The role of personality in exposure and reactivity to interpersonal stress in relation to arthritis disease activity and negative affect in women.

The role of personality in the stress process was examined in older women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) and in healthy controls (HCs). Reactivity was examined in relation to arthritis disease activity and negative affect. Interpersonal sensitivity and neuroticism were measured in questionnaires, and interpersonal stress, negative affect, and disease activity were assessed weekly for 12 weeks. Interpersonal sensitivity was defined as an excessive sensitivity to the behavior and feelings of others. Regarding exposure, neuroticism was related to interpersonal stress for all groups. Regarding reactivity, interpersonal sensitivity interacted with interpersonal stress to predicted elevations in negative affect in all groups and elevations in disease activity in the arthritis groups. There were no significant differences in the effects.     

Positive and negative social ties among older adults: Measurement models and the prediction of psychological distress and well-being

The factor structure of positive and negative social ties was studied among 246 older adults who were either recently physically disabled, recently conjugally bereaved, or matched controls. Covariance structure analyses were carried out on a network measure to determine whether positive and negative social ties represent independent domains of social experience, and to assess the degree to which their structure is invariant across groups undergoing major loss transitions. Positive and negative social ties were found to be independent and there was substantial similarity in their factor structure across the three groups. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that, whereas positive social ties were related to psychological well-being, negative social ties were predictive of both psychological well-being and distress. These results demonstrate the importance of assessing both positive and negative ties in explaining the psychological adjustment of older adults.     

An Examination of Concurrent and Incremental Validity of Four Mindfulness Scales

General consensus among psychologists supports the beneficial effects of mindfulness in the treatment of a wide range of clinical conditions such as personality, mood, and anxiety disorders. Several scales used to assess this psychological construct, mainly rooted in Eastern traditions, are currently available to researchers and clinicians. However, the conceptualization and measurement of mindfulness has been considerably diverse. The present study examines the concurrent and incremental validity of four scales: the Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale (PHLMS), the Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS), the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and the Langer Mindfulness Scale (LMS). Two independent samples of 176 adults and 397 students, respectively, were recruited. With few exceptions, results were consistent across the two samples and indicated that measures based on an Eastern conceptualization of mindfulness (TMS, PHLMS, and FFMQ) show a different pattern of association with the chosen outcomes compared to the LMS, which is based on a Western conceptualization. Overall, the PHLMS showed the strongest predictive effects and the LMS the weakest in terms of both number of predicted criteria and average effect size. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Effect of Religiosity on Voice

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between religiosity and phonatory behavior. A total of 186 participants participated in a survey that included four sections: demographic data, extent of religiosity, history of dysphonia, phonatory behavior and laryngeal manipulation, in addition to the Voice Handicap Index (VHI-10). There was no significant association between the prevalence of phonatory symptoms and any of the religiosity questions. There was no significant association between phonatory behavior, history of laryngeal manipulation and any of the religiosity questions. There was also no significant association between the score of the Voice Handicap Index and any of the five religiosity questions. There is no association between religiosity and prevalence of phonatory disturbances, phonotraumatic behavior and/or history of laryngeal manipulation.     

A daytime nap enhances visual working memory performance and alters event-related delay activity

Working memory (WM) is impaired following sleep loss and may be improved after a nap. The goal of the current study was to better understand sleep-related WM enhancement by: (1) employing a WM task that assesses the ability to hold and report visual representations as well as the fidelity of the reports on a fine scale, (2) investigating neurophysiological properties of sleep and WM capacity as potential predictors or moderators of sleep-related enhancement, and (3) exploring frontal and occipital event-related delay activity to index the neural processing of stimuli in WM. In a within-subjects design, 36 young adults (M_age = 20, 20 men, 16 women) completed a 300-trial, continuous-report task of visual WM following a 90-min nap opportunity and an equivalent period of wakefulness. Mixed-effect models were used to estimate the odds of successful WM reports and the fidelity of those reports. The odds of a successful report were approximately equal between nap and wake conditions for the start of the task, but by the end, the odds of success were 1.26 times greater in the nap condition. Successful WM reports were more accurate after a nap, independent of the time on task. Neither WM capacity nor any of the sleep variables measured were found to significantly moderate the nap effect on WM. Lastly, napping resulted in amplitude changes for frontal and occipital delay activity relative to the wake condition. The findings are discussed in relation to contemporary models of visual WM and the role of sleep in sustained attention.