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Bethany Ranes

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Dr. Bethany Ranes is a research psychologist with experience and training in cognitive performance and neuropsychology among general, forensic, and military populations. Her work has explored various practical applications, including research implementation in various healthcare environments. She is currently the Research Fellow for Mental Health at UnitedHealth Group R&D.

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Fernando Andrade

Edyta Charzyńska

Case Western Reserve University

Benita Walton-Moss

The University of Texas at Austin

University of California, San Diego

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Papers by Bethany Ranes

The Role of Spirituality in Treatment Outcomes Following a Residential 12-Step Program

Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, Dec 20, 2016

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other 12-Step treatment programs emphasize the positive effects of ... more Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other 12-Step treatment programs emphasize the positive effects of spirituality on abstinence from alcohol; however, the associations among positive treatment outcomes, spirituality, and other psychological constructs have received limited empirical attention. The present study attempts to better define the nature of spirituality, while also examining its role alongside relevant psychological constructs in treatment outcomes for patients who attend a residential 12-Step program. Data collected at treatment entry, treatment discharge, and 1-, 6-, and 12-months postdischarge supported the conclusion that spirituality is a dynamic construct that is distinct from, but related to, traditional religiousness, and is significantly associated with a participant's affect and meaning in life. Participants demonstrated a significant increase in spirituality upon completion of a residential 12-Step treatment program. Although there was no support for a direct association between spirituality and abstinence following treatment, AA participation appeared to play a mediating role between the two variables, which suggests that increased spirituality can have an indirect positive effect on abstinence through its association with increased AA participation.

The Effect of Reported Head Injury on Team Performance and Partner Evaluation

Orders will be expedited if placed through the librarian or other person designated to request do... more

Soldier Beliefs about the Readiness of Military Personnel with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Functional Balance and Goal-Directed Eye-Hand Coordination After Exogenous or Endogenous Visual-Vestibular Perturbation: Current Findings and Recommendations for Portable or Ambulatory Applications

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2017

Orientation and balance can be disrupted by a sensory integration or sensorimotor challenge of ex... more Orientation and balance can be disrupted by a sensory integration or sensorimotor challenge of exogenous origin, including rhythmic alterations in G-force and direction that occur during turbulent flight or travel by sea, as well as a visual-vestibular-somatosensory rearrangement caused by exposure to a moving vehicle simulator or virtual environments. Balance can also be disrupted by an endogenous challenge associated with an inner-ear disease or a head injury affecting peripheral or central balance systems. We sought to determine whether operationally relevant psychomotor performance (a dynamic simulated shooting task) was sensitive to a functional balance challenge caused by the aftereffect of unusual vestibular stimulation or blast/concussion. Seventy healthy subjects and 30 mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients were evaluated with a shooting simulator used for military training. They performed four new shooting tests designed to quantify marksmanship speed and accuracy during tasks similar to established clinical gait challenges. Our exploratory tasks were assessed for their sensitivity to a temporary exogenous challenge (the aftereffect of spinning healthy subjects in a rotating chair to simulate vestibular vertigo) and their sensitivity to imbalance associated with the lingering effect of mTBI. The task that was the most reliable and most sensitive to an exogenous balance challenge was kneeling while shooting at targets to the left and right of the frontal visual field. This test merits further development. We present recommendations for developing this test further and for making the large testing apparatus portable, robust, and capable of expanded quantification of shooting performance, rifle kinematics, and postural sway.

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ... Annual Meeting, Sep 1, 2016

Software innovations at our laboratory have made novel measures of shooting performance available... more Software innovations at our laboratory have made novel measures of shooting performance available to researchers, even when the data comes from a fielded military firearms training simulator not designed for research. This study analyzed specific patterns of rifle handling and control to determine how they affected reaction time and accuracy among shooters of differing skill levels. The results indicated the skilled shooters employed smoother and more efficient rifle movement while aiming than less-skilled shooters. While shooters know that trigger control and sight picture are important, this study confirms that skilled shooting is also influenced by the efficiency of the rifle movements that immediately precede the shot.

Evaluation of the Military Functional Assessment Program

Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, Jul 1, 2015

Orders will be expedited if placed through the librarian or other person designated to request do... more

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Dynamic Simulated Shooting Performance

Orders will be expedited if placed through the librarian or other person designated to request do... more

Mental health impact on healthcare workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic: a U.S. cross-sectional survey study

Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health and well-being of health care wor... more Background The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health and well-being of health care workers (HCWs). This study examined mental health outcomes and COVID-related stress impacts among a diverse sample of ambulatory HCWs, including clinicians and support staff, as well as the associations between mental health outcomes and work impairments in this population. Detailing these results can help in designing interventions to alleviate this burden. Methods “The Health Care Worker Stress Survey” was administered to ambulatory care providers and support staff at three multispecialty care delivery organizations as part of an online, cross-sectional study conducted between June 8, 2020, and July 13, 2020. Results The greatest stress impact reported by HCWs was the uncertainty regarding when the COVID-19 outbreak would be under control, while the least reported concern was about self-dying from COVID-19. Differences in COVID-19 stress impacts were observed by age, gender, and occupatio...

Feasibility of TBI Assessment Measures in a Field Environment: A Pilot Study for the Environmental Sensors in Training (ESiT) Project

: The present study compared a variety of TBI assessment methods to determine their feasibility f... more : The present study compared a variety of TBI assessment methods to determine their feasibility for use in a military training field environment. Participants (N = 47) were assigned to one of two conditions. Condition 1 included neurocognitive performance tests (Continuous Performance, Symbol Digit Coding, Stroop and Four-Part Continuous Performance) and oculomotor tests (Pupillary Light Reflex and King-Devick). Condition 2 included the Integrated Display Enhanced Testing for Cognitive Impairment and mTBI (iDETECT), which includes neuropsychological performance, balance/sensory integration, and vestibular/oculomotor integrity tests within a multimodal system. Both conditions included the Military Acute Concussion Evaluation (MACE) and an Ease-of-Use survey. Mean scores for the Ease-of-Use survey and mean test administration times for each measure were compared. Administrative feedback was also considered for qualitative analysis. Results suggest that of the measures tested, the iDET...

Increasing Efficiency of Service Provision in a Forensic Mental Health System: An Evaluative Study of the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Campus Behavioral Health Program

Functional Balance and Goal-Directed Eye-Hand Coordination After Exogenous or Endogenous Visual-Vestibular Perturbation: Current Findings and Recommendations for Portable or Ambulatory Applications

Orientation and balance can be disrupted by a sensory integration or sensorimotor challenge of ex... more Orientation and balance can be disrupted by a sensory integration or sensorimotor challenge of exogenous origin, including rhythmic alterations in G-force and direction that occur during turbulent flight or travel by sea, as well as a visual-vestibular-somatosensory rearrangement caused by exposure to a moving vehicle simulator or virtual environments. Balance can also be disrupted by an endogenous challenge associated with an inner-ear disease or a head injury affecting peripheral or central balance systems. We sought to determine whether operationally relevant psychomotor performance (a dynamic simulated shooting task) was sensitive to a functional balance challenge caused by the aftereffect of unusual vestibular stimulation or blast/concussion. Seventy healthy subjects and 30 mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients were evaluated with a shooting simulator used for military training. They performed four new shooting tests designed to quantify marksmanship speed and accuracy du...

Effects of Rifle Handling, Target Acquisition, and Trigger Control on Simulated Shooting Performance

Orders will be expedited if placed through the librarian or other person designated to request do... more

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting

Software innovations at our laboratory have made novel measures of shooting performance available... more Software innovations at our laboratory have made novel measures of shooting performance available to researchers, even when the data comes from a fielded military firearms training simulator not designed for research. This study analyzed specific patterns of rifle handling and control to determine how they affected reaction time and accuracy among shooters of differing skill levels. The results indicated the skilled shooters employed smoother and more efficient rifle movement while aiming than less-skilled shooters. While shooters know that trigger control and sight picture are important, this study confirms that skilled shooting is also influenced by the efficiency of the rifle movements that immediately precede the shot.

The Effect of Reported Head Injury on Team Performance and Partner Evaluation

The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per... more The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number.

The Influence of Combat Experience on Psychologically Healthy Soldiers' Attentiveness to Environmental Threats

Military Medicine

Introduction: In contrast to previous research that has primarily examined how psychological diso... more Introduction: In contrast to previous research that has primarily examined how psychological disorders (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], anxiety) are affected by and affect individuals' threat perceptions, this study examines the relationship between combat experience and threat-monitoring in psychologically healthy Soldiers. Existing research has established how prolonged or intense experiences with war-related stressors can lead individuals to undergo an unconscious fear-conditioning process that affects the circuitry of the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and anterior cingulate cortex regions of the brain. We predict that the intensity of one's combat experience positively influences Soldiers' attention to environmental threats. Materials and Methods: Participants included U. S. Army Soldiers with a score of 50 or below on the PTSD Checklist-Military Version. Participants completed the Combat Exposure Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The experimental prediction task we employed assesses the expectation of an intrusively loud white noise sound that occurred on three variable patterns in a pseudorandomized order. Each tone pattern was used 20 times over a total of 60 trials. The experimental prediction task included two neutral tones (700 and 1,300 Hz) that were presented in a repeated pattern along with a 100-dB burst of white noise (0.5-second duration). In each trial, one of three possible tone combinations was presented. To assess their attentiveness to threats, participants were asked to continuously rate their expectancy of the burst of white noise using a visual analogue scale (VAS) ranging from 0 to 100. VAS ratings were collected at controlled points throughout the task. Results: None of the participants reported scores on any of the diagnostic surveys that met standards for clinical significance. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to assess the overall effect of the three prediction conditions on participants' VAS ratings. There was a significant main effect for Combat Exposure Scale scores on VAS ratings [F (1, 27) = 5.19, p = 0.031], with high scorers demonstrating a generally higher expectancy of the white noise burst throughout the entire experimental sequence. Results suggest that within subclinical populations of Soldiers, the intensity of one's combat experience is positively associated with their attention to threats. Conclusion: These findings suggest that Soldiers who experience combat should be observed for signs of increased threat-attention bias, as this may indicate that their capacities for information processing, decision-making, and emotion regulation could be compromised. The positive relationship we observe between a level of combat experience and attentional biases toward threatening stimuli may also help to explain why these veterans engage in "externalizing" behaviors that are risky, aggressive, or violent as well as relational problems and antisocial behaviors that are reported in higher-thanaverage rates among these populations of Soldiers. Acknowledging that increased threat attention may be a preclinical indication of developing PTSD or other related psychological conditions (e.g., depression, anxiety) should motivate clinicians to more actively diagnose and treat this condition.

The Role of Spirituality in Treatment Outcomes Following a Residential 12-Step Program

Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 2016

Mixed Martial Arts Fighter Susceptibility to In-Fight Concussion

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2016

Evaluation of the Military Functional Assessment Program

Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 2014

Several important factors must be considered when deciding to return a soldier to duty after a tr... more Several important factors must be considered when deciding to return a soldier to duty after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Premature return increases risk for not only second-impact syndrome during the acute phase but also permanent changes from repetitive concussions. Thus, there is a critical need for return-to-duty (RTD) assessment criteria that encompass the spectrum of injury and disease experienced by US soldiers, particularly TBI. To provide evidence-based standards to eventually serve as criteria for operational competence and performance of a soldier after injury. Specifically, the relationships between clinical assessments and novel military-specific tasks were evaluated. Exploratory analyses (including nonparametric tests and Spearman rank correlations) of an archived database. A total of 79 patients with TBI who participated in an RTD assessment program at a US Army rehabilitation and recovery center. Military Functional Assessment Program (to determine a soldier&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s operational competence and performance after TBI) tasks; Dizziness Handicap Inventory; Dynamic Visual Acuity (vestibular function); Sensory Organization Test (postural control); Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (neuropsychological screening test); Beck Depression Inventory-II; Beck Anxiety Inventory; Comprehensive Trail Making Test (visual search and sequencing); posttraumatic stress disorder checklist military version; Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; Epworth Sleepiness Scale; Patient Health Questionnaire; and Military Acute Concussion Evaluation. Selected military operational assessment tasks correlated significantly with clinical measures of vestibular function, psychological well-being, and cognitive function. Differences on occupational therapy assessments, a concussion screening tool, and a self-report health questionnaire were seen between those who passed and those who failed the RTD assessment. Specifically, those who passed the RTD assessment scored more favorably on these clinical assessments. This study demonstrated convergent validity between Military Functional Assessment Program tasks and clinical assessment scores. The Military Functional Assessment Program shows promise for augmenting decision making related to RTD and soldier skills. Additional research is needed to determine the effectiveness of this program in predicting RTD success.

Soldier Beliefs About the Readiness of Military Personnel With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Military Behavioral Health, 2015

Mindless Decision Making and Environmental Issues: Gestalt/Feature-Intensive Processing and Contextual Reasoning in Environmental Decisions

The Journal of Psychology, 2007

In the absence of relevant information in working memory during decision consideration, responden... more In the absence of relevant information in working memory during decision consideration, respondents tend to rely on a style of cognitive processing that may result in premature or inaccurate decision making (M. J. Sharps, 2003). M. J. Sharps and S. S. Martin (2002) demonstrated this effect in executive decision making. In the present study, the authors extended these methods to decisions about environmental issues. Respondents rated decisions about issues such as overpopulation, energy policy, and food production in the presence or absence of simple pertinent information. The presence of such information in the immediate context of environmental decisions, and therefore in working memory, significantly improved respondents&amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; ability to understand negative decision consequences. These results demonstrate the importance of contextual information in environmental decision making.

The Role of Spirituality in Treatment Outcomes Following a Residential 12-Step Program

Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, Dec 20, 2016

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other 12-Step treatment programs emphasize the positive effects of ... more Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other 12-Step treatment programs emphasize the positive effects of spirituality on abstinence from alcohol; however, the associations among positive treatment outcomes, spirituality, and other psychological constructs have received limited empirical attention. The present study attempts to better define the nature of spirituality, while also examining its role alongside relevant psychological constructs in treatment outcomes for patients who attend a residential 12-Step program. Data collected at treatment entry, treatment discharge, and 1-, 6-, and 12-months postdischarge supported the conclusion that spirituality is a dynamic construct that is distinct from, but related to, traditional religiousness, and is significantly associated with a participant's affect and meaning in life. Participants demonstrated a significant increase in spirituality upon completion of a residential 12-Step treatment program. Although there was no support for a direct association between spirituality and abstinence following treatment, AA participation appeared to play a mediating role between the two variables, which suggests that increased spirituality can have an indirect positive effect on abstinence through its association with increased AA participation.

The Effect of Reported Head Injury on Team Performance and Partner Evaluation

Orders will be expedited if placed through the librarian or other person designated to request do... more

Soldier Beliefs about the Readiness of Military Personnel with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Functional Balance and Goal-Directed Eye-Hand Coordination After Exogenous or Endogenous Visual-Vestibular Perturbation: Current Findings and Recommendations for Portable or Ambulatory Applications

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2017

Orientation and balance can be disrupted by a sensory integration or sensorimotor challenge of ex... more Orientation and balance can be disrupted by a sensory integration or sensorimotor challenge of exogenous origin, including rhythmic alterations in G-force and direction that occur during turbulent flight or travel by sea, as well as a visual-vestibular-somatosensory rearrangement caused by exposure to a moving vehicle simulator or virtual environments. Balance can also be disrupted by an endogenous challenge associated with an inner-ear disease or a head injury affecting peripheral or central balance systems. We sought to determine whether operationally relevant psychomotor performance (a dynamic simulated shooting task) was sensitive to a functional balance challenge caused by the aftereffect of unusual vestibular stimulation or blast/concussion. Seventy healthy subjects and 30 mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients were evaluated with a shooting simulator used for military training. They performed four new shooting tests designed to quantify marksmanship speed and accuracy during tasks similar to established clinical gait challenges. Our exploratory tasks were assessed for their sensitivity to a temporary exogenous challenge (the aftereffect of spinning healthy subjects in a rotating chair to simulate vestibular vertigo) and their sensitivity to imbalance associated with the lingering effect of mTBI. The task that was the most reliable and most sensitive to an exogenous balance challenge was kneeling while shooting at targets to the left and right of the frontal visual field. This test merits further development. We present recommendations for developing this test further and for making the large testing apparatus portable, robust, and capable of expanded quantification of shooting performance, rifle kinematics, and postural sway.

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ... Annual Meeting, Sep 1, 2016

Software innovations at our laboratory have made novel measures of shooting performance available... more Software innovations at our laboratory have made novel measures of shooting performance available to researchers, even when the data comes from a fielded military firearms training simulator not designed for research. This study analyzed specific patterns of rifle handling and control to determine how they affected reaction time and accuracy among shooters of differing skill levels. The results indicated the skilled shooters employed smoother and more efficient rifle movement while aiming than less-skilled shooters. While shooters know that trigger control and sight picture are important, this study confirms that skilled shooting is also influenced by the efficiency of the rifle movements that immediately precede the shot.

Evaluation of the Military Functional Assessment Program

Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, Jul 1, 2015

Orders will be expedited if placed through the librarian or other person designated to request do... more

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Dynamic Simulated Shooting Performance

Orders will be expedited if placed through the librarian or other person designated to request do... more

Mental health impact on healthcare workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic: a U.S. cross-sectional survey study

Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health and well-being of health care wor... more Background The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health and well-being of health care workers (HCWs). This study examined mental health outcomes and COVID-related stress impacts among a diverse sample of ambulatory HCWs, including clinicians and support staff, as well as the associations between mental health outcomes and work impairments in this population. Detailing these results can help in designing interventions to alleviate this burden. Methods “The Health Care Worker Stress Survey” was administered to ambulatory care providers and support staff at three multispecialty care delivery organizations as part of an online, cross-sectional study conducted between June 8, 2020, and July 13, 2020. Results The greatest stress impact reported by HCWs was the uncertainty regarding when the COVID-19 outbreak would be under control, while the least reported concern was about self-dying from COVID-19. Differences in COVID-19 stress impacts were observed by age, gender, and occupatio...

Feasibility of TBI Assessment Measures in a Field Environment: A Pilot Study for the Environmental Sensors in Training (ESiT) Project

: The present study compared a variety of TBI assessment methods to determine their feasibility f... more : The present study compared a variety of TBI assessment methods to determine their feasibility for use in a military training field environment. Participants (N = 47) were assigned to one of two conditions. Condition 1 included neurocognitive performance tests (Continuous Performance, Symbol Digit Coding, Stroop and Four-Part Continuous Performance) and oculomotor tests (Pupillary Light Reflex and King-Devick). Condition 2 included the Integrated Display Enhanced Testing for Cognitive Impairment and mTBI (iDETECT), which includes neuropsychological performance, balance/sensory integration, and vestibular/oculomotor integrity tests within a multimodal system. Both conditions included the Military Acute Concussion Evaluation (MACE) and an Ease-of-Use survey. Mean scores for the Ease-of-Use survey and mean test administration times for each measure were compared. Administrative feedback was also considered for qualitative analysis. Results suggest that of the measures tested, the iDET...

Increasing Efficiency of Service Provision in a Forensic Mental Health System: An Evaluative Study of the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Campus Behavioral Health Program

Functional Balance and Goal-Directed Eye-Hand Coordination After Exogenous or Endogenous Visual-Vestibular Perturbation: Current Findings and Recommendations for Portable or Ambulatory Applications

Orientation and balance can be disrupted by a sensory integration or sensorimotor challenge of ex... more Orientation and balance can be disrupted by a sensory integration or sensorimotor challenge of exogenous origin, including rhythmic alterations in G-force and direction that occur during turbulent flight or travel by sea, as well as a visual-vestibular-somatosensory rearrangement caused by exposure to a moving vehicle simulator or virtual environments. Balance can also be disrupted by an endogenous challenge associated with an inner-ear disease or a head injury affecting peripheral or central balance systems. We sought to determine whether operationally relevant psychomotor performance (a dynamic simulated shooting task) was sensitive to a functional balance challenge caused by the aftereffect of unusual vestibular stimulation or blast/concussion. Seventy healthy subjects and 30 mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients were evaluated with a shooting simulator used for military training. They performed four new shooting tests designed to quantify marksmanship speed and accuracy du...

Effects of Rifle Handling, Target Acquisition, and Trigger Control on Simulated Shooting Performance

Orders will be expedited if placed through the librarian or other person designated to request do... more

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting

Software innovations at our laboratory have made novel measures of shooting performance available... more Software innovations at our laboratory have made novel measures of shooting performance available to researchers, even when the data comes from a fielded military firearms training simulator not designed for research. This study analyzed specific patterns of rifle handling and control to determine how they affected reaction time and accuracy among shooters of differing skill levels. The results indicated the skilled shooters employed smoother and more efficient rifle movement while aiming than less-skilled shooters. While shooters know that trigger control and sight picture are important, this study confirms that skilled shooting is also influenced by the efficiency of the rifle movements that immediately precede the shot.

The Effect of Reported Head Injury on Team Performance and Partner Evaluation

The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per... more The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number.

The Influence of Combat Experience on Psychologically Healthy Soldiers' Attentiveness to Environmental Threats

Military Medicine

Introduction: In contrast to previous research that has primarily examined how psychological diso... more Introduction: In contrast to previous research that has primarily examined how psychological disorders (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], anxiety) are affected by and affect individuals' threat perceptions, this study examines the relationship between combat experience and threat-monitoring in psychologically healthy Soldiers. Existing research has established how prolonged or intense experiences with war-related stressors can lead individuals to undergo an unconscious fear-conditioning process that affects the circuitry of the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and anterior cingulate cortex regions of the brain. We predict that the intensity of one's combat experience positively influences Soldiers' attention to environmental threats. Materials and Methods: Participants included U. S. Army Soldiers with a score of 50 or below on the PTSD Checklist-Military Version. Participants completed the Combat Exposure Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The experimental prediction task we employed assesses the expectation of an intrusively loud white noise sound that occurred on three variable patterns in a pseudorandomized order. Each tone pattern was used 20 times over a total of 60 trials. The experimental prediction task included two neutral tones (700 and 1,300 Hz) that were presented in a repeated pattern along with a 100-dB burst of white noise (0.5-second duration). In each trial, one of three possible tone combinations was presented. To assess their attentiveness to threats, participants were asked to continuously rate their expectancy of the burst of white noise using a visual analogue scale (VAS) ranging from 0 to 100. VAS ratings were collected at controlled points throughout the task. Results: None of the participants reported scores on any of the diagnostic surveys that met standards for clinical significance. A repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to assess the overall effect of the three prediction conditions on participants' VAS ratings. There was a significant main effect for Combat Exposure Scale scores on VAS ratings [F (1, 27) = 5.19, p = 0.031], with high scorers demonstrating a generally higher expectancy of the white noise burst throughout the entire experimental sequence. Results suggest that within subclinical populations of Soldiers, the intensity of one's combat experience is positively associated with their attention to threats. Conclusion: These findings suggest that Soldiers who experience combat should be observed for signs of increased threat-attention bias, as this may indicate that their capacities for information processing, decision-making, and emotion regulation could be compromised. The positive relationship we observe between a level of combat experience and attentional biases toward threatening stimuli may also help to explain why these veterans engage in "externalizing" behaviors that are risky, aggressive, or violent as well as relational problems and antisocial behaviors that are reported in higher-thanaverage rates among these populations of Soldiers. Acknowledging that increased threat attention may be a preclinical indication of developing PTSD or other related psychological conditions (e.g., depression, anxiety) should motivate clinicians to more actively diagnose and treat this condition.

The Role of Spirituality in Treatment Outcomes Following a Residential 12-Step Program

Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 2016

Mixed Martial Arts Fighter Susceptibility to In-Fight Concussion

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2016

Evaluation of the Military Functional Assessment Program

Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 2014

Several important factors must be considered when deciding to return a soldier to duty after a tr... more Several important factors must be considered when deciding to return a soldier to duty after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Premature return increases risk for not only second-impact syndrome during the acute phase but also permanent changes from repetitive concussions. Thus, there is a critical need for return-to-duty (RTD) assessment criteria that encompass the spectrum of injury and disease experienced by US soldiers, particularly TBI. To provide evidence-based standards to eventually serve as criteria for operational competence and performance of a soldier after injury. Specifically, the relationships between clinical assessments and novel military-specific tasks were evaluated. Exploratory analyses (including nonparametric tests and Spearman rank correlations) of an archived database. A total of 79 patients with TBI who participated in an RTD assessment program at a US Army rehabilitation and recovery center. Military Functional Assessment Program (to determine a soldier&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s operational competence and performance after TBI) tasks; Dizziness Handicap Inventory; Dynamic Visual Acuity (vestibular function); Sensory Organization Test (postural control); Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (neuropsychological screening test); Beck Depression Inventory-II; Beck Anxiety Inventory; Comprehensive Trail Making Test (visual search and sequencing); posttraumatic stress disorder checklist military version; Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test; Epworth Sleepiness Scale; Patient Health Questionnaire; and Military Acute Concussion Evaluation. Selected military operational assessment tasks correlated significantly with clinical measures of vestibular function, psychological well-being, and cognitive function. Differences on occupational therapy assessments, a concussion screening tool, and a self-report health questionnaire were seen between those who passed and those who failed the RTD assessment. Specifically, those who passed the RTD assessment scored more favorably on these clinical assessments. This study demonstrated convergent validity between Military Functional Assessment Program tasks and clinical assessment scores. The Military Functional Assessment Program shows promise for augmenting decision making related to RTD and soldier skills. Additional research is needed to determine the effectiveness of this program in predicting RTD success.

Soldier Beliefs About the Readiness of Military Personnel With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Military Behavioral Health, 2015

Mindless Decision Making and Environmental Issues: Gestalt/Feature-Intensive Processing and Contextual Reasoning in Environmental Decisions

The Journal of Psychology, 2007

In the absence of relevant information in working memory during decision consideration, responden... more In the absence of relevant information in working memory during decision consideration, respondents tend to rely on a style of cognitive processing that may result in premature or inaccurate decision making (M. J. Sharps, 2003). M. J. Sharps and S. S. Martin (2002) demonstrated this effect in executive decision making. In the present study, the authors extended these methods to decisions about environmental issues. Respondents rated decisions about issues such as overpopulation, energy policy, and food production in the presence or absence of simple pertinent information. The presence of such information in the immediate context of environmental decisions, and therefore in working memory, significantly improved respondents&amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; ability to understand negative decision consequences. These results demonstrate the importance of contextual information in environmental decision making.