Psychopaths constitute only an estimated 1% of the population, yet they are responsible for a disproportionately large number of violent and nonviolent crimes. The literature addressing this syndrome among male offenders is quite extensive. In contrast, psychopathy and its underlying factor structure remains understudied among female offenders. Research has suggested marked gender differences in the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and underlying dimensions of psychopathy. This study examined the dimensions of psychopathy in a female offender sample. The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised and the Self Report Psychopathy-II (SRP-II) were administered to 119 female inmates at Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth, TX. Confirmatory factor analyses of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) did not support the use of the traditional two factor male model or a recently proposed two- factor female model. This thesis also addressed females' self-appraisal of PCL-R Factor 1 characteristics as well as the usefulness of the self-administered Self-Report Psychopathy-II as a screen for psychopathy.

High Summer is a manuscript-length compilation of narrative science essays that trace the relationship the narrator has with her father. These essays focus on the ongoing presence of drugs, their historical basis, and their pharmacological effects on the body. / by Michelle Hasler Martinez. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

Individuals who experience homelessness are exposed to stressors that have the potential to precipitate mental and physical health complications that can present serious threats to multiple areas of these individuals' lives. Although the path to becoming and remaining homeless is different for every individual, there may be some commonality specific to homelessness that makes certain individuals who experience homelessness more vulnerable than other individuals to the expression and potentially devastating course of psychopathology. Guided by the diathesis-stress model, the intent of this study is to explore the question, following a first hospitalization for mental illness ("schizophrenia spectrum disorder" or "other diagnosis"), what are the associations of homelessness with psychiatric symptom severity and how do risk factors of family history of mental illness, low intelligence, housing independence, hopelessness, and lack of social support interact with homelessness? To answer this question, a secondary analysis was performed on data from the Suffolk County Mental Health Project, a longitudinal study that sought to investigate the course of schizophrenia in an epidemiologic sample of first-admission patients. A sub-sample of 548 cases taken from the parent study were further subdivided into two cohorts; individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorder and those diagnosed with non-schizophrenia mental illness. A multilevel analysis was conducted for four different outcome variables, measuring psychotic, disorganized, and depressive symptoms as well as global functioning, in order to determine whether or not there is a significant association between homelessness and the severity of psychiatric symptomatology. Through the continued use of multilevel analytic models and interaction plots, significant confounding variables were examined to determine whether or not they facilitated interactions with homelessness. Homelessness was found to produce a small, but significant effect, for both cohorts across all four outcome variables. Additionally, applied to different outcome variables, the five confounding variables were also found to have small-to-medium-sized, significant interactions with homelessness. The results of this study provide additional statistical support to other studies looking at similar populations.

Purpose: There is evidence that mothers of infants hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) experience elevated rates of psychopathology. However, most studies have focused on very preterm infants, with little attention to mothers of moderate- to late-preterm infants. In addition, the majority of previous research has been cross-sectional, which does not allow for the examination of symptoms over time. Method: The current study investigated whether rates of psychopathology are elevated in mothers of moderate- to late-preterm infants during/following infant hospitalization in the NICU, and associated protective and risk factors. Mothers completed self-report questionnaires during the infant’s hospitalization and six months later. Results: Mothers of moderate- to late-preterm infants hospitalized in the NICU showed elevated rates of depression, anxiety, and PTSD compared to mothers of term infants at both baseline and six months post-birth. Importantly, no differences in psychopathology between mothers of moderate-preterm and late-preterm infants were found at either time point. A number of important risk factors were identified, including previous maternal mental illness, more severe infant health problems, and a lack of coping skills. Potential protective factors were also identified, including mother-infant contact, maternal optimism, and expectations about the infants potential for recovery. Limitations: The current study did not include mothers who were unable to visit the NICU or fathers/siblings, and future studies might include these groups to better understand familial adjustment to the NICU hospitalization of an infant. In addition, research in the future should examine a larger sample of NICU mothers in order to conduct more in-depth longitudinal analyses of risk and protective factors. Finally, future studies will need to pilot and test the efficacy of the proposed screening and programmatic components in order to assess feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness with the target population. Conclusions: These results may inform the development of NICU programming aimed at buffering the development of psychopathology in mothers. Identified risk and protective factors could help in effectively targeting intervention programs to mothers most in need while the infant is in the hospital and over time.

Orientador: Sueli Terezinha Ferrero Martin / Coorientador: Newton Key Hokama / Banca: Gimol Benzaquen Perosa / Banca: Lígia Márcia Martins / Resumo: A anemia falciforme é uma doença crônica e grave, considerada a doença hereditária monogênica mais comum no país. Determinada por uma alteração estrutural na cadeia da betaglobina que leva à produção de uma hemoglobina anormal (HbS), essa doença ocasiona diversos problemas de saúde a seus portadores: crises de dor, infecções, hipertensão pulmonar, doenças cardíacas e complicações renais, entre outras. O cérebro é também bastante afetado: dentre os problemas relatados, destacam-se acidentes vasculares cerebrais, infartos silenciosos e lesões isquêmicas, além de déficits no desenvolvimento das funções cognitivas que podem interferir no desempenho escolar e acadêmico. A anemia falciforme teve origem na África e é, portanto, estatisticamente mais prevalente na população negra - população essa que, historicamente, constitui as camadas mais vulneráveis social e economicamente do Brasil. Considerando que as doenças, seu curso e tratamento explicitam relações sociais e condições de existência em uma dada sociedade; e que a expressão de qualquer forma de adoecimento depende não só de fatores biológicos, mas também de psicológicos, econômicos e sociais, faz-se necessário compreender de que forma a anemia falciforme - por muito tempo subdiagnosticada e pouco pesquisada - se expressa na sociedade contemporânea e na vida de seus portadores. Tendo como categoria de estudo o desenvolvimento do psiquismo a partir do referencial materialistadialético e da Psicologia sócio-histórica; como método de coleta de dados a história de vida; e como técnica a entrevista semi-estruturada, buscou-se investigar os aspectos que mais se destacassem no processo de desenvolvimento do psiquismo dos portadores desta doença, e sua relação com a experiência do adoecimento. Os resultados apontaram para expressiva sujeição de parte desta população a condições, situações e fatores que interferem e podem vir... / Abstract: The sickle cell anemia is a chronic, serious illness, considered to be the most common hereditary monogenic disease in Brazil. This disease, which is characterized by a structural alteration on the beta globin chain that leads to production of an abnormal hemoglobin (HbS), may induce in its bearers several health conditions: sickle cell crisis, infections, pulmonary hypertension, cardiovascular and kidney diseases, and many others. The brain may also be affected: strokes, silent cerebral infarcts and ischemic lesions are some of the possibly associated conditions, that may produce deficits on the development of the cognitive functions and decline in academic performances. As sickle cell anemia originated in Africa, it is more prevalent among people of African ancestry - a population which, historically, constitutes one of the most socially and economically vulnerable strata of the Brazilian society. Considering that every illness, its course and treatment exposes social relations and life conditions in a certain society; and that the expression of any disease relies not only on biological but also on psychological, economical and social factors, we deem as necessary to understand how the sickle cell anemia - for a long time subdiagnosed e little investigated - expresses itself in the contemporary society and on the lives of the patients. Adopting the psychological development as the category of study, within a dialectical and materialistic approach on the Socialhistorical Psychology; the life history method and the semi-structured interview for data collection, our goal was to investigate the most proeminent aspects of the psychological development process on sickle cell anemia patients, and their relationship with that illness. The results point to an expressive subjection of part of this population to conditions, situations and determiners that interfere and may cause important limitations not only to their psychological ... / Mestre

Abstract not available

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-186).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-134). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-134). Also available on the Internet.

[Truncated abstract] Atypical handedness is found to be more prevalent in schizophrenia patients than in psychiatric and normal controls, suggesting atypical brain lateralisation, particularly of regions associated with language. This ‘behavioural aberration’ is commonly considered as a marker of disturbed neurodevelopment, which is usually indexed by minor physical abnormalities. A prevailing view in the literature is that the atypical lateralisation of hand preference provides an additional index for the neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia. Consistent with this hypothesis, an atypical lateralisation of hand preferences can also be considered as a consequence of environmental agents that might have interfered with early embryonic development. Notwithstanding the above, an atypical lateralisation of hand preferences can occur as a result of genetic factors as well as an interaction between genetic and environmental factors. The overall objective of this thesis was to advance existing knowledge on atypical laterality in schizophrenia by addressing its various (though related) aspects, including measurement, classification and conceptualisation. Atypical lateralisation of hand preferences in schizophrenia patients was approached by five separate studies. ... Overall, this thesis argues that the causes of atypical lateralisation of hand preferences are due to combined genetic and environmental factors and that its use as a marker of vulnerability to schizophrenia is limited. A cautious interpretation of various associations between the laterality and other measures, particularly cognitive measures, is advised until a broad agreement on the true nature of handedness is reached.