Neuroticism and stress: the role of displacement behavior

The chain mediating role of psychological resilience and neuroticism between intolerance of uncertainty and perceived stress among medical university students in Southwest China

BACKGROUND

Medical university students are confronted with unprecedented uncertainty and stress compared with their peers. Research has explored the effect of intolerance of uncertainty on perceived stress, but little attention was paid to investigate the mediating mechanisms behind this relationship, especially among medical university students. The aim of this study was to examine whether psychological resilience and neuroticism played a mediating role between medical university students' intolerance of uncertainty and perceived stress.

METHODS

A total of 717 medical university students from Chongqing in Southwest China were recruited to participate in our study and completed demographic information, Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale Short Version (IUS-12), Chinese Version of Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 (CD-RISC-10) and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ).

RESULTS

(1) Significant correlations between intolerance of uncertainty, perceived stress, psychological resilience and neuroticism were found. (2) Intolerance of uncertainty affected medical university students' perceived stress via three paths: the mediating effect of psychological resilience, the mediating effect of neuroticism, and the chain mediating effect of both psychological resilience and neuroticism.

CONCLUSIONS

Intolerance of uncertainty could directly affect the perceived stress of medical university students, and also affected perceived stress through the mediating roles of psychological resilience and neuroticism, as well as through the chain mediating role of these two variables.

Covariation of preadult environmental exposures, adult brain imaging phenotypes, and adult personality traits

Exposure to preadult environmental exposures may have long-lasting effects on mental health by affecting the maturation of the brain and personality, two traits that interact throughout the developmental process. However, environment-brain-personality covariation patterns and their mediation relationships remain unclear. In 4297 healthy participants (aged 18-30 years), we combined sparse multiple canonical correlation analysis with independent component analysis to identify the three-way covariation patterns of 59 preadult environmental exposures, 760 adult brain imaging phenotypes, and five personality traits, and found two robust environment-brain-personality covariation models with sex specificity. One model linked greater stress and less support to weaker functional connectivity and activity in the default mode network, stronger activity in subcortical nuclei, greater thickness and volume in the occipital, parietal and temporal cortices, and lower agreeableness, consciousness and extraversion as well as higher neuroticism. The other model linked higher urbanicity and better socioeconomic status to stronger functional connectivity and activity in the sensorimotor network, smaller volume and surface area and weaker functional connectivity and activity in the medial prefrontal cortex, lower white matter integrity, and higher openness to experience. We also conducted mediation analyses to explore the potential bidirectional mediation relationships between adult brain imaging phenotypes and personality traits with the influence of preadult environmental exposures and found both environment-brain-personality and environment-personality-brain pathways. We finally performed moderated mediation analyses to test the potential interactions between macro- and microenvironmental exposures and found that one category of exposure moderated the mediation pathways of another category of exposure. These results improve our understanding of the effects of preadult environmental exposures on the adult brain and personality traits and may facilitate the design of targeted interventions to improve mental health by reducing the impact of adverse environmental exposures.

A multilevel analysis of the links between daily emotional labor, daily spiritual experiences, and daily stress during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic both necessitate and obstruct emotional regulation and coping mechanisms. Despite growing interest in the connection between stress and spirituality, multilevel studies addressing day-level variance to understand how spiritual experiences and emotional regulation are linked with stress during this unique situation are scarce. This study aims to analyze how daily spiritual experiences (DSE) and daily emotional labor (EL) connect with the daily stress levels of employees during the pandemic.

DESIGN AND METHOD

Data collected from 132 employees for five consecutive workdays (660 d-level, 132 person-level responses) were analyzed via Hierarchical Linear Modeling.

RESULTS

Multilevel analysis provided evidence for the negative association between DSE and daily stress. The "faking emotions" and "hiding emotions" dimensions of daily EL were positively and significantly related to daily stress, while the "deep acting" dimension demonstrated no significant relationship. There was no evidence for the moderator role of DSE in the relationship between daily EL and stress.

CONCLUSION

The form of daily EL is crucial to understanding how it associates with daily stress. Although its buffering role on the adverse effects of EL is not significant, DSE directly relates to lower stress levels.

The relationship between sex, personality traits, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis

The aim of our study was to examine whether there are sex-based differences in the relationship between personality traits and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis measures. A total of 106 healthy volunteers (56.6% women; age: 48.0 ± 15.8 years) were studied. The revised temperament and character inventory (TCI-R) and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) were administered. HPA axis function was assessed using three dynamic measures: the cortisol awakening response (CAR), the diurnal cortisol slope, and the cortisol suppression ratio with 0.25 mg of dexamethasone (DSTR). Female sex was associated with an increased CAR and a more flattened diurnal cortisol slope, although a negative significant interaction between harm avoidance and female sex was found. Regarding the DSTR, perseverance was associated with increased cortisol suppression after dexamethasone; sex did not affect this association. Our study suggests that the relationship between specific personality traits (harm avoidance) and HPA axis measures (CAR, diurnal slope) differs according to sex.

Urges to Move and Other Motivation States for Physical Activity in Clinical and Healthy Populations: A Scoping Review Protocol

Motivation for bodily movement, physical activity and exercise varies from moment to moment. These motivation states may be “affectively-charged,” ranging from instances of lower tension (e.g., desires, wants) to higher tension (e.g., cravings and urges). Currently, it is not known how often these states have been investigated in clinical populations (e.g., eating disorders, exercise dependence/addiction, Restless Legs Syndrome, diabetes, obesity) vs. healthy populations (e.g., in studies of motor control; groove in music psychology). The objective of this scoping review protocol is to quantify the literature on motivation states, to determine what topical areas are represented in investigations of clinical and healthy populations, and to discover pertinent details, such as instrumentation, terminology, theories, and conceptual models, correlates and mechanisms of action. Iterative searches of scholarly databases will take place to determine which combination of search terms (e.g., “motivation states” and “physical activity”; “desire to be physically active,” etc.) captures the greatest number of relevant results. Studies will be included if motivation states for movement (e.g., desires, urges) are specifically measured or addressed. Studies will be excluded if referring to motivation as a trait. A charting data form was developed to scan all relevant documents for later data extraction. The primary outcome is simply the extent of the literature on the topic. Results will be stratified by population/condition. This scoping review will unify a diverse literature, which may result in the creation of unique models or paradigms that can be utilized to better understand motivation for bodily movement and exercise.

The Stressful Personality: A Meta-Analytical Review of the Relation Between Personality and Stress

The current study presented the first meta-analytic review on the associations between the Big Five personality traits and stress measured under different conceptualizations (stressor exposure, psychological and physiological stress responses) using a total of 1,575 effect sizes drawn from 298 samples. Overall, neuroticism was found to be positively related to stress, whereas extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness were negatively linked to stress. When stress assessed under different conceptualizations was tested, only neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were related to stressor exposure. All of the Big Five personality traits were significantly associated with psychological stress perception, whereas the five personality traits showed weak to null associations with physiological stress response. Further moderation analyses suggested that the associations between personality traits and stress under different conceptualizations were also contingent upon different characteristics of stress, sample, study design, and measures. The results supported the important role of personality traits in individual differences in stress.

Individual Differences in Conversational Self-Touch Frequency Correlate with State Anxiety

Self-touches are frequently performed in everyday conversations. Although self-touch appears to relate to itching skin sensations or grooming needs, there has been cumulating evidence that the production of self-touch is associated with emotional regulation and cognitive control. Yet, individuals vary greatly in how often they perform self-touch in conversations. The present study investigated how individuals’ anxiety levels (i.e., state and trait anxiety), personality traits (i.e., neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness), and inhibition ability can contribute to the individual differences in conversational self-touch frequency. Spontaneous self-touch was elicited from a hundred and twenty-seven participants in an animated cartoon description task and a social dilemma-solving task. Results from the correlational analysis showed that the self-touch frequency was significantly positively related to individuals’ state and trait anxiety levels and their neuroticism scores but was significantly negatively related to their agreeableness scores. However, when all predictor variables were entered simultaneously into a multiple regression analysis, the result showed that the state anxiety score was the only significant predictor of the conversational self-touch frequency. This result is consistent with the proposal that self-touch behaviors are produced to regulate negative emotional states such as anxiety and stress. The findings of the present study shed new light on the function of self-touch behaviors in conversations, and highlight the importance of using a broad correlational approach with simultaneous consideration of multiple predictors in future research aiming to understand individual differences in self-touch behaviors.

"Your help isn't helping me!" Unhelpful workplace social support, strain, and the role of individual differences

While the reception of social support at work is generally considered a net positive for employees, researchers have identified that particular kinds of social support, such as unhelpful workplace social support (UWSS), tend to evoke stress and contribute to strain for recipients. Although (Gray et al. Work and Stress, 34(4), 359-385, 2020), when validating the novel UWSS measure, uncovered relations between UWSS and various outcomes, more research is needed to further understand the impacts of UWSS. Furthermore, the extant social support literature is currently lacking in its understanding of how individual differences strengthen or weaken the relations such support has with strain. Drawing from the Theory of Stress as Offense to Self (Semmer et al. Occupational Health Science, 3(3), 205-238. 10.1007/s41542-019-00041-5, 2019), we, through two studies (N 1 = 203, N 2 = 277), further explore the relations of UWSS, focusing on behavioral and psychological strain, and examine how these relations are influenced by relevant individual differences (e.g., Big Five traits). Results from our first study replicate key findings from (Gray et al. Work and Stress, 34(4), 359-385, 2020), providing additional validity evidence for the novel measure of UWSS, and demonstrate that UWSS is related to various types of behavioral strain. Our second study shows that the strength of these deleterious relations varies based on characteristics of the recipient of UWSS. Altogether, the present research contributes to the literature on social support as a stressor by elucidating further the effects of UWSS, and, perhaps more importantly, for whom UWSS is particularly deleterious.

Prevalence of Second Victims, Risk Factors, and Support Strategies among German Nurses (SeViD-II Survey)

Background: Second victim phenomena (SVP) are critical to workplace and patient safety, and epidemiological data are limited to investigate the causes and impact on German health care. We investigated SVP in German nurses regarding prevalence, causes, and predisposition compared to a preceding study on German physicians (Second Victims in Deutschland/SeViD-I). Methods: We conducted a nationwide anonymous cross-sectional online study in 2020 using a modified SeViD questionnaire including the BFI-10 (personality traits). Statistical analysis was conducted using chi² tests and binary logistic regression models. Results: Of 332 nurses, 60% reported to experience SVP at least once a working lifetime, with a 12-month prevalence among SVP of 49%. Of the nurses, 24% reported recovery times of more than 1 year. In contrast to physicians from SeViD-I, a main cause for becoming a second victim was aggressive behavior by patients. High neuroticism values, higher age, and medium work life experience, but neither gender nor workplace position, were predisposing for SVP. Like SeViD-I, nurses reported demand for an institutional response in cases of SVP. Conclusions: SVP is common among German nurses and comprises other causes and a different course than in physicians. Further research should concentrate on specific prevention strategies, e.g., profession- and workplace-based educational programs.

Fear of COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers: The Role of Neuroticism and Fearful Attachment

Fear of becoming infected is an important factor of the complex suite of emotional reactions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among healthcare workers (HWs), fear of infection can put at risk their psychological well-being and occupational efficiency. The aim of this study was to analyze the role of personality (i.e., the big five traits) and adult attachment in predicting levels of fear (as measured by the FCV-19S) in 101 HWs employed in a COVID-19 university hospital. The three significant predictors retained by the stepwise regression model were age (beta = 0.26, t = 2.89, p < 0.01), emotional stability (i.e., the inverse of neuroticism) (beta = -0.26, t = -2.89, p < 0.01), and fearful attachment (beta = 0.25, t = 2.75, p < 0.01). Older HWs with higher levels of neuroticism and fearful attachment reported more intense fear of COVID-19. Our results can be useful to identify vulnerable subgroups of HWs and to implement selective programs of prevention based on counseling and psychological support.

Compulsory Citizenship Behavior and Facades of Conformity: A Moderated Mediation Model of Neuroticism and Citizenship Pressure

Drawing on the social exchange theory, this study investigates how compulsory citizenship behavior (CCB) produces facades of conformity through citizenship pressure, and whether neuroticism moderates the relationship among them. This study surveyed 356 employees (259 males, 97 females; average age 37.7 years) of a northern Taiwanese corporation to investigate the relationship among CCB, citizenship pressure, and facades of conformity. The study found that neuroticism moderates the strength of the indirect effect of CCB and facades of conformity through citizenship pressure, such that the mediated relationship is stronger under high neuroticism than under low neuroticism. It also suggests that a relationship among CCB, citizenship pressure, and facades of conformity exists, in which a negative response leads to generalized pressure in organizations. Finally, this study proposes that managers and employers should consider that CCB may result in false conformity by employees and introduce negative citizenship pressure into the work domain. In addition, employers should encourage employees to build social relations to avoid CCB. Organizations and leaders need to generate environments within which employees support extra-role activities in the workplace.

The mediating role of regulatory emotional self-efficacy on negative emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

Nurses exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are psychologically stressed. This study examines the characteristics and distribution of negative emotions among Chinese nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores regulatory emotional self-efficacy (RESE) as the underlying mechanism in the relationship between nurses' personalities and negative emotions. A cross-sectional design with convenience sampling was utilized. Three comprehensive tertiary hospitals located in China were selected. Nurses (n = 339) who cared for COVID-19 patients were enrolled. Recruitment was conducted between 14 February 2020 and 1 March 2020. Self-reported questionnaires about personality, RESE, and epidemic-related negative emotions were completed online. A correlation analysis, structural equation modelling, and the bootstrapping method were used to analyse the data. This study identified a 24.9% incidence of negative emotions in nurses. RESE was a significant mediator explaining the effect of personality on epidemic-related negative emotions. RESE mediated the effect of introversion-extroversion on depression (β = -0.151, P = 0.015), neuroticism (β = -0.182, P = 0.007), fear (β = -0.142, P = 0.006), anxiety (β = -0.189, P = 0.015), and hypochondria (β = -0.118, P = 0.010); it also mediated the effect of neuroticism on depression (β = 0.313, P = 0.002), neuroticism (β = 0.394, P = 0.003), fear (β = 0.345, P = 0.005), anxiety (β = 0.384, P = 0.003), and hypochondria (β = 0.259, P = 0.004). Nurses caring for COVID-19 patients displayed negative emotions, particularly emotionally unstable and introverted nurses with a low RESE level. RESE is often essential for interventions because it significantly influences the relationship between personality and negative emotions. In the event of a major outbreak, tailored psychological well-being education, which includes emotional self-efficacy strategies, should be provided by organizations to help nurses manage stress related to the outbreak.

Association between Caregiver Neurotic Personality Trait and Elder Abuse: Investigating the Moderating Role of Change in the Level of Caregiver Perceived Burden

OBJECTIVES

To investigate whether caregiver neuroticism affects the level of elder abuse and whether changes of caregiver perceived burden alter this relationship.

METHODS

Using 2-year longitudinal data, a consecutive sample of 800 Chinese family caregivers and their care recipients with dementia were recruited from the geriatric and neurological departments of 3 grade-A hospitals in the People's Republic of China. All the participatory dyads were assessed between September 2015 and February 2016 and followed up for 2 years.

RESULTS

Significant increase in the prevalence was found for physical abuse, psychological abuse, and caregiver neglect. Caregiver neuroticism was associated with an increased level of physical and psychological abuse over the 2-year observation period; however, change in the level of caregiver perceived burden altered this association. Specifically, the absence and decrease of perceived care burden prevented an increase in the level of physical and psychological abuse among caregivers high in neuroticism. Although caregiver neuroticism was also associated with an increased level of caregiver neglect, caregiver perceived burden did not appear to have an impact on this relationship.

DISCUSSION

This study provided evidence that caregiver neuroticism was associated with an increased level of physical and psychological abuse, while changes in the level of caregiver perceived burden may alter this trajectory. These findings suggest the importance of implementing caregiver-centered intervention and prevention programs for elder abuse by specifically targeting caregivers' behaviors related to their neurotic personality trait and cognitive appraisal of caregiving stressors associated with such personality traits.

Neuroticism modulates neural activities of posterior cingulate cortex and thalamus during psychosocial stress processing

OBJECTIVE

Individuals with higher neuroticism are vulnerable to stress and are prone to develop depression, however, the neural mechanisms underlying it have not been clarified clearly.

METHOD

The Montreal Imaging Stress Task (MIST) was administered to 148 healthy adults during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Whole-brain voxel-wise regression analyses were used to detect associations of neuroticism with neural activity involved in perceiving and processing psychosocial stress. In addition, two-sample t-tests were conducted between the high-neurotic and low-neurotic group in order to supplement the results found in regression analyses.

RESULTS

Higher neuroticism scores were associated with higher activities in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)/precuneus and thalamus (p < 0.05, false discovery rate correction). Moreover, two sample t-tests also revealed that the high-neurotic group had higher neural stress responses in precuneus and bilateral thalamus in comparison to the low-neurotic group (p < 0.05, false discovery rate correction).

LIMITATIONS

Our study mainly recruited young adults, which may limit the generalizability of our findings.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings highlight the crucial role of PCC/precuneus and thalamus in the association between neuroticism and stress and may provide insight into the cognitive model of depression.

Working Memory Predicts Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Response to Psychosocial Stress in Males

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) function is crucial for adaptation to stress and recovery of homeostasis. Physiological alteration in the HPA axis has been shown to play a pivotal role in the generation of stress-related disorders. A growing number of studies have begun to identify which variables are possible to predict individual HPA response and associated stress vulnerability. The current study investigated the relationship between working memory and the subsequent magnitude of HPA response to psychosocial stress in a non-clinical population. Working memory was assessed utilizing an n-back task (2/3-back) in thirty-nine healthy young men, whose electroencephalograms were recorded. The HPA response was measured using the percentage increase in cortisol to an acute psychosocial stress protocol called the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Our results show that longer reaction time and smaller amplitude of P2 predict a relatively lower HPA response to stress. Our study provides new insights into how neurocognitive factors can be used to predict HPA response to acute stress.

Potential Impact of Construction Noise on Selected Zoo Animals

In anticipation of a major construction project in an urban New Zealand zoo, a study was initiated to assess the response to construction noise of selected animal species (elephant, giraffe, emu and alligator) previously observed to be sensitive to this kind of noise. The overall aim was to detect any signs of aversive responses to this noise to enable keepers to recognize these and take any necessary mitigating actions during the construction period. The experimental approach involved the creation of acoustic maps of each focal animal enclosure, a series of 90-min video recordings of the animals' behavior in response to ambient noise (control) and amplified broadcast of pre-recorded continuous and intermittent construction noise. Concentration of fecal corticosterone metabolites was also measured for the emus. Key findings were that giraffes, elephants and emus appeared to show an increase in behaviors that could indicate stress or agitation including vigilance and locomotion and may prefer quieter regions of their enclosure during sound exposure. Giraffes also increased close contact with conspecifics when exposed to construction noise. While alligators did not show clear evidence of noise-related stress, our findings indicated that all focal species showed some behavioral responses to recorded construction noise.

Impact of acute stress on itch sensation and scratching behaviour in patients with atopic dermatitis and healthy controls

BACKGROUND

Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) often report that stress aggravates their itch. However, no study has investigated if and how acute stress influences itch sensation and scratching behaviour in these patients.

OBJECTIVES

We evaluated the impact of acute stress on experimentally induced cowhage itch perception and scratching behaviour in 16 healthy subjects and 15 patients with AD.

METHODS

The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used to induce acute stress. The itch sensation, provoked by applying cowhage to the forearms, and off-site scratching behaviour (not directed at the cowhage application site) were compared before and after performing the TSST or the control condition (watching a video of landscape scenes).

RESULTS

In patients with AD, stress induced by TSST caused a significant reduction of cowhage-evoked itch but significantly increased off-site scratching behaviour. Such changes in itch perception and scratching behaviour were not observed in healthy controls. In addition, a significant positive correlation was noted between stress induced by TSST and clinical severity of eczema.

CONCLUSIONS

We speculate that psychological stress increases spontaneous scratching in patients with AD, which may enhance the vicious cycle of itching and scratching, resulting in aggravation of the skin eczema. These results provide new insights on the mechanism of acute stress-related exacerbation of itch in patients with AD.

The joint effect of personality traits and perceived stress on pedestrian behavior in a Chinese sample

While improper pedestrian behavior has become an important factor related to road traffic fatalities, especially in developing countries, the effects of personality traits and/or stress on pedestrian behavior have been rarely reported. The current study explored the joint effects of five personality traits (i.e., extraversion, openness, neuroticism, normlessness and altruism) and global perceived stress (measured with the Perceived Stress Scale-10) on pedestrian behavior (measured with the Pedestrian Behavior Scale) in 311 Chinese individuals. Results showed that altruism, neuroticism and openness significantly affected different pedestrian behavior dimensions, while global perceived stress also significantly and positively predicted positive behavior. Moreover, the effect of neuroticism on positive behavior was fully mediated by stress. Some explanations and implications are provided in the discussion section.

Stress behaviours buffer macaques from aggression

Primates (including humans) scratch when stressed. So far, such scratching has been seen as a by-product of physiological processes associated with stress, and attributed proximate, regulatory function. However, it is possible that others could use this relationship between scratching and stress as an indication of the animal's stress state, and thus scratching could potentially have social function. As a test of this theory, we measured the production of, and social responses to scratching in a group of free-ranging rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Firstly, we found that the likelihood of scratching was greater around periods of heightened social stress, such as being in proximity to high-ranking individuals, or non-friends. Secondly, when macaques scratched, subsequent interactions were less likely to be aggressive and more likely to be affiliative. Potential attackers may avoid attacking stressed individuals as stressed individuals could behave unpredictably or be weakened by their state of stress (rendering aggression risky and/or unnecessary). Observable stress behaviour could therefore have additional adaptive value by reducing the potential for escalated aggression, benefiting both senders and receivers by facilitating social cohesion. This basic ability to recognise stress in others could also be an important component in the evolution of social cognition such as empathy.

Human compulsivity: A perspective from evolutionary medicine

Biological explanations address not only proximal mechanisms (for example, the underlying neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder), but also distal mechanisms (that is, a consideration of how particular neurobiological mechanisms evolved). Evolutionary medicine has emphasized a series of explanations for vulnerability to disease, including constraints, mismatch, and tradeoffs. The current paper will consider compulsive symptoms in obsessive-compulsive and related disorders and behavioral addictions from this evolutionary perspective. It will argue that while obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is typically best conceptualized as a dysfunction, it is theoretically and clinically valuable to understand some symptoms of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders in terms of useful defenses. The symptoms of behavioral addictions can also be conceptualized in evolutionary terms (for example, mismatch), which in turn provides a sound foundation for approaching assessment and intervention.

A culture-brain link: Negative age stereotypes predict Alzheimer's disease biomarkers

Although negative age stereotypes have been found to predict adverse outcomes among older individuals, it was unknown whether the influence of stereotypes extends to brain changes associated with Alzheimer's disease. To consider this possibility, we drew on dementia-free participants, in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, whose age stereotypes were assessed decades before yearly magnetic resonance images and brain autopsies were performed. Those holding more-negative age stereotypes earlier in life had significantly steeper hippocampal-volume loss and significantly greater accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques, adjusting for relevant covariates. These findings suggest a new pathway to identifying mechanisms and potential interventions related to the pathology of Alzheimer's disease.