychosis over a 4-year interval. Despite well-established findings of sex differences in premorbid history and clinical course in schizophrenia, no studies to date have examined sex differences in neurocognitive predictors of psychosis. Thus, a second aim was to assess for a differential sex effect. Subjects (mean age=14.17 years, SD=1.79) were 42 (29M/13F) adolescents with a SIDP-IV diagnosis of SPD and 51 (29M/22F) normal controls (NC) with no Axis II diagnosis. All subjects were administered the SIDP-IV and select subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scales (WIS) and Wechsler Memory Scales (WMS). Preliminary results indicated no significant differences between SPDs converted to Axis I Psychosis (SPD+) and non-converted SPDs (SPD), covarying for medication, on the cognitive measures. Within-sex comparisons among females revealed poorer baseline performance among SPD+ than SPD- on Similarities and (at the trend level) Vocabulary and Arithmetic subtests of the WIS, and Logical Memory I & II, Letter-Number Sequencing and (at the trend level) Family Pictures I & II of the WMS. There were no significant group differences among males (SPD+ vs. SPD-). Findings will be discussed with respect to sexual differentiation of bio-risk indicators of vulnerability for schizophrenia.
67. Dimensional Assessment of Schizotypy: The Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences
Authors: 1. Amanda McCleery [Kent State University]
2. Annie St-Hilaire [Kent State University]
3. Jennifer M. Aakre [Kent State University]
4. James P. Seghers [Kent State University]
5. Nancy M. Docherty [Kent State University]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Current debate exists regarding whether the schizotypy construct is best represented dimensionally or as a taxon. The dimensional model is employed largely in the UK, Europe, and Australia, while the taxonic model is popular in North America. As a result, dimensional schizotypy scales have not been adequately normed on North American samples. The purpose of the present study was to administer the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O-LIFE), a dimensional measure of schizotypy developed in the UK, to a sample of North American university undergraduates (N=281) to explore scale score distributions and means, gender sensitivity, and psychometric properties of the measure.
O-LIFE scale and total scores were all normally distributed and the full range of possible scores were represented, indicating that the schizotypy construct, as measured by the O-LIFE, is normally distributed among this sample of North American undergraduates. Unlike the UK sample, significant gender differences were not found in this sample suggesting that separate gender norms are not necessary for use in North America. Factor structure was determined using exploratory factor analysis with ULS extraction and Promax rotation. The O-LIFE demonstrated adequate internal consistency and the factor structure is consistent with the conceptual organization of the measure.
68. Where do Disordered Eating Attitudes and Behaviors belong in the Diagnostic Taxonomy?
Authors: 1. Kelsie Forbush [University of Iowa]
2. Susan South [University of Minnesota]
3. Robert F. Krueger [University of Minnesota]
4. William Iacono [University of Minnesota]
5. Lee Anna Clark [University of Iowa]
6. Pamela K. Keel [University of Iowa]
7. David Watson [University of Iowa]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Quantitative models of mental disorder have clear advantages over categorical nosologies (Watson, 2005). However, many disorders are not included in existing quantitative models, so the field will be advanced by including more disorders in structural analyses of psychopathology. This study had two goals. First, we sought to locate disordered eating attitudes and behaviors as a unitary concept within structural models of psychopathology. Second, we examined whether individual categories of disordered eating were predicted differentially from latent internalizing versus externalizing factors. Participants were female adolescent twins (N=1,434) who participated in the Minnesota Twin Family Study. All participants completed the Minnesota Eating Behaviors Survey and interviews assessing lifetime presence of DSM-III-R disorders. The best-fitting structural model was one in which disordered eating attitudes and behaviors were indicators of internalizing, rather than eating pathology per se or externalizing. Body dissatisfaction, binge eating, and weight preoccupation were predicted better by internalizing, whereas compensatory behaviors were predicted better by externalizing. Results suggest that eating disorders may be conceptualized best as part of the internalizing spectrum. Nevertheless, because not all types of disordered eating were predicted best by internalizing pathology, future research should examine whether diagnosable eating disorders characterized by purging belong in the externalizing spectrum.
69. Experimental Evidence for a Causal Relationship Between Mood and Body Dissatisfaction
Authors: 1. Alissa Haedt [University of Iowa]
2. Alyson Zalta [University of Pennsylvania]
3. Kelsie Forbush [University of Iowa]
4. Pamela Keel [University of Iowa]
Applied for Smadar Levin Award
Longitudinal studies have found concurrent and prospective associations between depressed mood and body dissatisfaction (BD). However, only experimental research can establish causal relationships. This study utilized an experimental design to examine the influence of negative mood on BD and vice versa. Undergraduate women with a normal BMI were randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition. Participants in the experimental condition (n=21) completed a mood induction procedure (MIP) and a body dissatisfaction induction procedure (BDIP) on separate days, counterbalanced to avoid order effects. Participants in the control condition (n=24) completed neutral mood and body procedures. All participants completed visual analogue scales regarding their mood and satisfaction with weight and shape before and after each manipulation. BD increased following MIP for experimental but not control participants (p<.001), and changes in BD were mediated by changes in mood (p<.05). In contrast, only experimental participants who reported increased negative mood following BDIP reported increased BD (p<.05). Further, experimental participants reported greater increases in BD following MIP vs. BDIP (p<.01). In cultures which idealize thinness, BD may arise from funneling general feelings of dysphoria into more concrete and culturally meaningful negative feelings about the body.
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