Emotional reactivity to daily events in youth with anxiety disorders

Validation of the Approach-Avoidance Temperament Questionnaire in Individuals with Anxiety and Depression

The Approach-Avoidance Temperament Questionnaire (ATQ) is a well-established measure assessing heightened sensitivity and reactivity to reward/positive stimuli (approach temperament) and to punishment/negative stimuli (avoidance temperament). These basic dimensions of personality are believed to be important for understanding the etiology and maintenance of anxiety and depressive disorders. Despite the ATQ's potential utility in clinical psychology research, its psychometric properties and factor structure have yet to be examined in a psychiatric sample. The aims of the present study were to 1) conduct confirmatory factor analysis to replicate the ATQ's factor structure in individuals diagnosed with an anxiety or depressive disorder (N = 244), 2) assess internal consistency and convergent and divergent validity, and 3) explore differences in approach and avoidance temperaments in individuals with versus without a diagnosis of anxiety or depression. Results confirmed the original two-factor structure of the ATQ in a clinical sample, with approach and avoidance temperaments representing orthogonal dimensions. The measure demonstrated strong internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity, and predictive validity. Individuals with anxiety and depression scored higher on avoidance items and lower on approach items compared to those without clinical diagnoses. This study supports the use of the ATQ in clinical populations.

Response of Polish Psychiatric Patients to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine in February 2022-Predictive Role of Risk Perception and Temperamental Traits

This study examined the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 on Polish patients with depression and schizophrenia. It has been hypothesized that possible changes in symptoms may be predicted by the subjective risk perception related with the Russo-Ukraine War (RUW) as well as by temperamental traits. The study was conducted with 80 patients with schizophrenia or depression. A questionnaire measuring sociodemographic characteristics, perception of risk, temperamental characteristics, and symptoms of depression and schizophrenia were used as research tools. Symptom intensity was compared with the average symptom intensity calculated on the basis of archival symptom measurements from the three consecutive months preceding the outbreak of the RUW. Predictors of change in symptoms were also analyzed, taking into account sociodemographic variables, the level of risk perception, and temperamental traits. The results indicate the specific patterns of reactions to war danger for patients with different types of psychiatric diagnosis. Depressed patients reacted with an increase in seven symptoms related to unworthiness and/or guilt, lack of interest, and/or pleasure and pessimism. The response of schizophrenic patients was related only with an increase in positive symptoms. This study highlights the need to provide more support to psychiatric patients in acute emergencies.

Spontaneous Thought Characteristics are Differentially Related to Heightened Negative Affect vs. Blunted Positive Affect in Adolescents: An Experience Sampling Study

Background

Mind-wandering has been linked to negative affect and depressive symptoms in adolescents. However, mind-wandering is an extremely broad and heterogenous cognitive construct. Some features of spontaneous thought may be related to increased negative affect, whereas others may improve affect, or have no emotional influence. We used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to investigate the characteristics of spontaneous thoughts in adolescents and their differential relations with moment-to-moment affect.

Method

One-hundred and sixteen adolescents (ages 13-18; Typical Mood (TM) = 58; Low Mood (LM) = 58) completed 5 days (2-3 times/day) of EMA (total 1,037 surveys) assessing current positive and negative affect (PA and NA) and dimensions of spontaneous thought. Multilevel models tested the relation between thought characteristics and affect.

Results

Relative to the TM group, LM adolescents had a higher frequency of mind-wandering (38% vs. 56%) and negatively-valanced thoughts during episodes of mind-wandering (21% vs. 37%). Negatively-valenced, self-referential and past-oriented thoughts were each associated with higher NA, even when controlling for plausible confounds (e.g., engagement in an unpleasant activity or social interaction, depressive symptom severity). In contrast, task-focused and positively-valenced thoughts were uniquely linked to higher PA.

Conclusion

Characteristics of spontaneous thought - including temporal orientation, self-referential quality, and task-relatedness - were differentially related to NA vs. PA in adolescents. If replicated, these findings could inform more nuanced assessments of and targeted interventions for specific dimensions of mind-wandering contributing to high NA vs. blunted PA in teens.

The Experience Sampling Method in Monitoring Social Interactions Among Children and Adolescents in School: A Systematic Literature Review

Background

The experience sampling method (ESM) is an increasingly popular data collection method to assess interpersonal dynamics in everyday life and emotions contextualized in real-world settings. As primary advantages of ESM sampling strategies include minimization of memory biases, maximization of ecological validity, and hypothesis testing at the between- and within-person levels, ESM is suggested to be appropriate for studying the daily lives of educational actors. However, ESM appears to be underutilized in education research. We, thus, aimed to systematically evaluate the methodological characteristics and quality of published ESM studies of social interactions among children and adolescents in school settings, as well as to explore how much variance in social interaction variables could be attributed to the within-person level.

Method

Using Academic Search Complete, APA PsycINFO, APA PsycArticles, ProQuest, Web of Science, Wiley Online Library, and SAGE Journals, and in accordance with PRISMA guidelines and pre-defined eligibility criteria, we conducted a systematic literature search of experience sampling studies up to November 2020. To assess methodological quality, we used a modified checklist for reporting of ESM studies.

Results

Of the originally 2 413 identified studies, a final 52 experience sampling studies were included in the present review. Findings on sample and study design characteristics generally revealed wide variability. Even if high-quality studies were associated with higher scores on the training of participants in using the ESM procedure, and use of incentives, these design strategies did not reveal a statistically significant impact on compliance. The intraclass correlation coefficient was reported in nine studies and on average 58% of the variance in social interaction variables could be attributed to within-person fluctuation between timepoints.

Conclusion

The current study is the first to systematically review ESM-based studies on social interactions among children and adolescents in the school context. These observations suggest that ESM is a potentially favorable technique for extracting complex social phenomena in real-world settings. We hope that this review will contribute to improving the quality assessment of ESM studies as well as to inform and guide future experience sampling studies, particularly regarding social phenomena with children and adolescents in educational settings.

Emotional reactivity to war stressors: An experience sampling study in people with and without different psychiatric diagnoses

There is a lack of knowledge regarding real-time emotional reactivity to high-intensity stressors, particularly in people with mental illness, a potentially vulnerable population. The current study aimed to examine negative emotional reactions to recurring high-intensity stressors within a continuous war situation, in people with different psychiatric diagnosis types. Experience sampling method was used to examine emotional reactions among 143 civilians exposed to rockets during the 2014 Israel-Gaza war, of them 18.2% with psychosis, 14.7% with anxiety or depression and 67.1% without mental illness. Participants reported exposure to rocket warning sirens and the levels of 10 negative emotions twice a day for 30 days. Negative emotional levels were higher on most emotions following high-intensity stressors (sirens), that is, emotional reactivity was demonstrated in real-time during war. Overall, no difference in reactivity was found among the three study groups. Moreover, people with anxiety/depression were less reactive than people without mental illness on sadness and being overwhelmed. The findings indicate similar and sometimes lower emotional reactivity to high-intensity stressors in people with mental illness compared to the general population. Nevertheless, people with mental illness seem to have significant emotional needs during war, to be addressed in prevention and intervention efforts.

Negative affect reactivity to stress and internalizing symptoms over the transition to college for Latinx adolescents: Buffering role of family support

Affect reactivity to stress may play a role in the development of internalizing symptoms during the college transition, a critical developmental juncture for Latinx adolescents, the largest ethnic minority group on college campuses. This study examined whether affect reactivity during high school is associated with internalizing symptoms in college and explored two potential protective factors, perceived family and peer support. Participants were 209 Latinx adolescents (Mage = 18.10; 64.4% female) who completed standard surveys and four diary assessments per day over 7 days (N > 4,500 momentary observations). First, to measure affect reactivity, we assessed whether perceived stress was associated with negative affect at the momentary level during high school (senior year). Second, we tested whether affect reactivity predicted internalizing symptoms during the first year of college. Third, we tested whether perceived family or peer support buffered the negative consequences of affect reactivity. Results indicated statistically significant within- and between-person associations between stress and negative affect. Moreover, affect reactivity significantly predicted depressive, but not anxiety, symptoms. Buffering was found for family, but not peer, support. Findings extend previous research by detecting associations between momentary affect reactivity and internalizing symptoms during a sociocultural shift in Latinx adolescents' lives and have implications for culturally appropriate programs to prevent depressive symptoms.

Protective Factors Associated with Daily Affective Reactivity and Instability During Adolescence

The daily emotional experiences of adolescents are dynamic, vary significantly across individuals, and are crucial to their psychological adjustment, warranting a need to identify factors that promote adaptive affective responses to stressors and attenuated affective instability. The objective of this study, therefore, was to examine protective factors linked to individual differences in daily affective reactivity and instability utilizing a daily diary design in a national sample of 100 U.S. adolescents (13-17 years; 40% girls; 79% White). Adolescents completed a baseline survey and then 14 daily online surveys. Better mother-adolescent communication predicted lower negative affect reactivity, whereas greater use of problem-focused coping strategies predicted higher positive affect reactivity. Greater trait resilience and instrumental support seeking predicted lower negative affect instability. Conversely, more emotional support seeking predicted higher negative affect instability. No factors were associated with positive affect instability, and father-adolescent communication was unrelated to daily affective reactivity and instability. The findings implicate specific protective factors associated with distinct aspects of affective reactivity and instability.