The Role of Identity Integration in Hedonic Adaptation to a Beneficial Life Change: The Example of “Coming Out” for Lesbians and Gay Men

After apparently beneficial life changes, people are expected to experience elevated well-being. However, research suggests that some individuals adapt quickly to change, so their well-being increases little in the long-term. We propose this phenomenon is explained by the integration of the changes into identity, in interaction with perceived valence of the changes. We hypothesized that higher integration would be associated with smaller increases in well-being for changes perceived as positive. For changes perceived as negative, higher integration would be associated with larger increases in well-being. Lesbians and gay men (N = 80) completed a questionnaire on well-being, perceived valence of coming out and its integration into identity. Moderated regressions supported the hypotheses, revealing the importance of considering identity integration and perceived valence in research on adaptation to changes. The results question the merits of interventions promoting identity integration.     

Dyadic Cross-Sectional Associations Between Negative Mood,Marital Idealization,and Relationship Quality

This study aimed to evaluate (a) dyadic associations between relationship quality (RQ) and both depressive and anxious mood (DM and AM), (b) reciprocity hypotheses of negative mood within dyadic interactions, and (c) mediational role of marital idealization between negative mood and relationship quality. Actor-partner interdependence models (APIMs) were performed using data from a sample of 198 dyads. Our results showed that (a) these two facets of negative mood did not have the same weight on RQ and that they had a gender-specific effects pattern, and (b) there was no support for the mood transmission hypothesis. Men's DM displayed direct and indirect (via marital idealization) actor as well as partner effects on RQ, whereas women's DM displayed only a direct actor effect on RQ. There were no significant direct actor effects of AM on RQ, meaning that this link is fully mediated by marital idealization. However, only women's AM showed such indirect effects on RQ.     

Trajectories of Oppositional Defiant Disorder Irritability Symptoms in Preschool Children

This study traces the developmental course of irritability symptoms in oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) from ages 3–5 and examines the psychopathological outcomes of the different trajectories at age 6. Method. A sample of 622 3-year-old preschoolers (311 were boys), followed up until age 6, was assessed yearly with a semi-structured diagnostic interview with parents and at age 6 with questionnaires answered by parents, teachers and children. Results. Growth-Mixture-Modeling yielded five trajectories of irritability levels for the whole sample (high-persistent 3.5 %, decreasing 3.8 %, increasing 2.6 %, low-persistent 44.1 % and null 46.0 %). Among the children who presented with ODD during preschool age, three trajectories of irritability symptoms resulted (high-persistent 31.9 %, decreasing 34.9 % and increasing 33.2 %). Null, low-persistent and decreasing irritability courses in the sample as a whole gave very similar discriminative capacity for children’s psychopathological state at age 6, while the increasing and high-persistent categories involved poorer clinical outcomes than the null course. For ODD children, the high-persistent and increasing trajectories of irritability predicted disruptive behavior disorders, comorbidity, high level of functional impairment, internalizing and externalizing problems and low anger control at age 6. Conclusions. Irritability identifies a subset of ODD children at high risk of poorer longitudinal psychopathological and functional outcomes. It might be clinically relevant to identify this subset of ODD children with a high number of irritability symptoms throughout development with a view to preventing comorbid and future adverse longitudinal outcomes.     

Different Attentional Patterns for Regret and Disappointment: An Eye‐tracking Study

The unfavorable comparison between the obtained and expected outcomes of our choices may elicit disappointment. When the comparison is made with the outcome of alternative actions, emotions like regret can serve as a learning signal. Previous work showed that both anticipated disappointment and regret influence decisions. In addition, experienced regret is associated with higher emotional responses than disappointment. Yet it is not clear whether this amplification is due to additive effects of disappointment and regret when the outcomes of alternative actions are available, or whether it reflects the learning feature of regret signals. In this perspective, we used eye‐tracking to measure the visual pattern of information acquisition in a probabilistic lottery task. In the partial feedback condition, only the outcome of the chosen lottery was revealed, while in the complete feedback condition, participants could compare their outcome with that of the non‐chosen lottery, giving them the opportunity to experience regret. During the decision phase, visual patterns of information acquisition were consistent with the assessment of anticipated regret, in addition to a clear assessment of lotteries' expected values. During the feedback phase, subjective ratings and eye‐tracking results confirmed that participants compared their outcome with the outcome of the non‐chosen lottery in the complete feedback condition, particularly after a loss, and ignored the non‐realized outcome of the chosen option. Moreover, participants who made more visual saccades consistent with counterfactual comparisons during the feedback period anticipated regret more in their decisions. These results are consistent with the proposed adaptive function of regret. © 2016 The Authors Journal of Behavioral Decision Making Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Reproductive Decision-Making in MMR Mutation Carriers After Results Disclosure: Impact of Psychological Status in Childbearing Options

Reproductive techniques such as prenatal diagnosis (PND) or preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), although debated, are legally forbidden in France in case of Lynch syndrome. The preference of mutation carriers about their reproductive options is not systematically considered in France. We aimed to prospectively assess the reproductive preferences of mismatch repair mutation carriers consulting in our institution (2003–2010, n?=?100). We also considered the short- and long-term post-disclosure psychological impact using the Impact of Events Scale-Revised questionnaire to measure the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in those patients. Complete data were obtained for 34 respondents (17 males, 17 females, median age of 33.5 years [22–59]). Seventeen respondents (57 %) preferred spontaneous natural conception versus 28 % and 35 % choosing PND and PGD, respectively. At results disclosure, respondents mainly explained their distress by fear of premature death (43 %) and transmitting mutated genes (42 %). One year later, this last fear remained predominant in 55 % of subjects. None of the main socio-demographical, psychological or medical variables (including fear of transmitting mutations) was significantly associated with the reproductive preferences. Results disclosure had a real and time-decreasing psychological impact on mutation carriers. Reproductive techniques, expected to decrease the hereditary risk, were not significantly preferred to natural conception.     

Gender and Changes in Trauma Narrative Following CBT for PTSD

Our study explored whether the characteristics of pretreatment trauma narratives could be used as indicators of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity before treatment. We also studied whether pretreatment characteristics could predict treatment efficacy. Although several studies suggest that fragmentation, proportion of internal events, and length in trauma narratives are associated with PTSD symptomatology, there are contradictions in the findings. Given the differences in trauma response between men and women, we considered the potential influence of gender. Before beginning a cognitive-behavioral therapy treatment, 66 participants verbally recounted their traumatic event during a diagnostic interview. After treatment, 48 participants once again provided a trauma narrative. PTSD symptom severity was assessed using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale. Linear regression analyses revealed that none of the pretreatment characteristics predicted treatment efficacy. Furthermore, the length of the trauma narrative was the only pretreatment characteristic that correlated with pretreatment PTSD symptomatology. This suggests that more severe symptomatology is associated with shorter narratives. We only found a significant gender difference in narrative length, which was longer in women than in men. Our findings not only highlight the need for additional research on the link between trauma narratives and PTSD symptomatology, but also stress the necessity of considering gender in this field of research. This could allow for enhanced treatments to target gender-specific needs, thus leading to more individualized care for PTSD patients.     

Psychological skills and mindfulness training effects on the psychological wellbeing of undergraduate music students: An exploratory study

This study explored the efficacy of psychological skills and mindfulness training intervention on the psychological wellbeing of undergraduate music students. Participants were undergraduate music students (n = 36) from the Department of Music at a South African university, 21 of whom were elected to take the psychological skills and mindfulness training intervention. Data on their self-reported psychological wellbeing, psychological skills, mindfulness and performance anxiety levels were collected pre-and post-intervention. The analysis applied non-parametric procedures to determine changes in students’ psychological wellbeing after the seven-week intervention programme. Findings suggest improvements in psychological wellbeing, psychological skills, mindfulness and performance anxiety with training. Psychological skills and mindfulness training may have benefits to the psychological wellbeing of music students.