Worrisome
Leadership is associated with lower levels of stress
Gary Sherman et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, forthcoming
Abstract:
As leaders ascend to more powerful positions in their groups, they face ever-increasing demands. As a result, there is a common perception that leaders have higher stress levels than nonleaders. However, if leaders also experience a heightened sense of control - a psychological factor known to have powerful stress-buffering effects - leadership should be associated with reduced stress levels. Using unique samples of real leaders, including military officers and government officials, we found that, compared with nonleaders, leaders had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and lower reports of anxiety (study 1). In study 2, leaders holding more powerful positions exhibited lower cortisol levels and less anxiety than leaders holding less powerful positions, a relationship explained significantly by their greater sense of control. Altogether, these findings reveal a clear relationship between leadership and stress, with leadership level being inversely related to stress.
----------------------
Brad Bushman et al.
Journal of Personality, October 2012, Pages 1453-1469
Abstract:
The self-esteem movement has been around since the 1970s, and may have influenced how much value people place on self-esteem. We predicted a negative relationship between age and the amount of value placed on self-esteem boosts. We also investigated the correlates of liking versus wanting self-esteem boosts (and other pleasant rewards) on depression. A nationally representative sample of American adults (N = 867) indicated how much they liked and wanted several pleasant rewards (i.e., sex, food, alcohol, money, friendship, self-esteem boost). They also completed a standardized measure of depressive symptoms. As expected, there was a negative relationship between age and valuing self-esteem boosts, sex, and alcohol. People with depressive symptoms wanted self-esteem boosts, even though they did not like them very much. Similar effects were obtained for depressive symptoms and alcohol and friendship. This is the first research to show that self-esteem boosts are more valued among a nationally representative sample of younger American adults. It also is the first research to explore the association between depression and the motivation to boost self-esteem. People with depressive symptoms want self-esteem, and may pursue it, but this pursuit may feel unrewarding because they do not derive pleasure from it.
----------------------
The Psychological Costs of War: Military Combat and Mental Health
Resul Cesur, Joseph Sabia & Erdal Tekin
Journal of Health Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
We exploit plausibly exogenous variation in overseas deployment assignment to estimate the effect of combat exposure on psychological well-being. Controlling for pre-deployment mental health, we find that active-duty soldiers deployed to combat zones are more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than their counterparts deployed outside the United States in non-combat zones. Among those deployed to combat zones, those deployed to locales where they engage in enemy firefight or witness allied or civilian deaths are at an increased risk for suicidal ideation and PTSD relative to their active-duty counterparts deployed to combat zones without enemy firefight.
----------------------
Mehmet Mahmut & Richard Stevenson
Chemosensory Perception, forthcoming
Abstract:
Olfactory processing is known to involve the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). The OFC is also believed to function less effectively in individuals scoring higher in psychopathic personality traits. In this study, we examined whether poorer olfactory discrimination and identification - taken as an indicator of OFC integrity - was associated with the degree of presence of psychopathic traits in a community sample. Seventy-nine non-criminal participants completed the Self-Report Psychopathy scale and a standardized measure of olfactory ability, the Sniffin' Sticks, measuring odor threshold, identification, and discrimination. Consistent with predictions, we found a relationship between psychopathy and olfactory discrimination and identification but not odor threshold, even after controlling for gender, age, empathy, smoking status, and craniofacial surgery/injury. These findings suggest that brain areas subserving higher olfactory processes - identification and discrimination - are somehow less efficient in individuals who score higher on psychopathic traits. In particular, we suggest that this relates to processing within the orbitofrontal cortex.
----------------------
Is handedness related to anxiety? New answers to an old question
Keith Lyle, Kevin Chapman & Jessica Hatton
Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition, forthcoming
Abstract:
Is handedness related to anxiety? Two separable dimensions of handedness have been considered in previous studies: Direction of the preferred hand (left or right) and the consistency with which the preferred hand is used over the nonpreferred hand (consistent or inconsistent). Findings have included (1) left-handedness being associated with greater anxiety than right-handedness, (2) consistent-handedness being associated with greater anxiety than inconsistent-handedness and (3) neither dimension being associated with anxiety. Here, we administered measures of trait anxiety, state anxiety and worry to individuals classified as consistent-left, inconsistent-left, inconsistent-right or consistent-right. Neither direction nor consistency had a main effect on any measure. However, there was a direction by consistency interaction in trait and state anxiety measured on the State/Trait Anxiety Inventory. Among right-handers, inconsistent individuals reported less anxiety than consistent individuals. Among left-handers, consistency was unrelated to anxiety. In consequence of this pattern, inconsistent right-handers were less anxious than inconsistent left-handers. Hence, supporting prior studies, left-handedness was associated with greater anxiety than right-handedness (but only among inconsistent individuals) and consistency was associated with greater anxiety than inconsistency (but only among right-handers). These findings advance our understanding of handedness consistency as an important individual difference factor in personality and cognition.
----------------------
Yang Wang & Muzhe Yang
Economics & Human Biology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we provide evidence that young adults respond to crisis-induced depression by exercising less and having breakfast less often. Exogenous variation in the crisis-induced depression is obtained through a unique event in our sample period - the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We compare those who were interviewed just before and just after 9/11 and find a significant and sharp increase in the symptoms of depression. We also provide evidence that this increase is not a September effect, but an effect of the external traumatic event.
----------------------
A Lifespan Perspective on Terrorism: Age Differences in Trajectories of Response to 9/11
Stacey Scott, Michael Poulin & Roxane Cohen Silver
Developmental Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
A terrorist attack is an adverse event characterized by both an event-specific stressor and concern about future threats. Little is known about age differences in responses to terrorism. This longitudinal study examined generalized distress, posttraumatic stress responses, and fear of future attacks following the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks among a large U.S. national sample of adults (N = 2,240) aged 18-101 years. Individuals completed Web-based surveys up to 6 times over 3 years post 9/11. Multilevel models revealed different age-related patterns for distress, posttraumatic stress, and ongoing fear of future attacks. Specifically, older age was associated with lower overall levels of general distress, a steeper decline in posttraumatic stress over time, and less change in fear of future terrorist attacks over the 3 years. Understanding age differences in response to the stress of terrorism adds to the growing body of work on age differences in reactions to adversity.
----------------------
High-throughput classification of clinical populations from natural viewing eye movements
Po-He Tseng et al.
Journal of Neurology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Many high-prevalence neurological disorders involve dysfunctions of oculomotor control and attention, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), and Parkinson's disease (PD). Previous studies have examined these deficits with clinical neurological evaluation, structured behavioral tasks, and neuroimaging. Yet, time and monetary costs prevent deploying these evaluations to large at-risk populations, which is critically important for earlier detection and better treatment. We devised a high-throughput, low-cost method where participants simply watched television while we recorded their eye movements. We combined eye-tracking data from patients and controls with a computational model of visual attention to extract 224 quantitative features. Using machine learning in a workflow inspired by microarray analysis, we identified critical features that differentiate patients from control subjects. With eye movement traces recorded from only 15 min of videos, we classified PD versus age-matched controls with 89.6 % accuracy (chance 63.2 %), and ADHD versus FASD versus control children with 77.3 % accuracy (chance 40.4 %). Our technique provides new quantitative insights into which aspects of attention and gaze control are affected by specific disorders. There is considerable promise in using this approach as a potential screening tool that is easily deployed, low-cost, and high-throughput for clinical disorders, especially in young children and elderly populations who may be less compliant to traditional evaluation tests.
----------------------
Spencer Palder et al.
Cognition & Emotion, forthcoming
Abstract:
It was hypothesised that affect-amplifying individuals would be more reactive to affective events in daily life. Affect amplification was quantified in terms of overestimating the font size of positive and negative, relative to neutral, words in a basic perception task. Subsequently, the same (N=70) individuals completed a daily diary protocol in which they reported on levels of daily stressors, provocations, and social support as well as six emotion-related outcomes for 14 consecutive days. Individual differences in affect amplification moderated reactivity to daily affective events in all such analyses. For example, daily stressor levels predicted cognitive failures at high, but not low, levels of affect amplification. Affect amplification, then, appears to have widespread utility in understanding individual differences in emotional reactivity.
----------------------
Shuichi Yanai, Yuki Semba, Shogo Endo
PLoS ONE, September 2012
Abstract:
A devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, 2011, followed by several long and intense aftershocks. Laboratory mice housed in the Tokyo, located approximately 330 km south of this earthquake's epicenter, displayed remarkable changes in a variety of behaviors and physiological measures. Although unusual pre-earthquake behaviors have been previously reported in laboratory animals, little is known about behavioral and physiological changes that occur after a great earthquake. In the present study, the effects of Tohoku earthquake on mice behavior were investigated. "Earthquake-experienced" mice displayed a marked increase in food consumption without gaining body weight in response to the earthquake. They also displayed enhanced anxiety, and in a formal fear memory task, showed significantly greater tone- and context-dependent conditioned freezing. Water maze performance of earthquake-experienced mice showed the quicker acquisition of the task, faster swim speed and longer swim distance than the naive mice. Serum corticosterone levels were elevated compared to the naive mice, indicating that the earthquake and aftershocks were stressful for the mice. These results demonstrate that great earthquakes strongly affect mouse behaviors and physiology. Although the effects of a variety of experimental manipulations on mouse behaviors in disease models or in models of higher cognitive functions have been extensively examined, researchers need to be aware how natural phenomena, such as earthquakes and perhaps other natural environmental factors, influence laboratory animal behaviors and physiology.
----------------------
On the embodiment of emotion regulation: Interoceptive awareness facilitates reappraisal
Jürgen Füstös et al.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, forthcoming
Abstract:
The ability to cognitively regulate emotional responses to aversive events is essential for mental and physical health. One prerequisite of successful emotion regulation is the awareness of emotional states, which in turn is associated with the awareness of bodily signals (interoceptive awareness). This study investigated the neural dynamics of reappraisal of emotional responses in twenty-eight participants who differed with respect to interoceptive awareness. Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to characterize the time course of emotion regulation. We found that reappraisal was accompanied by reduced arousal and significant modulation of late neural responses. What is more, higher interoceptive awareness facilitated downregulation of affect and was associated with more pronounced modulation of underlying neural activity. Therefore we conclude that interoceptive awareness not only advances the consolidation of somatic markers required for guiding individual behaviour, but also creates processing advantages in tasks referring to these bodily markers.
----------------------
Debt and Depression: Causal Links and Social Norm Effects
John Gathergood
Economic Journal, September 2012, Pages 1094-1114
Abstract:
Individuals exhibiting problems repaying their debt obligations also exhibit much worse psychological health. Selection into problem debt on the basis of poor psychological health accounts for much of this difference. The causality between problem debt and psychological health may be two way. Using individual level UK panel data, local house price movements exogenous to individual households are used to establish the causality from problem mortgage debt to psychological health. In addition, the social norm effects of problem debt are investigated using local bankruptcy and repossession rates. Results indicate there are sizeable causal links and social norm effects in the debt-psychological health relationship.
----------------------
Testosterone administration in women increases amygdala responses to fearful and happy faces
Peter Bos et al.
Psychoneuroendocrinology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Data from both rodents and humans show that testosterone reduces fear. This effect is hypothesized to result from testosterone's down regulating effects on the amygdala, a key region in the detection of threat and instigator of fight-or-flight behavior. However, neuroimaging studies employing testosterone administration in humans have consistently shown increased amygdala responsivity. Yet, no study to date has investigated specifically how testosterone affects the amygdala response to fearful emotional expressions. Such stimuli signal the presence of environmental threat and elicit robust amygdala responses that have consistently been associated with anxious traits. In the present study, we therefore used functional magnetic resonance imaging combined with a single administration of 0.5 mg testosterone in 12 healthy women to assess testosterone's effects on amygdala responses to dynamic fearful (and happy control) faces. Our results show that both stimuli activate the amygdala. Notably, testosterone increased the amygdala response to both stimuli, and to an equal degree. Thus, testosterone appears not to reduce fear by attenuating the amygdala response toward signals of threat. Data further show that testosterone selectively increases activation of the superficial amygdala (SFA) and, to a lesser extent, the basolateral amygdala (BLA). No effect was found in the central nucleus, which is involved in the generation of autonomic fear responses. Both the SFA and BLA are considered input regions, and enhanced activation by testosterone might reflect the role of this hormone in adaptive responding to socially relevant stimuli. Furthermore, literature on the distinct roles of the SFA and BLA in fear processing show that increased activation of these subregions of the amygdala is consistent with a fear reducing effect of testosterone.
----------------------
Tracy Gunter et al.
Behavioral Sciences & the Law, forthcoming
Abstract:
The objective of this study was to quantify the relative contributions of gender and traumatic life experience to psychiatric disorders in a sample of 320 offenders entering a state prison. Women were more likely than men to report traumatic events and personal and family mental health treatment histories; and were more likely to meet criteria for posttraumatic stress, borderline personality, and eating disorders. People reporting traumatic life experiences were more likely than those not so reporting to have family mental histories and to meet criteria for mood, anxiety, psychotic, antisocial personality, and borderline personality disorders, as well as elevated suicide risk. With both gender and trauma included in the logistic regression models, only trauma was a significant predictor of mood, anxiety, psychotic, attention deficit hyperactivity, and antisocial personality disorders, as well as suicide risk. Trauma-informed programming, regardless of gender, is important for incarcerated offenders. To the extent that trauma is also criminogenic, these data suggest that women and men share the risk.
----------------------
Analysis of Monoaminergic Genes, Childhood Abuse, and Dimensions of Psychopathy
Naomi Sadeh, Shabnam Javdani & Edelyn Verona
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Psychopathy is a multidimensional construct characterized by an interpersonally manipulative and emotionally detached personality profile that differentiates it from other antisocial syndromes. Previous research with youth has linked the long allele of the serotonin transporter gene in the presence of environmental stress with the interpersonal and affective traits of psychopathy, but these relationships have yet to be examined in relation to adult psychopathy. Consequently, we examined how serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) polymorphisms, monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) variants, and childhood abuse measured with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire relate to dimensions of psychopathy in a forensic sample of 237 men with elevated levels of environmental adversity. We found that the emotional deficits characterizing the affective factor of psychopathy, as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version, were highest among carriers of the 5-HTT long allele. Furthermore, the impulsive and irresponsible lifestyle features of psychopathy were higher among low-activity than high-activity MAO-A carriers. These genetic effects were unexpectedly not moderated by a history of childhood abuse. Results provide evidence on the molecular genetics correlates of psychopathic traits in adulthood, relationships that should be investigated further in future research.
----------------------
Anett Gyurak et al.
Emotion, forthcoming
Abstract:
We examined the relationship between a functional polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) and individual differences in emotional reactivity in two laboratory studies. In Study 1, empathic responding and physiological reactivity to viewing films of others in distress were assessed in healthy adults in three age groups. In Study 2, emotional responding to watching oneself in an embarrassing situation was assessed in healthy adults and in patients with neurodegenerative diseases. In Study 1, participants with two short alleles of 5-HTTLPR reported more personal distress and showed higher levels of physiological responses in response to the films than participants with long alleles. In Study 2, participants with two short alleles reported more anger and amusement and displayed more emotional expressive behaviors in response to the embarrassing situation than participants with long alleles. These two findings from diverse samples of participants converge to indicate that individuals who are homozygous for the short allele variant of 5-HTTLPR have greater levels of emotional reactivity in two quite different socially embedded contexts.
----------------------
FKBP5 and Emotional Neglect Interact to Predict Individual Differences in Amygdala Reactivity
Michael White et al.
Genes, Brain and Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Individual variation in physiological responsiveness to stress mediates risk for mental illness and is influenced by both experiential and genetic factors. Common polymorphisms in the human gene for FK506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5), which is involved in transcriptional regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, have been shown to interact with childhood abuse and trauma to predict stress-related psychopathology. In the current study, we examined if such gene-environment interaction effects may be related to variability in the threat-related reactivity of the amygdala, which plays a critical role in mediating physiological and behavioral adaptions to stress including modulation of the HPA axis. To this end 139 healthy, Caucasian youth completed a BOLD fMRI probe of amygdala reactivity and self-report assessments of emotional neglect (EN) and other forms of maltreatment. These individuals were genotyped for six FKBP5 polymorphisms (rs7748266, rs1360780, rs9296158, rs3800373, rs9470080, and rs9394309) previously associated with psychopathology and/or HPA axis function. Interactions between each SNP and EN emerged such that risk alleles predicted relatively increased dorsal amygdala reactivity in the context of higher EN, even after correcting for multiple testing. Two different haplotype analyses confirmed this relationship as haplotypes with risk alleles also exhibited increased amygdala reactivity in the context of higher EN. Our results suggest that increased threat-related amygdala reactivity may represent a mechanism linking psychopathology to interactions between common genetic variants affecting HPA axis function and childhood trauma.
----------------------
Omri Weisman et al.
Psychoneuroendocrinology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Research has consistently addressed the relations between plasma oxytocin (OT) - a nonapeptide implicated in mammalian social bonding - and psychological distress, but the direction of the association remains unclear. Utilizing the largest sample of plasma OT to date (N = 473), the current study had two goals. First, we described the distributions of plasma OT in women and men, and second, we examined whether the relations between OT and two types of anxiety - trait and attachment anxiety - are moderated by gender. Results indicated that OT values (M = 375.78 pg/ml, SD = 264.03, range = 51.40-2752.30) clustered around the mean with a long right tail, indicating trend toward high values. In most participants (N = 323), OT was measured again six months after initial assessment and OT levels were highly stable within individuals. After removing outliers 2.5 SD above the mean (≥1098 pg/ml for men and ≥988 pg/ml for women), men showed significantly higher mean OT than women (women: 327.13 pg/ml, SD = 164.43; men: 399.91, SD = 183.65; t = 2.57, p = .01). Gender was found to moderate the relations between OT and anxiety. Trait anxiety was lower among men with higher OT but no such links emerged for women, supporting the hypothesized anxiolytic effects of OT in males only. Furthermore, women with extreme values (≥988 pg/ml) had three times the probability of being classified as highly anxious (STAI-T ≥ 45). Higher OT in women correlated with greater attachment anxiety, but no such relationships were found for men. Results are consistent with models on the differential associations between the neurobiology of attachment and the experience of anxiety in women and men.
----------------------
Amygdala response to negative images in postpartum versus nulliparous women and intranasal oxytocin
Heather Rupp et al.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, forthcoming
Abstract:
The neuroendocrine state of new mothers may alter their neural processing of stressors in the environment through modulatory actions of oxytocin on the limbic system. We predicted that amygdala sensitivity to negatively arousing stimuli would be suppressed in postpartum compared to nulliparous women, and that this suppression would be modulated by administration of oxytocin nasal spray. We measured brain activation (fMRI) and subjective arousal in response to negatively arousing pictures in 29 postpartum and 30 nulliparous women who received either oxytocin nasal spray or placebo before scanning. Pre and post exposure urinary cortisol levels were also measured. Postpartum women (placebo) demonstrated lower right amygdala activation in response to negative images, lower cortisol, and lower negative photo arousal ratings to nulliparous women. Nulliparous women receiving oxytocin had lower right amygdala activation compared to placebo. Cortisol levels in the placebo group, and ratings of arousal across all women, were positively associated with right amygdala activation. Together, these findings demonstrate reductions in both amygdala activation and subjective negative arousal in untreated postpartum versus nulliparous women, supporting the hypothesis of an attenuated neural response to arousing stimuli in postpartum women. A causal role of oxytocin and the timing of potential effects require future investigation.
----------------------
Does moving from war zone change emotions and risk perceptions? A field study of Israeli students
Shosh Shahrabani et al.
Judgment and Decision Making, September 2012, pp. 669-678
Abstract:
The current field study uses data collected after the 2009 war between Israel and the Hamas militias in the Gaza Strip ended. The study compares recalled emotions and perceived risks among two groups of students, all of whom were exposed to rocket attacks. Individuals in the "left the war zone" group left the region under attack as a precautionary action, while the "stayed in the war zone" group remained in the region during war. The results indicate no significant differences in the levels of recalled fear and anger between the two groups, while the perceived self-risk from terror was higher among the "stayed in the war zone" group. Yet, a higher level of recalled fear was found among those who left the war zone and whose parents resided in the war zone, compared to those who left the war zone and whose parents resided outside the war zone. In addition, fearful people became more pessimistic about their level of personal risk from terror, but not about the routine risks. We conclude that civilians need attention even if they leave the war zone since leaving the attacked region as a precautionary action may mitigate perceived self-risk from terror but does not seem to eliminate the high level of negative emotions evoked by the terror attacks.