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Coping flexibility in persons with schizophrenia
Kotrba, Matěj ; Nikolai, Tomáš (advisor) ; Urbanová, Kateřina (referee)
The topic of this bachelor thesis concerns coping flexibility in persons with schizophrenia. The goal of this work is to present a summary of the current findings and to allow for better orientation in the topic. Our topic has not been extensively covered in Czech academic literature. The literature review section concerns the theoretical background of the terms coping and coping flexibility, as well as the mechanism of choosing a coping strategy. Furthermore we, in general terms, introduce our readers to schizophrenia. Furthermore, we discuss coping flexibility in persons with schizophrenia. In the empirical part of this thesis, we introduce a research proposal, which would allow us to test coping flexibility in persons with schizophrenia and asses the preferences in coping among this clinical population. We propose the use of several questionnaire methods for coping flexibility assessment, namely the Strategies of coping with stress, or Stressverarbeitungsfragebogens (SVF - 78), Ways of Coping Checklist/ Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCC/WCQ) and the Coping Flexibility Scale - Revised (CSF-R). Our expectation is that persons with schizophrenia will exhibit worse coping flexibility and gravitate towards potentially maladaptive coping, as opposed to the control group collected from a neuro-typical...
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Cognitive functioning and quality of life in persons with substance induced psychosis compared to persons with schizophrenia
Chvostová, Veronika ; Dorazilová, Aneta (advisor) ; Nikolai, Tomáš (referee)
This thesis is devoted to cognitive functioning and quality of life in persons with schizophrenia and substance induced psychosis (SIP). The main aim of the thesis was to find out whether there is any cognitive impairment in persons with SIP and whether there are any differences in cognition between persons with SIP and schizophrenia. Further aims were to study substance use-related effects on cognition and to study the quality of life in persons with SIP. The sample consisted of three groups of participants: persons with SIP (n = 21), with schizophrenia (n = 21) and healthy persons (n = 21) which were matched by demographic variables. Cognitive functions of all the groups were assessed by the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) and the Q-LES-Q-SF questionnaire was used in persons with SIP to assess subjectively perceived quality of life. The results show that slight cognitive deficit (-1SD) can be observed in persons with SIP only in the domains of speed of processing and working memory; they differed significantly from healthy persons only in the working memory domain. Compared to persons with schizophrenia, the SIP group had significantly better cognitive performance, specifically in the domains of speed of processing, verbal and visual memory and problem solving. Therefore, the results...
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Human figure drawings in the diagnosis of child sexual offenders
Zindlová, Hana ; Androvičová, Renáta (advisor) ; Nikolai, Tomáš (referee)
The theoretical part of this thesis focuses on the issue of child sexual abuse and its perpetrators. In this part, offenders with and without paedophile disorder are characterised. The theoretical section also provides an overview of the prevalence and consequences of child sexual abuse as well as possible etiological causes of paedophilic sexual offending. It also introduces the term projection, projective methods, focusing primarily on the development and use of the human figure drawing test. Previous research on projective methods in sexual offenders is also summarized, with a focus on the human figure drawing test in child sexual offenders and the research of Polish clinical sexologist Dr. Monika Zielona - Jenek. The empirical part follows the human figure drawing of child sexual offenders with and without paedophilic disorder. The data used in research was collected in the research of convicted child sexual offenders by Polish clinical sexologist Dr. Monika Zielona - Jenek. This paper addresses new research questions, namely whether there are significant differences in the size of the female figure drawing by groups of offenders depending on the presence of paraphilia and whether these differences can be associated with personality aspects of offenders and fear of women. The aim of the...
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Emotional creativity in early stages of neurodegenerative diseases
Janečková, Terezie ; Nikolai, Tomáš (advisor) ; Šustová, Petra (referee)
The aim of this paper is to outline a perspective on the experience of emotions and related phenomena in Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease as two models of the most common neurodegenerations. It describes in general terms a group of neurodegenerative diseases, their classification based on neuropathological changes in the brain and characterizes in greater detail the two most common ones, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's disease. The emphasis is mainly on the preclinical phase and on the neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with neurodegenerations. The second part of the literature review focuses on the concept of emotional creativity as personality and cognitive factors related to emotions. It also includes a review of other psychological phenomena to which emotional creativity may be related. The empirical part of the thesis offers a comparison of changes in emotional creativity in people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The research population consisted of 55 patients from the Motol University Hospital and the General University Hospital in Prague. Both groups were administered a neuropsychological test battery and the self- assessment questionnaire Emotional Creativity Inventory. Statistical analysis showed a significant difference in the preparedness component...
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Body perception in patients with functional neurological disorder
Nedbalová, Tereza ; Nikolai, Tomáš (advisor) ; Say, Nicolas (referee)
The bachelor's thesis aims to map the current knowledge in the issue of interoceptive perception of patients with functional neurological disorder and to propose a research design that would supplement the current overview. The first part of the work is devoted to the description of the functional neurological disorder, its general characteristics, historical context, diagnosis, therapeutic approaches and proposed etiological models. The next part introduces the concept of interoception and places it into the context of functional neurological disorder. The last part of the literature review section discusses abnormalities in the field of interoceptive perception in patients with functional symptoms, characteristics of these abnormalities and possible explanations. In the empirical part of the thesis a research proposal is presented which aims to clarify whether there are any changes in interoception in patients with functional symptoms and, if so, whether these abnormalities are related to the intensity of the symptoms. A new method for measuring respiratory interoception is used.
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Verbal fluency in patients with Alzheimer's disease
Pešek, Jiří ; Nikolai, Tomáš (advisor) ; Dlouhá, Jana (referee)
This bachelor thesis focuses on semantic verbal fluency (SVF) in patients with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Theoretical section consists of AD, MCI, and SVF description. Novel approaches of qualitative analysis are also explored, primarily vector analysis. The aim of this thesis is to research the potential of vector analysis in the SVF task. The vector system was tested on a sample of patients with MCI diagnosis and neurologically and psychiatrically healthy controls (HC). The MCI group was further divided into patients who were positive for presence of beta amyloids (AN) and patients who did not have positive beta amyloid levels (nonAN). The vegetable and animal category of the SVF task was used. The study focused on traditional qualitative indexes and total word count as its experimental variables. The vector system was better at identifying differences between the AN and HC group in the vegetable category. The same results were obtained for the group analysis of nonAN and HC groups, but between these groups there was not a significant difference in the mean word count. There were no significant differences between the experimental groups in any of the experimental variables in either category. Key words: Alzheimer's disease; Mild cognitive...
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Sense of Agency in the context of free will from the perspective of neuroscience
Kapounová, Ivana ; Nikolai, Tomáš (advisor) ; Jonáš, Juraj (referee)
The bachelor thesis is dedicated to the neuroscientific understanding of the sense of agency (SoA) as a key component of free will. The literature review section outlines the initial philosophical ideas and experiments that opened the debate on the topic of free will, followed by placing the concept of SoA within this context. In the following chapters, approaches to defining SoA, its individual aspects, and the consequences of different operationalizations for study results are presented. Basic approaches to measuring this construct are also described. The next chapter discusses models and theoretical frameworks explaining SoA in terms of the conditions and processes necessary for its formation. The final chapter of the theoretical section explains the likely abnormalities in SoA that occur in patients with schizophrenia. The knowledge gained from the literature review section will be accompanied by a research project proposal. This aims to compare the sense of agency between an group of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and a control group of healthy individuals. The benefit of such research can be the supplementation and comprehensive summary of current knowledge about the theory of free will and its neuroanatomical foundations, as well as a starting point for further research in this...
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Emotion regulation difficulties, alcohol use and alcohol-related consequences among university students
Jandová, Tereza ; Vacek, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Nikolai, Tomáš (referee)
This thesis examines the relationship between emotional regulation and alcohol consumption in university students. Alcohol use among this population group cause number of specific negative consequences that published research has found cannot be explained by the intensity of consumption alone. One of the possible predictors contributing to the heterogeneous manifestation of these impacts could be the capacity for emotion regulation. The theoretical part of the thesis provides a summary of relevant theoretical concepts and conclusions of the research published so far. The empirical part of the thesis provides a conceptual replication of the study Alcohol and Alcohol-related Consequences: associations with Emotion Regulation Difficulties (Dvorak et al., 2014), which examines the relationship between difficulties in emotion regulation and the harmful effects of alcohol consumption. Measured constructs are extended by binge drinking, compared to the original study. Study was conducted on a convenience sample of university students (N = 602). Regression analysis revealed that difficulties in emotion regulation were a significant predictor of negative affect manifestation in this study sample (R2 = 0,10, F(1, 599) = 65,06, p<0,001). Other predictors were average alcohol consumption (R2 = 0,30, F(1, 599)...
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Cultural orientations and Psychological Functioning among the Second-generation Vietnamese Living in the Czech Republic
Neumannová, Karolína ; Taušová, Jitka (advisor) ; Nikolai, Tomáš (referee)
The objective of this Master's thesis is to examine the psychological functioning and psychological adjustment among the second-generation Vietnamese living in the Czech Republic. Theoretical part explores relationship between cultural orientations on one side and negative and positive aspects of psychological functioning on the other side. Concrete strategies and concepts of acculturation will be described more closely, including the concept of bicultural identity. Concept of subjective well-being is also discussed in the theoretical part and the information used in the theoretical framework come mostly from the research regarding the subjective well-being and overal psychological functioning among the second-generation immigrants. The aim of the research is to explore relationship between the level of cultural orientations and the aspects of psychological functioning among the second-generation Vietnamese living in the Czech republic. The positive aspects of psychological functioning will be assessed by the questionnaire that measures life satisfaction which represent one component of subjective well- being and negative aspects of psychological functioning will be assssed by the screening tool evaluating negative psychological functioning. The research will be focused on the second generation...
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Alzheimer's Disease Profile in the UDS Neuropsychological Battery
Čihák, Martin ; Nikolai, Tomáš (advisor) ; Děchtěrenko, Filip (referee)
Background: Neuropsychological assessment plays a key role in cognitive impairment diagnosis. Moreover, determining the cognitive profile can help to uncover the aetiology of the impairment. Previous studies found that memory impairment is especially typical for Alzheimer's disease. In UDS 2, one of most common neuropsychological batteries, this is manifested by a low score in Logical Memory test. Aims: To describe a profile of early cognitive deficit in Alzheimer disease using the UDS 2 battery in comparison with deficits of other aetiologies and to assess the ability of UDS 2 to distinguish Alzheimer's disease from other causes of cognitive deficit. Methods: 190 patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment underwent an assessment of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers, UDS 2 battery and other neuropsychological tests. The probability of suffering from Alzheimer's disease was modelled with the use of binominal regression on the neuropsychological assessment results. Results: Using UDS 2 battery, Alzheimer's disease patients can be best discriminated from patients with otherwise caused cognitive deficit with the test of episodic memory (delayed recall score in Logical Memory test). Other tests significantly improved the accuracy of the estimate of probability of suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Therefore,...
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