Resilience to fear: The role of individual factors in amygdala response to stressors

The role of resilience in the relationship between stress and alcohol

Stress plays a well-documented role in alcohol consumption and the risk for developing alcohol use disorder. The concept of resilience - coping with and successfully adapting to stressful life experiences - has received increasing attention in the field of addiction research in recent decades, and there has been an accumulation of evidence for resilience as a protective factor against problematic alcohol consumption, risk for alcohol use disorder, disorder severity, and relapse. The conceptual and methodological approaches used in the generation of this evidence vary considerably across investigations, however. In light of this, we carried out this review in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the meaning and scope of resilience, what factors contribute to resilience, how it is measured, and how it relates to alcohol-associated phenotypes. Implications for treatment through the use of resilience-building interventions are likewise discussed, as well as implications for future research on the role of resilience in the etiology and clinical outcomes of alcohol use disorder.

The relationship between family resilience and the psychological well-being and life satisfaction of pregnant women: the mediating role of individual resilience

BACKGROUND

Pregnancy period is an important experience in the life process of married women, which leads them to growth and development and is considered as a part of the puberty process. The aim of this research is to determine the mediating role of individual resilience in relation to family resilience, psychological well-being and life satisfaction of the pregnant women. The current study is correlational according to the practical purpose and based on data collection.

METHODES

The study population of the current research is all pregnant women in 2021, and 361 of them responded to the self-report questionnaires of family resilience, psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and individual resilience. To analysis the model, the path analysis method was used utilization spss-26 and Lisrel 10.2 software.

RESULTS

The results show a good fit of the model with the data. The results also showed a direct and significant effect between life satisfaction with obligation (β = 0.22 and t = 3.42), with challenge (β = 0.28 and t = 3.98), with control (β = 0.11 and t = 2.13), psychological well-being with obligation (β = 0.20 and t = 3.11), with challenge (β = 0.20 and t = 2.73) and with control (β = 0.45 and t = 10.34).

CONCLUSION

The upshot of this research can be considered in interventions related to pregnant women. Strengthening resilience in this group can be useful for increasing life satisfaction and psychological well-being of pregnant women.

Acute repeated cage exchange stress modifies urinary stress and plasma metabolic profiles in male mice

Exposure to a novel environment is psychologically and physically stressful for humans and animals. The response has been reported to involve enhanced sympathetic nervous system activity, but changes in nutrient levels under stress are not fully understood. As a form of exposure to a novel environment, repeated cage exchange (CE, four times at 2-h intervals for 8 h from 08:00 h) during the light phase with no restraint on movement was applied to A/J mice, a strain particularly prone to stress. Body temperature was measured with a temperature-sensing microchip implanted in the interscapular region. The stress conditions and anxiety level were evaluated by measuring urinary catecholamines and corticosterone and by performing an anxiety-like behavior test, respectively. Major nutrients such as glucose, fatty acids, and amino acids in the plasma were also examined. CE mice showed a significant increase in body temperature with each CE. They also showed a significantly greater reduction of body weight change, more water intake, and higher levels of urinary catecholamines and corticosterone and anxiety-like behavior score than control mice. The model revealed a significantly lower plasma glucose level and higher levels of several essential amino acids, such as branched-chain amino acids and phenylalanine, than those of control mice. Meanwhile, free fatty acids and several amino acids such as arginine, aspartic acid, proline, threonine, and tryptophan in both sets of mice were significantly decreased from the corresponding levels at 08:00 h, while similar plasma levels were exhibited between mice with and without CE. In conclusion, repeated CE stress was associated with changes in glucose and amino acids in plasma. Although further study is needed to clarify how these changes are specifically linked to anxiety-like behavior, this study suggests the potential for nutritional intervention to counter stress in humans exposed to novel environments.

Resilience and Attachment in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder

BACKGROUND

Resilience represents one of the fundamental elements of attachment and has often been investigated in mood disorders. This study aims to investigate possible correlations between attachment and resilience in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD).

METHODS

106 patients (51 MDD, 55 BD) and 60 healthy controls (HCs) were administered the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D-21), the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and Experiences in Close Relationship (ECR).

RESULTS

MDD and BD patients did not significantly differ from each other according to the HAM-D-21, HAM-A, YMRS, SHAPS, and TAS, while they scored higher than HCs on all these scales. Patients in the clinical group scored significantly lower on CD-RISC resilience than HCs (p < 0.01). A lower proportion of secure attachment was found among patients with MDD (27.4%) and BD (18.2%) compared to HCs (90%). In both clinical groups, fearful attachment prevailed (39.2% patients with MDD; 60% BD).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results highlight the central role played by early life experiences and attachment in participants with mood disorders. Our study confirms the data from previous research showing a significant positive correlation between the quality of attachment and the development of resilience capacity, and supports the hypothesis that attachment constitutes a fundamental aspect of resilience capacity.

Analysis of brain signal change response in amygdala evoked by skin pressure stimulus

BACKGROUND

It was well known that the human body would produce an uncomfortable sensation when the fabric exerted a certain amount of pressure irritation on the skin. The amygdala had long been thought to be the source of negative emotion perception. However, up to now, the brain signal changes in the amygdala evoked by skin exposure pressure had not been known.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this work, a series of gradually increasing contact pressure stimulus from boneless corsets was repeatedly applied to the body's waist and abdomen, and the technology of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was adopted to detect the brain response synchronously.

RESULTS

The results shown that both subjective comfort score and percent signal changes (PSCs) of amygdala decreased with the increase of skin contact pressure. When the skin pressure applied to the waist and abdomen of the human body exceeded about 1 kPa, blood oxygen level dependent signal in the amygdala was negatively activated. Besides, the degree of response of PSCs was intense than subjective evaluation, and the standard deviations of PSCs between individuals were much smaller than subjective evaluations.

CONCLUSION

It was suggested that skin contact pressure stimulus caused the attention of the amygdala brain area. The greater the stimulus, the higher the attention, but such attention was caused by negative activation of the amygdala induced by skin discomfort. In addition, skin comfort representation based on brain perception was superior to subjective representation due to its higher response sensitivity and antipsychological interference ability.

Association between quarantine and sleep disturbance in Hong Kong adults: The mediating role of COVID-19 mental impact and distress

BACKGROUND

COVID-19 quarantine has been associated with increased sleep problems and prolonged psychological responses to the pandemic could mediate this relationship. The present study attempted to examine the mediating role of COVID-19 mental impact and distress between quarantine and sleep disturbance.

METHODS

The present study recruited 438 adults (109 with quarantine experience) in Hong Kong via an online survey between August and October 2021. The respondents completed a self-report questionnaire on quarantine, Mental Impact and Distress Scale: COVID-19 (MIDc), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The MIDc was treated as a latent mediator and continuous PSQI factor and poor sleep quality (PSQI score > 5) were the study outcomes. We evaluated the direct and indirect effects of quarantine on sleep disturbance via MIDc using structural equation modeling. Analyses were adjusted for gender, age, education level, knowing confirmed COVID-19 cases, COVID-19 frontline work, and primary income source of the family.

RESULTS

More than half (62.8%) of the sample reported poor sleep quality. Quarantine was associated with significantly higher levels of MIDc and sleep disturbance (Cohen d = 0.23 - 0.43, p < 0.05). In the structural equation model, the MIDc mediated the relationship between quarantine and sleep disturbance (αβ = 0.152, 95% CI = 0.071 to 0.235). Quarantine significantly increased the proportion of poor sleep quality by 10.7% (95% CI = 0.050 to 0.171) indirectly via MIDc.

CONCLUSIONS

The results provide empirical support to the mediating role of the MIDc as psychological responses in the relationship between quarantine and sleep disturbance.

[Changes in sleep patterns and the doom-scrolling (doom-surfing) phenomenon as modifiable risk factors for anxiety due to continuous stress of the COVID-19 pandemic]

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the modifiable daily behavior patterns associated with increased anxiety indicators in the general population in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study examined the characteristics of the Russian population (n=7777) of the international multicenter project COMET-G. In particular, variables were targeted to describe deviations in the behavior of adults during the period of application of measures of social isolation in connection with the pandemic, and revealing a relationship with the total score on the Spielberger State Anxiety Scale (STAI-S). Among these variables, experts selected those that could potentially be subject to change in the short term, that is, act as manageable or modifiable risk factors for the development of anxiety. The selected variables were analyzed in a statistical PLS-model to identify indicators that make the most significant contribution to the increase in the total anxiety score.

RESULTS

Our statistical model explained 48.4% of the variability in the STAI-S anxiety total scores related to changes in daily life habits. In particular, doom-scrolling/doom-surfing about the spread of the virus and the COVID-19 pandemic, changes in sleep patterns and usual daily life activities due to social isolation measures presented as factors significantly contributing to the increase of state anxiety.

CONCLUSION

Given the manageable or modifiable risk factors that we have identified, public awareness and therapeutic recommendations, pointing to the need to (I) control the amount of time spent in the internet and monitor their internet-based content consumption, (II) regulate sleep-wake patterns, (III) maintain daily habits and household activities, may reduce the likelihood of developing anxiety disorders in the context of the impact of a global chronic stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated social isolation measures.