The Personal Disturbance Scale (sAD): normative data and latent structure in a large non-clinical sample

Intergenerational Transmission of Depression during Adolescence: The Mediating Roles of Hostile Attribution Bias, Empathic Concern, and Social Self-Concept

Few studies have empirically examined the role of peer microsystem in the intergenerational transmission of depression, and more importantly, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this potential pathway of intergenerational transmission. The purpose of the current study was to examine the sequential mediation effects of adolescent hostile attribution bias, empathic concern, and social self-concept on the association between maternal depression and adolescent depression. An urban Chinese sample of 761 mother-child dyads was investigated when the adolescents were in secondary school (M = 14.36 years, range =12.33-16.92 years, 52.3% female). The results provided evidence of cross-generational continuity in depression during adolescence, and the hypothesized sequential mediation model was supported. The findings highlight the importance of peer-related factors during the intergenerational transmission of depression and have important implications for interpersonal interventions that aim to prevent depression during adolescence. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are briefly discussed.

Gender-Specific Drinking Contexts Are Associated With Social Harms Resulting From Drinking Among Australian Young Adults at 30 Years

Aims

Understanding contexts in which social harms from drinking occur can help develop context-based harm reduction efforts. However, there is little knowledge of specific drinking contexts where such harms occur and whether these are gender or age specific. We aimed to investigate associations of a range of drinking contexts and social harms from drinking among young adults at age 30.

Methods

We used data from 2187 30-year-old adults. Latent constructs of gender-specific drinking contexts were created using factor analysis. We performed multivariate logistic regression between drinking contexts and a range of social harms from drinking, separately by gender.

Results

After accounting for social roles and binge drinking, gender-specific solitary drinking contexts (‘home drinking’ for men and ‘daytime drinking’ for women) were positively associated with marital problems and problems with other family members and friends. Conversely, ‘social drinking’ was not. Work-related drinking among men was associated with marital/intimate relationship problems and friendship problems. After accounting for mental health symptoms, women’s home drinking was associated with marital problems.

Conclusion

We found that experiences of social harms from drinking at 30 years differ depending on the drinker’s gender and context. Our findings suggest that risky contexts and associated harms are still significant among 30-year-old adults, indicating that a range of gender-specific drinking contexts should be represented in harm reduction campaigns. The current findings also highlight the need to consider gender to inform context-based harm reduction measures and to widen the age target for these beyond emerging adults.

Establishing norms for error-related brain activity during the arrow Flanker task among young adults

Psychological assessments typically rely on self-report and behavioral measures. Augmenting these with neurophysiological measures of the construct in question may increase the accuracy and predictive power of these assessments. Moreover, thinking about neurophysiological measures from an assessment perspective may facilitate under-utilized research approaches (e.g., brain-based recruitment of participants). However, the lack of normative data for most neurophysiological measures has prevented the comparison of individual responses to the general population, precluding these approaches. The current work examines the distributions of two event-related potentials (ERPs) commonly used in individual differences research: the error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe). Across three lab sites, 800 unselected participants between the ages of 18 and 30 performed the arrow version of a Flanker task while EEG was recorded. Percentile scores and distributions for ERPs on error trials, correct trials, and the difference (ΔERN, ΔPe; error minus correct) at Fz, Cz and Pz are reported. The 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile values for the ΔERN at Cz were -2.37 ​μV, -5.41 ​μV, and -8.65 ​μV, respectively. The same values for ΔPe at Cz were 7.51 ​μV, 11.18 ​μV, and 15.55 ​μV. Females displayed significantly larger ΔPe magnitudes and smaller ΔERN magnitudes than males. Additionally, normative data for behavioral performance (accuracy, post-error slowing, and reaction time) on the Flanker task is reported. Results provide a means by which ERN and Pe amplitudes of young adults elicited by the arrow Flanker task can be benchmarked, facilitating the classification of neural responses as 'large,' 'medium,' or 'small'. The ability to classify responses in this manner is a necessary step towards expanded use of these measures in assessment and research settings. These norms may not apply to ERPs elicited by other tasks, and future work should establish similar norms using other tasks.

Personal Disturbance Scale: Factor Structure Confirmed in a Large Nonclinical Sample

The two-component structure of anxiety and depression items of the short form Personal Disturbance Scale, reported in an earlier clinical study of 480 adult psychiatric patients, was substantially replicated in a large nonclinical sample of 758 adults.

The Impact of Asynchronous Pubertal Development on Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood Among Females

Puberty is accompanied by numerous psychological and interpersonal challenges, including a dramatic rise in the prevalence of depression among girls. Pubertal timing has been identified as a potent predictor of depressive symptoms among females, but less is known about other features of puberty. The present study sought to address this gap in the literature by examining the effect of pubertal synchrony, the degree to which morphological indicators of puberty develop concurrently, on depressive symptoms in adolescence and emerging adulthood in a longitudinal sample. Among 355 female participants, asynchronous development at age 13 was associated with increased depressive symptoms at age 20, but not age 15. Additional analyses indicated that pubertal timing moderated the association between synchrony and depressive symptoms at age 20, such that girls who exhibited asynchronous development had the highest levels of depressive symptoms when they matured later than peers. Results provide initial empirical support for the role of pubertal synchrony in the development of depression among females and are discussed with regard to the biopsychosocial processes that may connect features of puberty with the long-term development of psychopathology.

Psychological impact and risk factors associated with new onset fecal incontinence

OBJECTIVES

We aim to evaluate the psychological impact and risk factors associated with new onset FI over 12 years in adults over 18 years for the first time in a population-based study.

METHODS

Participants (n = 1775) were a random population sample from Penrith, Australia who responded to a survey in 1997 and completed a 12-year follow-up survey (response rate = 60%). FI was defined as having leakage of stool over the past 12 months. The original and follow-up surveys contained valid questions on demographic, gastrointestinal and psychological symptoms.

RESULTS

114 (11.4%) reported new onset FI at the 12 year follow-up. People who reported FI at the 12 year follow-up were significantly more anxious and depressed. In terms of baseline risk factors only bloating (OR = 1.3; 95%CI 1.0-1.6, P = 0.026) was an independent predictor of developing new onset FI. However, current bowel symptoms measured at follow-up including less likelihood of <3 bowel motions a week, increased urgency and mucus were independently associated with having FI at follow-up.

CONCLUSION

FI is associated with anxiety and depression. Baseline GI symptoms do not appear to be as important as current bowel symptoms in determining who develops FI.

Development of an emotional processing scale

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to report on the development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of an emotional processing scale, a 38-item self-report questionnaire designed to identify emotional processing styles and deficits.

METHODS

An initial item pool derived from a conceptual model and clinical observations was piloted on clinical and community samples (n=150). The resulting 45-item scale was administered to patients with psychological problems, psychosomatic disorders, and physical disease, and to healthy individuals (n=460). Exploratory factor analysis was used to explore the underlying factor structure.

RESULTS

Maximum likelihood factor analysis yielded an eight-factor solution relating to styles of emotional experience (Lack of Attunement, Discordant, and Externalized), mechanisms controlling the experience and expression of emotions (Suppression, Dissociation, Avoidance, and Uncontrolled), and signs of inadequate processing (Intrusion). Internal reliability was moderate to high for six of eight factors. Preliminary findings suggested satisfactory convergent validity.

DISCUSSION

Overall, the psychometric properties of this scale appear promising. Work is in progress to refine the scale by incorporating additional items and by conducting further psychometric evaluations on new samples.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Three-Factor Structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire and Chapman Schizotypy Scales

We examined the factor structure of the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ; Raine, 1991), using confirmatory factor analysis in 3 experiments, with an aim to better understand the construct of schizotypy. In Experiment 1 we tested the fit of 2-, 3-, and 4-factor models on SPQ data from a normal sample. The paranoid 4-factor model fit the data best but not adequately. Based on the strong basis for the Raine 3-factor model we attempted to improve the fit of the 3-factor model by making 3 modifications to the Raine model. These modifications produced a well-fitting model. In Experiment 2 the good fit of this modified 2-factor model to SPQ scores was replicated in an independent normal sample. In Experiment 3, the modified 3-factor model was successfully extended to include the 3 Chapman schizotypy scales. Together these 3 experiments indicate that the 3-factor model of the SPQ, albeit with some slight modifications, is a good model for schizotypy structure that is not restricted to 1 measure of schizotypal personality traits.