Depressive symptoms and sleep are both strongly associated with deficits in emotional functioning (Durmer & Dinges, 2005; van der Helm & Walker, 2010). Although sleep and depression are tightly intertwined, understanding their independent and conjoint impact on emotional functioning is imperative. Given the limitations of previous designs, the primary goal of this study was to examine the separate impact of poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms on emotion regulation. In order to accomplish this goal, we preselected groups on the basis of their sleep and depression profiles: individuals with mainly sleep problems (N = 30), individuals with mainly depressive symptoms (N = 10), individuals who scored highly on both problems (N = 37), as well as individuals who are low on both problems (N = 33). Main predictions were that sleep would be uniquely associated with poor trait and laboratory emotion regulation. Results were contrary to hypotheses in that we found main effects of depression on all self-reported measures of emotion regulation and a main effect of sleep on rumination alone. Sleep and depression both predicted affective consequences of laboratory emotion regulation but in the opposite of the expected direction: greater severity scores predicted more benefit from instructed emotion regulation strategy use in the laboratory. Further discussion centers on the complexity of sleep problems and future directions for a greater understanding of sleep within emotion regulation.

It has been hypothesized that a disproportionate percentage of the blind population are learning disabled. In the past, norms and technology were not available to assess in a cost effective manner the blind client's neuropsychological functioning. Norms for the Wide Range Achievement Test - Revised (WRAT-R2) are now available for a blind population without any neuropsychological dysfunctioning. This study utilized the adapted WRAT-R2 and the Comprehensive Vocational Evaluation System (CVES), a neuropsychological test battery adapted for the blind, to investigate the possibility that learning disabilities are present in the adult blind population. Suspected learning disabled, blind subjects were compared with normal blind subjects. There were significant neuropsychological differences between the two groups.

Executive functioning usually refers to one’s ability to regulate one’s behavior, set goals, be mentally flexible, and understand the consequence of one’s actions. However, certain neurodevelopmental disabilities such as Autism, often can negatively impact executive function processes. Although applied behavior analytic (ABA) treatment is the most recommended intervention for autism treatment practitioners rarely assess or target executive functioning within their treatment planning. The present study assessed the relationship between direct and indirect executive functioning scores and a language assessment used by ABA providers. Thirty-nine children with autism spectrum disorder were administered a variety of scales including the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF 2), Comprehensive Executive Functioning Inventory (CEFI), Tower of London (TOL), and the PEAK Comprehensive Assessment (PCA). Obtained data yielded a moderate, negative relationship between the total BRIEF and total PCA scores (r=-0.521, p=.032) and a moderate, positive relationship between CEFI planning and PCA scores (r=0.394, p=.017). However, there was a strong correlation between total PCA scores and TOL scores (r=0.708, p=.005).

Emerging adulthood is a developmental period characterized by the themes of identity exploration, instability, feeling in-between, being self-focused, and exploring possibilities (Arnett, 2006). Emerging adults are at higher risk for anxiety as they navigate novel developmental experiences and responsibilities (Kranszler et al., 2019). This study explores whether these themes map on to the experiences of modern-day emerging adults, and whether developmental functioning corresponds to anxiety. College students completed standard questionnaires and provided free-text responses about adjusting to adulthood. Identity exploration and instability were perceived as the most positive and negative aspects of aging, respectively, though response-type varied by participant demographics. Several responses were not captured by these themes. Participants’ ability to engage in self-care and their living situation were negatively associated with current anxiety. These findings provide important directions for expanding theoretical models and measurement of emerging adulthood.

Pediatric neuropsychological evaluations are often used to help with diagnostic clarification, aid with treatment planning, and propose recommendations. Yet, little is known about the effects that a neuropsychological evaluation may have on psychosocial outcome and functioning. The present study sought to replicate customer satisfaction results and recommendation adherence results from previous studies while including a longitudinal measure of psychosocial functioning to determine change over time in a pre-test post-test design. Parents of children who underwent a neuropsychological evaluation between May 2016 and December 2020 were invited to complete a survey including the consumer satisfaction questionnaire and treatment adherence questions. They were then sent the Behavioral Assessment System for Children – 3rd Edition (BASC-3). Parents provided consent for access to their children's medical records to extract baseline BASC-3 scores as well as other demographic information. Results indicated that parents were very satisfied with the neuropsychological evaluation. Recommendation adherence ranges from an average of 48% for school counseling and 89% for autism therapies. Changes in psychosocial functioning were only detected on the internalizing index of the BASC from baseline to follow-up, t=2.63, p=0.01. A significant correlation was found between time since evaluation and change in the adaptive functioning index of the BASC-3, Pearson r=-0.36, p=0.002.

Researchers have found that self-esteem and weight status can impact numerous aspects of an individual’s life, including reproductive health issues. However, there has been limited research specifically examining how self-esteem may affect female sexual functioning. The current study aims to examine whether self-esteem is a significant predictor of sexual functioning, and whether this relationship may change as a function of women’s weight status. Participants consisted of 730 women ranging from 18 to 49 years of age, who were recruited through an online questionnaire. Results indicate that higher levels of self-esteem predict better sexual functioning and weight status was found to be a significant moderator of this relationship; specifically, self-esteem was only found to predict sexual functioning for individuals at average or below-average weight status, and not for individuals who were of higher-than-average weight status. Findings have potential implications for physical and mental health professionals working with individuals trying to improve their sexual functioning.

As a part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, the Al Wajh Bank will soon undergo major coastal development to be transformed into a sustainable luxury tourist destination, with goals to safeguard the marine and coastal habitats in order to achieve a net conservation benefit of 30%. To realize these objectives, it is essential to establish baseline data on the marine communities to gauge the success of conservation goals. In this study, we evaluated and compared the taxonomic and functional diversity of reef fish assemblages between two areas in the Al Wajh Bank, sites inside the lagoon and those outside of it, in order to establish differences in fish communities across environmental gradients. Conditions within the lagoon, such as temperature and salinity, have been shown to differ from most other Red Sea areas and are thought to result in unique fish assemblages. Underwater assessments of fish communities and benthic composition were conducted throughout the Al Wajh Bank during cruises in 2016 and 2017. We found that of the 168 fish species recorded, 75 species were exclusive outside the lagoon, 22 were exclusive inside the lagoon, and 71 species were shared between inside and outside. Sites within the lagoon had significantly less species richness as well as lower abundances. While taxonomic composition differed between the two areas, functionally they were very similar. Two functional metrics (functional richness and functional dispersion) indicated different levels of functional diversity, while two other metrics (functional evenness and functional specialization) showed no differences in functional diversity. The outside had five groups comprising eleven species with functional redundancy; in contrast, the inside had two species which were functionally redundant. This study was able to establish that the inside and outside habitats are different and have dissimilar species compositions, yet the functional characterization of fish assemblages in conserved. These results advocate for the use of functional diversity metrics as a way to evaluate changes to community composition, and is an initial assessment towards tracking changes in the fish communities as coastal development progresses

Thesis advisor: Zhushan Mandy Li / Differential item functioning (DIF) occurs when examinees of equal ability from different groups have different probabilities of correctly responding to certain items. DIF analysis aims to identify potentially biased items to ensure the fairness and equity of instruments, and has become a routine procedure in developing and improving assessments. This study proposed a DIF detection method using regularization techniques, which allows for simultaneous investigation of all items on a test for both uniform and nonuniform DIF. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed DIF detection models and understand the factors that influence the performance, comprehensive simulation studies and empirical data analyses were conducted. Under various conditions including test length, sample size, sample size ratio, percentage of DIF items, DIF type, and DIF magnitude, the operating characteristics of three kinds of regularized logistic regression models: lasso, elastic net, and adaptive lasso, each characterized by their penalty functions, were examined and compared. Selection of optimal tuning parameter was investigated using two well-known information criteria AIC and BIC, and cross-validation. The results revealed that BIC outperformed other model selection criteria, which not only flagged high-impact DIF items precisely, but also prevented over-identification of DIF items with few false alarms. Among the regularization models, the adaptive lasso model achieved superior performance than the other two models in most conditions. The performance of the regularized DIF detection model using adaptive lasso was then compared to two commonly used DIF detection approaches including the logistic regression method and the likelihood ratio test. The proposed model was applied to analyzing empirical datasets to demonstrate the applicability of the method in real settings. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

Early childhood science and engineering education offer a prime context to foster approaches-to-learning (ATL) and executive functioning (EF) by eliciting children’s natural curiosity about the world, providing a unique opportunity to engage children in hands-on learning experiences that promote critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, persistence, and other adaptive domain-general learning skills. Indeed, in any science experiment or engineering problem, children make observations, engage in collaborative conversations with teachers and peers, and think flexibly to come up with predictions or potential solutions to their problem. Inherent to science and engineering is the idea that one learns from initial failures within an iterative trial-and-error process where children practice risk-taking, persistence, tolerance for frustration, and sustaining focus. Unfortunately, science and engineering instruction is typically absent from early childhood classrooms, and particularly so in programs that serve children from low-income families. However, our early science and engineering intervention research shows teachers how to build science and engineering instruction into activities that are already happening in their classrooms, which boosts their confidence and removes some of the stigma around science and engineering. In this paper, we discuss the promise of research that uses early childhood science and engineering experiences as engaging, hands-on, interactive platforms to instill ATL and EF in young children living below the poverty line. We propose that early childhood science and engineering offer a central theme that captures children’s attention and allows for integrated instruction across domain-general (ATL, EF, and social–emotional) and domain-specific (e.g., language, literacy, mathematics, and science) content, allowing for contextualized experiences that make learning more meaningful and captivating for children.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第23606号 / 医博第4793号 / 新制||医||1055(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 林 康紀, 教授 古川 壽亮, 教授 髙橋 良輔 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM