The Prevalence of Flight Anxiety in Norwegian Airline Passengers

Abstract

A study of 315 passengers from eight randomly selected domestic flights in Norway was performed to investigate the prevalence of flight anxiety. There were 31% females and 69% males (mean age 34 and 38 yrs. respectively) with a response rate of 85%. The results showed that the females were most affected: 55% were at least sometimes afraid and 21% always afraid as compared to 45% and 8% in the males. For both sexes, 2% were found to be flight phobics. There was no difference in flight anxiety between the sexes for those with more than 10 flights during the last two years. The flight anxiety had lasted for at leat 10 years for 74% of those affected. “Turbulence” was the item causing most discomfort, followed by “the landing phase” and “ascending”. A comparison was made with a group matched according to age and number of flights (> 10 during the previous two years) where the questionnaires were given at home. The males but not the females, reported significantly more anxiety when responding during flights that at home.     

Hyperarousal and dissociation: a study of novice skydivers

Peritraumatic dissociation describes alterations in awareness that occur during or immediately after a trauma. This study investigated a simulated form of peritraumatic dissociation by indexing the responses of skydivers (N=100) who were participating in their first skydive. Prior to jumping, participants completed the Beck anxiety inventory, the Tellegen absorption scale, and ratings of predictability and uncontrollability. Immediately after the jump, they completed the peritraumatic dissociative experiences questionnaire and the physical reactions scale. Responses indicated that the skydive elicited extreme anxiety, hyperarousal, and peritraumatic dissociation in a significant proportion of skydivers. Multiple regression analyses indicated that hyperarousal, and to a lesser extent anxiety, were strongly predictive of peritraumatic dissociative reactions. These results are discussed in terms of proposals that peritraumatic dissociation is mediated by hyperarousal.     

Infants with colic: A study of maternal stress and anxiety

The purpose of this article is to broaden our understanding of colic and to explore the effects of infant colic both on the mother's stress level and on her anxiety about separation from her infant. A “colic” group of 20 mother-infant dyads was compared with a second, control “noncolic” group of equal size. Significant group differences in the amount of time the infants cried, fussed, and were in a quiet/awake state were found. Although no difference in maternal trait anxiety was found, mothers in the colic group reported higher levels of stress associated with their infants' crying behavior. This stress was inversely related to the amount of time the infants slept during a 24-hour period. Mothers in the colic group also expressed significantly greater anxiety about separating from their infants for short periods of time; but the lack of freedom was significantly less of a problem for them than it was for mothers in the noncolic group. We conclude that mothers of difficult infants are more anxious about being separated from their infants, but do not appear to feel “trapped” by their extra maternal duties.     

Predictive validity of the CognitiveVs. Somatic Anxiety Distinction

The purpose of this study was to test the predictive validity of an instrument, The Cognitive-Somatic Anxiety Questionnaire (CSAQ), which purports to measure separately cognitive and somatic anxiety. Twelve subjects with either predominantly cognitive or somatic anxiety received a treatment that matched their predominant anxiety mode (“matched”), and twelve received a treatment which addressed the secondary anxiety mode (“mismatched”). After five sessions, the “matched” subjects reported significantly fewer anxiety symptoms than the “mismatched” subjects. The results support the predictive validity of the CSAQ, and suggest that anxiety may not be a unidimensional phenomenon. The implications of these results for clinical practice are discussed.     

Suppressing thoughts of past events: Are repressive copers good suppressors?

We investigated the ability of individuals with a “repressive coping style” to strategically control thoughts of events from their past, which made them feel either proud or embarrassed, within the thought suppression paradigm. We examined whether (low) anxiety and (high) defensiveness interacts to influence suppression success over and above anxiety and defensiveness alone using low anxious, repressor, high anxious, and defensive high anxious groups. For the emotionally positive “proud event”, all groups avoided event‐related thoughts when instructed to suppress. For the emotionally negative “embarrassed event”, repressors reported fewer event‐related thoughts than all other groups, even when not instructed to suppress. Repressors also reported the lowest level of suppression effort and showed no “rebound”. We discuss repressors' memory performance in terms of their natural tendency to avoid negative self‐referent material, and thought and memory control in everyday life.     

Examining the Role of Implicit Emotional Judgments in Social Anxiety and Experiential Avoidance

This study sought to examine the relationship of implicit emotional judgments with experiential avoidance (EA) and social anxiety. A sample of 61 college students completed the Emotional Judgment – Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (EJ-IRAP) as well as a public speaking challenge. Implicit judgments were related to greater self-reported EA, anxiety sensitivity, emotional judgments and social anxiety as well as lower performance ratings and willingness in the public speaking challenge. Effects differed by trial type with “Anxiety is bad” biases related to greater EA/anxiety, while “calm is bad” biases related to lower EA/anxiety (“Good” biases were generally unrelated to outcomes). Implicit emotional judgments moderated the relationship of heart rate during the speech with speech time and willingness, such that increases in heart rate were only related to lower speech time and willingness among those high in implicit judgments. Implicit judgments predicted social anxiety above and beyond self-report EA measures. Implicit emotional judgments appear to have a functional role in EA and anxiety that warrants further research.     

Guilty knowledge versus innocent associations: Effects of trait anxiety and stimulus context on skin conductance

A simulated lie detection procedure was used to investigate skin conductance responsivity among self-reported skin responders. Subjects were grouped according to reported trait anxiety as measured by Lykken's Activity Preference Questionnaire and then engaged in either a mock crime or a neutral activity. The “crime” gave subjects “guilty knowledge,” and the neutral task provided “innocent associations” to relevant stimuli imbedded in each scenario. Subjects were then interrogated using Lykken's Guilty Knowledge technique. Anxiety classification, guilty vs. innocent treatment, and type of stimulus were manipulated in a 2 × 2 × (2) factorial design. Results for differential responsivity scores showed significant main and interaction effects. Low-anxiety subjects showed almost no effects, but highly anxious subjects responded strongly in the “guilty” rather than the “innocent” treatment. Contrary to previous findings, results showed a substantial—but qualified—relationship between self-reported anxiety and electrodermal responsivity. Also, the Guilty Knowledge technique with rank scoring yielded 97.5% correct classification.     

Characteristics of Schizogenic Families During a Joint Story-Telling Task

For a joint family story-telling task, families with a schizophrenic offspring were compared to normal families on the completeness and clarity of the final composite stories and on their interactional behavior. The composite stories from schizogenic families were more “vague and confused”, fragmented, and less complete as to the five components required to satisfy the task instructions. Schizogenic families displayed more conflict, failure, and confusion during the interactional task than control families, and, fathers and mothers of schizophrenic offspring displayed more “anxiety and tension”, “depressive mood”, “evasiveness” and “lack of interest” than fathers and mothers of normal families. Mothers of schizophrenic offspring were also described as more “hostile” than control mothers. Comparing schizogenic families from which the patient was absent during the task with schizogenic families with the patient present, and with control families, indicated that the central findings were not attributable to the immediate presence and participation of the schizophrenic member.     

How mask gap impacts discrimination and anxiety during COVID-19: A study on overseas Chinese during the first outbreak in 2020

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought unrelenting waves of xenophobia against people representing vulnerable populations, among them those identified as Asians or more specifically as Chinese. Although previous studies have found that some discriminatory actions against overseas Chinese were closely related to mask use during the pandemic, there is not much evidence that explicates what might be the social-cultural triggers or impact of self-other mask discrepancy. The current study aims to examine how a mask use gap impacts perceived discrimination and anxiety during the first outbreak of COVID-19, and how perceived discrimination mediates the mask gap–anxiety relationship. This was operationalized by developing a new “mask gap” variable to capture the incongruent mask use norms between Chines and others around them in the host country. Data were collected from a cross-sectional sample of Chinese (n = 745) residing in 21 countries from March to May 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic. Results showed the newly explicated “mask gap” variable was associated with a higher level of anxiety. In addition, perceived discrimination mediated the mask gap-anxiety relationship. These findings advance both theoretical and practical understandings of how incongruent social norms impact discrimination and mental health during health threat events like the COVID-19 pandemic. The results also suggest important implications for both societal responses and the mental health of sojourners or immigrants during pandemics.     

Perceived Intrafamilial Connectedness and Autonomy in Families With and Without an Anxious Family Member: A Multiple Informant Approach

Perceived intrafamilial “emotional connectedness” and “autonomy” were investigated within families with and without an anxious family member using a multiple informant approach. The sample consisted of 32 mothers with a current anxiety disorder and 56 controls, their partners, and their anxious and nonanxious teenage children. No differences were found with respect to the perceived family relationships of family members with versus without anxious mothers. However, compared with nonanxious adolescents, anxious adolescents perceived less autonomy in relation to both parents. Mothers of anxious adolescents also perceived their children to be less autonomous toward them and their partners, than mothers of nonanxious adolescents. In contrast with “autonomy,” “emotional connectedness” was not reported to be different between families with and without an anxious adolescent. Agreement among family members and the importance of perceived individual autonomy in the development of anxiety are discussed.     

Anxiety and bodily symptoms under the threat of missile attacks: The israeli scene

Abstract

The present research, conducted in Israel during the recent “Desert Storm” operation in the Gulf, sets out to assess the degree of anxiety and bodily symptoms of Israeli citizens, threatened by Scud missile attacks and undergoing a period of acute stress. Data were gathered via questionnaires distributed during the crisis period to over 500 respondents, most of them residing in Haifa, one of the high-risk areas for the missile attacks at the time. State anxiety was reported to be highly elevated during the crisis period, in comparison with norm group data collected during normal times. The most frequently reported bodily symptoms were changes in eating habits (loss of appetite or overeating), fatigue, and insomnia. Women reported more anxiety and bodily symptoms, on average, than men, as well as higher tension, fear and depression. The younger adults in the sample reported more anxiety and bodily symptoms, as well as tension, fear and depression, than their older counterparts. Lower levels of fear and depression were reported at the later stages of the crisis than at the earlier ones; most stress indicators evidenced lower levels with the passage of time. Finally, a strong positive relationship between anxiety and bodily symptoms was found, over and above the contribution of background variables and response tendencies. The possible explanations for the effects of background variables, as well as the strong relationship between anxiety and symptoms reported, are discussed.     

Latent class analysis of indicators of intolerance of uncertainty

Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU ) is a transdiagnostic vulnerability factor involved in depression and anxiety symptoms and disorders. IU encompasses Prospective IU (“Unforeseen events upset me greatly”) and Inhibitory IU (“The smallest doubt can stop me from acting”). Research has yet to explore whether subgroups or classes of people exist characterized by different profiles of IU . This study used latent class analysis to identify such subgroups and examined if different classes of IU were distinct in terms of several cognitive vulnerabilities and psychological symptoms. Data were obtained from 519 students completing a 12‐item measure of IU . Four subgroups were identified, characterized by low IU , predominantly Prospective IU , predominantly Inhibitory IU , and high IU , respectively. People in the high IU class reported cognitive vulnerabilities and depression and anxiety more than people in the low IU class. Inhibitory IU was more strongly associated with poor outcomes than was Prospective IU .     

“Memory of Water” Without Water: Modeling of Benveniste’s Experiments with a Personalist Interpretation of Probability

Benveniste’s experiments were at the origin of a scientific controversy that has never been satisfactorily resolved. Hypotheses based on modifications of water structure that were proposed to explain these experiments (“memory of water”) were generally considered as quite improbable. In the present paper, we show that Benveniste’s experiments violated the law of total probability, one of the pillars of classical probability theory. Although this could suggest that quantum logic was at work, the decoherence process is however at first sight an obstacle to describe this macroscopic experimental situation. Based on the principles of a personalist view of probability (quantum Bayesianism or QBism), a modeling could nevertheless be built that fitted the outcomes reported in Benveniste’s experiments. Indeed, in QBism, there is no split between microscopic and macroscopic, but between the world where an agent lives and his internal experience of that world. The outcome of an experiment is thus displaced from the object to its perception by an agent. By taking into account both the personalist view of probability and measurement fluctuations, all characteristics of Benveniste’s experiments could be described in a simple modeling: change of the biological system from resting state to “activated” state, concordance of “expected” and observed outcomes and apparent “jumping” of “biological activities” from sample to sample. No hypothesis on change of water structure was necessary. In conclusion, a modeling of Benveniste’s experiments based on a personalist view of probability offers for the first time a logical framework for these experiments that have remained controversial and paradoxical till date.     

Spared at Random: Survivor Reactions in the Gay Community1

Many gay men who have tested negative for HIV were sexually active prior to a general awareness of how HIV is transmitted. Based on the work of Lifton (1980), such HIV-negative gay men may be considered “survivors” since they have witnessed the deaths of many members of their community and have been spared. Survivors may be expected to manifest one or more of three survivor reactions: guilt about surviving (HIV-related guilt), anxiety about dying (AIDS-related death anxiety), and blunted affect. The present study employed structural equation modeling in samples of HIV-negative (N= 129) and HIV-positive (N= 95) gay men to assess psychological and behavioral variables predictive of the presence of a survivor reaction. Survivor reactions were uniquely predicted among HIV-negative gay men. The larger the number of sexual partners HIV-negative gay men reported having had prior to 1984, the more likely they were to experience a survivor reaction. Greater satisfaction with social support from gay friends, and, indirectly, gay-related community group involvement, was associated with being less likely to experience a survivor reaction.     

Gender and mathematics anxiety: The role of math-related experiences and opinions

Abstract

Research has indicated that women may be particularly prone to experiencing mathematics anxiety and, to account for this, the sex-role socialization hypothesis posits that women are more math anxious because they have had less experience with mathematics and have more negative opinions regarding mathematics. In contrast, the math experiences hypothesis suggests that math anxiety is not truly a gender-related phenomenon, but rather is due to poor mathematical preparation, regardless of gender. The present study pitted the “sex-role” hypothesis against the “math experience” hypothesis in an examination of the relation between gender and math anxiety. One hundred and seventy-one university students completed a measure of math anxiety and a series of questions regarding their math marks, opinions, and experiences throughout their educational history. The findings clearly supported the math experience hypothesis of math anxiety, for differences in math marks, opinions, and experiences were found between non-math-anxious, moderately math-anxious, and highly math-anxious students. The few gender differences that were found indicated that the female students frequently reported higher math marks than those reported by male students. We suggest that the relation between gender and mathematics anxiety may be accounted for by gender-linked reporting biases. The limitations of the study are addressed and suggestions for future research are made.     

On the advantage of autobiographical memory pliability: implantation of positive self-defining memories reduces trait anxiety

This paper is devoted to the mechanism of the positive construction of autobiographical memory. Positive construction consists of the spontaneous transformation of memories in the direction of the subjective enhancement of self-competence in past activities to anticipate improvement over time. We speculated that trait anxiety may indicate a failure to exhibit this mechanism that results in a deficit of affirmative self-esteem. We hypothesised that the implantation of positive self-defining memories in anxiety-evoking domains would decrease trait anxiety. One hundred twenty adults recollected three negative self-defining memories. Then, half of the participants imagined episodes of desired behaviour that differed from the originally recollected ones either in discussion or in hypnosis. Thirty participants experienced a hypnotic state without any references to memories, and the rest formed the control group. Subjects from the “Memory Implantation in Hypnosis” group became unable to distinguish the originally reported memories from the imagined ones, exhibited decreased trait anxiety scores after a 4-month delay, and reported enhanced self-esteem. In contrast, the participants from the “Hypnosis with no reference to the past” group exhibited decreased scores at a short delay but later returned to their original scores. These findings highlight the power of cured episodic-like autobiographical memory for updating the self.     

Aids-risk behavior among homosexual males: The role of attitudes and substance abuse

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a broad survey of homosexual males regarding AIDS-risk behavior. A very high proportion reported both anxiety over possible HIV infection, and a high probability of exposure to HIV. Although over 80% of respondents reported changes in sexual behavior, the frequency of monogamous, stable relationships is unchanged from that found 16 years ago, and 19% reported continued frequent sexual partners. Consistent with “health belief” models, fear of future exposure and perceived control over behavior were strongly related to behavioral change. However, those who felt they had already been exposed were not substantially more likely to decrease current AIDS-risk behavior, which may have important public health ramifications. Alcohol and drug abuse were related to “high risk” behavior, particularly among respondents who are generally motivated to use substances to decrease “tension” or self-monitoring. Thus, using substances to decrease stress may not only relate to substance abuse itself, but to the role of substances in increasing AIDS-risk behavior.     

Suicide in the Subway: Psychodynamic Aspects*

ABSTRACT: Fifty-one cases of suicide attempts in the subway have been investigated to examine the question of whether the method used has psychodynamic significance or is merely adventitious. We found that no single characteristic distinguished subway suicide from all other suicide modalities, although as a group the subway cases had a higher proportion of psychotic and previously suicidal patients than other series quoted in the literature. However, there were important differences between subway suicide cases seeking a “traumatic” death (jumping in front of a train; lying across the track awaiting destruction) and those seeking a “nontraumatic” death (electrocution on the live “third rail”). The traumatic group had histories of exposure to violence, other traumatic suicide attempts, hostile or destructive delusions, and many “destroy” words on psychological test protocols. The smaller nontraumatic group had no such history of exposure to violence; their previous suicide attempts were nontraumatic; delusions, when present, were not menacing; and the psychological tests showed more “escape” words than “destroy” words.     

Preference for local or general anesthesia,coping dispositions,learned resourcefulness and coping with surgery

Abstract

People were found to differ in their coping dispositions (as measured with the MBSS, Miller, 1987): those who habitually attend to threatening cues (“monitors”) and those who distract themselves from these cues (“blunters”). However, some people are equally high on both coping dispositions and they were considered to be in a “dispositional conflict”. Furthermore, under certain circumstances people may prefer to act in a way that is inconsistent with their coping disposition; monitors who prefer blunting strategies and blunters who prefer monitoring strategies (labeled here as “disposition-behavior conflict”). Both conflicts were hypothesized to be associated with higher levels of trait anxiety and poorer coping. 59 men scheduled for surgery were assessed as to their coping disposition (monitors or blunters) and their preference for local or general anesthesia, and their learned resourcefulness (selfantrol skills). Monitors who chose general anesthesia (and thus were unable to monitor their own surgery) and blunters who chose local anesthesia (and thus were unable to blunt) were defined as being in a disposition-behavior conflict. Re- and post-surgery measures of anxiety and dysphoria and post-surgery nurses' ratings were used for assessing coping with surgery. Patients who were either high on dispositional conflict or showed a disposition-behavior conflict were higher on trait anxiety and showed poorer post-surgery coping in comparison to patients without such conflicts. Learned resourcefulness was not related to better coping nor to the two conflicts with the exception that patients with a disposition-behavior conflict reported less confidence in their self-control abilities. Overall, preference for local anesthesia predicted better post-surgery coping.