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THE PATH TO DEPRESSION: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DURATION OF ILLNESS, SELF-STIGMA HARM, AND COGNITIVE INSIGHT IN A MIXED SAMPLE OF PEOPLE WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS
Title
THE PATH TO DEPRESSION: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DURATION OF ILLNESS, SELF-STIGMA HARM, AND COGNITIVE INSIGHT IN A MIXED SAMPLE OF PEOPLE WITH SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS
Creator
Bink, Andrea B.
Date
2017, 2017-05
Description
Two models are proposed to explain the development and maintenance of comorbid depressive symptoms for people with serious mental illness....
Show moreTwo models are proposed to explain the development and maintenance of comorbid depressive symptoms for people with serious mental illness. Model 1 suggests duration of illness and cognitive insight will have an independent and direct effect on self-stigma harm and self-stigma harm will have a direct effect on depressive symptoms. In Model 2, duration of illness and self-stigma harm are proposed as the indicator variables with cognitive insight as the mediator directly and independently predicting depressive symptoms. Data from the current study were drawn from a larger longitudinal investigation examining predictors and correlates of mental health treatment decisions, including medication options. Potential participants were recruited from two community health centers and were screened for inclusion. Baseline and one-month data gathered during in-person interviews for 98 participants were included in the current analysis. Results of structural equation modeling found no support for either model. Thus, no clear conclusions can be made from these results. This study was limited mainly by a small sample size. However, other factors such as directionality or exclusion of certain variables might have also limited the results. Suggestions for future research are discussed.
M.S. in Pyschology, May 2017
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THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOM FACTORS AND CANNABIS USE
Title
THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOM FACTORS AND CANNABIS USE
Creator
Miner, Jacob L.
Date
2018, 2018-05
Description
Substance use and mood disorders are the most common co-occurring psychiatric disorders, with cannabis use and depression being the most...
Show moreSubstance use and mood disorders are the most common co-occurring psychiatric disorders, with cannabis use and depression being the most prevalent. Despite the growing body of evidence examining the relationship between depression and cannabis use, the association is still not well understood. The purpose of the present study was to determine if depressive symptom type (i.e., somatic vs. cognitive) was differentially associated with severity of past month cannabis use. Due to inconsistencies in the literature, no a priori hypothesis was made. Data for this study were obtained from the 2015 national survey sample sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Depression variables used for the analysis consisted of the 9 symptoms related to a diagnosis of Major Depressive in the DSM-IV. Confirmatory Factor Analyses indicated that the best fitting measurement models was a two-factor model of depression, with a 4-symptom somatic factor and a 5-symptom cognitive factor. Results of the full structural equation model indicated that neither somatic nor cognitive symptom factors significantly predicted past month cannabis use. There is a need for a better understanding of the way depressive symptoms are associated with cannabis use.
M.S. in Psychology, May 2018
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Sex Differences in a Network Model of Depressive Symptoms
Title
Sex Differences in a Network Model of Depressive Symptoms
Creator
Ginger, Emily J
Date
2021
Description
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent mental health disorders, with a lifetime prevalence rate of 13-16% and 12-month...
Show moreMajor Depressive Disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent mental health disorders, with a lifetime prevalence rate of 13-16% and 12-month prevalence rates of 5-7%. It has long been established that the rates of MDD in females is two to three times that of males. Previous research has examined sex differences in the occurrence and severity of MDD symptoms, primarily indicating greater severity of appetite increase and weight gain in females compared to males. The majority of previous research has been conducted assuming the latent factor model that MDD accounts for the symptoms of depression, and sex operates as a mediator or moderator between the latent variable and MDD, or between MDD and its symptoms. The present study used network analysis to examine whether there are sex differences in the relations between symptoms of depression, which might be an important factor for understanding sex differences in prevalence rates of MDD. The present study compared networks of DSM MDD symptoms between currently depressed females and males, and separate networks that also included other symptoms commonly associated with depression (e.g., anxiety, anger). Sex differences were examined using jointly estimated networks, and a Network Comparison Test (NCT) for the independently estimated networks. Results indicated no sex differences in depression symptom networks. These results indicate that depressive symptom networks, or the relations between symptoms are not an important factor for understanding the disparity in sex differences in MDD prevalence rates. Interestingly, non-DSM symptoms were among the strongest and most important symptoms within the network, suggesting future research and diagnostic criteria should consider inclusion of non-DSM symptoms associated with MDD.
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Health Information Seeking, Depression, and Satisfaction with Life in Racial/ethnic Minority vs. White individuals with Spinal Cord Injuries
Title
Health Information Seeking, Depression, and Satisfaction with Life in Racial/ethnic Minority vs. White individuals with Spinal Cord Injuries
Creator
Stipp, Kelsey
Date
2022
Description
Health information is available both traditionally by conversations with health care professionals, and non-traditionally via use of the...
Show moreHealth information is available both traditionally by conversations with health care professionals, and non-traditionally via use of the Internet and other media sources. Health information is crucial to individuals with chronic health conditions and/or disabilities, such as spinal cord injury (SCI), to promote health, minimize comorbidities, and improve quality of life (QOL). Methods of health information seeking have been shown to differ between individuals who are racial/ethnic minority individuals and individuals who are White. Existing research appears to show health information seeking may increase QOL in populations with chronic health conditions and/or disabilities. However, it is unclear how aspects of QOL differ between individuals within the SCI population by race/ethnicity. The present study used Chi Square analyses to test racial/ethnic group differences in health information seeking and multiple analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) to test whether method of health information seeking and aspects of QOL, specifically depression and satisfaction with life, were moderated by race/ethnicity. An adult sample of 9,403 individuals with SCI who completed a survey on their injury, health, and QOL between 2011 and 2016 was used. Participants identified their source of health information as traditional (i.e., conversations with health care professionals) or non-traditional (e.g., newspaper, television, radio, etc.). Results indicated non-traditional sources of health information were utilized more frequently regardless of race/ethnicity. Unexpectedly, moderation results suggested that associations between source of health information and depression and satisfaction with life did not differ by race/ethnicity. However, source of health information was associated with satisfaction with life and depression for the entire sample. Study findings demonstrate the shift towards non-traditional (e.g., newspaper, television, radio, etc.) health information seeking within the SCI population. Further, findings support previous empirical work demonstrating the association between method of health information seeking and depression and satisfaction with life. These findings can be used to improve dissemination of accurate health information to the SCI population via non-traditional sources. Further research should include more diverse samples of individuals to better understand health information seeking as well as depression and satisfaction with life within the SCI population.
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