Going negative
Loneliness Promotes Inflammation During Acute Stress
Lisa Jaremka et al.
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Although evidence suggests that loneliness may increase risk for health problems, the mechanisms responsible are not well understood. Immune dysregulation is one potential pathway: Elevated proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) increase risk for health problems. In our first study (N = 134), lonelier healthy adults exposed to acute stress exhibited greater synthesis of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and IL-6 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) than their less lonely counterparts. Similarly, in the second study (N = 144), lonelier posttreatment breast-cancer survivors exposed to acute stress exhibited greater synthesis of IL-6 and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) by LPS-stimulated PBMCs than their counterparts who felt more socially connected. However, loneliness was unrelated to TNF-α in Study 2, although the result was in the expected direction. Thus, two different populations demonstrated that lonelier participants had more stimulated cytokine production in response to stress than less lonely participants, which reflects a proinflammatory phenotype. These data provide a glimpse into the pathways through which loneliness may affect health.
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The Effect of High-Anxiety Situations on Conspiracy Thinking
Monika Grzesiak-Feldman
Current Psychology, March 2013, Pages 100-118
Abstract:
The aim of the present studies was to examine a possible relationship between anxiety and conspiracy thinking about ethnic and national groups. Two hundred university student volunteers participated in 3 studies. Study One (N = 87; mixed male and female sample) found that state-anxiety and trait-anxiety, measured with the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), were positively correlated with conspiracy thinking about Jewish people, Germans and Arabs. Study Two (N = 46; male sample) and Study Three (N = 67; female sample) were designed to check whether a high-anxiety situation (connected with waiting for an examination) would increase conspiracy thinking. Findings from Studies Two and Three showed that the pre-exam (high-anxiety) situation increased conspiracy thinking about Jewish people. This effect was not mediated by state-anxiety. Hence, further research should focus on searching for possible mediators of the relationship between a pre-exam situation and conspiracy thinking. The obtained results are consistent with previous findings showing that conspiracy thinking about Jewish people is sensitive to situational factors and with findings on links between anxiety and processing information about threat-related stimuli.
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Predicting National Suicide Numbers with Social Media Data
Hong-Hee Won et al.
PLoS ONE, April 2013
Abstract:
Suicide is not only an individual phenomenon, but it is also influenced by social and environmental factors. With the high suicide rate and the abundance of social media data in South Korea, we have studied the potential of this new medium for predicting completed suicide at the population level. We tested two social media variables (suicide-related and dysphoria-related weblog entries) along with classical social, economic and meteorological variables as predictors of suicide over 3 years (2008 through 2010). Both social media variables were powerfully associated with suicide frequency. The suicide variable displayed high variability and was reactive to celebrity suicide events, while the dysphoria variable showed longer secular trends, with lower variability. We interpret these as reflections of social affect and social mood, respectively. In the final multivariate model, the two social media variables, especially the dysphoria variable, displaced two classical economic predictors - consumer price index and unemployment rate. The prediction model developed with the 2-year training data set (2008 through 2009) was validated in the data for 2010 and was robust in a sensitivity analysis controlling for celebrity suicide effects. These results indicate that social media data may be of value in national suicide forecasting and prevention.
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Seth Disner et al.
Clinical Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Biased attention toward negative stimuli is a known vulnerability for affective psychopathology. However, factors that contribute to the development of this cognitive bias are largely unknown. Variation within the serotonin transporter gene (i.e., 5-HTTLPR) is associated with increased susceptibility to environmental influence and biased processing of negative stimuli. Using a passive viewing eye-tracking paradigm, this study examined gaze fixation for emotion stimuli in 91 U.S. Army soldiers before and after deployment to Iraq. In addition, participants underwent genetic assay and provided in situ measures of war zone stress exposure. 5-HTTLPR short allele homozygotes were more likely than other genotype groups to develop a gaze bias toward negative stimuli as a function of increasing war zone stress, even when controlling for postdeployment posttraumatic stress disorder and depression severity. Short allele homozygotes appear especially sensitive to environmental influence, which likely contributes to the development of cognitive vulnerability to anxiety and mood disorders.
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Tong Wu & J.C. Barnes
Journal of Criminal Justice, May-June 2013, Pages 188-195
Purpose: Psychopathy is often defined as a personality disorder that manifests as a constellation of characteristics including a lack of affective emotions, manipulative and irresponsible interpersonal reactions, and impulsive and sometimes violent behaviors. Prior studies have shown that genetic factors may have some influence on the etiology of psychopathy, but there is little evidence on which specific genes may play a role.
Methods: This study examines the correlation between three dopamine genes - DAT1, DRD2, and DRD4 - and psychopathic personality traits.
Results: The results of this study demonstrate that two of the examined genes predict psychopathic personality traits in the hypothesized direction (DRD2: b = .69 p < .05; DRD4: b = 1.02 p < .05).
Conclusions: These findings emphasize the importance of the dopaminergic system in the etiology of psychopathic personality traits, providing guidance for future researchers.
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Alison Parkes et al.
Archives of Disease in Childhood, May 2013, Pages 341-348
Background: Screen entertainment for young children has been associated with several aspects of psychosocial adjustment. Most research is from North America and focuses on television. Few longitudinal studies have compared the effects of TV and electronic games, or have investigated gender differences.
Purpose: To explore how time watching TV and playing electronic games at age 5 years each predicts change in psychosocial adjustment in a representative sample of 7 year-olds from the UK.
Methods: Typical daily hours viewing television and playing electronic games at age 5 years were reported by mothers of 11 014 children from the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Conduct problems, emotional symptoms, peer relationship problems, hyperactivity/inattention and prosocial behaviour were reported by mothers using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Change in adjustment from age 5 years to 7 years was regressed on screen exposures; adjusting for family characteristics and functioning, and child characteristics.
Results: Watching TV for 3 h or more at 5 years predicted a 0.13 point increase (95% CI 0.03 to 0.24) in conduct problems by 7 years, compared with watching for under an hour, but playing electronic games was not associated with conduct problems. No associations were found between either type of screen time and emotional symptoms, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems or prosocial behaviour. There was no evidence of gender differences in the effect of screen time.
Conclusions: TV but not electronic games predicted a small increase in conduct problems. Screen time did not predict other aspects of psychosocial adjustment. Further work is required to establish causal mechanisms.
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Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression Can Be Contagious
Gerald Haeffel & Jennifer Hames
Clinical Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Cognitive vulnerability is a potent risk factor for depression. Individual differences in cognitive vulnerability solidify in early adolescence and remain stable throughout the life span. However, stability does not mean immutability. We hypothesized that cognitive vulnerability would be susceptible to change during major life transitions when social milieus undergo significant changes (e.g., moving to college). Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that cognitive vulnerability could change via a contagion effect. We tested this hypothesis using a prospective longitudinal design with a sample of randomly assigned college freshmen roommate pairs (103 pairs). Results supported the hypotheses. Participants who were randomly assigned to a roommate with high levels of cognitive vulnerability were likely to "catch" their roommate's cognitive style and develop higher levels of cognitive vulnerability. Moreover, those who experienced an increase in cognitive vulnerability had significantly greater levels of depressive symptoms over the prospective interval than those who did not.
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The role of under-employment and unemployment in recent birth cohort effects in Australian suicide
Andrew Page et al.
Social Science & Medicine, forthcoming
Abstract:
High suicide rates evident in Australian young adults during an epidemic period in the 1990s appear to have been sustained in older age-groups in the subsequent decade. This period also coincides with changes in employment patterns in Australia. This study investigates age, period, and birth cohort effects in Australian suicide over the 20th century, with particular reference to the period subsequent to the 1990s youth suicide epidemic in young males. Period- and cohort-specific trends in suicide were examined for 1907-2010 based on descriptive analysis of age-specific suicide rates and a series of age-period-cohort (APC) models using Poisson regression. Under-employment rates (those employed part-time seeking additional hours of work) and unemployment rates (those currently seeking employment) for the latter part of this time series (1978-2010) were also examined and compared with period- and cohort-specific trends in suicide. A significant increasing birth cohort effect in male suicide rates was evident in birth cohorts born after 1970-74, after adjusting for the effects age and period. An increasing birth cohort effect was also evident in female suicide rates, but was of a lesser magnitude. Increases in male cohort-specific suicide rates were significantly correlated with increases in cohort-specific under-employment and unemployment rates. Birth cohorts that experienced the peak of the suicide epidemic during the 1990s have continued to have higher suicide rates than cohorts born in earlier epochs. This increase coincides with changes to a labour force characterised by greater ‘flexibility' and ‘casualised' employment, especially in younger aged cohorts.
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Divya Mehta et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, forthcoming
Abstract:
Childhood maltreatment is likely to influence fundamental biological processes and engrave long-lasting epigenetic marks, leading to adverse health outcomes in adulthood. We aimed to elucidate the impact of different early environment on disease-related genome-wide gene expression and DNA methylation in peripheral blood cells in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Compared with the same trauma-exposed controls (n = 108), gene-expression profiles of PTSD patients with similar clinical symptoms and matched adult trauma exposure but different childhood adverse events (n = 32 and 29) were almost completely nonoverlapping (98%). These differences on the level of individual transcripts were paralleled by the enrichment of several distinct biological networks between the groups. Moreover, these gene-expression changes were accompanied and likely mediated by changes in DNA methylation in the same loci to a much larger proportion in the childhood abuse (69%) vs. the non-child abuse-only group (34%). This study is unique in providing genome-wide evidence of distinct biological modifications in PTSD in the presence or absence of exposure to childhood abuse. The findings that nonoverlapping biological pathways seem to be affected in the two PTSD groups and that changes in DNA methylation appear to have a much greater impact in the childhood-abuse group might reflect differences in the pathophysiology of PTSD, in dependence of exposure to childhood maltreatment. These results contribute to a better understanding of the extent of influence of differences in trauma exposure on pathophysiological processes in stress-related psychiatric disorders and may have implications for personalized medicine.
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Jonathan Hill et al.
Genes, Brain and Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
The low activity variant of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) functional promoter polymorphism, MAOA-LPR, in interaction with adverse environments (G x E) is associated with child and adult antisocial behavior disorders. MAOA is expressed during fetal development so in utero G x E may influence early neurodevelopment. We tested the hypothesis that MAOA G x E during pregnancy predicts infant negative emotionality soon after birth. In an epidemiological longitudinal study starting in pregnancy, using a two stage stratified design, we ascertained MAOA-LPR status (low versus high activity variants) from the saliva of 209 infants (104 boys, 105 girls), and examined predictions to observed infant negative emotionality at 5 weeks post-partum from life events during pregnancy. In analyses weighted to provide estimates for the general population, and including possible confounders for life events, there was an MAOA status by life events interaction (p = .017). There was also an interaction between MAOA status and neighborhood deprivation (p = .028). Both interactions arose from a greater effect of increasing life events on negative emotionality in the MAOA-LPR low activity, compared to MAOA-LPR high activity infants. The study provides the first evidence of moderation by MAOA-LPR of the effect of the social environment in pregnancy on negative emotionality in infancy, an early risk for the development of child and adult antisocial behavior disorders.
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Impact of early vs. late childhood early life stress on brain morphometrics
Laurie Baker et al.
Brain Imaging and Behavior, June 2013, Pages 196-203
Abstract:
Previous studies of early life trauma suggest that in addition to its emotional impact, exposure to early life stress (ELS) is associated with alterations in brain structure. However, little attention has been devoted to the relationship between emotional processing and brain integrity as a function of age of ELS onset. In the present study we examined whether ELS onset in older ages of youth rather than younger ages is associated with smaller limbic and basal ganglia volumes as measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We hypothesized that later age of manifestation during youth is associated with smaller volumetric morphology in limbic and basal ganglia volumes in adulthood. A total of 173 individuals were divided into three groups based on the age of self-reported ELS. The three groups included individuals only experiencing early childhood ELS (1 month-7 years, n = 38), those only experiencing later childhood ELS (8 years -17 years, n = 59), and those who have not experienced ELS (n = 76). Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), hippocampus, amygdala, insula and caudate volumes were measured using a T1-weighted MRI. Analyses confirmed that later childhood ELS was associated with volumetric reductions in the ACC and insula volumes, while ELS experienced between the ages of 1 month and 7 years was not associated with lower brain volumes in these regions. The results may reflect the influence of more fully developed emotional processing of ELS on the developing brain and reinforce a body of research implicating both the ACC and insula in neuropsychiatric disorders and emotional regulation.
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When Early Experiences Build a Wall to Others' Emotions: An Electrophysiological and Autonomic Study
Martina Ardizzi et al.
PLoS ONE, April 2013
Abstract:
Facial expression of emotions is a powerful vehicle for communicating information about others' emotional states and it normally induces facial mimicry in the observers. The aim of this study was to investigate if early aversive experiences could interfere with emotion recognition, facial mimicry, and with the autonomic regulation of social behaviors. We conducted a facial emotion recognition task in a group of "street-boys" and in an age-matched control group. We recorded facial electromyography (EMG), a marker of facial mimicry, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an index of the recruitment of autonomic system promoting social behaviors and predisposition, in response to the observation of facial expressions of emotions. Results showed an over-attribution of anger, and reduced EMG responses during the observation of both positive and negative expressions only among street-boys. Street-boys also showed lower RSA after observation of facial expressions and ineffective RSA suppression during presentation of non-threatening expressions. Our findings suggest that early aversive experiences alter not only emotion recognition but also facial mimicry of emotions. These deficits affect the autonomic regulation of social behaviors inducing lower social predisposition after the visualization of facial expressions and an ineffective recruitment of defensive behavior in response to non-threatening expressions.
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What's Mine is Mine and What's Yours is Mine: The Dark Triad and Gambling with your Neighbor's Money
Daniel Jones
Journal of Research in Personality, forthcoming
Abstract:
Risking other people's money for personal gain is a growing problem. Three traits (termed the Dark Triad) predicted selfish financial behavior: (a) reckless psychopathy, and (b) overconfident narcissism, and (c) strategic Machiavellianism. Participants in Study 1 completed Dark Triad measures and were randomly assigned to gamble with their own bonus or a bonus belonging to the next participant. Psychopathy correlated with gambling with someone else's money, but not one's own money, in a game of certain loss. Narcissism correlated with losing more of someone else's money. Study 2 produced similar results even when participants' bonuses were untouched. Overall, psychopathy predicted gambling with someone else's bonus, and narcissism predicted greater losses. These findings highlight differential financial consequences among the Dark Triad.
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Marieke Tollenaar et al.
Psychoneuroendocrinology, forthcoming
Background: Oxytocin is known to enhance recognition of emotional expressions and may increase attention to the eye region. Therefore, we investigated whether oxytocin administration would lead to increased orienting of attention in response to gaze cues of emotional faces.
Methods: In a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind crossover study 20 healthy males received 24 IU of oxytocin or placebo. Thirty-five minutes after administration they performed a gaze cueing task with happy, fearful and neutral faces. Stress levels were measured throughout the study.
Results: Oxytocin did not affect stress levels during the study, but significantly increased gaze cueing scores for happy and fearful expressions compared to placebo. No effects were found for neutral expressions. Trait anxiety or depression did not moderate the effect.
Conclusions: Oxytocin increases orienting of attention in response to emotional gaze cues, both for happy and fearful expressions. Replication is needed in female and clinical populations. Effects of oxytocin on early, automatic processing levels should be studied in relation to previously found pro-social and behavioral effects of oxytocin.
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Kristin Prehn et al.
Psychophysiology, forthcoming
Abstract:
To investigate the mechanisms by which oxytocin improves socioaffective processing, we measured behavioral and pupillometric data during a dynamic facial emotion recognition task. In a double-blind between-subjects design, 47 men received either 24 IU intranasal oxytocin (OXT) or a placebo (PLC). Participants in the OXT group recognized all facial expressions at lower intensity levels than did participants in the PLC group. Improved performance was accompanied by increased task-related pupil dilation, indicating an increased recruitment of attentional resources. We also found increased pupil dilation during the processing of female compared with male faces. This gender-specific stimulus effect diminished in the OXT group, in which pupil size specifically increased for male faces. Results suggest that improved emotion recognition after OXT treatment might be due to an intensified processing of stimuli that usually do not recruit much attention.
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Experimental Human Endotoxemia Enhances Brain Activity During Social Cognition
Jennifer Kullmann et al.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, forthcoming
Abstract:
Acute peripheral inflammation with corresponding increases in peripheral cytokines affects neuropsychological functions and induces depression-like symptoms. However, possible effects of increased immune responses on social cognition remain unknown. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of experimentally induced acute inflammation on performance and neural responses during a social cognition task assessing Theory of Mind (ToM) ability. In this double-blind, randomized crossover functional magnetic resonance imaging study, 18 healthy, right-handed male volunteers received an injection of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 0.4 ng/kg) or saline, respectively. Plasma levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines as well as mood ratings were analyzed together with brain activation during a validated ToM task (i.e., Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test). LPS administration induced pronounced transient increases in pro- (IL-6, TNF-α) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10, IL-1ra) cytokines as well as decreases in mood. Social cognition performance was not affected by acute inflammation. However, altered neural activity was observed during the ToM task after LPS administration reflected by increased responses in the fusiform gyrus, temporo-parietal junction, superior temporal gyrus and precuneus. The increased task-related neural responses in the LPS condition may reflect a compensatory strategy or a greater social cognitive processing as a function of sickness.