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Current Projects
Psychosocial Associations with Language Impairments in Aphasia
STATUS: NOW RECRUITING – online participation (flyer)
Living with aphasia can be stressful and impact a person’s relationships, employment, and daily activities involving communication. In this study, we examine the associations between the language impairments, cognitive-linguistic processes, perceived chronic stress, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. The results of this study will inform future research on aphasia assessment and intervention.
Modifying a Measure of Resilience for People with Aphasia
STATUS: NOW RECRUITING – online participation (flyer)
The UD ARO Lab seeks to understand how psychosocial factors influence aphasia treatment response. To study this, we must first have the appropriate and valid tools to measure these factors in people with aphasia. With the permission and collaboration of its developers, we have modified the University of Washington Resilience Scale (UWRS; Version 1 Users Guide, 2017). The modified form of the UWRS is now in the process of validation research with participants with aphasia. The resulting modified and validated resilience measure will help us to explore relationships between resilience and aphasia treatment outcomes.
Stress, Resilience, and Communicative Participation in People with Aphasia
STATUS: participation and data collection complete; subsequent research in preparation.
The purpose of this study was to explore to what degree stress and resilience are associated with participation in daily life for individuals with aphasia. The study also aims to understand the influence of aphasia severity on these associations. The results of this study has contributed to a pandemic-related follow-up study (below) and served as pilot data for a forthcoming research project in collaboration with Dr. Carolyn Baylor, Dept. of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington.
COVID-related Longitudinal Follow-Up: Stress, Resilience, and Communicative Participation in People with Aphasia
STATUS: project complete; preliminary results presented 2021 ASHA Convention, Washington, D.C. and further analyses now underway
As of March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic required widespread shelter-in-place, changing the way we interface with our community and engage in rehabilitation activities. Isolation and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to significant stress, stroke survivors and PWA included. The primary purpose of the longitudinal study is to assess potential change in several psychosocial measures in PWA in the presence of a new wide-spread stressor (pandemic). A secondary purpose is to more fully understand PWA perspectives of chronic stress, communicative participation, and resilience, given the pandemic environment vs. pre-COVID daily life.
Highlights – Past Projects
The Modified Perceived Stress Scale
To better measure stress, we modified and validated a measure of chronic stress for people with aphasia. The resulting scale, the Modified Perceived Stress Scale (mPSS; based on Cohen & Janicki-Deverts, 2012, and with permission of S. Cohen) is an aphasia-friendly patient-reported outcome measure and is used in both research and clinical contexts.
If you are interested in using the mPSS, please contact rhp@udel.edu.
a) Hunting Pompon, R., Amtmann, D., Bombardier, C., and Kendall, D (2018). Modification and validation of a measure of chronic stress for people with aphasia. Journal of Speech, Language, Hearing Research, 62, 2934-2949.
b) Hernandez, N., Bislick, L., Englehoven A., and Hunting Pompon, R. (2021). People with aphasia self-report and caregiver proxy-report agreement on the Modified Perceived Stress Scale and the Mutuality Scale. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 30(4), 1-11.
Examining and Measuring Psychological and Psychosocial Factors in Aphasia
a) Hunting Pompon, R., Fassbinder, W., McNeil, M.R., Yoo, H.S., Kim H.S., Zimmerman, R.M., Martin, N., Patterson, J.P., Pratt, S.R., and Dickey, M.W. (2022). Associations among depression, demographic variables, and language impairments in chronic post-stroke aphasia. Journal of Communication Disorders, 100 (Nov/Dec). https://doi-org.udel.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2022.106266.
b) Hunting Pompon, R. and Mach, H. (2022). Characterizations of resilience in post-stroke aphasia: a scoping review and considerations for treatment and research. Topics in Language Disorders, 42(3), 236-251. http://doi.org/10.1097/TLD.0000000000000285.
c) Engelhoven, A., Bislick, L., Gray, S., and Hunting Pompon, R. (2022). Respondent burden and readability of patient-reported outcome measures for people with aphasia. Topics in Language Disorders, 42(3), 266-282. doi.org/10.1097/TLD.0000000000000288.
d) Hunting Pompon, R., Smith, A.N., Baylor, C., and Kendall, D. (2019). Exploring associations between a biological marker of chronic stress and reported depression and anxiety in people with aphasia. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62(11), 4119-4130.
e) Eadie, T.E., Faust, L.G., Bolt, S.E., Kapsner-Smith, M.R., Hunting Pompon, R., Baylor, C.R., Futran, N., Mendez, E. (2018). The role of psychosocial factors on communicative participation among survivors of head and neck cancer. Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, 159(2), 266-273.
Aphasia Treatment
Research is ongoing on Phonomotor Treatment for aphasia (PI: D. Kendall, University of Washington) and factors that contribute to treatment response. The focus of Phonomotor Treatment is rebuilding phonological representations multi-modally to improve word-finding and overall communication ability.
a) Minkina, I., Silkes, J.P., Bislick, L., Madden, E., Lai, V., Hunting Pompon, R., Torrance, J., Zimmerman, R.M., and Kendall, D. (2019). The influence of phonomotor treatment on word retrieval: Insights from naming errors. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62(11), 4080-4104.
b) Silkes, J, Fergadiotis, G, Horton, J, Hunting Pompon, R, Torrence, J, and Kendall, D (2019). Effects of phonomotor treatment on discourse production. Aphasiology, 33(2), 125-139. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2018.1512080
c) Hunting Pompon, R., Bislick, L., Elliott, K., Madden, E., Minkina, I., Oelke, M., and Kendall, D. (2017). Influence of linguistic and non-linguistic variables on generalization and maintenance following phonomotor treatment for aphasia. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 26(4), 1092-1104.
d) Minkina, I., Oelke, M., Bislick, L.P., Brookshire, C.E., Hunting Pompon, R., Silkes, J.P., & Kendall, D.L. (2015). An investigation of aphasic naming errors evolution following phonomotor treatment. Aphasiology, 30(8), 962-980.
e) Brookshire, CE, Conway, T, Hunting Pompon, R, Oelke, M, and Kendall, DL (2014). Effects of intensive phonomotor treatment on reading in eight individuals with aphasia and phonological alexia. American Journal of SpeechLanguage Pathology, 23(2), S300-311.
f) Kendall, D, Hunting Pompon, R, Brookshire, CE, Minkina, I, Bislick, L (2013). An analysis of aphasic naming errors as an indicator of improved linguistic processing following phonomotor treatment. American Journal of Speech Language Pathology, 22, S240-S249.
Aphasia and Cognitive Processes
Dr. Hunting Pompon has conducted and collaborated in research about how attention, working memory, and other cognitive processes are involved in lexical retrieval in people with aphasia.
a) Hunting Pompon, R, McNeil, M, Spencer, K, and Kendall, D (2015). Intentional and reactive inhibition during spoken-word Stroop task performance in people with aphasia. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 58, 767-780. 6
b) Hunting Pompon, R, Kendall, DL and Moore, AB (2011). Examining attention and cognitive processing in participants with self reported mild anomia. Aphasiology, 25(6), 800-812.