Happy hour
Carl Weems et al.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, forthcoming
Abstract:
The long-term stability of youth reports of traumatic events is largely unknown. Translational animal research suggests that there may be an alteration of memories for traumatic events via memory reconsolidation processes, whereas clinical research suggests memory alteration may occur through augmentation by negative emotions. In this report, 2 natural experiments test reconsolidation model and augmentation model predictions about the course of traumatic memories in youth. Data are from 2 prospective studies that assessed reports of an initial traumatic event (Hurricane Katrina) and tested recall both pre and post a similar event (Hurricane Gustav). In the 1st (Sample 1; n = 94, initial Grade 9 followed to 11), youth were assessed at 4 time points: Times 1–3 were 13, 20, and 26 months post-Katrina and then Time 4 was 5 months post-Hurricane Gustav. In the 2nd (Sample 2; n = 141, Grades 4 through 8), youth were assessed at 12 months pre-Gustav (Time 1; 24 months post-Katrina) and then again at 1 month (Time 2) and 8 months (Time 3) post-Gustav. Those with relatively high Gustav exposure showed more stability in their reports of Katrina exposure events, whereas in those with low Gustav exposure, reports of Katrina events decreased. Time spans between recall, age, gender, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, or cognitive/learning ability did not explain changes in the reports. The study provides the 1st long-term data on the consistency of youth reports of disaster-related experiences and provides initial evidence for the ecological validity of memory reconsolidation theory applied to traumatic events in youth.
----------------------
Why is intelligence associated with stability of happiness?
Satoshi Kanazawa
British Journal of Psychology, August 2014, Pages 316–337
Abstract:
In the National Child Development Study, life-course variability in happiness over 18 years was significantly negatively associated with its mean level (happier individuals were more stable in their happiness, and it was not due to the ceiling effect), as well as childhood general intelligence and all Big Five personality factors (except for Agreeableness). In a multiple regression analysis, childhood general intelligence was the strongest predictor of life-course variability in life satisfaction, stronger than all Big Five personality factors, including Emotional stability. More intelligent individuals were significantly more stable in their happiness, and it was not entirely because: (1) they were more educated and wealthier (even though they were); (2) they were healthier (even though they were); (3) they were more stable in their marital status (even though they were); (4) they were happier (even though they were); (5) they were better able to assess their own happiness accurately (even though they were); or (6) they were better able to recall their previous responses more accurately or they were more honest in their survey responses (even though they were both). While I could exclude all of these alternative explanations, it ultimately remained unclear why more intelligent individuals were more stable in their happiness.
----------------------
Disparities in Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Individuals With a History of Military Service
John Blosnich et al.
JAMA Psychiatry, forthcoming
Objective: To compare the prevalence of ACEs among individuals with and without a history of military service.
Design, Setting, and Participants: Data are from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Computer-assisted telephone interviews were conducted with population-based samples of noninstitutionalized US adults from January 1 through December 31, 2010. Analyses were limited to respondents who received the ACE module (n = 60 598). Participants were categorized by history of military service and whether a respondent was 18 years of age in 1973.
Main Outcomes and Measures: History of military service was defined by active duty service, veteran status, or training for the Reserves or National Guard. The ACE inventory assessed 11 negative experiences before the age of 18 years. Weighted χ2 tests and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to examine differences in ACEs by history of military service, era of service, and sex.
Results: Those with military experience had greater odds of any difference in prevalence of ACEs. In the all-volunteer era, men with military service had a higher prevalence of ACEs in all 11 categories than men without military service. Notably, in the all-volunteer era, men with military service had twice the odds of reporting forced sex before the age of 18 years (odds ratio, 2.19; 95% CI, 1.34-3.57) compared with men without military service. In the draft era, the only difference among men was household drug use, in which men with a history of military service had a significantly lower prevalence than men without a history of military service (2.1% vs 3.3%; P = .003). Fewer differences were observed among women in the all-volunteer and draft eras.
Conclusions and Relevance: Differences in ACEs by era and sex lend preliminary support that enlistment may serve as an escape from adversity for some individuals, at least among men. Further research is needed to understand how best to support service members and veterans who may have experienced ACEs.
----------------------
Intranasal Oxytocin Enhances Positive Self-Attribution in Healthy Men
Valentina Colonnello & Markus Heinrichs
Journal of Psychosomatic Research, forthcoming
Objective: A growing body of studies consistently demonstrates that social responsiveness towards others is influenced by the neurohormone oxytocin. However, the potential role of oxytocin for self-perception remains relatively unexplored. Thus, we investigated whether oxytocin administration influences the self-attribution of positive and negative adjectives at the early, effortful stage of self-related information processing.
Methods: Sixty healthy male participants received either 24 I.U. oxytocin or a placebo in a randomized double-blind study before completing a sorting task, in which they were instructed to co-classify, as fast as possible, positive and negative adjectives into either self or non-self categories.
Results: Oxytocin-treated participants reported stronger positive attitudes toward themselves compared to placebo.
Conclusions: The present findings demonstrate that oxytocin administration influences the early stage of self-related information processing and suggests that the oxytocinergic system might be involved in psychopathological conditions characterized by a negative representation of self.
----------------------
2D:4D digit ratio predicts depression severity for females but not for males
Kerrie Smedley, Kayla McKain & Devon McKain
Personality and Individual Differences, November 2014, Pages 136–139
Abstract:
Depression affects at least twice the number of women than men. This difference appears to be relatively consistent across a wide range of cultures, with an average female to male ratio of 2:1 (Immerman & Mackey, 2003). Explanations of this sex difference have focused on hormones, the role that early traumas such as sexual abuse play in predisposing females to depression, and socialization influences (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1998). Digit ratio (2D:4D index to ring finger) is a well-established sexually dimorphic trait in humans, with females having a higher ratio than males (Martin, Manning, & Dowrick, 1999). This trait, stable across the lifetime, has been correlated with many other sexually dimorphic traits (Austin, Manning, McInroy, & Matthews, 2001). Previous research has shown contradictory results regarding whether depression is associated with a more masculine digit ratio or a more feminine digit ratio. The purpose of this study was to further investigate whether digit ratio is predictive of severity of depression. Results indicated that higher digit ratio is correlated with higher depression scores in females, but not males. Study limitations and further directions are considered.
----------------------
Elevated Maternal C-Reactive Protein and Increased Risk of Schizophrenia in a National Birth Cohort
Sarah Canetta et al.
American Journal of Psychiatry, forthcoming
Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate an association between early gestational C-reactive protein, an established inflammatory biomarker, prospectively assayed in maternal sera, and schizophrenia in a large, national birth cohort with an extensive serum biobank.
Method: A nested case-control design from the Finnish Prenatal Study of Schizophrenia cohort was utilized. A total of 777 schizophrenia cases (schizophrenia, N=630; schizoaffective disorder, N=147) with maternal sera available for C-reactive protein testing were identified and matched to 777 control subjects in the analysis. Maternal C-reactive protein levels were assessed using a latex immunoassay from archived maternal serum specimens.
Results: Increasing maternal C-reactive protein levels, classified as a continuous variable, were significantly associated with schizophrenia in offspring (adjusted odds ratio=1.31, 95% confidence interval=1.10–1.56). This finding remained significant after adjusting for potential confounders, including maternal and parental history of psychiatric disorders, twin/singleton birth, urbanicity, province of birth, and maternal socioeconomic status.
Conclusions: This finding provides the most robust evidence to date that maternal inflammation may play a significant role in schizophrenia, with possible implications for identifying preventive strategies and pathogenic mechanisms in schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
----------------------
Rapid Mood-Elevating Effects of Low Field Magnetic Stimulation in Depression
Michael Rohan et al.
Biological Psychiatry, 1 August 2014, Pages 186–193
Background: We previously reported rapid mood elevation following an experimental magnetic resonance imaging procedure in depressed patients with bipolar disorder (BPD). This prompted the design, construction, and testing of a portable electromagnetic device that reproduces only the rapidly oscillating (1 kHz, <1 V/m) electromagnetic field of the experimental procedure, called low field magnetic stimulation (LFMS).
Methods: We used a randomized, double blind, sham controlled treatment protocol to study the effects of LFMS in a large group of stably medicated, depressed patients with either BPD (n = 41) or major depressive disorder (n = 22). Subjects received a single, 20-minute treatment. Change in mood was assessed immediately afterward using a visual analog scale (VAS), the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17), and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule scales.
Results: Substantial improvement (>10% of baseline) in mood was observed following LFMS treatment relative to sham treatment for both diagnostic subgroups for our primary outcomes, the VAS and the HDRS-17. These differences were not statistically significant in primary analyses stratifying by diagnosis but were significant in secondary analyses combining data across the two diagnostic groups (p = .01 VAS, p = .02 HDRS-17). Rapid improvement in mood was also observed using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule scales as secondary measures (positive affect scale p = .02 BPD, p = .002 combined group). A finite element method calculation indicates a broad penetration of the LFMS electric field throughout the cerebral cortex.
Conclusions: Low field magnetic stimulation may produce rapid changes in mood using a previously unexplored range of electromagnetic fields.
----------------------
Social Identity Reduces Depression by Fostering Positive Attributions
Tegan Cruwys et al.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Social identities are generally associated with better health and in particular lower levels of depression. However, there has been limited investigation of why social identities protect against depression. The current research suggests that social identities reduce depression in part because they attenuate the depressive attribution style (internal, stable, and global; e.g., “I failed because I’m stupid”). These relationships are first investigated in a survey (Study 1, N = 139) and then followed up in an experiment that manipulates social identity salience (Study 2, N = 88). In both cases, people with stronger social identities were less likely to attribute negative events to internal, stable, or global causes and subsequently reported lower levels of depression. These studies thus indicate that social identities can protect and enhance mental health by facilitating positive interpretations of stress and failure. Implications for clinical theory and practice are discussed.
----------------------
Mental health in the foreclosure crisis
Jason Houle
Social Science & Medicine, October 2014, Pages 1–8
Abstract:
Current evidence suggests that the rise in home foreclosures that began in 2007 created feelings of stress, vulnerability, and sapped communities of social and economic resources. Minority and low SES communities were more likely to be exposed to predatory lending and hold subprime mortgages, and were the hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis. Little research has examined whether and how the foreclosure crisis has undermined population mental health. I use data from 2245 counties in 50 U.S. states to examine whether living in high foreclosure areas is associated with residents' mental health and whether the foreclosure crisis has the potential to exacerbate existing disparities in mental health during the recessionary period. I use county-level data from RealtyTrac and other data sources, and individual-level data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey from 2006 to 2011. I find that – net of time invariant unobserved between-county differences, national time trends, and observed confounders – a rise in a county's foreclosure rate is associated with a decline in residents' mental health. This association is especially pronounced in counties with a high concentration of low SES and minority residents, which supports the perspective that the foreclosure crisis has the potential to exacerbate existing social disparities in mental health.
----------------------
Symbolic providers help people regulate affect relationally: Implications for perceived support
Brian Lakey et al.
Personal Relationships, forthcoming
Abstract:
Relational regulation theory (Lakey & Orehek, 2011) predicts that the correlation between perceived support and mental health emerges through ordinary conversation and shared activities rather than through conversations about stress and how to cope with it. Observing the conversations and activities of others also helps regulate mental health. Symbolic providers (known only through media) mimic how real providers regulate affect in that recipients observe the conversations and shared activities of symbolic providers. Thus, many perceived support findings obtained for real providers should also be found for symbolic providers. We found the same links between perceived support and affect when recipients rated symbolic providers as when recipients rated real providers. When participants' affect was worsened, viewing symbolic providers helped restore affect.
----------------------
To have in order to do: Exploring the effects of consuming experiential products on well-being
Darwin Guevarra & Ryan Howell
Journal of Consumer Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
The experience recommendation – if you want to be happier, buy life experiences instead of material items – is supported in empirical research. However, this evidence is primarily based on the dichotomous comparison of material items and life experiences. The goal of this article is to examine the effects of consuming experiential products – purchases that fall between material items and life experiences – on well-being. Study 1 and Study 2 demonstrate that experiential products provide similar levels of well-being compared to life experiences and more well-being than material items. Study 3 replicates this finding for purchases that turn out well. In addition, Study 3 shows experiential products, when compared to life experiences, lead to more feelings of competence but less feelings of relatedness, which explains why these two purchases result in similar levels of well-being. We discuss why experiential products and life experiences lead to psychological need satisfaction and how our results support the Positive-Activity Model, Self-Determination Theory, and Holbrook and Hirschman's hedonic consumption framework.
----------------------
Marco Boks et al.
Psychoneuroendocrinology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Several studies have reported an association between traumatic stress and telomere length suggesting that traumatic stress has an impact on aging at the cellular level. A newly derived tool provides an additional means to investigate cellular aging by estimating epigenetic age based on DNA methylation profiles. We therefore hypothesise that in a longitudinal study of traumatic stress both indicators of cellular aging will show increased aging. We expect that particularly in individuals that developed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) increases in these aging parameters would stand out. From an existing longitudinal cohort study, ninety-six male soldiers were selected based on trauma exposure and the presence of symptoms of PTSD. All military personnel were deployed in a combat zone in Afghanistan and assessed before and 6 months after deployment. The Self-Rating Inventory for PTSD was used to measure the presence of PTSD symptoms, while exposure to combat trauma during deployment was measured with a 19-item deployment experiences checklist. These groups did not differ for age, gender, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, military rank, length, weight, or medication use. In DNA from whole blood telomere length was measured and DNA methylation levels were assessed using the Illumina 450 K DNA methylation arrays. Epigenetic aging was estimated using the DNAm age estimator procedure. The association of trauma with telomere length was in the expected direction but not significant (B = -10.2, p = 0.52). However, contrary to our expectations, development of PTSD symptoms was associated with the reverse process, telomere lengthening (B = 1.91, p = 0.018). In concordance, trauma significantly accelerated epigenetic aging (B = 1.97, p = 0.032) and similar to the findings in telomeres, development of PTSD symptoms was inversely associated with epigenetic aging (B = -0.10, p = 0.044). Blood cell count, medication and premorbid early life trauma exposure did not confound the results. Overall, in this longitudinal study of military personnel deployed to Afghanistan we show an acceleration of ageing by trauma. However, development of PTSD symptoms was associated with telomere lengthening and reversed epigenetic aging. These findings warrant further study of a perhaps dysfunctional compensatory cellular aging reversal in PTSD.
----------------------
Justin Storbeck & Philip Watson
Emotion, forthcoming
Abstract:
Prior research has suggested that emotion and working memory domains are integrated, such that positive affect enhances verbal working memory, whereas negative affect enhances spatial working memory (Gray, 2004; Storbeck, 2012). Simon (1967) postulated that one feature of emotion and cognition integration would be reciprocal connectedness (i.e., emotion influences cognition and cognition influences emotion). We explored whether affective judgments and attention to affective qualities are biased by the activation of verbal and spatial working memory mind-sets. For all experiments, participants completed a 2-back verbal or spatial working memory task followed by an endorsement task (Experiments 1 & 2), word-pair selection task (Exp. 3), or attentional dot-probe task (Exp. 4). Participants who had an activated verbal, compared with spatial, working memory mind-set were more likely to endorse pictures (Exp. 1) and words (Exp. 2) as being more positive and to select the more positive word pair out of a set of word pairs that went ‘together best’ (Exp. 3). Additionally, people who completed the verbal working memory task took longer to disengage from positive stimuli, whereas those who completed the spatial working memory task took longer to disengage from negative stimuli (Exp. 4). Interestingly, across the 4 experiments, we observed higher levels of self-reported negative affect for people who completed the spatial working memory task, which was consistent with their endorsement and attentional bias toward negative stimuli. Therefore, emotion and working memory may have a reciprocal connectedness allowing for bidirectional influence.
----------------------
Cognitive Reappraisal Increases Neuroendocrine Reactivity to Acute Social Stress and Physical Pain
Thomas Denson et al.
Psychoneuroendocrinology, November 2014, Pages 69–78
Abstract:
Cognitive reappraisal can foster emotion regulation, yet less is known about whether cognitive reappraisal alters neuroendocrine stress reactivity. Some initial evidence suggests that although long-term training in cognitive behavioral therapy techniques (which include reappraisal as a primary training component) can reduce cortisol reactivity to stress, some studies also suggest that reappraisal is associated with heightened cortisol stress reactivity. To address this mixed evidence, the present report describes two experimental studies that randomly assigned young adult volunteers to use cognitive reappraisal while undergoing laboratory stressors. Relative to the control condition, participants in the reappraisal conditions showed greater peak cortisol reactivity in response to a socially evaluative speech task (Experiment 1, N = 90) and to a physical pain cold pressor task (Experiment 2, N = 94). Participants in the cognitive reappraisal group also reported enhanced anticipatory psychological appraisals of self-efficacy and control in Experiment 2 and greater post-stressor self-efficacy. There were no effects of the reappraisal manipulation on positive and negative subjective affect, pain, or heart rate in either experiment. These findings suggest that although cognitive reappraisal fosters psychological perceptions of self-efficacy and control under stress, this effortful emotion regulation strategy in the short-term may increase cortisol reactivity. Discussion focuses on promising psychological mechanisms for these cognitive reappraisal effects.
----------------------
Robert Hopkins, David Michela & Lindy Kilik
Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, July 2014, Pages 456-463
Abstract:
While depression is known to be a disturbance of mood, it is also a disturbance of behaviour. From clinical evidence, it is suggested that this behavioural disturbance may be more profound than previously reported. The purpose of the study was to assess the level of behavioural disturbance in a moderately to severely depressed group of community living individuals aged 21 to 65 (N = 30). Behaviour was assessed by the Kingston Standardized Behavioural Assessment, and cognition was assessed by the Kingston Standardized Cognitive Assessment–Revised and the Mini-Mental State Examination. This depressed group was indeed more behaviourally impaired than one would expect from the traditional descriptions of depression. In fact, the level of behavioural disturbance found was equal to that in community-dwelling Alzheimer’s disease patients. The depressed group was then compared to an equally behaviourally disturbed group of probable Alzheimer’s disease patients also living in the community. The depressed group was both significantly better oriented, and had better overall cognition. Behavioural patterns were compared between groups. The findings of this study suggest that individuals with depression are more significantly impaired than traditionally thought. Not only was a broader range of behaviour change seen in patients, but there was a greater number of changes seen per patient than previously described. This also suggests that a greater number of targets for clinical intervention are available.
----------------------
“I'm Disgusting”: Investigating the Role of Self-Disgust in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury
Noelle Smith et al.
Archives of Suicide Research, forthcoming
Objectives: Self-directed disgust, a component of self-criticism may present an important, yet unexplored emotion in the context of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). The aim of this study was to examine the role of self-disgust in NSSI, specifically as a potential mediator in the relations between depression and NSSI as well as sexual abuse and NSSI, and to also better understand characteristics that might differentiate recent and past self-injurers.
Method: 549 college students completed measures assessing NSSI, self-disgust, depression, anxiety sensitivity and physical and sexual abuse.
Results: Results indicated self-disgust fully mediated the relation between depressive symptoms and NSSI status and partially mediated the relation between sexual abuse and NSSI status. Additionally, compared to past self-injurers (4.6%; n = 25), recent self-injurers (6.4%; n = 35) endorsed significantly higher self-disgust and depressive symptoms.
Conclusion: Self-disgust may be an important component in NSSI and should be addressed in treatment.
----------------------
Tracy Cheung et al.
Frontiers in Psychology, July 2014
Background: While self-control has often been related to positive outcomes in life such as higher academic achievements and better health, recent insights reveal that people with high trait self-control (TSC) may even experience greater life satisfaction or happiness.
Objective: The current study further scrutinizes this potential association between TSC and happiness, and examines how regulatory focus, defined as the way people frame and direct their goal pursuit strategies, plays a role in this relationship. Accordingly, the present study examines the mediating role of regulatory-focus (promotion and prevention focus) on the relationship between TSC and happiness.
Method: Data was collected from 545 individuals (65.9% female, Mage = 27.52 years) regarding their TSC, regulatory focus, and happiness.
Results: Mediation analyses demonstrate that TSC positively predicts happiness, while this effect was partially mediated by relatively more promotion focus and less prevention focus.
Conclusion: Results suggest that people with higher TSC are happier possibly because they are: (1) more promotion-focused on acquiring positive gains thereby facilitating more approach-oriented behaviors, and (2) less prevention-focused on avoiding losses thereby reducing avoidance-oriented behaviors. These findings are relevant for topical scientific debates regarding the underlying mechanisms of self-control regarding initiatory and inhibitory behaviors.
----------------------
Julia Vogt & Jan De Houwer
Emotion, forthcoming
Abstract:
Recent evidence has suggested a crucial role of people’s current goals in attention to emotional information. This asks for research investigating how and what kinds of goals shape emotional attention. The present study investigated how the goal to suppress a negative emotional state influences attention to emotion-congruent events. After inducing disgust, we instructed participants to suppress all feelings of disgust during a subsequent dot probe task. Attention to disgusting images was modulated by the sort of distracter that was presented in parallel with disgusting imagery. When disgusting images were presented together with neutral images, emotion suppression was accompanied by a tendency to attend to disgusting images. However, when disgusting images were shown with positive images that allow coping with disgust (i.e., images representing cleanliness), attention tended away from disgusting images and toward images representing cleanliness. These findings show that emotion suppression influences the allocation of attention but that the successful avoidance of emotion-congruent events depends on the availability of effective distracters.
----------------------
A vacation from your mind: Problematic online gaming is a stress response
Jeffrey Snodgrass et al.
Computers in Human Behavior, September 2014, Pages 248–260
Abstract:
We present ethnographically-informed survey and interview data suggesting that problematic online gaming in the World of Warcraft (WoW) can be conceptualized as a response to pre-existing life stress, which for highly stressed individuals magnifies rather than relieves their suffering. In particular, we explore how relaxing and arousing in-game experiences and activities provide forms of cognitive diversion that can lead to problematic play among more highly stressed individuals. Our research supports what has been called a “rich get richer” model of problematic Internet use. In this instance, less stressed individuals manage to play WoW so as to enhance their offline lives. By contrast, more highly stressed players further magnify the stress and suffering in their lives by playing problematically the online game within which they sought refuge from their offline problems.