Don't hide your happiness! Positive emotion dissociation, social connectedness, and psychological functioning

It is now clear that positive emotion leads to enhanced psychological functioning. What is less clear, however, is just why this is so. Drawing on a social-functional perspective, we argue that positive emotional behavior that accurately signals to others the individual's internal state will enhance social connectedness. Positive emotional behavior that does not accurately signal a person's experience--such as a smile that is not felt--may impede social connectedness and, in turn, psychological functioning. This perspective suggests that (a) the degree to which experience and behavior are dissociated during positive emotional episodes, over and above level of positive behavior, should predict worse psychological functioning and (b) the effect of dissociation should be mediated by social connectedness. To test these hypotheses, we conducted a short-term prospective longitudinal study, with a baseline assessment of depressive symptoms and well-being at Time 1. Six months later, at Time 2, we used a novel within-individual laboratory paradigm to measure the degree to which positive emotional behavior was dissociated from (vs. coherent with) a participant's positive emotional experience. We also assessed level of positive behavior and experience. Then, another 6 months later, we assessed social connectedness as a mediator and depressive symptoms and well-being as outcomes at Time 3. Even when controlling for baseline functioning and for level of positive emotion behavior and experience, we found that greater positive experience-behavior dissociation at Time 2 predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of well-being at Time 3. As predicted, these associations were mediated by social connectedness.     

Parent Report of Attention Problems Predicts Later Adaptive Functioning in Children with Brain Tumors

Children with brain tumors are at risk for psychological and behavioral difficulties. This study examined the ability of parent report of attention problems, withdrawal, anxiety, and depression, as well as IQ, to predict later adaptive functioning in 42 children treated for brain tumors. Age at diagnosis, SES, gender, and scores on the Neurological Predictor Scale (NPS) also were examined as predictors. Parent report of attention problems, SES, and NPS were significant predictors of later adaptive functioning across domains. This finding highlights the ability of parent report of attention problems to predict later adaptive functioning in children treated for brain tumors.     

Positive and Negative Symptoms as Risk Factors for Later Suicidal Activity in Schizophrenics Versus Depressives

Seventy schizophrenia patients and 97 depressives were studied prospectively while in the hospital and at periodic follow-ups. Positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and post-hospital functioning were assessed at the 2-year follow-up; and suicidal activity, at the 7.5-year follow-up. The results support an interactive model of suicide risk. Psychotic symptoms (i.e., hallucinations, delusions) predict later suicidal activity only for the schizophrenia patients. Deficit symptoms (psychomotor retardation, concreteness) predict later suicidal activity only for the depressive group. Adequacy of overall functioning predicts later suicidal activity for both diagnostic groups and appears to mediate the effects of psychosis in the schizophrenia group.     

Early Fathering as a Predictor of Later Psychosocial Functioning Among Preschool Children with Behavior Problems

The present study examined the role of early fathering in subsequent trajectories of social emotional and academic functioning of preschool children with behavior problems. Participants were 128 preschool-aged children (73 boys, 55 girls) with behavior problems whose biological fathers took part in a longitudinal study. Children were 3 years of age at the beginning of the study and were assessed annually for 3 years. Early paternal depressive symptoms predicted many aspects of children’s outcome 3 years later, including externalizing and internalizing problems, social skills deficits, and lower cognitive and academic functioning, and predicted changes in children’s externalizing, internalizing, and social problems across the preschool years. Paternal socioeconomic status (SES) also consistently predicted children’s later functioning across these domains. Furthermore, self-reported paternal attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and laxness, as well as observed frequent commands were associated with later externalizing problems in children. Paternal depressive symptoms and laxness mediated the relation between paternal ADHD symptoms and child functioning. Results suggest that aspects of early father functioning play an important role in the psychosocial, cognitive, and academic development of preschool-aged children with behavior problems.     

Visual attention at three months as a predictor of cognitive functioning at two years of age

The purpose of the present study was to examine the predictive power of various cognitive skills at 3 months of age in terms of later cognitive functioning. Habituating to redundant and recovering to novel stimuli at 3 months of age were found to predict later intellectual functioning at 24 months better than 3-month global intelligence or object permanence scores. In terms of information processing skills, recovery predicted later intelligence test scores better than habituation. It is suggested that changes in cognitive functioning may be viewed as a transformation of skills from one age to another rather than as a continuum of the same skills. With regard to the cognitive abilities of the 3-month-old, it is suggested that information processing may be central to cognitive functioning at this age.     

Exploitation in Older Adults: Personal Competence Correlates of Social Vulnerability

ABSTRACT

Clinical assessment of older people at heightened risk of financial exploitation (also termed social vulnerability) is a difficult task. There are a number of previously untested domains of personal competence which could influence social vulnerability in later life. In this study, intellectual, cognitive, and social-cognitive functioning was assessed in a combined sample of dementia patients (n = 31) and neurologically healthy individuals (n = 68) aged 50 years or over. Informants provided assessments of participants' social functioning, personality, and social vulnerability. In the combined sample, multiple regression analyses revealed significant relationships between each personal competence domain and (lower) social vulnerability, apart from personality which was non-significant. General cognitive functioning and, in particular, executive functioning showed significant overlap with social vulnerability after controlling for memory and age. Social measures were also important correlates of vulnerability, indicating that both neurocognitive and social cognitive deficits may contribute to financial exploitation in later life.     

Relationships Between Men’s and Women’s Body Image and Their Psychological, Social, and Sexual Functioning

This study was designed to examine the relationships between different aspects of body image and psychological, social, and sexual functioning throughout adulthood. The respondents were 211 men and 226 women (age range 18–86 years; mean = 42.26). Respondents completed measures of self-rated attractiveness, body satisfaction, body image importance, body image behaviors, appearance comparison, social physique anxiety, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and social and sexual functioning. Body image was associated with self-esteem for all groups, but was unrelated to other aspects of psychological, social, and sexual functioning. There were some exceptions; a disturbance in body image was related to problematic social and sexual functioning among middle-aged men and to depression and anxiety symptoms in late adulthood among men and women. Middle-aged men who presented with the type of body image disturbance typical of women were more likely to have impaired interpersonal functioning. These results demonstrate that social aspects of body image appear to be important in understanding psychological functioning in later life.     

Difficulties in interpersonal relationships associated with personality disorders and axis I disorders: a community-based longitudinal investigation

A longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the association between Axis I and Axis II psychiatric disorders, interpersonal relationships, and global functioning among men in the community. Structured clinical interviews assessing Axis I and Axis II psychiatric disorders, global assessments of functioning, and questionnaires assessing social support, social conflict, and loneliness were administered to a community sample of 95 HIV+ and 45 HIV- men. The questionnaires were readministered 1 year later. Results indicated that (a) Personality disorders (PDs) and unipolar depressive disorders were associated with loneliness, social conflict, and low levels of social support after HIV status was controlled statistically; (b) PDs were associated with interpersonal and global impairment after HIV status and co-occurring Axis I disorders were controlled statistically; (c) Axis I disorders were associated with global impairment, but were not associated with interpersonal difficulties after HIV status and PDs were controlled statistically; (d) PDs, but not Axis I disorders, predicted increases in social conflict and global impairment after HIV status was controlled statistically; (e) PDs continued to predict increases in global impairment after both Axis I disorders and HIV status were controlled statistically; and (f) HIV+ men reported more loneliness, less social support, and had a higher prevalence of substance use disorders than HIV- men. The present findings are of particular interest because they suggest that PDs are associated with loneliness, social conflict, and a lack of social support among men in the community, whether or not Axis I disorders are present.     

Precursors of social emotional functioning among full-term and preterm infants at 12 months: Early infant withdrawal behavior and symptoms of maternal depression

This study forms part of a longitudinal investigation of early infant social withdrawal, maternal symptoms of depression and later child social emotional functioning. The sample consisted of a group of full-term infants (N = 238) and their mothers, and a group of moderately premature infants (N = 64) and their mothers. At 3 months, the infants were observed with the Alarm Distress Baby Scale (ADBB) and the mothers completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). At 12 months, the mothers filled out questionnaires about the infants’ social emotional functioning (Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment and the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-Social Emotional). At 3 months, as we have previously shown, the premature infants had exhibited more withdrawal behavior and their mothers reported elevated maternal depressive symptoms as compared with the full-born group. At 12 months the mothers of the premature infants reported more child internalizing behavior. These data suggest that infant withdrawal behavior as well as maternal depressive mood may serve as sensitive indices of early risk status. Further, the results suggest that early maternal depressive symptoms are a salient predictor of later child social emotional functioning. However, neither early infant withdrawal behavior, nor gestational age, did significantly predict social emotional outcome at 12 months. It should be noted that the differences in strength of the relations between ADBB and EPDS, respectively, to the outcome at 12 months was modest. An implication of the study is that clinicians should be aware of the complex interplay between early infant withdrawal and signs of maternal postpartum depression in planning ports of entry for early intervention.     

Longitudinal associations among child maltreatment, social functioning, and cortisol regulation

Child maltreatment increases the risk for impaired social functioning and cortisol regulation. However, the longitudinal interplay among these factors is still unclear. This study aimed to shed light on the effect of maltreatment on social functioning and cortisol regulation over time. The sample consisted of 236 children (mean age 7.64 years, SD = 1.36; 125 maltreated children and 111 nonmaltreated children, 128 boys and 108 girls) who attended a week-long summer camp for 2 consecutive years. Saliva was collected during 5 days at 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Means of morning and afternoon cortisol levels and cortisol change (difference between morning and afternoon levels, controlled for morning levels) were used to group the children into low-, medium-, and high-cortisol groups. Prosocial, disruptive/aggressive, and withdrawn behaviors were assessed using information from peers and counselors. Maltreated children showed less prosocial and more disruptive/aggressive and withdrawn behavior. Results of structural equation modeling analyses indicated that there were indirect effects of maltreatment on Year 2 morning cortisol via prosocial and disruptive/aggressive behavior: Lower levels of prosocial behavior and higher levels of disruptive/aggressive behavior were related to lower morning cortisol levels 1 year later. Withdrawn behavior was related to higher afternoon cortisol values 1 year later. Results of this study suggest that maltreated children are more likely to experience difficulties in social functioning, which in turn is related to cortisol regulation 1 year later. This altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis functioning may put children at risk for later psychopathology.     

Social effectiveness therapy for children: five years later

Social Effectiveness Therapy for Children (SET-C) is a comprehensive behavioral treatment combining social skills training, peer generalization experiences, and individualized in vivo exposure for the treatment of social phobia in youth. SET-C results in positive treatment outcome and its effects are maintained at least 3 years later. In this investigation, maintenance of treatment gains 3, 4, and 5 years later was examined using a multidimensional assessment strategy consisting of self-report, parental report, clinician ratings, and direct behavioral assessment. Furthermore, the overall functioning of adolescents treated with SET-C 5 years earlier was compared with that of a group of adolescents who never suffered from psychological disorders. All posttreatment gains were maintained 5 years later, and the general functioning of SET-C treatment responders was not significantly different from those who never had a disorder. The data indicate that SET-C results in long-term positive effects for youth suffering from social phobia.     

The relation between cognitive and motor performance and their relevance for children’s transition to school: A latent variable approach

Both theoretically and empirically there is a continuous interest in understanding the specific relation between cognitive and motor development in childhood. In the present longitudinal study including three measurement points, this relation was targeted. At the beginning of the study, the participating children were 5–6-year-olds. By assessing participants’ fine motor skills, their executive functioning, and their non-verbal intelligence, their cross-sectional and cross-lagged interrelations were examined. Additionally, performance in these three areas was used to predict early school achievement (in terms of mathematics, reading, and spelling) at the end of participants’ first grade. Correlational analyses and structural equation modeling revealed that fine motor skills, non-verbal intelligence and executive functioning were significantly interrelated. Both fine motor skills and intelligence had significant links to later school achievement. However, when executive functioning was additionally included into the prediction of early academic achievement, fine motor skills and non-verbal intelligence were no longer significantly associated with later school performance suggesting that executive functioning plays an important role for the motor-cognitive performance link.     

A one year study of coping,social support and quality of life in parkinson's disease

Abstract

The role of coping and social support in the quality of life for Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients is not well understood. Most studies are cross-sectional and concentrate on depression as an outcome measure. The aim of the present study was to explore the role of coping and social support in quality of life for patients with PD. Self-report measures were completed by 105 sufferers of PD; 75 completed the same questionnaire a year later. Patients had the most problems with social function, followed by problems with mobility control and psychological autonomy and communication. After controlling for age, gender and illness duration, the number of PD symptoms predicted mobility control, social functioning and psychological function. Passive coping explained additional variance in most functional domains with more passive coping being related to increased problems. The quality of life was highly stable over the course of the year. Active coping was related to superior psychological functioning one year later. In fact, this was the only coping and social support variable related to functioning after one year, when controlling for previous functions. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of symptom management in PD.     

儿童2岁时情绪调节策略预测4岁时社会行为

考察儿童情绪调节的早期发展对以后社会行为的预测。对 176名儿童进行 2年追踪 :2岁时 ,观察他们在陌生情境和延迟满足情境下的情绪调节策略。 4岁时 ,对他们在陌生同伴情境中的自由游戏活动进行观察 ,评价其社会交往能力和社会退缩性。在儿童完成分车票任务和收拾玩具过程中对其任务坚持性进行评价。通过回归分析我们发现在预测 4岁时社会行为上早期情绪调节策略的主效应显著。这表明 2岁时的情绪调节策略能显著地预测儿童 4岁时的社会行为     

Social networks as assets and liabilities in recovery from stroke by geriatric patients

Interactions in the social networks of 48 elderly stroke patients were examined as factors influencing outcomes after hospital discharge. Structured interviews assessed the frequency of perceived positive and negative interactions, as well as patients' behavioral independence, time use, personal adjustment, and cognitive functioning. Negative interactions occurred less frequently than positive ones. After controlling for status at hospital discharge, negative and positive interactions differentially explained variance in morale, psychiatric symptoms, and cognitive functioning. Although negative interactions were associated with poorer morale and greater psychiatric symptoms, positive interactions were associated with less mental confusion. Patients' reporting and not reporting negative interactions did not differ significantly on a variety of social and demographic variables previously shown to predict social interactions and well-being. Findings indicate that social interactions may both impede and facilitate rehabilitation for older adults and have implications for both theories of social support and the design of therapeutic interventions.     

Prospective relationships between drug problems and work adjustment in a community sample of adults

The prospective relationships between drug problems and work adjustment (e.g., job instability, job satisfaction) were examined in a community sample of 470 adults. Polydrug problems (alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine problem drug use) were both predictors and consequences of work adjustment. In partial support of the impaired functioning theory, polydrug problems predicted reduced job satisfaction 4 years later. Supporting the work-related strain theory, early job instability predicted polydrug problems 4 years later. In support of the theory of general deviance, low social conformity predicted later job instability. Finally, supporting social support theory, early support for drug problems reduced polydrug problems and increased job satisfaction 4 years later.     

IMPACT OF JOINT ATTENTION ON SOCIAL‐COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN INTERNATIONALLY ADOPTED CHILDREN

Internationally adopted (IA) children have often experienced early adversity and are at risk for long‐term deficiencies in multiple developmental domains. This study examined the association between IA children's joint attention (JA) soon after arrival and later cognitive, communicative, and socioemotional competency 6 months’ postadoption. We expected a child's initial JA would positively predict later cognitive, communication, and social ability. IA children (n = 63) adopted from Eastern Europe were seen soon after their arrival into the United States to assess their JA. Their socioemotional competency, social communication, and cognitive abilities were measured at a follow‐up session 6 months’ postadoption. We found that higher order JA was positively associated with measures of social relatedness. Furthermore, individual hierarchical regressions of each measure of JA (higher order JA, initiating JA, responding to JA, and initiating behavior requests [BR]) considered with age‐at‐adoption showed that each measure was an independent and positive predictor of Mullen outcomes in the receptive and expressive language domains. These results suggest that JA may be a sensitive predictor of subsequent functioning in the social, communicative, and cognitive domains. Thus, assessing JA soon after arrival has the potential to identify at‐risk IA children, and interventions targeting JA may support those children in overcoming the negative impacts of early adversity.     

Family interaction and child outcome in a high-risk sample

This study hypothesized that the quality of family interaction would predict longitudinally children's follow-up functioning. The subjects were 97 boys, functioning on the average within the normal range but considered to be at risk for psychopathology because one parent had previously been hospitalized for psychiatric illness. Family measures of deviant and healthy communication and of activity, balance, and warmth related significantly to children's competent social/emotional/cognitive functioning at a 3-yr. follow-up. The findings suggest the importance of considering multiple predictors of outcome for children and of employing clinical interventions that attend to more than one aspect of family functioning.     

Dispositional emotionality and regulation: their role in predicting quality of social functioning

Individual differences in emotionality and regulation are central to conceptions of temperament and personality. In this article, conceptions of emotionality and regulation and ways in which they predict social functioning are examined. Linear (including additive) and nonlinear effects are reviewed. In addition, data on mediational and moderational relations from a longitudinal study are presented. The effects of attention regulation on social functioning were mediated by resiliency, and this relation was moderated by negative emotionality at the first, but not second, assessment. Negative emotionality moderated the relation of behavior regulation to socially appropriate/prosocial behavior. These results highlight the importance of examining different types of regulation and the ways in which dispositional characteristics interact in predicting social outcomes.     

Positive parenting predicts cortisol functioning six years later in young adults

Research which indicates that adverse experiences influence hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal (HPA) axis functioning illustrates the social environment ‘getting under the skin’. The present study extended this literature by examining whether positive social forces within the caregiving environment can also impact cortisol functioning. We conducted a prospective investigation of over 300 youth, half of whom were White and half were Black. Attachment, bonding and parental rewards for positive behaviors were observed or reported by the youth as an 8th grader. Twelve repeated measures of salivary cortisol were examined six years later when youth were young adults (mean age 20). Race differences were explored. Stronger attachment, bonding and teen‐reported positive parenting were predictive of high waking cortisol and steeper diurnal slopes six years later. This effect was nonlinear and additive, such that youth whose social contexts were characterized by the strongest attachment, bonding and rewarding parental relationships had the highest waking cortisol. When effects were moderated by race, findings were such that links of positive parenting with HPA functioning were more consistent for White than Black youth. Findings suggest that positive aspects of the caregiving environment can also ‘get under the skin’ and these effects are additive across a range of caregiving indices. These findings dovetail with an emerging literature on the powerful role of social support for shaping the body's stress response system and are interpreted as consistent with the Adaptive Calibration Model which suggests that cortisol regulation can have adaptive significance. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/8evHXpt_TXM .