Not all emotions are created equal: the negativity bias in social-emotional development

Children recognize and reject favoritism in norm enforcement

The impartial enforcement of norms and laws is a hallmark of fair societies, yet partial, unequal norm enforcement is common, for example as a result of corruption. While children condemn norm violations and value impartiality in resource allocation contexts, children's understanding of unequal norm enforcement is currently underexplored. In three vignette studies, we investigated 4- to 8-year-old's (N = 192) developing recognition and condemnation of unequal norm enforcement, which presupposes a sensitivity to impartiality as a meta-norm. Children evaluated the actions of characters who enforced different norms equally or unequally. From age 5, children disapproved of unequal norm enforcement but approved of unequal treatment when justified (Study 1). Children of all ages accepted a lack of punishment when applied equally to all transgressors, suggesting that their negative evaluations of unequal norm enforcement were specifically guided by the element of partiality and not the desire to see transgressors sanctioned (Study 2). Further, children aged 6 years and older were sensitive to the reasons behind unequal punishment, condemning instances of favoritism while accepting selective leniency due to mitigating circumstances (Study 3). The findings show that, from around 5 to 6 years of age, children condemn unequal sanctions for equal transgressions, thereby demonstrating a deep appreciation of impartiality as a foundational principle of fair norm enforcement.

Emojis and affective priming in visual word recognition

Emojis are frequently used in digital communication to supplement the lack of non-verbal cues, but their integration during reading has not been thoroughly examined. This study explores the interplay between language and emotion by testing the influence of emotional valence and face-status of emojis on visual word recognition. Two online experiments were conducted with 92 native English-speaking university students, examining priming effects between congruent (e.g. [Formula: see text] delicious) and incongruent (e.g. [Formula: see text] hate) prime-target pairs, varying the face-status of the emoji prime (face vs. non-face) and the valence (positive vs. negative) of the word target. Irrespective of valence, face emojis demonstrated a processing advantage over non-face emojis, implying automatic attention capture. Additionally, the results revealed an interaction between prime-target congruency and valence, with a facilitatory effect for positive, but not negative, items, suggesting a valence-specific mechanism of affective priming in the lexical decision task. The research suggests that the rapid integration of emoji content occurs during the early stages of visual word recognition, with heightened attentional sensitivity to both face-like and positive stimuli when reading digital communications.

Imagining the future improves saving in preschoolers

Preschoolers are notoriously poor at delaying gratification and saving limited resources, yet evidence-based methods of improving these behaviors are lacking. Using the marble game saving paradigm, we examined whether young children's saving behavior would increase as a result of engaging in future-oriented imagination using a storyboard. Participants were 115 typically developing 4-year-olds from a midwestern U.S. metropolitan area (Mage = 53.48 months, SD = 4.14, range = 47-60; 54.8% female; 84.5% White; 7.3% Hispanic/Latino ethnicity; median annual household income = $150,000-$174,999). Children were randomly assigned to one of four storyboard conditions prior to the marble game: Positive Future Simulation, Negative Future Simulation, Positive Routine, or Negative Routine. In each condition, children were asked to imagine how they would feel in the future situation using a smiley face rating scale. Results showed that children were significantly more likely to save (and to save more marbles) in the experimental conditions compared with the control conditions (medium effect sizes). Moreover, imagining saving for the future (and how good that would feel) was more effective at increasing saving behaviors than imagining not saving (and how bad that would feel). Emotion ratings were consistent with the assigned condition, but positive emotion alone did not account for these effects. Results held after accounting for game order and verbal IQ. Implications of temporal psychological distancing and emotion anticipation for children's future-oriented decision making are discussed.

The Long-Term Effect of Early-Life Uncertainty on Mental Health in Adolescence and Adulthood: A Meta-Analysis

Turbulent changes in early life are a hidden source of childhood trauma, increasing potential risks for mental illness. Many studies have identified the link between childhood uncertainty and mental health. However, research on the long-term effect of early-life uncertainty (EU) on mental health has not been systematically synthesized. This meta-analysis aims to provide a quantitative estimate of the association between EU and subsequent mental health outcomes. Eight electronic databases and gray literature were searched. Twenty-eight studies met our inclusion criteria: samples of non-clinical adolescents or adults and clear and valid assessments. Random-effect models were used to calculate the pooled effect sizes of EU on internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and well-being. Meta-regression and subgroup analysis were used to explore potential moderators. Results indicated small to moderate associations involving EU and internalizing problem (r = .28; 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.228, 0.326]) and externalizing problem (r = .16; 95% CI [0.102, 0.220]). EU was not significantly associated with well-being (r = -.41; 95% CI [-0.738, 0.071]). Furthermore, moderator analyses found that composite uncertain experiences in childhood had a stronger negative effect than single experiences. EU was a stronger predictor of mental health problems in adults than in adolescents. Cross-sectional studies would amplify the correlation between EU and mental illness compared to longitudinal studies. In the future, childhood uncertain and unpredictable risks should receive more attention. More research needs to focus on positive psychological indicators and samples from non-Western countries.

Ternary Moral Empathy Model from the Perspective of Intersubjective Phenomenology

The phenomenon of empathy is an intersubjective process of feeling and a particular form of intentionality. Moral empathy refers to a type of empathy that can trigger moral action, with the embodied intersubjectivity laying the foundation for its emergence. This paper attempts to propose a comprehensive theoretical model of moral empathy from the perspective of intersubjective phenomenology, which includes the following. (1) The moral dimension of perceptual empathy: at the subpersonal, unconscious, and perceptual-motor level, embodied empathic practices are essential for the formation of moral consciousness and the emergence of moral empathy. (2) The moral dimension of situational empathy: following the development of shared attention mechanisms, children can direct towards the intentional objects of others through embodied situational cues to perceive the psychological state of others and generate the moral empathy of "ought", leading to dyadic morality that promotes cooperative behavior. (3) The moral dimension of narrative empathy: the narrative practices of moral empathy refer to the processes by which children could perceive and understand the moral situation of characters within an embodied narrative structure, subsequently generate prosocial motives such as empathic concern, and then accept the "objective" moral norms of the group consciousness embedded in the narrative.

The origins of moral sensitivities: Probing infants' expectations, evaluations, generalization, and enforcement of moral norms

Identifying the origins of moral sensitivities, and their elaboration, within infancy and early childhood is a challenging task, given inherent limitations in infants' behavior. Here, I argue for a multi-pronged, multi-method approach that involves cleaving the moral response at its joints. Specifically, I chart the emergence of infants' moral expectations, evaluations, generalization and enforcement, demonstrating that while many moral sensitivities are present in the second year of life, these sensitivities are closely aligned with, and likely driven by, infants' everyday experience. Moreover, qualitative differences exist between the moral responses that are present in infancy and those of later childhood, particularly in terms of enforcement (i.e., a lack of punishment in infancy). These findings set the stage for addressing outstanding critical questions regarding moral development, that include identifying discrete causal inputs to early moral cognition, identifying whether moral cognition is distinct from social cognition early in life, and explaining gaps that exist between moral cognition and moral behavior in development.

National politics ignites more talk of morality and power than local politics

Politics and the media in the United States are increasingly nationalized, and this changes how we talk about politics. Instead of reading the local news and discussing local events, people are more often consuming national media and discussing national issues. Unlike local politics, which can rely on shared concrete knowledge about the region, national politics must coordinate large groups of people with little in common. To provide this coordination, we find that national-level political discussions rely upon different themes than local-level discussions, using more abstract, moralized, and power-centric language. The higher prevalence of abstract, moralized, and power-centric language in national vs. local politics was found in political speeches, politician Tweets, and Reddit discussions. These national-level linguistic features lead to broader engagement with political messages, but they also foster more anger and negativity. These findings suggest that the nationalization of politics and the media may contribute to rising partisan animosity.

A plan for systematic reviews for high-need areas in forensic science

Forensic scientific practitioners and researchers must navigate a rapidly growing body of research. This makes it increasingly challenging to inform courts, lawyers, and other decision makers about the state of the field, thus heightening the chances of wrongful convictions and acquittals. When similar challenges have arisen in other fields, they have turned to systematic reviews, which are research reviews that use formal, articulated methods to provide a comprehensive summary of the literature on a specific research question. Systematic reviews allow users to evaluate how the authors identified research and synthesised its findings, making them more transparent than informal literature reviews. This article lays out a justification and plan for systematic reviews in forensic science.

Developing a machine learning-based instrument for subjective well-being assessment on Weibo and its psychological significance: An evaluative and interpretive research

Demystifying machine learning (ML) approaches through the synergy of psychology and artificial intelligence can achieve a balance between predictive and explanatory power in model development while enhancing rigor in validation and reporting standards. Accordingly, this study aimed to bridge this research gap by developing a subjective well-being (SWB) prediction model on Weibo, serving as a psychological assessment instrument and explaining the model construction based on psychological knowledge. The model establishment involved the collection of SWB scores and posts from 1,427 valid Weibo users. Multiple machine learning algorithms were employed to train the model and fine-tune its parameters. The optimal model was selected by comparing its criterion validity and split-half reliability performance. Furthermore, SHAP values were calculated to rank the importance of features, which were then used for model interpretation. The criterion validity for the three dimensions of SWB ranged from 0.50 to 0.52 (P < 0.001), and the split-half reliability ranged from 0.94 to 0.96 (P < 0.001). The identified relevant features were related to four main aspects: cultural values, emotions, morality, and time and space. This study expands the application scope of SWB-related psychological theories from a data-driven perspective and provides a theoretical reference for further well-being prediction.

Comparative Analysis of Psychological Well-Being and Emotional Education in Graduate Students

Background

The growing importance of emotional intelligence in academic and professional contexts has generated a need to explore its linkage with psychological well-being. Furthermore, understanding how various demographic and academic factors can influence students' emotional perception and management is crucial for optimizing educational and intervention strategies. In this context, the primary purpose of this study was to analyze the existing relationship between emotional education and psychological well-being in graduate students.

Methods

The objective was to conduct a comparative analysis of perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) in different study programs offered at a specific university. The methodology, framed within a positivist paradigm, was based on a quantitative approach and examines the responses of 1,522 university students using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24).

Results

This tool, which is divided into three dimensions (emotional attention, emotional clarity, and emotional repair), was analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and ANOVA tests to determine demographic and academic influences on the scores. The findings indicate deficiencies in the areas of Emotional Attention and Emotional Repair, contrasting with a marked prevalence in Emotional Clarity. Variables such as sex, age, and field of study demonstrated an influence on the dimensions of PEI. Notably, significant differences in emotional perception were found between sex and academic fields.

Conclusions

Specifically, training directed towards empathy proved to be a prominent factor in the perception of emotional competencies. This study highlights the influence of demographic and academic variables on emotional competencies, underscoring the need to adapt strategies in education and therapy.

ANCW: Affective norms for 4030 Chinese words

Affective information contained in words is gaining increased attention among neurolinguists and psycholinguists around the world. This study established the Affective Norms for Chinese Words (ANCW) with valence, arousal, dominance, and concreteness ratings for 4030 words that were Chinese adaptations of the CET-4 (The National College English Test Band 4) official syllabus. Despite the existing Chinese affective norms such as the Chinese Affective Words System (CAWS), the ANCW provides much more and richer Chinese vocabulary. By using 7-point (ranging from 1 to 7) Likert scales in a paper-and-pencil procedure, we obtained ratings for all variables from 3717 Chinese undergraduates. The ANCW norms possessed good response reliability and were compatible with prior normative studies in Chinese. The pairwise correlation analysis revealed quadratic relations between valence and arousal, arousal and dominance, as well as valence and concreteness. Additionally, valence and dominance, as well as arousal and concreteness, presented a linear correlation, and concreteness and dominance were correlated. The ANCW provides reliable and standardized stimulus materials for further research involving emotional language processing.

The dark and bright side of the numbers: how emotions influence mental number line accuracy and bias

The traditional view of cognition as detached from emotions is recently being questioned. This study aimed to investigate the influence of emotional valence on the accuracy and bias in the representation of numbers on the mental number line (MNL). The study included 164 participants who were randomly assigned into two groups with induced positive and negative emotional valence using matched arousal film clips. Participants performed a computerised number-to-position (CNP) task to estimate the position of numbers on a horizontal line. The results showed that participants in the positive valence group exhibited a rightward bias, while those in the negative valence group showed an opposite pattern. The analysis of mean absolute error revealed that the negative valence group had higher error rates compared to the positive valence group. Furthermore, the MNL estimation pattern analysis indicated that a two-cycle cyclic power model (CPM) best explained the data for both groups. These findings suggest that emotional valence influences the spatial representation of numbers on the MNL and affects accuracy in numerical estimations. Our findings are finally discussed in terms of body-specificity and the Brain's Asymmetric Frequency Tuning (BAFT) theories. The study provides new insights into the interplay between emotions and numerical cognition.

A qualitative approach to explore the cognitive processes used by members of an adult learn-to-cycle program

Introduction

Attaining movement proficiency under various constraints is well-researched; of particular interest here is how conscious processing and self-consciousness influence learning and performance. Current research relevant to these variables e.g., reinvestment, tends to utilize quantitative methods and thus overlooks a potentially rich source of understanding. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to apply a qualitative approach to explore the cognitive processes and self-consciousness within a less practiced population of adults participating in a non-competitive leisure activity.

Methods

To achieve this, eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with adult women learning or relearning to ride a bicycle.

Results

Using thematic analysis, two distinct themes were evident and corroborated those illustrated in scales such as the movement-specific reinvestment scale. These themes included Conscious Processing, Recalling Experiences and Movement Analysis, in addition to Style of Movement, and Self-Consciousness. Anxiety also emerged as an additional and relevant theme to learning a new complex movement skill.

Discussion

The findings indicated that participating women attuned to their movements to the extent that there was a conscious attempt to control their movements, but less so regarding movements being altered by self-awareness. Whilst further research is required, qualitative methods provide a promising basis for exploring the cognitive process involved with the conscious process involved in learning.

Bad beauty: Aesthetic judgments are influenced by references to morally contentious content in photographs

Affective responses can influence evaluative judgments, but how are subjective beauty ratings affected by references to morally contentious elements in aesthetic stimuli? In an online experiment (N = 460), we investigated the relationship between two types of descriptive texts (Neutral vs. Negative) and the beauty ratings of 25 photographs that depict sources of environmental pollution. For each photograph, the neutral descriptive text contained general information, whereas the negative descriptive text addressed the pollution source. Further, we explored whether this relationship is mediated by changes in positive and negative affect, and how it interacts with the biospheric values of participants. Our results showed that (1) participants in the Negative Condition rated the photographs as less beautiful than in the Neutral Condition, (2) this relationship was partially mediated by changes in negative affect, and (3) in the Negative Condition, participants with higher levels of biospheric values rated the photographs as less beautiful. Our results indicate that individual values, as well as affective responses induced by aesthetic stimuli, directly influence subjective beauty. This aligns with current theoretical frameworks and fills a gap in experimental research. Finally, we discuss limitations and directions for future studies. PSYCHINFO CLASSIFICATION CODE: 2340.

Evaluations of aggressive chasing interactions by 7-month-old infants

Recent theories of socio-moral development assume that humans evolved a capacity to evaluate others' social actions in different kinds of interactions. Prior infant studies found both reaching and visual preferences for the prosocial over the antisocial agents. However, whether the attribution of either positive or negative valence to agents' actions involved in an aggressive chasing interaction can be inferred by both reaching behaviors and visual attention deployment (i.e., disengagement of visual attention) is still an open question. Here we presented 7-month-old infants (N = 92) with events displaying an aggressive chasing interaction. By using preferential reaching and an attentional task (i.e., overlap paradigm), we assessed whether and how infants evaluate aggressive chasing interactions. The results demonstrated that young infants prefer to reach the victim over the aggressor, but neither agent affects visual attention. Moreover, such reaching preferences emerged only when dynamic cues and emotional face-like features were congruent with agents' social roles. Overall, these findings suggested that infants' evaluations of aggressive interactions are based on infants' sensitivity to some kinematic cues that characterized agents' actions and, especially, to the congruency between such motions and the face-like emotional expressions of the agents.

Neuroadaptive Bayesian optimisation to study individual differences in infants' engagement with social cues

Infants' motivation to engage with the social world depends on the interplay between individual brain's characteristics and previous exposure to social cues such as the parent's smile or eye contact. Different hypotheses about why specific combinations of emotional expressions and gaze direction engage children have been tested with group-level approaches rather than focusing on individual differences in the social brain development. Here, a novel Artificial Intelligence-enhanced brain-imaging approach, Neuroadaptive Bayesian Optimisation (NBO), was applied to infant electro-encephalography (EEG) to understand how selected neural signals encode social cues in individual infants. EEG data from 42 6- to 9-month-old infants looking at images of their parent's face were analysed in real-time and used by a Bayesian Optimisation algorithm to identify which combination of the parent's gaze/head direction and emotional expression produces the strongest brain activation in the child. This individualised approach supported the theory that the infant's brain is maximally engaged by communicative cues with a negative valence (angry faces with direct gaze). Infants attending preferentially to faces with direct gaze had increased positive affectivity and decreased negative affectivity. This work confirmed that infants' attentional preferences for social cues are heterogeneous and shows the NBO's potential to study diversity in neurodevelopmental trajectories.

Risk preference as an outcome of evolutionarily adaptive learning mechanisms: An evolutionary simulation under diverse risky environments

The optimization of cognitive and learning mechanisms can reveal complicated behavioral phenomena. In this study, we focused on reinforcement learning, which uses different learning rules for positive and negative reward prediction errors. We attempted to relate the evolved learning bias to the complex features of risk preference such as domain-specific behavior manifests and the relatively stable domain-general factor underlying behaviors. The simulations of the evolution of the two learning rates under diverse risky environments showed that the positive learning rate evolved on average to be higher than the negative one, when agents experienced both tasks where risk aversion was more rewarding and risk seeking was more rewarding. This evolution enabled agents to flexibly choose more reward behaviors depending on the task type. The evolved agents also demonstrated behavioral patterns described by the prospect theory. Our simulations captured two aspects of the evolution of risk preference: the domain-specific aspect, behavior acquired through learning in a specific context; and the implicit domain-general aspect, corresponding to the learning rates shaped through evolution to adaptively behave in a wide range of environments. These results imply that our framework of learning under the innate constraint may be useful in understanding the complicated behavioral phenomena.

How young children use manifest emotions and dominance cues to understand social rules: a registered report

Given the complexity of human social life, it is astonishing to observe how quickly children adapt to their social environment. To be accepted by the other members, it is crucial to understand and follow the rules and norms shared by the group. How and from whom do young children learn these social rules? In the experiments, based on the crucial role of affective social learning and dominance hierarchies in simple rule understanding, we showed 15-to-23-month-olds and 3-to-5-year-old children videos where the agents' body size and affective cues were manipulated. In the dominant rule-maker condition, when a smaller protagonist puts an object in one location, a bigger agent reacts with a positive reaction; on the contrary, when the smaller protagonist puts an object in another location, the bigger agent displays a negative reaction. In the subordinate rule-maker condition, the roles are shifted but the agents differ. Toddlers expect the protagonist to follow the rules (based on anticipatory looks), independent of the dominant status of the rule-making agent. Three-to-five-year-old pre-schoolers overall perform at the chance level but expect the protagonist to disobey a rule in the first trial, and obey the rule in the second trial if the rule-maker is dominant.

Using ACGME General Surgery Milestones to Define the Competent Foundational Surgical Resident

OBJECTIVE

In transitioning to competency-based surgical training, the need to clearly define competency is paramount. The purpose of this study is to define the well-prepared foundational resident using the ACGME General Surgery Milestones as our conceptual framework.

DESIGN

Participants reflected on their expectations of a well-prepared resident at the end of PGY1, then assigned milestone levels reflecting this level of competence for General Surgery Milestones 1.0 and 2.0. Subcompetency scores were averaged among residents and faculty. The level of the well-prepared foundational resident was determined based on the highest level within one standard deviation of faculty, resident, and total group averages.

SETTING

This took place during a dedicated education retreat at a single, large academic general surgery residency program.

PARTICIPANTS

Key faculty stakeholders and a representative sample of residents (PGY 1-5) within our institution participated.

RESULTS

Eight faculty and five residents completed Milestones 1.0 and 2.0 scoring. Mean scores between faculty and residents were compared. For 1.0, mean scores for Practice-Based Learning and Improvement 3 (PBLI 3) and Interpersonal Communication Skills 3 (ICS 3) were discernably lower for residents than for faculty (PBLI 3 1.3 (0.3) v 0.9 (0.2), p = 0.01; ICS3 1.6 (0.6) v 1.1 (1), p = 0.01). Scores of 2.0 were comparable across all subcompetency domains. With this broad agreement, Milestone-based competency standards were determined. Descriptive narratives of the KSAs were created for each subcompetency, combining the determined Milestones 1.0 and 2.0 levels.

CONCLUSIONS

We were able to clearly define the competent foundational resident using the ACGME Milestones as a conceptual framework. These Milestone levels reflect the culture and expectations in our department, providing a foundation upon which to build a program of assessment. This methodology can be readily replicated in other programs to reflect specific expectations of the program within the larger ACGME frameworks of competency.

Robust memory of face moral values is encoded in the human caudate tail: a simultaneous EEG-fMRI study

Moral judgements about people based on their actions is a key component that guides social decision making. It is currently unknown how positive or negative moral judgments associated with a person's face are processed and stored in the brain for a long time. Here, we investigate the long-term memory of moral values associated with human faces using simultaneous EEG-fMRI data acquisition. Results show that only a few exposures to morally charged stories of people are enough to form long-term memories a day later for a relatively large number of new faces. Event related potentials (ERPs) showed a significant differentiation of remembered good vs bad faces over centerofrontal electrode sites (value ERP). EEG-informed fMRI analysis revealed a subcortical cluster centered on the left caudate tail (CDt) as a correlate of the face value ERP. Importantly neither this analysis nor a conventional whole-brain analysis revealed any significant coding of face values in cortical areas, in particular the fusiform face area (FFA). Conversely an fMRI-informed EEG source localization using accurate subject-specific EEG head models also revealed activation in the left caudate tail. Nevertheless, the detected caudate tail region was found to be functionally connected to the FFA, suggesting FFA to be the source of face-specific information to CDt. A further psycho-physiological interaction analysis also revealed task-dependent coupling between CDt and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), a region previously identified as retaining emotional working memories. These results identify CDt as a main site for encoding the long-term value memories of faces in humans suggesting that moral value of faces activates the same subcortical basal ganglia circuitry involved in processing reward value memory for objects in primates.

Similarity judgements: the comparison of normative predictions and subjective evaluations - A study of the ratio model of similarity in social context

Introduction

This study examines the consistency between subjective similarity evaluations and the theoretical predictions derived from Tversky's ratio model of similarity, alongside the impact of additional positive and negative features on perceived similarity to ideal and bad politicians.

Methods

Using a sample of 120 participants, we assessed the similarity of eight candidate profiles to an ideal and bad politician, varying in positive and negative features. Participants' subjective evaluations were compared with theoretical predictions derived from Tversky's ratio model. The analysis focused on how candidate and referent valence influenced observed versus theoretical similarity.

Results

Subjective similarity judgments deviated systematically from theoretical predictions, especially for positively featured candidates, indicating a negativity effect. Additional positive features decreased the perceived similarity of favorable candidates to an ideal politician, while additional negative features did not significantly affect similarity judgments of unfavorable candidates.

Discussion

Our findings underscore a significant disparity between subjective and objective similarity judgments, notably for favorable candidates. While the ratio model performs well for unfavorable candidates, its applicability diminishes for favorable ones, emphasizing the role of feature valence in decision-making. Further research on feature valence is crucial for a comprehensive understanding across contexts.

Children are sensitive to the number of sources when relying on gossip

Gossip allows children to effectively identify cooperative or trustworthy partners. However, the risk of being deceived must be faced because gossip may be false. One clue for determining gossip's veracity is the number of its sources since multiple informants spreading identical reputational information about others might imply that another's moral traits are viewed unanimously among members of a social group. We investigated whether 7-year-olds (N = 108) would trust gossip from multiple independent sources. In our study, they received multiple pieces of positive/negative reputational information about one agent and neutral information about another agent by gossip from either single or multiple informants. Then they allocated rewards to and chose rewards from the gossip targets. The 7-year-olds acted upon positive gossip from multiple informants and did not rely on positive gossip from a single informant. By contrast, they relied on negative gossip regardless of the number of informants. In either valence, however, they were more likely to allocate rewards based on gossip from multiple informants than a single informant. This result indicates they are sensitive to an objective index, specifically the number of sources, for judging the veracity of gossip.

APPE unreadiness - The other side of the coin

INTRODUCTION

Student readiness for Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) has not been explicitly defined in literature or standards. Readiness for APPEs is a programmatic requirement of all schools and colleges of pharmacy (schools), leaving schools to determine their own assessments of APPE readiness. Current literature provides no consensus on the definition of APPE readiness nor the assessments or benchmarks used to evaluate APPE readiness. Schools have an opportunity to improve efforts to identify students at risk for poor APPE performance and provide early intervention.

COMMENTARY

Due to a lack of consensus, it may be easier to describe students who are not ready for APPEs than it is to describe students who are APPE ready. APPE unreadiness is defined by the authors as those who require significant preceptor instruction on foundational competencies such as knowledge, skills, and/or attitudes and therefore are unable to meaningfully engage in application-based patient care activities. By adding focus to APPE unreadiness within APPE readiness programs, pharmacy schools may be able to more readily identify and remediate students who are at risk of failing one or more APPE rotations.

IMPLICATIONS

We provide four recommendations for schools to consider. These are focused on assessing APPE readiness to qualify and quantify APPE unready students. By assessing APPE unreadiness, schools can make continuous quality improvement to ensure that preceptors, sites, students, and faculty can have the ongoing confidence that APPE students are all ready to meaningfully engage on rotation.

The interpersonal effects of emotional expressions with both and single valences on work-related satisfaction: an examination of emotions and perceived openness as mediators

ABSTRACTWork-related satisfaction has critical benefits. To predict work-related satisfaction, we investigated how a counterpart's expressions of emotional complexity (both positive and negative emotions), positive emotions, and negative emotions influenced a perceiver's work-related satisfaction during discussions over different work-relevant ideas. We conducted a three-wave coworker survey (N = 529) and an experiment with a confederate as a task partner (N = 378). The results consistently showed significant positive impacts of a counterpart's emotional complexity and positive emotion expressions on a perceiver's work-related satisfaction by enhancing the perceiver's positive emotions and evaluation of the counterpart's openness. Conversely, a counterpart's negative emotion expression significantly decreased a perceiver's work-related satisfaction by reducing perceived counterpart openness. We also did not find a perceiver's negative emotion as a significant mediator of the associations between the three emotional expressions and work-related satisfaction. Therefore, our investigation highlights similar positive effects of emotional complexity and positive emotion expressions and suggests that an expression of both positive and negative emotions promotes satisfaction by enhancing positive emotions and openness perception.

The Role of Mental Health Stigma in University Students' Satisfaction With Web-Based Stress Management Resources: Intervention Study

BACKGROUND

University students frequently report elevated levels of stress and mental health difficulties. Thus, the need to build coping capacity on university campuses has been highlighted as critical to mitigating the negative effects of prolonged stress and distress among students. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, web-based stress management resources such as infographics and web-based workshops have been central to supporting university students' mental health and well-being. However, there is a lack of research on students' satisfaction with and uptake of these approaches. Furthermore, mental health stigma has been suggested to have not only fueled the emergence of these web-based approaches to stress management but may also influence students' help-seeking behaviors and their satisfaction with and uptake of these resources.

OBJECTIVE

This study explored potential differences in students' satisfaction and strategy use in response to an interactive infographic (an emerging resource delivery modality) presenting stress management strategies and a web-based workshop (a more common modality) presenting identical strategies. This study also examined the relative contribution of students' strategy use and family-based mental health stigma in predicting their sustained satisfaction with the 2 web-based stress management approaches.

METHODS

University students (N=113; mean age 20.93, SD 1.53 years; 100/113, 88.5% women) completed our web-based self-report measure of family-based mental health stigma at baseline and were randomly assigned to either independently review an interactive infographic (n=60) or attend a synchronous web-based workshop (n=53). All participants reported their satisfaction with their assigned modality at postintervention (T1) and follow-up (T2) and their strategy use at T2.

RESULTS

Interestingly, a 2-way mixed ANOVA revealed no significant group × time interaction or main effect of group on satisfaction. However, there was a significant decrease in satisfaction from T1 to T2, despite relatively high levels of satisfaction being reported at both time points. In addition, a 1-way ANOVA revealed no significant difference in strategy use between groups. Results from a hierarchical multiple regression revealed that students' strategy use positively predicted T2 satisfaction in both groups. However, only in the web-based workshop group did family-based mental health stigma predict T2 satisfaction over and above strategy use.

CONCLUSIONS

While both approaches were highly satisfactory over time, findings highlight the potential utility of interactive infographics since they are less resource-intensive than web-based workshops and students' satisfaction with them is not impacted by family-based mental health stigma. Moreover, although numerous intervention studies measure satisfaction at a single time point, this study highlights the need for tracking satisfaction over time following intervention delivery. These findings have implications for student service units in the higher education context, emphasizing the need to consider student perceptions of family-based mental health stigma and preferences regarding delivery format when designing programming aimed at bolstering students' coping capacity.

Reduced pre-attentive threat versus nonthreat signal discrimination in clinically healthy military personnel with recurrent combat exposure history: A preliminary event-related potential (ERP) study

Evidence now suggests that traumatic-stress impacts brain functions even in the absence of acute-onset post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. These neurophysiological changes have also been suggested to account for increased risks of PTSD symptoms later developing in the aftermath of subsequent trauma. However, surprisingly few studies have explicitly examined brain function dynamics in high-risk populations, such as combat exposed military personnel without diagnosable PTSD. To extend available research, facial expression sensitive N170 event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes were examined in a clinically healthy sample of active service military personnel with recurrent combat exposure history. Consistent with several established theories of delayed-onset PTSD vulnerability, higher N170 amplitudes to backward-masked fearful and neutral facial expressions correlated with higher levels of past combat exposure. Significantly elevated amplitudes to nonthreatening neutral facial expressions also resulted in an absence of normal threat-versus-nonthreat signal processing specificity. While a modest sample size and cross-sectional design are key limitations here, ongoing prospective-longitudinal follow-ups may shed further light on the precise aetiology and prognostic utility of these preliminary findings in the near future.

Exploring Asymmetries in Self-Concept Change After Discrepant Feedback

Receiving self-relevant feedback that is discrepant from one's self-concept can lead to self-concept change. However, it is currently unclear whether positive or negative feedback has a larger effect on self-concept change. Across four studies (total N = 1,438), we demonstrate that intentions for self-concept change (Study 1) as well as actual self-concept change (Studies 2, 3, and 4) are larger (a) for larger discrepancies between self-concept and feedback and (b) for negative compared to positive discrepancies. Exploring these effects further in Study 4, we find no evidence that the opportunity for improvement influences whether self-concept change is positively or negatively biased. In sum, the present research provides consistent evidence for a negativity bias in self-concept change, investigates a theoretical explanation, and discusses alternative explanatory approaches.

Self-image Building protocol for treating depression in hypnosis

This article explains the method of treating depression with an intervention called Self-Image Building. Several antecedents or correlates of depression are briefly discussed as they form a gestalt backdrop for the many therapeutic approaches that have been researched and promoted as treatment or solutions to depression. The rationale and construction of the intervention is illustrated with a brief case example. Self-Image Building is discussed in the context of other theories of self-image, over-generalization, negativity bias, and as an internal discriminative stimulus for performance. Self-Image Building is used to construct an actual referent and not a cognitive abstraction about how people make conclusions about themselves.

Reliability (or lack thereof) of smartphone ecological momentary assessment of visual dot probe attention bias toward threat indices

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Cognitive bias theories posit that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD) are entwined with attention bias toward threats, commonly indexed by faster response time (RT) on threat-congruent (vs. threat-incongruent) trials on the visual dot probe. Moreover, although smartphone ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of the visual dot probe has been developed, their psychometric properties are understudied. This study thus aimed to assess the reliability of 8 smartphone-delivered visual dot probe attention bias and related indices in persons with and without GAD and SAD.

METHODS

Community-dwelling adults (n = 819; GAD: 64%; SAD: 49%; Mixed GAD and SAD: 37%; Non-GAD/SAD Controls: 24%) completed a five-trial smartphone-delivered visual dot probe for a median of 60 trials (12 sessions x 5 trials/session) and an average of 100 trials (20 sessions x 5 trials/session).

RESULTS

As hypothesized, Global Attention Bias Index, Disengagement Effect, and Facilitation Bias had low-reliability estimates. However, retest-reliability and internal reliability were good for Trial-Level Bias Scores (TLBS) (Bias Toward Treat: intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) = 0.626-0.644; split-half r = 0.640-0.670; Attention Bias Variability: ICCs = 0.507-0.567; split-half r = 0.520-0.580) and (In)congruent RTs. Poor retest-reliability and internal reliability estimates were consistently observed for all traditional attention bias and related indices but not TLBS.

LIMITATIONS

Our visual dot probe EMA should have administered ≥320 trials to match best-practice guidelines based on similar laboratory studies.

CONCLUSIONS

Future research should strive to examine attention bias paradigms beyond the dot-probe task that evidenced meaningful test-retest reliability properties in laboratory and real-world naturalistic settings.

Clustering Analysis of Time Series of Affect in Dyadic Interactions

An important goal when analyzing multivariate time series is the identification of heterogeneity, both within and across individuals over time. This heterogeneity can represent different ways in which psychological processes manifest, either between people or within a person across time. In many instances, those differences can have systematic patterns that can be related to future outcomes. In close relationships, for example, the daily exchange of affect between two individuals in a couple can contain a particular structure that is different across people and can result in varying levels of relationship satisfaction. In this paper we use Louvain, a clustering method, as a tool to characterize heterogeneity in multivariate time series data. Using affect measures from dyadic interactions, we first determine that Louvain is adept at detecting homogeneous patterns that are distinct from one another. Additionally, these homogeneous points are linked, at some level, by time. Thus, we find that clustering via Louvain is useful to find time periods of stable, reoccurring patterns. However, using measures founded on information theory reveals that there is some level of information loss that is inevitable when clustering on levels of variable expression. Finally, we evaluate the predictive validity of the clustering method by examining the relation between the identified clusters of affect and measures outside the time series (i.e., relationship satisfaction and breakup taken one and two years later).

Focusing attention on others' negative emotions reduces the effect of social relationships on children's distributive behaviors

The present study investigates whether directing five- to six-year-old children's attention to hypothetical resource recipients that included familiar and non-familiar people would affect their favoritism toward a familiar person, as reflected in how they allocated resources. In Experiment 1, we instructed participants to give one of several stickers to another person or keep all the stickers for themselves. Under the control conditions, participants more frequently gave stickers to friends than to non-friends. However, when asked about others' emotions, they distributed stickers equally among friends and non-friends. Therefore, focusing on others' thoughts reduced participants' favoritism toward friends. Experiment 2 tested whether focusing on both emotional valences would affect favoritism toward a familiar person, as reflected in children's resource distribution choices. Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1, except we asked participants about the other person's emotional valence. When asked about others' negative emotions, participants distributed the stickers equally between themselves and others. However, when asked about others' positive emotions, they distributed more stickers to friends than to non-friends. Neither others' emotional valence nor group status affected the perceived intensity of their emotion or the participant's emotional state. These results suggest that children's favoritism toward friends can be reduced by encouraging them to think about others' negative emotional states.

Understanding the role of media in the formation of public sentiment towards the police

Public sentiment towards the police is a matter of great interest in the United States, as reports on police misconduct are increasingly being published in mass and social media. Here, we test how the public's perception of the police can be majorly shaped by media reports of police brutality and local crime. We collect data on media coverage of police brutality and local crime, together with Twitter posts from 2010-2020 about the police in 18 metropolitan areas in the country. Using a range of model-free approaches building on transfer entropy analysis, we discover an association between public sentiment towards the police and media coverage of police brutality. We cautiously interpret this relationship as causal. Through this lens, the public's sentiment towards the police appears to be driven by media-projected images of police misconduct, with no statistically significant evidence for a comparable effect driven by media reports on crimes.

Daily solitude and well-being associations in older dyads: Evidence from daily life assessments

Older adults spend significant time by themselves, especially since COVID-19. Solitude has been associated with positive and negative outcomes. Partners need to balance social connectedness with time for one's own needs. This project examines how individual and partner solitude are associated with daily affect and relationship quality in dyads of older adults and a close other. One-hundred thirty-six older adults plus a close other rated their relationship quality and reported affect, solitude, and its characteristics (desired and bothersome) every evening for 10 days. Over and above overall associations, individual and partner effects emerged; when individual desired solitude was up, participants reported more positive affect and their partners less negative affect. When bothersome solitude was up, participants and their partners alike reported more negative affect and less positive affect. Desired solitude was associated with more support, whereas bothersome solitude was associated with less partner support. Findings provide further evidence on the potential benefits of solitude, highlighting the importance of considering the social context of what is often believed to be an individual-level phenomenon.

Neural correlates of fanhood: the role of fan identity and team brand strength

Introduction

We analyzed the importance of fan identity and brand strength on fans' neural reactions to different team-related stimuli.

Methods

A total of 53 fMRI scans with fans of two professional sport teams were conducted. Following up on a previous study we focused on the differences between fandom levels as well as the contrast between two team "brand" strength. Neural responses were compared among individuals based on their levels of fan identity. In sum, group comparisons between relatively high and lower identity and between weak and strong teams were made based on the notion that the latter reflects team brand strength (strong brand and weak brand).

Results

Findings indicate that brain activity in emotion regulation, memory, and cognitive control circuits is influenced by the relative level of fan identity.

Discussion

Higher-level identified fans showed increased reactivity to positive stimuli and the under-recruitment of their cognitive appraisal circuits, suggesting more vulnerability to marketers' messages. The strength of the team brand activates different neural mechanisms. Interestingly, the posterior cingulate showed larger recruitment both for weaker brands and lower fan identification, suggesting that visual memory processes are more active in these cases. Neurally processed content depends on the relative brand's strength, highlighting the importance of brand-focused communications.

Emotional Bias among Individuals at Risk for Seasonal Affective Disorder-An EEG Study during Remission in Summer

Emotional bias in attention and memory is well researched in depression. Patients with depression prioritize processing of negative information over positive input. While there is evidence that emotional bias exists in seasonal affective disorder (SAD) during winter, it is unclear whether such altered cognition exists also during summer. Moreover, it is unclear whether such bias affects attention, memory, or both. In this study, we investigated 110 individuals in summer, 34 of whom reported suffering from low mood during winter, according to the seasonal pattern assessment questionnaire. While the electroencephalogram was recorded, participants learned 60 emotional pictures and subsequently were asked to recognize them in an old/new task. There were no clear group differences in behavioral measures, and no brain response differences in frontal alpha power during learning. During recognition, at 100-300 ms post stimulus individuals with higher seasonality scores exhibited larger alpha power in response to negative as compared to neutral stimuli, while individuals with low seasonality scores exhibited larger alpha power in response to positive as compared to neutral stimuli. While we cannot draw conclusions whether this is an effect of attention or memory, the finding suggests that early cognitive processes are altered already during summer in individuals with increased likelihood to experience SAD during winter. Our data provide evidence for an all-year-round cognitive vulnerability in this population.

Emotional event perception is related to lexical complexity and emotion knowledge

Inferring emotion is a critical skill that supports social functioning. Emotion inferences are typically studied in simplistic paradigms by asking people to categorize isolated and static cues like frowning faces. Yet emotions are complex events that unfold over time. Here, across three samples (Study 1 N = 222; Study 2 N = 261; Study 3 N = 101), we present the Emotion Segmentation Paradigm to examine inferences about complex emotional events by extending cognitive paradigms examining event perception. Participants were asked to indicate when there were changes in the emotions of target individuals within continuous streams of activity in narrative film (Study 1) and documentary clips (Study 2, preregistered, and Study 3 test-retest sample). This Emotion Segmentation Paradigm revealed robust and reliable individual differences across multiple metrics. We also tested the constructionist prediction that emotion labels constrain emotion inference, which is traditionally studied by introducing emotion labels. We demonstrate that individual differences in active emotion vocabulary (i.e., readily accessible emotion words) correlate with emotion segmentation performance.

Toddlers' sensitivity to dominance traits from faces

In adults, seeing individual faces is sufficient to trigger dominance evaluations, even when conflict is absent. From early on, infants represent dyadic dominance relations and they can infer conflict outcomes based on a variety of cues. To date, it is unclear if toddlers also make automatic dominance trait evaluations of individual faces. Here we asked if toddlers are sensitive to dominance traits from faces, and whether their sensitivity depends on their face experience. We employed a visual preference paradigm to study 18- and 24-month-old toddlers' sensitivity to dominance traits from three types of faces: artificial, male, female. When presented with artificial faces (Experiment 1), 18- and 24-month-olds attended longer to the non-dominant faces, but only when they were in upright orientation. For real male faces (Experiment 2), toddlers showed equivalent looking durations to the dominant and non-dominant upright faces. However, when looking at female faces (Experiment 3), toddlers displayed a visual preference for the upright non-dominant faces at 24 months. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that toddlers already display sensitivity to facial cues of dominance from 18 months of age, at least for artificial face stimuli.

Experiences of patients with disabilities and sexual or gender minority status during healthcare interactions

Aim

The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other (LGBTQ+) people with disabilities when interacting with healthcare professionals related to their gender identity, sexuality, and disability.

Subject and Methods

Historically marginalized groups face many inequities in health care. However, little is known about the intersectional experiences of LGBTQ+ people with disabilities when receiving health care given their likelihood to encounter multiple marginalizations. Data were collected via the 2019 National Survey on Health and Disability (NSHD) and included a sample of 197 LGBTQ+ respondents with disabilities living in the U.S. Quantitative data and demographics were analyzed using descriptive methods. Qualitative data were analyzed using deductive and inductive methods.

Results

72.2% of LGBTQ+ respondents with disabilities avoided discussing their gender or sexual identity with their healthcare providers, with 9.8% never disclosing their identity. Qualitative analyses revealed themes centered around experiences of negative interactions with healthcare providers, including fear, distrust, and avoidance of care (40.1%), dismissal or denial of treatment (30.5%), and assault or aggressive activity (4.1%), although some reported no problems or need to discuss their LGBTQ+ or disability identities (14.7%).

Conclusion

LGBTQ+ people with disabilities reported high rates of negative experiences disclosing gender or sexual identity and/or disability with healthcare providers. Further research is needed to determine whether negative interactions with medical providers may be caused by a lack of medical understanding, false assumptions about the de-sexualization of disabled people, or ignorance about LGBTQ+ identities.

Threat impairs flexible use of a cognitive map

Goal-directed behavior requires adaptive systems that respond to environmental demands. In the absence of threat (or presence of reward), individuals can explore many behavioral trajectories, effectively interrogating the environment across multiple dimensions. This leads to flexible, relational memory encoding and retrieval. In the presence of danger, motivation shifts to an imperative state characterized by a narrow focus of attention on threatening information. This impairs flexible, relational memory. We test how these motivational shifts (Murty & Adcock, 2017) affect behavioral flexibility in an ecologically valid setting. Participants learned the structure of maze-like environments and navigated to the location of objects in both safe and threatening contexts. The latter contained a predator that could 'capture' participants, leading to electric shock. After learning, the path to some objects was unpredictably blocked. forcing a detour for which one route was significantly shorter. We predicted that threat would push participants toward an imperative state, leading to less efficient and less flexible navigation. Threat caused participants to take longer paths to goal objects and less efficient detours when obstacles were encountered. Threat-related impairments in detour navigation persisted after controlling for non-detour navigation performance. and non-detour navigation was not a reliable predictor of detour navigation, This suggests a specific impairment in flexible navigation during detours, an impairment unlikely to be explained by more general processes like predator avoidance or divided attention that may be present during non-detour navigation. These results provide ecologically valid evidence that dynamic, observable threats reduce flexible use of cognitive maps to guide behavior.

Time heals all wounds? Naïve theories about the fading of affect associated with autobiographical events

The current research examined the naïve theories that individuals hold about how affect fades over time. In three studies (with various replications), participants read about positive and negative events and estimated the emotional impact of those events on either themselves or a hypothetical other over different time frames (i.e., 1 week, 1 month, 1 year-Studies 1a-1c) or how long it would take for specific amounts of fade to occur (Studies 2a & 2b). In a final study, participants were directly asked about their beliefs regarding affect fade. Results demonstrated that people have inaccurate expectations about affect fade for positive and negative events. Specifically, participants rate that positive events fade more in the short term, but that negative events fade more in the long term. Results are discussed in terms of how these (incorrect) naïve theories of affect fade relate to metacognitive biases in memory and emotion.

Hysteresis reveals a happiness bias effect in dynamic emotion recognition from ambiguous biological motion

Considering the nonlinear dynamic nature of emotion recognition, it is believed to be strongly dependent on temporal context. This can be investigated by resorting to the phenomenon of hysteresis, which features a form of serial dependence, entailed by continuous temporal stimulus trajectories. Under positive hysteresis, the percept remains stable in visual memory (persistence) while in negative hysteresis, it shifts earlier (adaptation) to the opposite interpretation. Here, we asked whether positive or negative hysteresis occurs in emotion recognition of inherently ambiguous biological motion, while testing for the controversial debate of a negative versus positive emotional bias. Participants (n = 22) performed a psychophysical experiment in which they were asked to judge stimulus transitions between two emotions, happiness and sadness, from an actor database, and report perceived emotion across time, from one emotion to the opposite as physical cues were continuously changing. Our results reveal perceptual hysteresis in ambiguous emotion recognition, with positive hysteresis (visual persistence) predominating. However, negative hysteresis (adaptation/fatigue) was also observed in particular in the direction from sadness to happiness. This demonstrates a positive (happiness) bias in emotion recognition in ambiguous biological motion recognition. Finally, the interplay between positive and negative hysteresis suggests an underlying competition between visual persistence and adaptation mechanisms during ambiguous emotion recognition.

Pleasure before business: emotions and age effects on daily activity scheduling

Activity scheduling represents a key process in daily life, involving the evaluation of the costs and benefits of the resources to be invested, but also a preference for when to engage in pleasant or unpleasant activities. Aging affects the evaluation processes and individual preferences due to changes in cognitive functioning and life perspectives. The present study investigated the differences between younger adults (age range 19-33) and older adults (age range 65-87) in a task assessing preferential scheduling of activities. Participants were asked to schedule thirty emotional activities (positive, negative, or neutral) within a 30-day time window, assigning one activity for each day. Results indicated that older adults, but not younger adults, planned positive activities closer in time, supporting the "positivity effect". Also, both younger and older adults tended to postpone negative activities, scheduling them in the last days. Finally, for older adults only, negative affect was associated with the tendency to put positive activities closer in time. Present findings showed age-specific effects of emotional content on daily activity scheduling.

Skills to Enhance Positivity in adolescents at risk for suicide: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Suicide and suicidal behavior during adolescence have been steadily increasing over the past two decades. The preponderance of interventions focuses on crisis intervention, underlying psychiatric disorders, regulating negative affect, and reducing cognitive distortions. However, low positive affectivity may be a mechanism that contributes to adolescent suicidal ideation and behaviors independent of other risk factors. Skills to Enhance Positivity (STEP) is an acceptance-based intervention, designed to increase attention to, and awareness of, positive affect and positive experiences. Results from a pilot RCT demonstrated engagement of the target (positive affect) and a decrease in clinical outcomes (suicidal events; i.e., either a suicide attempt or an emergency intervention for an acute suicidal crisis), providing support to test the clinical effectiveness of STEP in a larger clinical trial with clinical staff implementing the intervention.

OBJECTIVE

To test the effectiveness of STEP, compared to Enhanced Treatment as Usual (ETAU), in reducing suicidal events and ideation in adolescents admitted to inpatient psychiatric care due to suicide risk. We hypothesize that those randomized to STEP, compared to ETAU, will have lower rates of suicide events, active suicidal ideation (SI), and depressed mood over the 6-month follow-up period. We hypothesize that those randomized to STEP, compared to ETAU, will demonstrate greater improvement in the hypothesized mechanisms of attention to positive affect stimuli and gratitude and satisfaction with life.

METHODS

Participants will be randomized to either STEP or ETAU. STEP consists of four in-person sessions focused on psychoeducation regarding positive and negative affect, mindfulness meditation, gratitude, and savoring. Mood monitoring prompts and skill reminders will be sent via text messaging daily for the first month post-discharge and every other day for the following two months. The ETAU condition will receive text-delivered reminders to use a safety plan provided at discharge from the hospital and healthy habits messages, matched in frequency to the STEP group. This trial was registered on 6 August 2021 (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04994873).

RESULTS

The STEP protocol was approved by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Data and Safety Monitoring Board on March 4, 2022. The RCT is currently in progress.

DISCUSSION

The STEP protocol is an innovative, adjunctive treatment that has the potential to have positive effects on adolescent suicidal ideation and attempts beyond that found for standard treatment alone.

Intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting axillary odor variation. A comprehensive review

Humans produce odorous secretions from multiple body sites according to the microbiomic profile of each area and the types of secretory glands present. Because the axilla is an active, odor-producing region that mediates social communication via the sense of smell, this article focuses on the biological mechanisms underlying the creation of axillary odor, as well as the intrinsic and extrinsic factors likely to impact the odor and determine individual differences. The list of intrinsic factors discussed includes sex, age, ethnicity, emotions, and personality, and extrinsic factors include dietary choices, diseases, climate, and hygienic habits. In addition, we also draw attention to gaps in our understanding of each factor, including, for example, topical areas such as the effect of climate on body odor variation. Fundamental challenges and emerging research opportunities are further outlined in the discussion. Finally, we suggest guidelines and best practices based on the factors reviewed herein for preparatory protocols of sweat collection, data analysis, and interpretation.

Processes of Emotion Idioms Comprehension of Turkish-Speaking People with Wernicke's Aphasia

INTRODUCTION

Idioms are commonly used in everyday language to convey emotions figuratively. The ability to comprehend and use idioms that incorporate emotional elements is crucial for effective communication in daily life, particularly among people with aphasia (PwA). Despite the interest in understanding the process of emotion idiom comprehension in PwA, limited information is available in the literature. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the process of emotion idiom comprehension in people with Wernicke's aphasia (PwWA) and compare it with that of neurotypical individuals.

METHODS

Sixty idioms were selected based on their syntactic and semantic features, and participants evaluated their imageability. Sixteen idioms were chosen for the study, and two types of tasks were prepared: written idiom-picture matching and written idiom-written text matching. These tasks were administered to two groups: 11 PwWA and 11 neurotypical individuals. The results were analysed in terms of task performance, response type, syntactic and semantic features, and emotional content.

RESULTS

The emotion idiom comprehension scores of the PwWA group were significantly lower than those of the neurotypical participants. PwWA had greater difficulty with the written idiom-picture matching task and tended to rely on the literal meanings of the idioms. There were differences in the semantic features between the two groups. Among the emotion idioms, PwWA showed significant differences in the types of emotions they were able to comprehend.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study suggest that regardless of the syntactic content of idioms, PwWA's ability to comprehend emotion idioms is impaired, and they tend to interpret them more literally. This study provides a useful method for assessing emotional idiom comprehension in PwA.

Transdiagnostic phenomena of psychopathology in the context of the RDoC: protocol of a multimodal cross-sectional study

In the past, affective and cognitive processes related to psychopathology have been examined within the boundaries of phenotype-based diagnostic labels, which has led to inconsistent findings regarding their underlying operating principles. Investigating these processes dimensionally in healthy individuals and by means of multiple modalities may provide additional insights into the psychological and neuronal mechanisms at their core. The transdiagnostic phenomena Neuroticism and Rumination are known to be closely linked. However, the exact nature of their relationship remains to be elucidated. The same applies to the associations between Hedonic Capacity, Negativity Bias and different Emotion Regulation strategies.This multimodal cross-sectional study examines the relationship of the transdiagnostic phenomena Neuroticism and Rumination as well as Hedonic Capacity, the Negativity Bias and Emotion Regulation from a RDoC (Research Domain Criteria) perspective. A total of 120 currently healthy subjects (past 12 months) will complete several questionnaires regarding personality, emotion regulation, hedonic capacity, and psychopathologies as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during cognitive and emotional processing, to obtain data on the circuit, behavioral and self-report level.This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the relationship between cognitive and affective processes associated with psychopathologies as well as their neuronal correlates. Ultimately, a grounded understanding of these processes could guide improvement of diagnostic labels and treatments. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and the limited variability in psychopathology scores due to the restriction of the sample to currently healthy subjects.

The effect of aging on facial emotion recognition in bipolar disorder

OBJECTIVE

Convergent data point to an exaggerated negativity bias in bipolar disorder (BD), and little is known about whether people with BD experience the 'positivity effect' with increasing age.

METHOD

This is a cross sectional study of 202 participants with BD aged 18-65, and a sample (n = 53) of healthy controls (HCs). Participants completed the CANTAB Emotion Recognition Task (ERT). Using analysis of variance, we tested for a main effect of age, diagnosis, and an interaction of age x diagnosis on both negative and positive conditions.

RESULTS

We observed increased accuracy in identifying positive stimuli in the HC sample as a function of increasing age, a pattern that was not seen in participants with BD. Specifically, there was a significant diagnosis by age cohort interaction on ERT performance that was specific to the identification of happiness, where the Later Adulthood cohort of HCs was more accurate when identifying happy faces relative to the same cohort of BD patients.

CONCLUSION

Later life looks different for people with BD. With an aging population globally, gaining a clearer picture of the effects of recurrent mood dysregulation on the brain will be critical in guiding efforts to effectively optimize outcomes in older adults with BD.

Development of beliefs about censorship

Across four studies (total N = 431), we examined 5- to 10-year-old children's choices to censor depictions of harm. In all studies, children learned about (fictional) movies that depicted harmful behaviors and decided whether specific audiences should be allowed to watch those movies. In Study 1, children often censored depictions of harms and did so similarly when considering both themselves and another hypothetical child as the viewer. At the same time, children did not censor indiscriminately: Children censored depictions of intentional harms more than accidental harms and, in Study 2, children (and adults; N = 101) censored harms (especially intentional ones) more from younger versus older audiences. In Studies 3 and 4, we more directly tested children's motivations for censoring harms, examining dual potential motivations of 1) preventing viewers from feeling sad; and 2) preventing viewers from being inspired to engage in harmful behaviors. We found that children who were motivated to avoid inspiring harmful behaviors were especially likely to censor depictions of harmful intentions. Together, our results indicate that children make sophisticated decisions regarding censorship and underscore an early emerging motivation to disrupt cascades of harmful behavior. These findings hold implications for children's thinking about the psychological and behavioral consequences of harm and for children's thinking about the potential effects of media on themselves and others.