Desensitization to media violence: links with habitual media violence exposure, aggressive cognitions, and aggressive behavior

This study examined the links between desensitization to violent media stimuli and habitual media violence exposure as a predictor and aggressive cognitions and behavior as outcome variables. Two weeks after completing measures of habitual media violence exposure, trait aggression, trait arousability, and normative beliefs about aggression, undergraduates (N = 303) saw a violent film clip and a sad or a funny comparison clip. Skin conductance level (SCL) was measured continuously, and ratings of anxious and pleasant arousal were obtained after each clip. Following the clips, participants completed a lexical decision task to measure accessibility of aggressive cognitions and a competitive reaction time task to measure aggressive behavior. Habitual media violence exposure correlated negatively with SCL during violent clips and positively with pleasant arousal, response times for aggressive words, and trait aggression, but it was unrelated to anxious arousal and aggressive responding during the reaction time task. In path analyses controlling for trait aggression, normative beliefs, and trait arousability, habitual media violence exposure predicted faster accessibility of aggressive cognitions, partly mediated by higher pleasant arousal. Unprovoked aggression during the reaction time task was predicted by lower anxious arousal. Neither habitual media violence usage nor anxious or pleasant arousal predicted provoked aggression during the laboratory task, and SCL was unrelated to aggressive cognitions and behavior. No relations were found between habitual media violence viewing and arousal in response to the sad and funny film clips, and arousal in response to the sad and funny clips did not predict aggressive cognitions or aggressive behavior on the laboratory task. This suggests that the observed desensitization effects are specific to violent content.     

The Role of Affective Instability in Loss of Control Eating in Youth with Overweight/Obesity Across Development: Findings from Two EMA Studies

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Affective instability is common during adolescence, but at high levels it is associated with a variety of internalizing and externalizing...     

Performance monitoring in obsessive–compulsive disorder: A temporo-spatial principal component analysis

Hyperactive performance monitoring is a robust finding in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Patients show increased amplitudes of the error-related negativity (ERN) and correct-related negativity (CRN). Recently, two temporo-spatial factors were shown to contribute to both ERPs in healthy individuals. In the present study, it was investigated whether the factor structure underlying ERN and CRN is similar in OCD and which factors differ between groups. A principal component analysis (PCA) was employed to investigate the temporo-spatial factor structure of ERN and CRN. Twenty-six OCD patients and 26 healthy controls conducted a flanker task. EEG data were analyzed as conventional ERP components and as factor scores derived from temporo-spatial PCA. ERP results showed expected increases in ERN and CRN amplitudes in OCD patients. For both groups, the PCA confirmed the assumed factor structure of a central and a fronto-parietal factor contributing to ERN and CRN. Factor scores of both factors were differently affected by response correctness in OCD. Alterations in factor scores indicate increased activity in both an outcome-independent monitoring process and an error-sensitive process, contributing to overactive performance monitoring in OCD.     

Can organizational justice mitigate the negative effects of shift work and fixed-term employment?

The present study examined whether organizational justice moderates the association of shift work and employment type with patient-related stress, stress symptoms, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Cross-sectional survey data from 1270 Finnish female elderly care staff aged 18–69 years was used. Analyses of covariance were used to examine the associations adjusted for age,marital status, education, and tenure. Organizational justice was associated with lower levels of patient-related stress, stress symptoms, and musculoskeletal symptoms. Organizational justice mitigated stress symptoms related to working night shift and three shifts. In addition, organizational justice mitigated the patient-related stress associated with working on fixed-term contracts. Organizational justice was also able to alleviate musculoskeletal symptoms associated with working on permanent contracts. Thus, we found evidence for organizational justice being able to mitigate the negative effects of shift work and employment type. Promoting organizational justice in organizations with shift work and lots of fixed-term contracts is of importance.     

When preview information starts to matter: Development of the perceptual span in German beginning readers

How is reading development reflected in eye-movement measures? How does the perceptual span change during the initial years of reading instruction? Does parafoveal processing require competence in basic word-decoding processes? We report data from the first cross-sectional measurement of the perceptual span of German beginning readers (n = 139), collected in the context of the large longitudinal PIER (Potsdamer Intrapersonale Entwicklungsrisiken/Potsdam study of intra-personal developmental risk factors) study of intrapersonal developmental risk factors. Using the moving-window paradigm, eye movements of three groups of students (Grades 1–3) were measured with gaze-contingent presentation of a variable amount of text around fixation. Reading rate increased from Grades 1–3, with smaller increases for higher grades. Perceptual-span results showed the expected main effects of grade and window size: fixation durations and refixation probability decreased with grade and window size, whereas reading rate and saccade length increased. Critically, for reading rate, first-fixation duration, saccade length and refixation probability, there were significant interactions of grade and window size that were mainly based on the contrast between Grades 3 and 2 rather than Grades 2 and 1. Taken together, development of the perceptual span only really takes off between Grades 2 and 3, suggesting that efficient parafoveal processing presupposes that basic processes of reading have been mastered.     

How job characteristics relate to need satisfaction and autonomous motivation: implications for work effort

To explore the motivational potential of job design, we linked job demands and job resources, as defined in the job demands–resources model, to the motivational process defined in self‐determination theory. Specifically, we introduced basic need satisfaction and autonomous motivation as consecutive process variables mediating the relationship between job design and work effort. We tested this model by means of structural equation modeling in a sample of 689 employees. The comparison of several competing models provided support for the hypothesized model. We conclude that job demands thwart and job resources promote the fulfillment of 3 psychological needs. High levels of need satisfaction, in turn, are associated with autonomous motivation and, therefore, with high levels of effort.     

Psychometric Properties of the Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SSRQ) in a South African Context

Self-regulation (SR), an important construct within the psychological well-being context, involves the ability to monitor behaviour, to contrast it with reference values and to introduce adjustments where necessary. A lack of validated measures of SR in the South African context has contributed to the current caveat in our knowledge of the potential importance of this construct. This investigation aimed to establish the utility of the Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SSRQ; Carey, Neal & Collins, 2004) in a South African context. This short version of the original Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ; Brown, Miller & Lawendowski, 1999) was completed by a group of 385 undergraduate psychology students. Factor analysis produced 7 factors, all of which showed significant positive correlations with other measures of psychological well-being. This first step toward establishing the importance of SR in non-Western cultures reflected positively on the potential use of the SSRQ in large epidemiological studies.     

A Systematic Review of the Literature Exploring Illness Perceptions in Mental Health Utilising the Self-Regulation Model

Psychologists have utilised a range of social cognition models to understand variation in physical health and illness-related behaviours. The most widely studied model of illness perceptions has been the Self-Regulation Model (SRM, Leventhal, Nerenz, & Steele, 1984). The illness perceptions questionnaire (IPQ) and its revised version (IPQ-R) have been utilised to explore illness beliefs in physical health. This review examined 13 quantitative studies, which used the IPQ and IPQ-R in mental health in their exploration of illness perceptions in psychosis, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, depression and adolescents experiencing mood disorders. Across these studies the SRM illness dimensions were largely supported. Mental illnesses were commonly viewed as cyclical and chronic, with serious negative consequences. Perceptions regarding chronicity, controllability and negative consequences were associated with coping and help seeking, while engagement with services and help seeking were also related to illness coherence beliefs. Treatment adherence was linked to beliefs that treatment could control one’s illness. Whilst a major limitation of the reviewed studies was the use of cross-sectional designs, overall the applicability of the SRM to mental health was supported. The IPQ and IPQ-R were shown to be valuable measures of illness perceptions in mental health, offering implications for clinical practice.