Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item The impact of trait anxiety and psychosocial stress on sympathetic neural control in humans(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2023) Bigalke, Jeremy Andrew; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Cara A. Palmer; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Anxiety is highly prevalent, and while it is often adaptive, excessive stress and anxiety may predispose individuals to a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease. While excessive activity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) may underlie this association, direct measures of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) indicate little, if any, alterations in resting sympathetic outflow in individuals with anxiety disorders. Assessment of the relationship between trait anxiety, MSNA, and blood pressure using a large cohort of healthy adults has not yet been conducted. Further, utilization of stress tasks within microneurographic settings that minimize the potential influence of breathing alterations, muscle movement, and other variables on the typically observed inter-individual variability in MSNA responsiveness to mental stress are needed to adequately assess the sole contribution of psychological stress on sympathetic neural activity. In Study 1, the association between trait anxiety, MSNA, and resting blood pressure was assessed in a population of 88 healthy adults, representing the largest study to date pairing trait anxiety with directly recorded sympathetic outflow to the periphery. Our findings indicate an independent relationship between trait anxiety, MSNA, and blood pressure when controlling for both age and sex. In Study 2, we utilized the trier social stress test (TSST) to assess the impact of anticipatory stress on MSNA and blood pressure in 28 healthy adults. Our findings showed that anticipatory stress is associated with increased blood pressure and reduced MSNA. Additionally, this appears to be baroreflex mediated as the magnitude of changes in blood pressure were directly proportional to reductions in MSNA, a relationship that was weakened or nonexistent during the active speech portion of the task. Lastly, anticipatory MSNA responsiveness accurately predicted reactivity to subsequent stress tasks. Together, these studies highlight a key relationship between both chronic, and acute psychological stress and anxiety on sympathoneural function in healthy adults.Item Trauma screening in chronic disease management: a quality improvement project(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 2021) Vaughan, David James; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sandra Benavides-Vaello and M. Jean Shreffler-Grant (co-chair)More than two decades of research has established the association of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adverse health outcomes in adults as initially proposed in the original study by Felitti and colleagues across multiple, well-designed studies. Research indicates that this is a common problem affecting nearly two out of three in the general population. The positive, dose-related, cumulative association of ACEs and poor health outcomes in chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, lung disease, and others has been shown to shorten life expectancy by as much as twenty years compared to those with fewer ACEs. Despite the evidence, screening for ACEs in adult primary care is rare. This scholarly project utilized the Trauma-Informed Care framework to introduce an ACE screening tool in the electronic health record of a rural primary care setting. The target population for screening was adults with specific chronic medical conditions. The primary outcome measure was screening tool utilization, and the secondary measure was the referral to integrated behavioral health (IBH). In a six-week period, ACE screening tool utilization was low, being completed in only 9 of 494 included patient encounters. During the project period, the IBH referral rate increased from 1% to 12% in the same patient sample. Provider and organizational acceptance of the tool were modest. This scholarly project demonstrates several challenges that exist when translating research to practice. More time, education, and resources are needed to close this important research to practice gap.Item Early family environments and memory: the role of physiological and psychological responses to acute stress(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Counts, Cory; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Neha John-HendersonChildhood family environments have important implications for outcomes in adulthood. Specifically, the experience of adversity in childhood is related to numerous maladaptive outcomes later in life. It is currently unknown how early adversity affects memory consolidation and processing. Previous research has established an association with anxiety and depression possessing a negative memory bias. A negative memory bias is defined as attentional and perceptual favor towards information that is contextually negative or threatening. Research has not examined the relationship between negative memory bias and childhood adversity after the induction of stress. Stress has previously shown to be disruptive to memory outcomes. Further, a growing body of research has shown that early childhood adversity associates with blunted physiological responses to stress. It is possible that through the pathway of blunted reactivity, early childhood adversity associates with negative memory bias. To test these hypotheses, a sample of college students (N=64) studied a 50-word list that included 25 emotionally negative words and 25 emotionally neutral words. Participants then completed the Trier Social Stress Test, an evaluative stressor well known for inducing stress. After the stress task, participants were asked to freely recall words they previously studied. Results showed that higher ratings or risk and emotional abuse in childhood associated with increased negative word recall. The relationship was partially mediated through blunted heart rate reactivity to the stress task. Implications and future directions are discussed.Item The impact of mindfulness on the integrated science classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Fox, Kevin R.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisThis study was conducted over the winter and spring in a predominantly ninth grade Integrated Science Class. The goal was to find out if practicing mindfulness had any impact on the classroom environment and student learning. Students first took pre and post- summative tests in a non-treatment unit that focused on the study of waves. During the treatment unit, which focused on the study of astronomy, students participated in mindfulness three days a week, for two to five minutes, at the beginning of the class. Students took pre-and post- summative tests for this unit as well. They took a Likert survey, both before and after the treatment unit, to gauge their impressions of a variety of classroom factors. Additionally, students submitted short answer responses to questions related to the mindfulness treatment unit. Finally, during the treatment unit, the instructor kept a daily journal. There was no statistical difference in the students' summative test scores when the treatment and non-treatment units were compared. There were also no statistical differences pre-and post-treatment in student answers to any of the thirteen items on the Likert survey. Student responses to the free response questions, and the instructor journal showed a positive correlation between the treatment and the classroom environment. Based largely on the qualitative data, from the student responses and the instructor journal, mindfulness practice was shown to have a positive impact on the classroom. Students said that they were able to focus better, they were calmer, and had reduced levels of stress and anxiety. The instructor journal also showed that the students maintained better focus and were less restless on days where mindfulness was practiced.Item The effect of meditation on mindfulness in the science classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Brandon, Meredith Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisHow does having mindfulness during classroom instruction contribute to student self-awareness and understanding of content? In this study, students participated in teacher-facilitated meditation as a means to focus and become more mindful in the classroom. Pre and post-treatment surveys, one-on-one interviews and assessment data was collected across one unit to measure the effectiveness of the meditation on student self-awareness and performance. Results showed improved self-awareness of distractors during class and a slight increase of scores on assessments.Item Teaching english on the moon: a memoir of teaching at a rural school(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Hoffmann, Alan David; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Allison Wynhoff OlsenMontana is a primarily rural state. The majority of Montana's high schools are 'Class C' schools with enrollments under 107 students. Of these, over sixty Montana high schools have enrollments under sixty students. In these schools, high school academic departments normally consist of one person. This experience is rarely examined. Even existing literature that focuses on rural education focus on settings with higher enrollments than many of Montana's smaller schools. Drawing on the author's personal experience of teaching at high school with an enrollment of around 25 students, this memoir provides an account and guide for working in these settings. Through this, the author details the benefits of teaching in these settings, such as smaller class sizes that allow for more one-on-one interaction. It also examines the challenges of coming and teaching in rural places, including the stresses of prepping for seven different classes and difficulties of integrating into rural communities. Given the number of these schools in the state of Montana, many graduates from the Montana University System's education programs will go on to teach in these settings. This work aims to advocate for rural settings and to give teachers that may go into these areas an idea of what to expect.Item Breaking the cycle of adverse childhood experiences: a program evaluation(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 2019) McAnally, Jennifer Lyles; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dale MayerAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are specific types of childhood trauma, that, when experienced, have been found to have dose-response relationship to poor health outcomes later in life, namely, many of the leading causes of death in adults. ACEs include psychological, physical, or sexual abuse, witnessing violence against the mother, living with household members who were substance abusers, mentally ill or suicidal, or who are imprisoned. Recognizing a need for intervention to disrupt this ACE to illness trajectory, The American Academy of Pediatrics has called upon medical providers to address ACEs through screening and community-building. Since there is currently no guideline for how to address ACEs, the purpose of this scholarly project was to evaluate the Lewis and Clark County Health Department (L&CHD) ACE program for effectiveness and alignment with evidence-based practice. Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention manual titled Introduction to Program Evaluation for Public Health Programs (IPEPHP), an evaluation was completed. Steps included engaging stakeholders, describing the program, developing an evaluation plan, gathering credible evidence, and analyzing the evidence in order to develop conclusions and make recommendations. The L&CHD ACE program was found to be a largely progressive model that is consistent with most program goals and literature. Those who participated in the program tended to complete the program successfully, however, a majority of those who were referred to the ACE program either chose not to take advantage of the referral or declined to participate in the program. This finding was unexpected and warrants further inquiry. It appears that an integrated behavioral health model may be more effective for engaging potential participants, where they are able to initially meet with mental and behavioral health experts in the familiar primary care setting.Item Evaluating determinants of psychophysiological stress in collegiate student-athletes(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2016) Terry, Jennifer Lauren; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Daniel P. HeilCollegiate student-athletes are a unique group of individuals who experience a vast array of cognitive and physiological stressors. In addition to the typical stressors of an average college student, such as homesickness, finances, academics, and social relationships, student-athletes must also cope with lack of free time, pressure to perform, relationships with coaches and teammates, and physiological stress due to training and competing. Student-athletes with unmanaged chronic stress are more likely to experience a plethora of negative health outcomes, effecting performance in the classroom, on the field, and in life. Currently, survey instruments exist to predict cognitive and physiological sources of stress in isolation, but no existing instrument integrates both cognitive and physiological stressors into a single measure of chronic stress. The current cross-sectional study compared magnitude and sources of stress, psychological and physiological, experienced by Montana State University student-athletes (n=30) and their non-athlete counterparts (n=22). In addition, associations between chronic stress (as indicated by hair cortisol concentration, or HCC) and subjective measures of psychological stress, physiological stress and sleep quality were assessed in a subgroup of participants (n=12 student-athletes; n=9 non-athletes). Student-athletes had significantly greater average weekly training load than the non-athlete students (P < 0.001), but all other indicators of psychological stress and sleep quality were not significantly different between the two groups. Of those participants who provided a hair sample, the student-athletes had greater average HCC (P = 0.027). Although no associations were observed between HCC and measures of psychophysiological stress or sleep quality, a significant correlation was observed between HCC and body fat percentage (r = -0.59, P < 0.045). Additional research is necessary to elucidate the role of body composition, as well as other factors, on chronic stress development in college student-athletes.Item An investigation of stress and leisure time activity between two groups of students(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1977) Mizner, Ruth EvelynItem A literature survey of selected aspects of the psychological reactions of the stresses of imprisonment and repatriation upon United States' Viet Nam prisoners of war(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1973) Carpenter, William Lee