Advisor(s)

Carmen G. Armengol

Contributor(s)

Mary B. Ballou (1949-), Elisabeth J. Moes

Date of Award

2009

Date Accepted

8-2009

Degree Grantor

Northeastern University

Degree Level

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department or Academic Unit

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Department of Counseling & Applied Educational Psychology.

Keywords

psychology, cluster analysis, dorsolateral-prefrontal, frontal-subcortical, logistic regression, neuropsychological, orbitofrontal

Subject Categories

Neuropsychological tests, College students--Personality, Case studies, Behavior Disorders Identification Scale, Personality disorders--Diagnosis

Disciplines

Cognitive Psychology | Psychology

Abstract

The integration of cognitive neuroscience with neuropsychology has been advocated (Stuss & Levine, 2002). Lichter and Cummings' (2001) description of "circuit specific behavioral syndromes" suggested that an "orbitofrontal (OF) syndrome" could be discriminated from a "dorsolateral-prefrontal (DLPF) syndrome," based on a theoretical model of frontal-subcortical circuits. Using Morey's (1991) Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), a cluster variate of antisocial features, aggression, mania, and obsessive-compulsive behavior was selected to partition a diagnostically heterogeneous, archival sample of clinic-referred college students (N = 22) using cluster analysis. A two-group cluster solution emerged from the results of combined hierarchical-agglomerative and iterative partitioning procedures, potentially corresponding to the putative OF and DLPF classifications. The "OF profile group" obtained significantly higher scores on self-report measures of antisocial features, aggression, mania/hypomania, and obsessive-compulsive behavior than the "DLPF profile group." External validation of the cluster solution employing univariate logistic regression analyses suggested the DLPF profile group performed more poorly than the OF profile group on measures of sustained attention and spatial working memory, and the OF profile group performed more poorly than the DLPF profile group on a measure of color naming. Utilizing the PAI in conjunction with neuropsychological tests to assist in identifying OF and DLPF neurobehavioral profiles is suggested. Implications for treatment and academic accommodations for clinic-referred college students are discussed.

Document Type

Dissertation

Rights Holder

Kevin Michael Harkins


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