Lisa N. Cruz

All Publications

• Examination of Congruity between Subjective and Objective Working Memory in Veterans with Mild TBI and Relation to Psychiatric Symptoms and Childhood Trauma. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) Cruz, L. N., Walker, N. C., Rehman, S. S., McNerney, M. W., Madore, M. R. 2024; 14 (10)

  Abstract

  OBJECTIVES: There is conflicting evidence regarding congruence between subjective cognitive decline and objective cognitive performance for individuals with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The current study investigated the congruity between subjective and objective cognition, particularly working memory, among veterans with an mTBI history, accounting for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and childhood trauma.METHODS: Participants included 35 veterans with a history of mTBI sustained during deployment. Participants completed measures of subjective [i.e., Behavioral Inventory Rating of Executive Functioning (BRIEF)] and objective working memory (i.e., WAIS-IV working memory index). Congruity between subjective and objective working memory was examined using linear regression. Bonferroni-corrected correlations were run to explore relationships among working memory, psychiatric symptoms, mTBI severity, and childhood trauma.RESULTS: Among Veterans with mTBI, subjective working memory and objective working memory performance were not significantly related (p > 0.05); however, the overall model was significant (p < 0.0001), and childhood trauma was a notable predictor (p = 0.02). Greater PTSD, depression, and sleep symptoms were significantly related to increased subjective working memory concerns, even after Bonferroni adjustments (ps < 0.0001). Better objective working memory was significantly related to a fewer number of childhood traumatic events; however, this did not sustain corrections. The majority of individuals (67%) endorsed significant working memory complaints, despite objectively performing within normal limits (within 1 SD and above).CONCLUSIONS: Subjective-objective working memory congruity among veterans with mTBI was limited. Subjective, but not objective, working memory concerns were associated with greater PTSD, depression, and sleep symptoms. Childhood trauma was a notable factor that contributed to both subjective and objective cognitive concerns. There remains clinical value in assessing subjective cognitive concerns given the strong relationships with psychiatric problems and, hence, a focus for intervention.

  View details for DOI 10.3390/bs14100932

  View details for PubMedID 39457804

• Predicting Attention-Shaping Response in People With Schizophrenia. The Journal of nervous and mental disease Beaudette, D. M., Gold, J. M., Waltz, J., Thompson, J. L., Cherneski, L., Martin, V., Monteiro, B., Cruz, L. N., Silverstein, S. M. 2021; 209 (3): 203-207

  Abstract

  People with schizophrenia often experience attentional impairments that hinder learning during psychological interventions. Attention shaping is a behavioral technique that improves attentiveness in this population. Because reinforcement learning (RL) is thought to be the mechanism by which attention shaping operates, we investigated if preshaping RL performance predicted level of response to attention shaping in people with schizophrenia. Contrary to hypotheses, a steeper attentiveness growth curve was predicted by less intact pretreatment RL ability and lower baseline attentiveness, accounting for 59% of the variance. Moreover, baseline attentiveness accounted for over 13 times more variance in response to attention shaping than did RL ability. Results suggest attention shaping is most effective for lower-functioning patients, and those high in RL ability may already be close to ceiling in terms of their response to reinforcers. Attention shaping may not be a primarily RL-driven intervention, and other mechanisms of its effects should be considered.

  View details for DOI 10.1097/NMD.0000000000001286

  View details for PubMedID 33315800

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8516075

• Phenomenology of Voice-Hearing in Psychosis Spectrum Disorders: a Review of Neural Mechanisms CURRENT BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE REPORTS Cruz, L. N., Del Pozzo, J., Zar, T., Hansen, M. 2019; 6 (4): 243-252

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s40473-019-00196-z

  View details for Web of Science ID 000671997700013

• Identifying psychological resistances to using logic in cognitive-behavioral therapy for psychosis (CBTp) that limit successful outcomes for patients PSYCHOSIS-PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIAL AND INTEGRATIVE APPROACHES Garrett, M., Ahmed, A. O., Athineos, C., Cruz, L., Harris, K., Del Pozzo, J., Forster, V., Gallego, J. 2019; 11 (4): 287-297

  View details for DOI 10.1080/17522439.2019.1632377

  View details for Web of Science ID 000477349200001

• Frustrative Non-reward and Lab-Based Paradigms for Advancing the Study of Aggression in Persons with Psychosis CURRENT BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE REPORTS Del Pozzo, J., Athineos, C., Zar, T., Cruz, L. N., King, C. M. 2019; 6 (2): 27-36

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s40473-019-00173-6

  View details for Web of Science ID 000671997000003

• Longitudinal determinants of client treatment satisfaction in an intensive first-episode psychosis treatment programme. Early intervention in psychiatry Cruz, L. N., Kline, E., Seidman, L. J., Minor, K. S., Meyer, E. C., Iati, C., Zimmet, S. V., Friedman-Yakoobian, M. 2017; 11 (4): 354-362

  Abstract

  Previous evidence demonstrates that higher treatment satisfaction is strongly associated with improved clinical outcomes and functioning. The aim of the current study is to explore potential associations between clinical and demographic attributes, as well as changes in role, social and cognitive functioning occurring over the course of treatment, on self-reported treatment satisfaction within the context of an intensive first-episode psychosis intervention programme.Forty-four young adults attending a first-episode psychosis treatment programme completed a battery of clinical and neuropsychological measures at intake to the programme and again after 6 months of treatment. A modified version of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire was administered at 6 months. Baseline, 6-month and change scores across the clinical and demographic measures were examined relative to the satisfaction questionnaire to evaluate determinants of treatment satisfaction.Better premorbid adjustment during childhood and early adolescence was associated with higher treatment satisfaction, as did positive changes in clients' cognitive performance and their use of humour as a coping strategy. Clients' use of emotional support as a coping strategy at 6 months was also positively associated with treatment satisfaction. Although clients' social and role functioning improved significantly during the 6-month treatment window, changes in functional outcomes were not significantly associated with treatment satisfaction.The current study highlights the role of premorbid adjustment and changes in coping and neurocognition as factors influencing treatment satisfaction. Future research designs might be able to more specifically ascertain causal relationships between patient characteristics, treatment components, client satisfaction and clinical effects.

  View details for DOI 10.1111/eip.12323

  View details for PubMedID 26969527