Kevin GF Thomas
Biographic Data
| ID | 6052750 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kevin GF Thomas |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kevin GF |
| FAMILY NAME | Thomas |
| SIGNATURE | THOMAS K G |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Cape Town |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0807-6101 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 16 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Factors associated with driving simulator performance in vocational drivers with HIV
Neurocognitive symptoms persist in many people living with HIV (PLWH). Safe driving practices are dependent on intact cognition. Research in the general driving population suggests that PLWH with neurocognitive impairment (NCI) perform worse on driving assessment tasks than cognitively intact PLWH. We explored the relationship between HIV status, NCI, and driving ability in vocational drivers. Two-hundred-and-four male drivers [68 drivers with HI…
Cognitive Performance, as well as Depression, Alcohol Use, and Gender, predict Anti-Retroviral Therapy Adherence in a South African Cohort of People with HIV and Comorbid Major Depressive Disorder
Depression and cognitive impairment, which commonly coexist in people with HIV (PWH), have been identified as potential barriers to optimal antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence. We investigated associations between cognitive performance, depression (as well as other sociodemographic, psychosocial and psychiatric variables) and ART adherence in a South African cohort of PWH with comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD). Cognitive performance and…
Smartphones and psychosocial development
Cyberpsychological research suggests that interaction with and use of smartphones influences personal wellbeing and psychosocial development. Studies indicate that (a) the ways in which individuals manage their attachment to devices influences personal development, (b) greater smartphone attachment is associated with higher anxiety levels, and (c) personality differences might mediate this association. We investigated whether self-compassion (i.e…
Youth perinatal HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders
HIV-associated functional impairment may cause cognitive impairment secondary to the viral infection, hence, associations between cognitive impairment and functional impairment in youth living with HIV are important to assess. We sought to determine whether cognitive impairment is associated with functional impairment and if it carries higher risk for also having functional impairment. We collected parent-rated information regarding youth functio…
Smartphone Screen Time
Trends in the prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms among undergraduate students at a South African University, 2016–2019
University students are particularly vulnerable to mood disorders. This vulnerability may be increasing, with recent investigations reporting sharp rises in the prevalence of depression and other psychiatric disorders. Moreover, previous studies indicate that first-year undergraduates tend to show more depression and suicidal ideation than students in subsequent years. However, most studies in the extant literature emerge from high-income countri…
Influence of poor emotion regulation on disrupted sleep and subsequent psychiatric symptoms in university students
Previous studies in the neuroscience and psychology literature works suggest that poor sleep quality is associated with emotion dysregulation, and that poor sleep quality and emotion dysregulation are, independently, associated with the presence and severity of psychiatric symptoms. However, no previous study has examined simultaneous relations among multiple different emotion regulation strategies, sleep quality, and mental health outcomes. Such…
The Impact of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Impairment on Driving Performance in Commercial Truck Drivers
HIV-associated cognitive disorders in perinatally infected children and adolescents
Accurate assessment of HIV-associated cognitive disorders in perinatally infected children and adolescents is challenging. Assessments of general intellectual functioning, or global cognition, may not provide information regarding domain-specific strengths and weaknesses, and may therefore fail to detect, impaired trajectories of development within particular cognitive domains. We compare the efficacy of global cognitive scores to that of composi…
Prominence of hyperarousal symptoms explains variability of sleep disruption in posttraumatic stress disorder
These preliminary findings, although requiring replication in larger samples, suggest an important association between hyperarousal symptoms and sleep quality in PTSD, and may help explain why some PTSD-diagnosed individuals experience markedly disrupted sleep whereas others do not. (PsycINFO Database Record
A Comparison of Five Brief Screening Tools for HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders in the USA and South Africa
Poor organisational strategy differentiates cognitively impaired and unimpaired HIV-positive adults
Many HIV-positive individuals manifest symptoms indicative of central nervous system injury. Frequently, those symptoms include cognitive impairment in domains supported by cortical and/or subcortical processing (e.g., executive functioning). The present study investigated one aspect of executive functioning, namely, organisational strategy (i.e., the strategy a person uses when attempting to complete a complex task efficiently). The Rey Complex …
Empathy and helping
Previous research suggests that (a) racial group membership attenuates empathy, and subsequent prosocial helping behaviour, towards out-group members, and (b) helping behaviour is modified by the potential helper’s pool of cognitive resources. It remains unclear, however, how cognitive load influences empathy and helping towards racial in- versus out-group members. We investigated this question using a sample of 30 White females. After completing…
Acute psychosocial stress enhances visuospatial memory in healthy males
Previous research demonstrates that stress can disrupt a number of different cognitive systems, including verbal memory, working memory, and decision-making. Few previous studies have investigated relations between stress and visuospatial information processing, however, and none have examined relations among stress, visuospatial memory performance, and planning/organisation of visuospatial information simultaneously. In total, 38 undergraduate m…
Characterization of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders Among Individuals Starting Antiretroviral Therapy in South Africa
Stress-Induced Impairment of Spatial Navigation in Females
Earlier work predicted that the physiological effects of an acute stressor disrupt a neurological system underlying cognitive-map (CM) guided navigation, but leave intact systems underlying landmark (LM) guided navigation. This prediction has been only partially confirmed. Furthermore, no-one has investigated sex differences in the relations between acute stress and spatial navigation, even though stress affects verbal memory and decision-making …
Trends in the prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms among undergraduate students at a South African University, 2016–2019
University students are particularly vulnerable to mood disorders. This vulnerability may be increasing, with recent investigations reporting sharp rises in the prevalence of depression and other psychiatric disorders. Moreover, previous studies indicate that first-year undergraduates tend to show more depression and suicidal ideation than students in subsequent years. However, most studies in the extant literature emerge from high-income countri…
Influence of poor emotion regulation on disrupted sleep and subsequent psychiatric symptoms in university students
Previous studies in the neuroscience and psychology literature works suggest that poor sleep quality is associated with emotion dysregulation, and that poor sleep quality and emotion dysregulation are, independently, associated with the presence and severity of psychiatric symptoms. However, no previous study has examined simultaneous relations among multiple different emotion regulation strategies, sleep quality, and mental health outcomes. Such…
Acute psychosocial stress enhances visuospatial memory in healthy males
Previous research demonstrates that stress can disrupt a number of different cognitive systems, including verbal memory, working memory, and decision-making. Few previous studies have investigated relations between stress and visuospatial information processing, however, and none have examined relations among stress, visuospatial memory performance, and planning/organisation of visuospatial information simultaneously. In total, 38 undergraduate m…
Stress-Induced Impairment of Spatial Navigation in Females
Earlier work predicted that the physiological effects of an acute stressor disrupt a neurological system underlying cognitive-map (CM) guided navigation, but leave intact systems underlying landmark (LM) guided navigation. This prediction has been only partially confirmed. Furthermore, no-one has investigated sex differences in the relations between acute stress and spatial navigation, even though stress affects verbal memory and decision-making …
Characterization of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders Among Individuals Starting Antiretroviral Therapy in South Africa
Stress-Induced Impairment of Spatial Navigation in Females
Earlier work predicted that the physiological effects of an acute stressor disrupt a neurological system underlying cognitive-map (CM) guided navigation, but leave intact systems underlying landmark (LM) guided navigation. This prediction has been only partially confirmed. Furthermore, no-one has investigated sex differences in the relations between acute stress and spatial navigation, even though stress affects verbal memory and decision-making …
Acute psychosocial stress enhances visuospatial memory in healthy males
Previous research demonstrates that stress can disrupt a number of different cognitive systems, including verbal memory, working memory, and decision-making. Few previous studies have investigated relations between stress and visuospatial information processing, however, and none have examined relations among stress, visuospatial memory performance, and planning/organisation of visuospatial information simultaneously. In total, 38 undergraduate m…
Empathy and helping
Previous research suggests that (a) racial group membership attenuates empathy, and subsequent prosocial helping behaviour, towards out-group members, and (b) helping behaviour is modified by the potential helper’s pool of cognitive resources. It remains unclear, however, how cognitive load influences empathy and helping towards racial in- versus out-group members. We investigated this question using a sample of 30 White females. After completing…
Prominence of hyperarousal symptoms explains variability of sleep disruption in posttraumatic stress disorder
These preliminary findings, although requiring replication in larger samples, suggest an important association between hyperarousal symptoms and sleep quality in PTSD, and may help explain why some PTSD-diagnosed individuals experience markedly disrupted sleep whereas others do not. (PsycINFO Database Record
A Comparison of Five Brief Screening Tools for HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders in the USA and South Africa
Poor organisational strategy differentiates cognitively impaired and unimpaired HIV-positive adults
Many HIV-positive individuals manifest symptoms indicative of central nervous system injury. Frequently, those symptoms include cognitive impairment in domains supported by cortical and/or subcortical processing (e.g., executive functioning). The present study investigated one aspect of executive functioning, namely, organisational strategy (i.e., the strategy a person uses when attempting to complete a complex task efficiently). The Rey Complex …
HIV-associated cognitive disorders in perinatally infected children and adolescents
Accurate assessment of HIV-associated cognitive disorders in perinatally infected children and adolescents is challenging. Assessments of general intellectual functioning, or global cognition, may not provide information regarding domain-specific strengths and weaknesses, and may therefore fail to detect, impaired trajectories of development within particular cognitive domains. We compare the efficacy of global cognitive scores to that of composi…
The Impact of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Impairment on Driving Performance in Commercial Truck Drivers
Smartphone Screen Time
Trends in the prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms among undergraduate students at a South African University, 2016–2019
University students are particularly vulnerable to mood disorders. This vulnerability may be increasing, with recent investigations reporting sharp rises in the prevalence of depression and other psychiatric disorders. Moreover, previous studies indicate that first-year undergraduates tend to show more depression and suicidal ideation than students in subsequent years. However, most studies in the extant literature emerge from high-income countri…
Influence of poor emotion regulation on disrupted sleep and subsequent psychiatric symptoms in university students
Previous studies in the neuroscience and psychology literature works suggest that poor sleep quality is associated with emotion dysregulation, and that poor sleep quality and emotion dysregulation are, independently, associated with the presence and severity of psychiatric symptoms. However, no previous study has examined simultaneous relations among multiple different emotion regulation strategies, sleep quality, and mental health outcomes. Such…
Smartphones and psychosocial development
Cyberpsychological research suggests that interaction with and use of smartphones influences personal wellbeing and psychosocial development. Studies indicate that (a) the ways in which individuals manage their attachment to devices influences personal development, (b) greater smartphone attachment is associated with higher anxiety levels, and (c) personality differences might mediate this association. We investigated whether self-compassion (i.e…
Youth perinatal HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders
HIV-associated functional impairment may cause cognitive impairment secondary to the viral infection, hence, associations between cognitive impairment and functional impairment in youth living with HIV are important to assess. We sought to determine whether cognitive impairment is associated with functional impairment and if it carries higher risk for also having functional impairment. We collected parent-rated information regarding youth functio…
Cognitive Performance, as well as Depression, Alcohol Use, and Gender, predict Anti-Retroviral Therapy Adherence in a South African Cohort of People with HIV and Comorbid Major Depressive Disorder
Depression and cognitive impairment, which commonly coexist in people with HIV (PWH), have been identified as potential barriers to optimal antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence. We investigated associations between cognitive performance, depression (as well as other sociodemographic, psychosocial and psychiatric variables) and ART adherence in a South African cohort of PWH with comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD). Cognitive performance and…
Factors associated with driving simulator performance in vocational drivers with HIV
Neurocognitive symptoms persist in many people living with HIV (PLWH). Safe driving practices are dependent on intact cognition. Research in the general driving population suggests that PLWH with neurocognitive impairment (NCI) perform worse on driving assessment tasks than cognitively intact PLWH. We explored the relationship between HIV status, NCI, and driving ability in vocational drivers. Two-hundred-and-four male drivers [68 drivers with HI…
Psychiatry (14 works) · Psychology (14 works) · Clinical Psychology (12 works) · Cognition (12 works) · Medicine (10 works) · Developmental psychology (6 works) · Neurocognitive (5 works) · Neuropsychology (5 works) · HIV Research and Treatment (4 works) · HIV-related health complications and treatments (4 works)