Hannah Tyson - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Hannah Tyson

Personality and Individual Differences, Sep 1, 2016

Hoarding behaviours are characterised by the acquisition of and failure to discard possessions wh... more Hoarding behaviours are characterised by the acquisition of and failure to discard possessions which leads to excessive and often dangerous clutter and significant psychological/emotional distress. The cognitive behavioural-model posits that a key aspect in the expression of hoarding tendencies is an excessive attachment to objects. Research indicates that attachment style and anthropomorphic tendencies are associated with excessive object attachment and subsequent hoarding. In this study, a non-clinical sample of 283 participants (210 female) completed questionnaires measuring adult attachment styles, attachment to objects, anthropomorphic tendencies, and hoarding severity and behaviours. Females displayed significantly higher scores on hoarding severity, anxious and avoidant attachments, and on anthropomorphism. Strong positive correlations were found between measures of inanimate object attachment, adult attachment style, and anthropomorphism, with hoarding behaviours and cognitions. Subsequent regression analyses revealed that one measure of adult attachment (degree of anxious attachment) and object attachment were significant predictors of hoarding behaviours and cognitions.

Journal of Nonverbal Behavior

Behavioural coding is time-intensive and laborious. Thin slice sampling provides an alternative a... more Behavioural coding is time-intensive and laborious. Thin slice sampling provides an alternative approach, aiming to alleviate the coding burden. However, little is understood about whether different behaviours coded over thin slices are comparable to those same behaviours over entire interactions. To provide quantitative evidence for the value of thin slice sampling for a variety of behaviours. We used data from three populations of parent-infant interactions: mother-infant dyads from the Grown in Wales (GiW) cohort (n = 31), mother-infant dyads from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort (n = 14), and father-infant dyads from the ALSPAC cohort (n = 11). Mean infant ages were 13.8, 6.8, and 7.1 months, respectively. Interactions were coded using a comprehensive coding scheme comprised of 11–14 behavioural groups, with each group comprised of 3–13 mutually exclusive behaviours. We calculated frequencies of verbal and non-verbal behaviours, transition matr...

Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2022

Altered serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are consistently linked with neu... more Altered serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are consistently linked with neurological disorders. BDNF is also increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly those found more frequently in males. At birth, male infants naturally have significantly lower serum BDNF levels (∼10-20% lower than females), which may render them more vulnerable to neurodevelopmental disorders. We previously characterized serum BDNF levels in mothers and their newborn infants as part of the Grown in Wales Study. Here, we analyzed whether cord serum BDNF levels at birth correlate with sex-specific outcomes at one year. The Bayley Scale of Infant Development, Third Edition (BSID-III) and Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB) tasks were used to assess infant behavior and neurodevelopment at 12-14 months (mean ± SD: 13.3 ± 1.6 months; 46% male; n = 56). We found no relationship between serum BDNF levels at birth and BSID-III neurodevelopmental outcomes (cognitive or language), nor with infant behaviors in the Lab-TAB unpredictable mechanical toy or maternal separation tasks. In the sustained attention task, there was a significant positive relationship between serum BDNF and infant negative affect (B = 0.06, p = 0.018) and, for boys only, between serum BDNF and intensity of facial interest (B = 0.03, p = 0.005). However, only the latter remained after correction for multiple testing. This sex-specific association between cord serum BDNF and a parameter of attention at 12-14 months provides some support for the hypothesis that reduced serum BDNF levels at birth are linked to an increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Human Molecular Genetics, 2021

Abnormally elevated expression of the imprinted PHLDA2 gene has been reported in the placenta of ... more Abnormally elevated expression of the imprinted PHLDA2 gene has been reported in the placenta of human babies that are growth restricted in utero in several studies. We previously modelled this gene alteration in mice and found that just 2-fold increased expression of Phlda2 resulted in placental endocrine insufficiency. In addition, elevated Phlda2 was found to drive fetal growth restriction (FGR) of transgenic offspring and impaired maternal care by their wildtype mothers. Being born small and being exposed to suboptimal maternal care have both been associated with the increased risk of mental health disorders in human populations. In the current study we probed behavioural consequences of elevated Phlda2 for the offspring. We discovered increased anxiety-like behaviours, deficits in cognition and atypical social behaviours, with the greatest impact on male offspring. Subsequent analysis revealed alterations in the transcriptome of the adult offspring hippocampus, hypothalamus and...

Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2020

Personality and Individual Differences, Sep 1, 2016

Hoarding behaviours are characterised by the acquisition of and failure to discard possessions wh... more Hoarding behaviours are characterised by the acquisition of and failure to discard possessions which leads to excessive and often dangerous clutter and significant psychological/emotional distress. The cognitive behavioural-model posits that a key aspect in the expression of hoarding tendencies is an excessive attachment to objects. Research indicates that attachment style and anthropomorphic tendencies are associated with excessive object attachment and subsequent hoarding. In this study, a non-clinical sample of 283 participants (210 female) completed questionnaires measuring adult attachment styles, attachment to objects, anthropomorphic tendencies, and hoarding severity and behaviours. Females displayed significantly higher scores on hoarding severity, anxious and avoidant attachments, and on anthropomorphism. Strong positive correlations were found between measures of inanimate object attachment, adult attachment style, and anthropomorphism, with hoarding behaviours and cognitions. Subsequent regression analyses revealed that one measure of adult attachment (degree of anxious attachment) and object attachment were significant predictors of hoarding behaviours and cognitions.

Journal of Nonverbal Behavior

Behavioural coding is time-intensive and laborious. Thin slice sampling provides an alternative a... more Behavioural coding is time-intensive and laborious. Thin slice sampling provides an alternative approach, aiming to alleviate the coding burden. However, little is understood about whether different behaviours coded over thin slices are comparable to those same behaviours over entire interactions. To provide quantitative evidence for the value of thin slice sampling for a variety of behaviours. We used data from three populations of parent-infant interactions: mother-infant dyads from the Grown in Wales (GiW) cohort (n = 31), mother-infant dyads from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) cohort (n = 14), and father-infant dyads from the ALSPAC cohort (n = 11). Mean infant ages were 13.8, 6.8, and 7.1 months, respectively. Interactions were coded using a comprehensive coding scheme comprised of 11–14 behavioural groups, with each group comprised of 3–13 mutually exclusive behaviours. We calculated frequencies of verbal and non-verbal behaviours, transition matr...

Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2022

Altered serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are consistently linked with neu... more Altered serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are consistently linked with neurological disorders. BDNF is also increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly those found more frequently in males. At birth, male infants naturally have significantly lower serum BDNF levels (∼10-20% lower than females), which may render them more vulnerable to neurodevelopmental disorders. We previously characterized serum BDNF levels in mothers and their newborn infants as part of the Grown in Wales Study. Here, we analyzed whether cord serum BDNF levels at birth correlate with sex-specific outcomes at one year. The Bayley Scale of Infant Development, Third Edition (BSID-III) and Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB) tasks were used to assess infant behavior and neurodevelopment at 12-14 months (mean ± SD: 13.3 ± 1.6 months; 46% male; n = 56). We found no relationship between serum BDNF levels at birth and BSID-III neurodevelopmental outcomes (cognitive or language), nor with infant behaviors in the Lab-TAB unpredictable mechanical toy or maternal separation tasks. In the sustained attention task, there was a significant positive relationship between serum BDNF and infant negative affect (B = 0.06, p = 0.018) and, for boys only, between serum BDNF and intensity of facial interest (B = 0.03, p = 0.005). However, only the latter remained after correction for multiple testing. This sex-specific association between cord serum BDNF and a parameter of attention at 12-14 months provides some support for the hypothesis that reduced serum BDNF levels at birth are linked to an increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Human Molecular Genetics, 2021

Abnormally elevated expression of the imprinted PHLDA2 gene has been reported in the placenta of ... more Abnormally elevated expression of the imprinted PHLDA2 gene has been reported in the placenta of human babies that are growth restricted in utero in several studies. We previously modelled this gene alteration in mice and found that just 2-fold increased expression of Phlda2 resulted in placental endocrine insufficiency. In addition, elevated Phlda2 was found to drive fetal growth restriction (FGR) of transgenic offspring and impaired maternal care by their wildtype mothers. Being born small and being exposed to suboptimal maternal care have both been associated with the increased risk of mental health disorders in human populations. In the current study we probed behavioural consequences of elevated Phlda2 for the offspring. We discovered increased anxiety-like behaviours, deficits in cognition and atypical social behaviours, with the greatest impact on male offspring. Subsequent analysis revealed alterations in the transcriptome of the adult offspring hippocampus, hypothalamus and...

Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2020