Are we afraid of the woods? - An investigation of the implicit and explicit fear reactions to forests

The beneficial effects of nature exposure have been repeatedly documented and encourage frequent and regular contact with nature and especially highlight forests. However, in human history, forests have also been associated with negative emotions such as fear and were seen as dangerous environments. While existing literature could demonstrate that natural environments can evoke fear, the focus was on the explicit perception. Given that research has shown the significance of additional implicit processes in fear-related behaviour, we aim to explore the presence of an implicit fear response to forests. Therefore, in an online study, we investigated the explicit and implicit fear reactions to forests by a Northern German sample of N = 256. Using three explicit measurements, we investigated fear and danger perception on a semantic and visual level of the stimulus category "forest" compared to the human-made urban green space "park" and the urban setting "house". Additionally, we assessed the unconscious response tendencies towards the forest within three implicit tasks: Subliminal Priming Procedure (SPP), Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) and Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT). Within the analyzed sample, the subliminally presented word forest evoked a stronger positive valence response compared to park (SPP). In contrast to houses, the forest showed a stronger approach and weaker avoidance tendency (AAT). At the same time, both the three explicit and one implicit measurement (AMP) showed a stronger fear perception of forests compared to parks or houses. Considering the increasingly utilised beneficial effects of nature in interventions, these findings should be acknowledged when implementing nature exposure in interventions and treatments.

The Course of Anxiety-Specific Cognitive Bias Following Daycare/Inpatient Treatment in Youths with Social Phobia and School Absenteeism

Social phobia (SP) is a common mental disorder in youth often accompanied by absence from school, which may require daycare or inpatient intervention (DC/IN). Objective: The present explorative study investigates changes in anxiety-specific implicit assumptions and interpretation bias following DC/IN. Methods: The study included 16 youths with SP (M age = 15.8 [SD = 1.24], females: 62.5 %) participating in DC/IN. We assessed the main outcomes using the Implicit Association Test and Affective Misattribution Procedure. Results: A large effect was shown for reducing implicit assumptions of feeling anxious (p = .142; η2p = .171) and for reducing the implicit interpretation bias (p = .137; η2p = .162). No change was indicated by effect size in implicit assumptions of feeling socially rejected (p = .649; η2p = .016). Social phobia symptoms initially correlated with changes in implicit assumptions of feeling anxious (r = .45). Conclusion: Effect sizes indicate that implicit anxiety-specific assumptions and interpretation bias descriptively improved following DC/IN. Thus, DC/IN may lead to meaningful improvements of anxiety-specific cognition in some individuals with high SP symptoms, emphasizing the relevance of cognitive behavioral approaches in the treatment of SP. Several limitations are discussed.

Gambling and internet addiction: a pilot study among a Population of Italian Healthcare : Gambling and Internet Addition in a Healthcare Group

AIM

Measuring the phenomenon of gambling and Internet addiction, with analysis of attitudes and psychophysical consequences among nurses working in different care settings.

METHODS

An observational, cross sectional, multicenter study was conducted from April to September 2020. Participants' socio-demographic information, the "Internet Addiction Test" (IAT) scale, and the "South Oaks Gambling Screen" (SOGS) were collected in order to assess the overuse of and whether an individual has a problematic relationship with gambling, respectively.

RESULTS

502 nurses were enrolled in the study. Significant correlations were found (p < .001) between the IAT score and gender, number of years of work experience, job role, educational qualification; and between the SOGS and gender, number of years of work experience, job role and regions of Italy.

CONCLUSIONS

The study highlighted an emerging social problem, and the results may be just the tip of the iceberg. Given the lack of knowledge of these phenomena and a high percentage of people who suffer from them but are afraid to admit it and get help, this study could also be useful in expanding knowledge and allow more professionals to get help and learn about possible treatments and cures for the resolution of these addictions.

Judging others makes me forget: Assessing the cognitive, behavioural, and emotional consequences of other-evaluations on self-evaluations for social anxiety

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

People with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) evaluate themselves negatively before, during, and after anxiety-provoking social situations, which leads to negative consequences (e.g., performance deficits, memory impairments, and post-event processing). Despite decades of research, little is known regarding whether these evaluations generalize to how they view others. Social projection theory-the belief that others are similar to oneself-might further extend the basic Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) model. Our aim was to understand whether the degree to which people negatively evaluate a visibly anxious person causes them to negatively evaluate themselves.

METHODS

172 unselected participants completed several baseline questionnaires. We then randomly assigned participants to provide high-, medium-, or no-evaluation of a videotaped anxious person (i.e., other-evaluations) while we assessed their state anxiety. After, they evaluated the anxious person on multiple criteria. Participants then participated in an impromptu conversation task and subsequently evaluated their own performance.

RESULTS

Although our manipulation was effective, we found no emotional or behavioural differences between conditions. However, people in the high-evaluation condition recalled significantly fewer facts about their conversation partner than did people in the medium- and no-evaluation conditions.

LIMITATIONS

After data cleaning, the sample size was slightly smaller than planned; most analyses were nonetheless appropriately powered. Our findings may not generalize beyond unselected undergraduate students; replication in a clinical sample is warranted.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight the cognitive consequences (i.e., memory impairments) of other-evaluations, which cognitive behavioural therapists should consider when treating individuals with SAD.

Does virtual reality enhance the effects of inhibitory control training for loss-of-control eating? A pilot factorial experiment

Inhibitory control, one's ability to inhibit automatic responses to desirable stimuli, may be inadequately targeted in interventions for loss-of-control eating (LOC). Promising evidence has identified inhibitory control trainings (ICTs) as an avenue to target inhibitory control directly; however, effects of ICTs on real-world behavior are limited. Compared to typical computerized trainings, virtual reality (VR) presents several potential advantages that may address key shortcomings of traditional ICTs, i.e. poor approximation to everyday life. The present study utilized a 2 × 2 factorial design of treatment type (ICT vs sham) by treatment modality (VR vs standard computer), which allows for increased statistical power by collapsing across conditions. Our primary aim was to examine the feasibility and acceptability of six weeks of daily training among groups. A secondary aim was to preliminarily assess main and interactive effects of treatment type and modality on target engagement and efficacy (i.e., training compliance, change in LOC episodes, inhibitory control, and implicit liking of foods). Participants (N = 35) with ≥1×/weekly LOC were assigned to one of four conditions and completed ICTs daily for six weeks. The trainings were feasible and acceptable, evinced by high retention and compliance across time and condition. Although completing daily trainings across treatment types and modalities was associated with large decreases in LOC, there were no meaningful effects of either treatment type or modality, nor a significant interaction effect, on LOC or mechanistic variables. Future research should aim to increase the efficacy of ICT (both standard and VR-based) and test in fully-powered clinical trials.

Non-conscious processing of fear faces: a function of the implicit self-concept of anxiety

BACKGROUND

Trait anxiety refers to a stable tendency to experience fears and worries across many situations. High trait anxiety is a vulnerability factor for the development of psychopathologies. Self-reported trait anxiety appears to be associated with an automatic processing advantage for threat-related information. Self-report measures assess aspects of the explicit self-concept of anxiety. Indirect measures can tap into the implicit self-concept of anxiety.

METHODS

We examined automatic brain responsiveness to non-conscious threat as a function of trait anxiety using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Besides a self-report instrument, we administered the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess anxiety. We used a gender-decision paradigm presenting brief (17 ms) and backward-masked facial expressions depicting disgust and fear.

RESULTS

Explicit trait anxiety was not associated with brain responsiveness to non-conscious threat. However, a relation of the implicit self-concept of anxiety with masked fear processing in the thalamus, precentral gyrus, and lateral prefrontal cortex was observed.

CONCLUSIONS

We provide evidence that a measure of the implicit self-concept of anxiety is a valuable predictor of automatic neural responses to threat in cortical and subcortical areas. Hence, implicit anxiety measures could be a useful addition to explicit instruments. Our data support the notion that the thalamus may constitute an important neural substrate in biased non-conscious processing in anxiety.

Endorsement and embodiment of cautiousness-related age stereotypes

Endorsement of implicit age stereotypes was assessed with the propositional evaluation paradigm (PEP) in a high-powered, preregistered study, comprising samples of young (n = 89) and older (n = 125) adults. To investigate whether implicit age stereotypes shape the behavior via self-stereotyping ("embodiment"), we examined whether implicit endorsement of the belief of older (young) people being cautious (reckless) predicts older (young) individuals' spontaneous behavior in a speeded response time task. In both age groups, we found significant implicit endorsement effects of age stereotypical beliefs. However, implicit endorsement effects of the cautiousness-related age stereotypes were unrelated to our indicators of spontaneous cautious/reckless behavior in the speeded RT task (as assessed with the parameter a of a diffusion model analysis) for both age groups. The same pattern of results (endorsement of age stereotypic beliefs but no relation with behavioral indicators) was found for explicit measures of age stereotypes. Replicating previous findings, implicit and explicit measures of cautiousness-related age stereotypes were uncorrelated. In sum, our findings provide evidence for the implicit and explicit endorsement of cautiousness-related stereotypical beliefs about old and young people; individual differences in belief endorsement, however, did not predict differences in spontaneous cautiousness-related behavior in a speeded RT task.

Gamification and neurotraining to engage men in behavioral weight loss: Protocol for a factorial randomized controlled trial

Over 70% of men are overweight, and most desire weight loss; however, men are profoundly underrepresented in weight loss programs. Gamification represents a novel approach to engaging men and may enhance efficacy through two means: (1) game-based elements (e.g., streaks, badges, team-based competition) to motivate weight control behaviors and (2) arcade-style "neurotraining" to enhance neurocognitive capacities to resist the temptation of unhealthy foods and more automatically select healthy foods. This study will use a 2 × 2 factorial design to examine the independent and combinatory efficacy of gamification and inhibitory control training (ICT). Men with overweight/obesity (N = 228) will receive a 12-month mobile weight loss program that incorporates behavioral weight loss strategies (e.g., self-monitoring, goal setting, stimulus control). Men will be randomly assigned to a non-gamified or gamified version, and an active or sham ICT. A game design company will create the program, with input from a male advisory panel. Aims of the project are to test whether a gamified (versus non-gamified) weight loss program and/or ICT (versus sham) promotes greater improvements in weight, diet, and physical activity; whether these treatment factors have combinatory or synergistic effects; to test whether postulated mechanisms of action (increased engagement, for gamification, and inhibitory control, for ICT) mediate treatment effects; and whether baseline gameplay frequency and implicit preferences for ICT-targeted foods moderate effects. It is hoped this study will contribute to improved mHealth programs for men and enhance our understanding of the impact of gamified elements and neurocognitive training on weight control.

Erfassung der Lebendigkeit mentaler Vorstellungsbilder

Zusammenfassung. Mentale Vorstellungsfähigkeit bezeichnet ein Konstrukt von enormer Bedeutung für diverse psychische Funktionen (z. B. Motivation, Emotion und Handlungssteuerung). Die Lebendigkeit gilt hierbei als ein zentrales und interindividuell variierendes Merkmal mentaler Vorstellungen. Bislang mangelt es allerdings an validierten deutschsprachigen Fragebögen zur Erfassung der Lebendigkeit. Daher wurden an einer Stichprobe von N = 300 Personen aus der Allgemeinbevölkerung (81 % Studierende) deutschsprachige Versionen des Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ; visuelle Vorstellungen) und des Plymouth Sensory Imagery Questionnaire (PSI-Q; multisensorische Erfassung) adaptiert und validiert. Für den VVIQ und PSI-Q konnten die faktorielle (mittels Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling), konvergente und diskriminante Validität belegt werden. Es ergaben sich akzeptable bis hohe interne Konsistenzen, die Retest-Korrelationen (8 Monate) variierten je nach Subskala. Die Lebendigkeit mentaler Vorstellungen zeigte erwartungskonform negative Zusammenhänge mit Defiziten in der emotionalen Verarbeitung (Alexithymie). Insgesamt stellen die beiden Fragebögen ökonomische, reliable und valide Verfahren dar, um die Lebendigkeit mentaler Vorstellungen zu erfassen.

Unconscious associations between stressor type and ability to cope: An experimental approach using ancient and modern sources of stress

Objectives

Work has emerged that suggests it is salient and feasible to include a chronological approach to the taxonomy of stress. The ability to make an explicit distinction between ancient stressors (AS) and modern stressors (MS) has been reported in young and older adults; AS have been associated with greater ability to cope and MS with poorer health outcomes. Whether these explicit distinctions exist at an implicit, unconscious level, has yet to be determined.

Design

A quantitative design employed a computer‐based Implicit Association Test (IAT) to examine implicit associations between AS/MS and coping appraisal.

Methods

One hundred adults (75 females) aged 18–58 years (M = 28.27 years, SD = 10.02) completed the AS/MS IAT, to compare reaction time (RT) and accuracy between consistent pairs (AS/ability to cope; MS/inability to cope) and inconsistent pair responses (AS/inability to cope; MS/ability to cope); followed by an explicit self‐report questionnaire.

Results

Repeated measures ANCOVAs, controlling for sex and age, revealed significant main effects of faster RT and higher accuracy in responses for consistent than inconsistent pairs. Adult participants made implicit associations indicating an unconscious AS and MS distinction. Using the D algorithm, a univariate ANCOVA and independent t‐tests found that males, compared to females, showed a stronger implicit preference for consistent than inconsistent pairs.

Conclusions

Findings suggest an implicit association between ancient and modern stressors and perceived coping ability. Utilizing a chronological taxonomy for understanding evolutionary origins that drive individual’s responses to stress has implications for developing effective coping strategies to improve health outcomes.

Psychological risk factors and the course of depression and anxiety disorders: A review of 15 years NESDA research

BACKGROUND

The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA; N_baseline=2981) is an ongoing longitudinal, multi-site, naturalistic, cohort study examining the etiology, course, and consequences of depression and anxiety. In this article we synthesize and evaluate fifteen years of NESDA research on prominent psychological risk factors for the onset, persistence, recurrence, and comorbidity of affective disorders.

METHODS

A narrative review of 62 NESDA articles examining the specificity and predictive value of neuroticism, behavioral inhibition, repetitive negative thinking, experiential avoidance, cognitive reactivity, locus of control, (implicit) self-esteem, (implicit) disorder-specific self-associations, and attentional bias for the course of affective disorders.

RESULTS

All self-reported risk factors showed cross-sectional relationships with singular and comorbid affective disorders, and prospective relationships with the development and chronicity of depression and anxiety disorders. High neuroticism, low self-esteem, and negative repetitive thinking showed most prominent transdiagnostic relationships, whereas cognitive reactivity showed most pronounced depression-specific associations. Implicit self-esteem showed predictive validity for the persistence and recurrence of anxiety and depression over and above self-reported risk factors. Automatic approach-avoidance behavior and attentional bias for negative, positive, or threat words showed no relationship with affective disorders.

CONCLUSION

NESDA identified both (a) transdiagnostic factors (e.g., neuroticism, low implicit self-esteem, repetitive negative thinking) that may help explain the comorbidity between affective disorders and overlap in symptoms, and (b) indications for disorder-specific risk factors (e.g., cognitive responsivity) which support the relevance of distinct disorder categories and disorder-specific mechanisms. Thus, the results point to the relevance of both transdiagnostic and disorder-specific targets for therapeutic interventions.

The Influence of Implicit Math Anxiety on Math Achievement

Previous work has noted that math anxiety may have a profound effect on math performance; however extant research has relied on measures that explicitly assess math anxiety. This study examined the effects of implicit math anxiety on the performance of a math achievement task. We hypothesized that combined measure of implicit anxiety and explicit anxiety would better predict math achievement than measures of explicit math anxiety alone. In addition, we hypothesized that an individuals' measured implicit anxiety and measured explicit anxiety would share only a modest correlation. To test these hypotheses, 175 participants completed measures of explicit anxiety, an implicit associations test designed to measure implicit anxiety, and a measure of math achievement. As expected, math achievement was better predicted when implicit anxiety was combined with explicit anxiety. Furthermore, scores on the implicit and explicit anxiety measures were not significantly correlated. These results suggest that implicit and explicit math anxiety are two distinct constructs, thus traditional methods for helping students deal with math anxiety may not be entirely successful if the implicit component is ignored.

Predicting Physical Activity Behavior by Automatic and Reflective Self-Regulatory Processes

In this study, we examined the interaction of automatic (i.e., automatic affective evaluations) and reflective [i.e., reflective intention and executive functions (EFs)] processes on physical activity (PA) behavior based on dual-process theories. We expected main effects as well as significant interaction effects between automatic associations, intention, and EFs on behavior. In particular, a well-controlled implicit-association-test (IAT) was applied to assess automatic affective evaluation. A prospective study with two points of measurement (N=212 students) was conducted. At t1, age, sex, PA behavior (control variables), automatic associations, EFs (shifting, updating, inhibition), and PA intention (predictors and moderators) were assessed with standardized questionnaires and tests. At t2 (4weeks later), PA behavior (dependent variable) was measured with a standardized questionnaire. A hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis including two- and three-way interactions between IAT results, intention, and EFs on PA behavior was conducted. Results showed that the interactions Intention x Shifting and IAT x Intention x Inhibition were significant. Moderation analyses revealed that participants with higher intentions and lower inhibition values (improved inhibition abilities) showed a negative association between IAT and PA, while those with lower intentions and lower inhibition values showed a positive association between IAT and PA, which was documented in a significant slope difference test between these two groups. Thus, both automatic and reflective processes contribute and interact in predicting PA. As well as fostering more positive affective evaluations towards PA, interventions to strengthen PA intentions and to improve EFs could help to increase PA behavior.

Development of a Measure of Fearful Implicit Associations with Dental Stimuli in Youth

Youth with dental anxiety are at an increased risk of poor oral health but current tools used to identify dental anxiety in children in clinical settings are hampered by several limitations. This study assessed the psychometric properties of a measure of implicit associations with dental stimuli, the Affective Misattribution Procedure for dental stimuli (AMP-D) in 68 youth between the ages of 9 and 17 years. Measures of self-reported dental anxiety and parental perceptions of child dental anxiety were also administered. The internal consistency of the AMP-D was high (KR-20 = 0.96) and 1-week test-retest reliability was in the acceptable range (r = 0.75). The AMP-D was correlated with self-reported dental anxiety, providing evidence of construct validity. The psychometric properties of the AMP-D suggest it could be a useful tool in identifying youth with dental anxiety, particularly when concerns regarding self-representation may compromise the validity of self-reported anxiety.

Implicit Attitudes Towards Weight, One’s Own Body and its Relation to Food in Women with Overweight and Obesity

Background

Theoretical models emphasize the importance of implicit self-related weight attitudes for the maintenance of body dissatisfaction. Even though body dissatisfaction is increased in obesity, only general implicit weight-related attitudes have been investigated so far. Therefore, the present study assessed self-related and general implicit weight attitudes and their relation to food.

Methods

Women with overweight and obesity (OW; n = 71) and women with normal weight (NW; n = 44) completed three implicit tasks to (1) assess attitudes towards persons with normal weight and overweight in general, (2) attitudes towards one’s own body, and (3) the association between one’s own body and food.

Results

While both groups showed an implicit preference towards persons with normal weight relative to persons with overweight, only women with OW showed a significantly stronger negative implicit attitude towards their own body and a stronger association between food and one’s own body. Additionally, self-related and not general implicit weight attitudes correlated significantly with body dissatisfaction and eating pathology.

Conclusions

The results highlight the importance of self-related implicit attitudes and their relation to body dissatisfaction and eating pathology in women with overweight and obesity. Targeting these self-related implicit weight attitudes might help to improve obesity treatments.

Investigating the Structure of Son Bias in Armenia With Novel Measures of Individual Preferences

Sex ratios at birth favoring boys are being documented in a growing number of countries, a pattern indicating that families selectively abort females. Son bias also explains why, in many countries, girls have more siblings and are born at relatively earlier parities compared with their brothers. In this study, we develop novel methods for measuring son bias using both questionnaire items and implicit association tests, and we collect data on fertility preferences and outcomes from 2,700 participants in Armenia. We document highly skewed sex ratios, suggesting that selective abortions of females are widespread among parents in our sample. We also provide evidence that sex-selective abortions are underreported, which highlights the problem of social desirability bias. We validate our methods and demonstrate that conducting implicit association tests can be a successful strategy for measuring the relative preference for sons and daughters when social desirability is a concern. We investigate the structure of son-biased fertility preferences within households, across families, and between regions in Armenia, using measures of son bias at the level of the individual decision-maker. We find that men are, on average, considerably more son-biased than women. We also show that regional differences in son bias exist and that they appear unrelated to the socioeconomic composition of the population. Finally, we estimate the degree of spousal correlation in son bias and discuss whether husbands are reliably more son-biased than their wives.

Bias in a blink: Shedding light on implicit attitudes toward patients with a cleft lip

INTRODUCTION

Previous studies have shown that patients with cleft lip and/or palate may be stigmatized in society. The objective of this study was to use an implicit association test to evaluate the subconscious biases of non-health care providers and orthodontists against patients with a repaired cleft lip (CL).

METHODS

Respondents participated in an implicit association test. Pictures of patients with CL and controls were shown to participants, along with terms representing positive and negative attributes. Participants were prompted to match pictures to the attributes. The software algorithm detected whether the participants were more likely to associate CL with positive or negative terms than controls. Demographic information was collected to measure the association between some sociodemographic factors and implicit biases.

RESULTS

Of 130 valid participants, 52 were orthodontists and 78 were non-health care providers. The entire sample displayed a significant implicit bias against CL (P <0.001). Overall, orthodontists tended to exhibit slightly higher levels of implicit biases against CL than non-health care providers, but the difference was not significant when controlling for sociodemographic factors (P = 0.34). Females showed significantly lower implicit biases against CL than males (P = 0.046). Spearman correlations showed that older people and those who reported a more conservative political affiliation tended to show slightly higher levels of implicit biases against CL (P <0.007).

CONCLUSIONS

Orthodontists and non-health care providers showed moderate but significant levels of implicit biases against patients with clefts. Males, older age groups, and patients with a more conservative political affiliation tended to exhibit slightly higher levels of biases than females, younger people, and those with a more liberal political affiliation.

Dual processes in fear and anxiety: no effects of cognitive load on the predictive value of implicit measures

Dual process models posit that combinations of impulsive and reflective processes drive behaviour, and that the capacity to engage in effortful cognitive processing moderates the relation between measures of impulsive or reflective processes and actual behaviour. When cognitive resources are low, impulsive processes are more likely to drive behaviour, while when cognitive resources are high, reflective processes will drive behaviour. In our current study, we directly addressed this hypothesis by comparing the capacity of implicit and explicit measures to predict fear and anxiety, either with or without additional cognitive load. In Experiment 1 (N = 83), only explicit measures of spider fear were predictive of spider avoidance, and manipulating cognitive load did not affect these relations. Experiment 2 (N = 70) confirmed these findings, as the capacity of explicit and implicit measures to predict self-reported and physiological responses to a social stressor was not moderated by cognitive load. In two experiments, we thus found no empirical support for the central dual process model assumption that cognitive control moderates the predictive value of implicit and explicit measures. While implicit measures and dual process accounts may still be valuable, we show that results in this field are not necessarily replicable and inconsistent.

Anxiety Sensitivity and Arousal Symptom Implicit Association Task Performance: An Event-Related Potential Study of Cognitive Processing of Anxiety-Relevant Stimuli

BACKGROUND

Anxiety sensitivity (AS), or the fear of anxious arousal, is a transdiagnostic risk factor. Despite the proliferation of self-report research showing AS is related to anxiety, cognitive processes underlying AS are poorly understood. Specifically, AS may reflect processes related to early attentional orientation and response monitoring (reflecting automatic processes), or later engagement and assigning emotional salience towards stimuli (reflecting conscious processes).

METHODS

To elucidate cognitive processes underlying AS, event-related potential (ERP) components were elicited in the current study during a novel implicit association task (IAT) in which participants paired self (versus other) words with anxious arousal (versus calm) words. Analyses were then conducted in a sample of community adults (N = 67; M age 39.43, SD = 15.33, 61.2% female) to investigate the association between AS and ERP markers indicative of cognitive processing derived during the IAT.

RESULTS

AS was not related to performance on the arousal-IAT and that ERP components did not differ by IAT condition. AS predicted overall late positive potential (LPP) amplitude, particularly in the me/anxiety condition. Elevated IAT scores (reflecting greater ease pairing self-words with anxiety-words) predicted greater P300 amplitude in the me/anxiety condition.

LIMITATIONS

The sample was relatively small, and bottom-up processes were not assessed.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings are inconsistent with the claim that AS is related to top-down cognitive processes driving self-arousal automatic associations. Instead, AS may relate to cognitive processes regulating emotional engagement with stimuli. Further investigations of cognitive processes underlying AS are needed to inform novel interventions targeting AS.

Implicit Attitudes Toward Violence in a Sample of Adolescent Offenders With Conduct Disorder

Few studies have addressed attitudes toward violence in offender populations using implicit measures. The aim of this study is to test whether implicit attitudes toward two types of violence (physical and relational) differ between two groups of adolescent offenders: one group with conduct disorder (CD; n = 36) and the other group without this condition (No-CD; n = 26). We found that adolescent offenders with CD evidenced less negative implicit attitudes toward physical violence than the No-CD group. No differences between groups were observed in the case of relational violence. Our results suggest that CD modulates implicit attitudes toward violence in adolescent offenders and that the influence of CD is stronger in the case of physical rather than relational acts of violence.

Understanding and using the implicit association test: V. measuring semantic aspects of trait self‐concepts

Implicit Association Tests (IATs) often reveal strong associations of self with positive rather than negative attributes. This poses a problem in using the IAT to measure associations involving traits with either positive or negative evaluative content. In two studies, we employed non‐bipolar but evaluatively balanced Big Five traits as attribute contrasts and explored correlations of IATs with positive (e.g. sociable vs. conscientious) or negative (e.g. reserved vs. chaotic) attributes. Results showed (a) satisfactory internal consistencies for all IATs, (b) explicit–explicit and implicit–implicit correlations that were moderate to high and comparable in strength after both were corrected for attenuation and (c) better model fit for latent variable models that linked the implicit and explicit measures to distinct latent factors rather to the same factor. Together, the results suggest that IATs can validly assess the semantic aspect of trait self‐concepts and that implicit and explicit self‐representations are, although correlated, also distinct constructs. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Reliability of Implicit Self–Esteem Measures Revisited

This study investigated the internal consistencies and temporal stabilities of different implicit self–esteem measures. Participants ( N = 101) responded twice—with a time lag of 4 weeks—to five different tasks: the Implicit Association Test (IAT), the Brief Implicit Association Test (BIAT), the Affective Priming Task (APT), the Identification–Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (ID–EAST) and the Name–Letter Task (NLT). As expected, the highest reliability coefficients were obtained for the self–esteem IAT. Importantly, the internal consistencies and the temporal stabilities of the APT, the ID–EAST, and the NLT were substantially improved by using material, structural, and analytic innovations. In particular, the use of the adaptive response–window procedure for the APT, the computation of error scores for the ID–EAST, and the computation of a double corrected scoring algorithm for the NLT yielded reliability coefficients comparable to those of the established IAT. Implications for the indirect assessment of self–esteem are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Does the Implicit Association Test for assessing anxiety measure trait and state variance?

The stability of the Implicit Association Test for assessing anxiety (IAT‐Anxiety) is lower than its internal consistency, indicating that the IAT‐Anxiety measures both stable and occasion‐specific variance. This suggests that the IAT‐Anxiety may be not only a valid measure of trait anxiety but also one of state anxiety. To test this assumption, two studies were conducted in which state anxiety was experimentally induced by a public speaking task. However, both studies showed that the IAT‐Anxiety score did not change when a state of anxiety was induced. Thus, it seems that occasion‐specific factors other than variations in state anxiety lead to occasion‐specific variance in the IAT‐Anxiety score. Implications for the indirect assessment of personality dispositions with the IAT are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Comparing IAT and TAT measures of power versus intimacy motivation

We assessed implicit orientations towards power versus intimacy using the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and the Implicit Associations Test (IAT). In addition, we assessed explicit orientations using self‐report measures of dominance versus nurturance motives and extrinsic versus intrinsic values. Further, we assessed the rated self‐concordance and importance of power versus intimacy idiographic goals. The six measures formed four factors: motives/values, goals, IAT and TAT. We also assessed a variety of outcomes ranging from well‐being to choice in a social dilemma. All six predictors correlated with at least some outcomes, with the values measure being strongest predictor of the predominantly self‐report outcomes. We suggest that there is value in simultaneously considering old school and new school approaches to assessing implicit motives. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Assessment of multiple implicit self‐concept dimensions using the Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (EAST)

This study explored the psychometric properties of the Extrinsic Affective Simon Task (EAST; De Houwer, 2003a) as adapted for the measurement of the implicit self‐concept of personality. The EAST was adapted to allow the simultaneous assessment of the three traits shyness, anxiousness, and angriness. In order to test the EAST's psychometric properties, 100 participants completed a trait EAST, Implicit Association Tests (IATs), and direct self‐ratings. The EAST showed low internal consistencies and correlated neither with the IATs nor with the direct measures. The main problem of the EAST, namely its low reliability, is discussed, and general conclusions regarding the indirect assessment of the personality self‐concept by EASTs are derived. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Why do Westerners self‐enhance more than East Asians?

Much research finds that Westerners self‐enhance more than East Asians, with the exception of studies using the implicit associations test for self‐esteem (IATSE). We contrasted Japanese and Canadians on a new measure of self‐enhancement under low‐ and high‐attentional load to assess whether cultural differences vary across controlled and automatic processes. Participants also completed measures of relational mobility and the IATSE. Results indicated that Japanese and Asian‐Canadians were more self‐critical than Euro‐Canadians, both under high‐ and low‐attentional load. This cultural difference was partially mediated by relational mobility. The IATSE showed no cultural differences, but this measure did not positively correlate with any of the other measures in the study, suggesting that it is not a valid measure of ‘true’ self‐feelings. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The road to the unconscious self not taken: Discrepancies between self‐ and observer‐inferences about implicit dispositions from nonverbal behavioural cues

To what extent can individuals gain insight into their own or another person's implicit dispositions' We investigated whether self‐perceivers versus neutral observers can detect implicit dispositions from nonverbal behavioural cues contained in video feedback (cue validity) and whether these cues are in turn used as a valid basis for explicit dispositional inferences (cue utilization). Across three studies in the domains of extraversion and anxiety we consistently obtained reliable cue validity and cue utilization for neutral observers but not for self‐perceivers. An additional measure of state inferences in Study 3 showed that one reason for the lack of mediation in self‐perceivers is their reluctance to use their state inferences as a basis for more general trait inferences. We conclude that people have a ‘blind spot’ with respect to the nonverbal behavioural manifestations of their unconscious selves, even though neutral observers may readily detect and utilize this information for dispositional inferences. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Convergence between GNAT‐assessed implicit and explicit personality

Two studies investigated the characteristics and correlates of implicit personality measures provided by the Go/No‐Go Association Task (GNAT), a variant of the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Extraversion was assessed in Study 1, and all Big‐Five factors in Study 2. Of interest were the convergent validity of the measures with explicit personality and their reliability. The results demonstrate that the GNAT metric (d') is reliable, and has convergent validity, only when systematic variance in the GNAT indices is controlled. We also provide preliminary evidence for the predictive utility of GNAT indices of implicit extraversion and neuroticism by examining their ability to predict reaction times. The results suggest that this task provides a promising method for assessing implicit personality. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A Closer Look at First Sight: Social Relations Lens Model Analysis of Personality and Interpersonal Attraction at Zero Acquaintance

Based on a new theoretical framework—the Social Relations Lens Model—this study examined the influence of personality on real–life attraction at zero acquaintance. A group of psychology freshmen ( N = 73) was investigated upon encountering one another for the first time. Personality traits, attraction ratings and metaperceptions were assessed using a large round–robin design (2628 dyads). In line with our model, personality differentially predicted who was a liker and who expected to be liked (perceiver effects), who was popular and who was seen as a liker (target effects), as well as who liked whom and who expected to be liked by whom (relationship effects). Moreover, the influence of personality on attraction was mediated by observable physical, nonverbal and audible cues. Results allowed a closer look at first sight and underline the importance of combining componential and process approaches in understanding the interplay of personality and social phenomena. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A Brief Version of the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT-18)

As self-reports of affect are limited in several regards, an indirect measure of affect, the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT; Quirin, Kazén, & Kuhl, 2009) has previously been developed and adapted to more than 10 languages (Quirin et al., 2018), showing adequate reliability and validity. Based on a sample of 242 Spanish adults (111 males), we evaluate a trimmed 18 items version of the IPANAT (IPANAT-18). Item reductive procedures consisted in a random selection of the stimuli words used in the IPANAT. Psychometric properties of the IPANAT-18 were evaluated via Confirmatory Factor Analysis. In addition, correlational analyses were used to determine the relationship between the brief and the full version of the IPANAT, and with explicit measures of affect. We replicated a two-factors structure of positive affect versus negative affect and found a good fit for the IPANAT-18 model (CFI = 1; TLI = 1; RMSEA = .00; SRMR = .03). Reliability was adequate (implicit PA, α = .86; implicit NA, α = .77) and the pattern of relationships with explicit affect measures were congruent and consistent with previous findings. Differences between the mean scores of implicit affect assessed with 18 items or 36 items were statistically non-significant, and showed strong correlations (PA, r = .92, p < .01; NA, r = .88, p < .01). In sum, the IPANAT-18 showed satisfactory psychometric properties and constitutes a useful tool for economically measuring affective processes such as in experimental and economical multiple assessment (e.g., daily diary) settings.

Fluidity of gender identity induced by illusory body-sex change

Gender identity is a collection of thoughts and feelings about one’s own gender, which may or may not correspond to the sex assigned at birth. How this sense is linked to the perception of one’s own masculine or feminine body remains unclear. Here, in a series of three behavioral experiments conducted on a large group of control volunteers (N = 140), we show that a perceptual illusion of having the opposite-sex body is associated with a shift toward a more balanced identification with both genders and less gender-stereotypical beliefs about own personality characteristics, as indicated by subjective reports and implicit behavioral measures. These findings demonstrate that the ongoing perception of one’s own body affects the sense of one’s own gender in a dynamic, robust, and automatic manner.

Medically unexplained symptoms in children and adolescents: Illness-related self-concept and parental symptom evaluations

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

According to cognitive-behavioral models, illness-related symptom evaluations and self-concepts play a pivotal role in the development and maintenance of medically unexplained somatic symptoms (MUS). However, illness-related cognitions related to MUS have rarely been studied in children/adolescents and their parents.

METHODS

Seventy-eight children and adolescents (M = 14.2 years; 59% female) performed two versions of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure the implicit illness-related and the implicit anxiety-related self-concept. Illness-related evaluations of unspecific symptoms were assessed via the Health Norms Sorting Task (HNST), and MUS as well as characteristics of somatic symptom disorder (SSD) via questionnaires.

RESULTS

MUS were significantly positively associated with the explicit (r = 0.30, p < .01) and implicit illness-related self-concept (r = 0.24, p = .04), but not with the anxiety-related self-concept (r = 0.15, p = .18). The implicit illness-related self-concept explained incremental variance in MUS (ΔR² = 0.05, p = .04) beyond the explicit illness-related self-concept. Regarding health anxiety, parental illness-related symptom evaluations moderated the relationship between child-reported severity of MUS and health anxiety (B = 0.12, p < .01).

LIMITATIONS

Some measures have been adapted for childhood and adolescence, but validations on larger samples are still pending.

CONCLUSIONS

A disorder-specific self-concept of being ill, as well as parental symptom evaluations, seem to play an essential role in MUS and health anxiety in childhood and adolescence. Due to the importance of the top-down processes found here, the findings are in line with current predictive coding models of somatic symptom perception.

The project REBOOT protocol: Evaluating a personalized inhibitory control training as an adjunct to cognitive behavioral therapy for bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder

Outcomes from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge-eating disorder (BED) are suboptimal. One potential explanation is that CBT fails to adequately target inhibitory control (i.e., the ability to withhold an automatic response), which is a key maintenance factor for binge eating. Computerized inhibitory control training (ICT) is a promising method for improving inhibitory control but is relatively untested in BN/BED. The present study will evaluate a computer-based ICT as an adjunct to CBT for BN/BED. Participants with BN (n = 30) or BED (n = 30) will be randomized to 12 weeks of either CBT + ICT or CBT + a sham training. Trainings will be completed daily for 4 weeks and weekly for 8 weeks. Primary aims include the following: (a) confirm target engagement (evaluate whether ICT improves inhibitory control), (b) test target validation (evaluate whether improvements in inhibitory control are associated with improvements in binge eating), and (c) evaluate the incremental efficacy of ICT on binge eating. Secondary aims include the following: (a) evaluate ICT feasibility and acceptability and (b) assess the moderating effects of approach tendencies on highly palatable food, dietary restraint, and diagnosis. Data will be used to shape a fully powered clinical trial designed to assess efficacy and dose-response effects of ICT for BN/BED.

Latent structure of the symptomatology of hospitalized patients with bipolar mania

Several studies have attempted to understand the dimensions of psychiatric symptoms in manic episodes, but only a few have been able to model the latent structure of mania in bipolar disorder patients using confirmatory factor analysis. The objective of the present study was to search for the best model of the symptomatology of hospitalized manic patients. To achieve this goal, 117 manic inpatients during a manic crisis participated in this research. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted followed by confirmatory factor analysis using an exploratory factor analysis solution and three other theory-based models. The exploratory factor analysis results revealed a six-factor structure: depression, suicide, insomnia, mania, psychosis, and anxiety. This solution also presented the best fit to the data when tested with confirmatory factor analysis. A five-factor solution, without suicide as a separate dimension, appeared to be more theoretically suitable. Another important finding was that anxiety was an independent dimension in mania. Some hypotheses are discussed in light of contemporary theories, and future studies should investigate this aspect further.

IMPULSE Moment-by-Moment Test: An Implicit Measure of Affective Responses to Audiovisual Televised or Digital Advertisements

IMPULSE is a novel method for detecting affective responses to dynamic audiovisual content. It is an implicit reaction time test that is carried out while an audiovisual clip (e.g., a television commercial) plays in the background and measures feelings that are congruent or incongruent with the content of the clip. The results of three experiments illustrate the following four advantages of IMPULSE over self-reported and biometric methods: (1) being less susceptible to typical confounds associated with explicit measures, (2) being easier to measure deep-seated and often nonconscious emotions, (3) being better able to detect a broad range of emotions and feelings, and (4) being more efficient to implement as an online method.

Implicit Affect and Autonomous Nervous System Reactions: A Review of Research Using the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test

In everyday life, affective processes occur spontaneously and typically go along with an automatic activation of action tendencies and physiological responses. Because self-reports of affect are also known to be biased by various factors, including deficits in introspection or impression management strategies, an indirect measure, the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT), was developed to assess implicit affect and to circumvent these difficulties. In this review, findings from neurobiological and clinical studies administering the IPANAT are revised, we focus on the link between implicit affect and psychophysiological reactions to affective stimuli and stressors. Specifically, implicit affect as measured by the IPANAT was found to predict cardiovascular, endocrine, and functional neuroimaging correlates of stress or fear beyond explicit affect. The present evidence strongly suggests the usage of implicit affect measures in future research on stress and psychopathology.

Do implicitly measured math-anxiety associations play a role in math behavior?

The current study examined the role of implicitly measured associations (henceforth referred to as associations) between math and anxiety in adolescents' math anxiety. Previous research has shown that associations predicted behavior independent of explicit measures. In this study, it was investigated whether math-anxiety associations would be related to math anxiety and whether they predicted math behavior as well as state math anxiety independent of explicitly measured math anxiety. In addition, the domain specificity of math-anxiety associations for predicting math behavior was investigated. Adolescents' anxiety associations and self-reported anxiety were assessed for three domains: math anxiety, foreign language (English) anxiety, and trait anxiety. A sample of 189 secondary school students performed three single-target implicit association tests, performed a math problem solving task, and filled out questionnaires. Overall, adolescents showed stronger math-anxiety associations in comparison with math-calmness associations. In contrast to our hypotheses, math-anxiety associations were not related and did not uniquely or specifically predict math behavior and state math anxiety. Explicit anxiety measures demonstrated specificity in predicting math and English grades as well as state math anxiety. The innovative aspects of this study are the investigation of implicitly measured math-anxiety associations and the relation to math anxiety and math behavior. Further research is needed to develop tasks that are better able to capture the most relevant math-threat associations and to investigate which math behavior might be most strongly influenced by these associations.

An inkblot for beliefs: The Truth Misattribution Procedure

An increasing body of evidence shows the importance of accommodating relational information within implicit measures of psychological constructs. Whereas relational variants of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) have been proposed in the past, we put forward the Truth Misattribution Procedure (TMP) as a relational variant of the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) that aims to capture implicit beliefs. Across three experiments, we demonstrate that TMP effects are sensitive to the relational information contained within sentence primes, both in the context of causal stimulus relations of a known truth value (e.g., “smoking causes cancer” vs. “smoking prevents cancer”), as well as in the domain of gender stereotypes (e.g., “men are arrogant” vs. “men should be arrogant”). The potential benefits of the TMP are discussed.

Implicit Cognition and Psychopathology: Looking Back and Looking Forward

Implicit cognitive processing is theorized to have a central role in many forms of psychopathology. In the current review, we focus on implicit associations, by which we mean evaluative representations in memory that are difficult to control and do not require conscious reflection to influence affect, cognition, or behavior. We consider definitional and measurement challenges before examining recent empirical evidence for these associations in anxiety, obsessive–compulsive, posttraumatic stress, depressive, and alcohol use disorders. This examination is framed by a brief review of the ways that prominent models of psychopathology represent biased implicit processing of disorder-relevant information. We consider to what extent models reflect more traditional automatic/implicit versus strategic/explicit dual-process perspectives or reflect more recent dynamical systems perspectives in which mental representations are iteratively reprocessed, evolving continuously. Finally, we consider the future research needed to better understand the interactive and temporal dynamics of implicit cognition in psychopathology.

Implicitly and explicitly assessed anxiety: No relationships with recognition of and brain response to facial emotions

Trait anxiety, the disposition to experience anxiety, is known to facilitate perception of threats. Trait anxious individuals seem to identify threatening stimuli such as fearful facial expressions more accurately, especially when presented under temporal constraints. In past studies on anxiety and emotion face recognition, only self-report or explicit measures of anxiety have been administered. Implicit measures represent indirect tests allowing to circumvent problems associated with self-report. In our study, we made use of implicit in addition to explicit measures to investigate the relationships of trait anxiety with recognition of and brain response to emotional faces. 75 healthy young volunteers had to identify briefly presented (67 ms) fearful, angry, happy, and neutral facial expressions masked by neutral faces while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. The Implicit Association Test, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Anxiety Inventory were applied as implicit and explicit measures of trait anxiety. After corrections for multiple testing, neither implicitly nor explicitly measured anxiety correlated with recognition of emotional facial expressions. Moreover, implicitly and explicitly assessed anxiety was not linked to brain response to emotional faces. Our data suggest links between discrimination accuracy and brain response to facial emotions. Activation of the caudate nucleus seems be of particular importance for recognizing fear and happiness from facial expressions. Processes of somatosensory resonance appear to be involved in identifying fear from facial expressions. The present data indicate that, regardless of assessment method, trait anxiety does not affect the recognition of fear or other emotions as has been proposed previously.

Implicit and explicit self-concept of neuroticism in borderline personality disorder

PURPOSE

In the past, research on personality in borderline personality disorder (BPD) used primarily questionnaires suggesting heightened neuroticism in BPD. Self-report instruments inform about the conscious or explicit self-concept. BPD patients are known to show negative distortion with exaggeration of negative affect in the self-report. Neuroticism represents a risk factor for mental disorders. Indirect measures are available that tap into the implicit self-concept of neuroticism. The implicit self-concept refers to individual differences in associative representations of the self. The present study examined for the first time the implicit in addition to the explicit self-concept of neuroticism in BPD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Female BPD patients (N = 35) and healthy women (N = 39) completed an implicit association test and the NEO-FFI personality inventory.

RESULTS

BPD patients showed higher implicit and explicit neuroticism compared to controls. The group difference for explicit neuroticism was four times larger than that for implicit neuroticism. Presence of comorbid depressive disorder was positively correlated with implicit neuroticism. The IAT neuroticism showed excellent split-half reliability for BPD patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The present data suggest that BPD patients with comorbid clinical depression but not those without clinical depression differ from healthy individuals in their implicit self-concept of neuroticism. In the associative network, BPD patients with comorbid clinical depression exhibit stronger associations of the self with neuroticism-related characteristics, such as nervousness, fearfulness, and uncertainty than healthy individuals. Regardless of depression, BPD patients show increased explicit neuroticism. Our findings provide evidence that the IAT neuroticism can be applied reliably to BPD patients.