Perception of health risks: How smoker status affects defensive optimism

Abstract

People generally underestimate their risk to come down with a life-threatening disease when comparing themselves to similar others. However, to some extent they do take objective risk status or actual risk behavior into account. The present study examined specific conditions of this phenomenon. It was found that smoker status was associated with a somewhat higher perceived risk of getting lung cancer or smoker's cough or having a heart attack, but not of coming down with other diseases. Still, smokers did not admit that they had an above-average risk for these maladies, thus reflecting defensive optimism. In addition, smokers characterized the behavior of an abstract person, a “risk stereotype”, by estimating the number of years of smoking, the daily number of cigarettes, and the cigarettes' nicotine content necessary to be at high risk for lung cancer. There was evidence that smokers used these risk stereotypes as a reference point for evaluating their own relative risk. Smokers also made higher risk estimates if their own behavior approached that of the risk stereotype. On the whole, the results suggest that people use subjective risk factor theories when estimating their own personal health risks.     

Negative affect in east german migrants: Longitudinal effects of unemployment and social support

Migrants have to deal with a number of stressors, among them tenacious job search and the constitution of a new social network. Prolonged unemployment and lack of social support can result in enduring negative affect. A sample of 235 East Germans was investigated three times during two years following their transition to West Berlin in 1989, after the breakdown of the communist system. Their anxiety and depression levels were initially high but declined over time. The majority found a job during this time span and succeeded to adapt psychosocially. Those, however, who remained unemployed were worse off in terms of well-being. The stress-affect relationship was moderated, however, by social support. Within the group of migrants who suffered from long-term joblessness, social support exerted a longitudinal buffer effect. At Wave 3, most anxiety and depression was reported by migrants who neither held a job nor received support. In a longitudinal causal model, the employment status affected mainly negative affect complaints, but also social support. The relationship between negative affect and support turned out to be reciprocal over time.     

Assessment of Affect Integration: Validation of the Affect Consciousness Construct

Affect integration, or the capacity to utilize the motivational and signal properties of affect for personal adjustment, is assumed to be an important aspect of psychological health and functioning. Affect integration has been operationalized through the affect consciousness (AC) construct as degrees of awareness, tolerance, nonverbal expression, and conceptual expression of nine discrete affects. A semistructured Affect Consciousness Interview (ACI) and separate Affect Consciousness Scales (ACSs) have been developed to specifically assess these aspects of affect integration. This study explored the construct validity of AC in a Norwegian clinical sample including estimates of reliability and assessment of structure by factor analyses. External validity issues were addressed by examining the relationships between scores on the ACSs and self-rated symptom- and interpersonal problem measures as well as independent, observer-based ratings of personality disorder criteria and the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [DSM–IV]; American Psychiatric Association, 1994).     

Reinforcement and Inhibition of Eyelid Reflexes

Taste preferences, as measured in 48-hour, Richter-type drinking tests (test solution opposite distilled water), were determined for northern grasshopper mice (Onychomys leucogaster, ssp. breviauritus). The Ss were nine males and nine females which were individually housed within an environmental chamber. The test solutions were prepared from five sugars (fructose, glucose, lactose, maltose, sucrose), three salts (magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, sodium chloride), and two acids (citric acid and hydrochloric acid). In randomly assigned order, each sugar and each salt solution was presented at five molar concentrations, and each acid was paired with distilled water at six levels of pH. Strong drinking preferences were shown for all concentrations of the sugars above .05?.10 M, and sugars ranked in order of preference as follows: Maltose = sucrose > glucose = fructose > lactose. Preferences were also shown for hypotonic concentrations of NaCl. The other salts and both acids, however, were indifferently preferred at low concentrations and were rejected at the higher concentrations. Taste preferences by grasshopper mice for these chemicals were similar to those exhibited by Mongolian gerbils tested with the same items. The similar patterns of preference shown by New World cricetid rodents (grasshopper mice) and Old World cricetid rodents (gerbils) suggest that conclusions concerning disparity in taste sensibilities among animal forms may be premature.     

Trauma-Related Negative Cognitions Mediate the Relationship Between Avoidant Personality Beliefs and Impeded Response to Psychotherapy for PTSD

There is strong research evidence for the association of personality pathology and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as trauma-related negative cognitions (TRNC) and PTSD symptoms. However, the relationship between personality pathology and TRNC in the context of PTSD is mostly unknown. In the present study, we aimed to examine whether avoidant and borderline personality beliefs (PB, indicator of personality pathology) could predict therapy outcome in PTSD, and whether the relationship between PB and therapy outcome could be mediated by TRNC. Sixty patients with PTSD were assessed for PB, TRNC and PTSD symptoms at baseline, and for PTSD symptoms at the termination of Prolonged Exposure Therapy. Baseline avoidant PB predicted significant variance in PTSD symptoms at termination over and above baseline PTSD symptoms (16% reduction in treatment effect per SD on avoidant PB). Moreover, TRNC at baseline fully mediated the relationships between baseline avoidant PB and PTSD symptoms at termination. This is the first study to show that avoidant PB predicts treatment response in PTSD, and that patients with avoidant beliefs are more vulnerable to have TRNC, which are associated with impeded therapy response. Our results highlight the importance of targeting both dysfunctional PB and TRNC in PTSD interventions.     

Symptoms Among Partners,Family, and Friends of Individuals with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Associations with Social Support Behaviors,Gender, and Relationship Status

Social support represents an important recovery factor for individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Nevertheless, partners, family, and friends who take on the role of caregiver for individuals with PTSD might face multiple difficulties. For example, they are at risk for developing anxiety and depressive symptoms, which could negatively affect their ability to offer support. This study examined the associations between the difficulties of individuals with PTSD (i.e., symptoms and level of functioning), their caregivers’ (partners, family, and friends) anxiety and depressive symptoms, and social support behaviors according to 2 variables: relationship status and gender. Sixty-five individuals with PTSD and either their partner, family member, or friend filled out questionnaires and participated in a trauma-oriented discussion. Social support behaviors were coded. Results revealed no associations between the difficulties of individuals with PTSD and their caregivers’ symptoms. However, caregivers’ depressive symptoms were negatively associated with the quality of some of their social support behaviors. Moreover, relationship status and gender were significant moderators, indicating stronger negative associations between anxiety and depressive symptoms and some social support behaviors of men and caregiving partners. Male caregivers could have difficulties offering appropriate support and responding to traditional masculine roles (e.g., being strong and self-reliant) when they report symptoms themselves. Partners are particularly involved in the everyday life of individuals with PTSD. Thus, they could have difficulties keeping an optimal emotional distance to offer support when they report symptoms themselves. Future directions as well as clinical implications are discussed.     

Incremental Validity of Alexithymia, Emotional Coping and Humor Style on Happiness and Psychological Well-Being

This study attempts to ascertain whether alexithymia, suppression and reappraisal coping, and humor styles account for incremental variance in happiness (Lyubomirsky’s scale) and psychological well-being (Ryff’s scale), after controlling for Big Five traits and emotional positivity ratio of previous day’s mood. A total of 355 psychology undergraduates (72 % women) responded to measures of each construct, and two hierarchical multiple regressions were carried out for happiness and psychological well-being. The Big Five were entered in the first regression block, alexithymia was entered in a second block, and affiliative, self-enhancing, aggressive and self-defeating humor style, reappraisal and suppression coping were entered in the third block, and previous day’s mood in the last step. Alexithymia accounted for a small proportion of variance in psychological well-being, controlling for the Big Five traits. Suppression and affiliative, self-enhancing and self-defeating humor explained a complementary amount of variance in happiness and psychological well-being, controlling for the previous day’s mood, confirming the association of emotional regulation and affect with judgments of happiness and well-being. Taking into account humor and suppression, the multivariate association of alexithymia disappears. Results suggest that low suppression, low self-critical use of humor and affiliative humor are correlates of psychological well-being, whereas self-enhancing humor and low suppression are correlates of happiness, playing a mediational role between personality traits and well-being.     

Test sensitivity is important for detecting variability in pointing comprehension in canines

Several articles have been recently published on dogs’ (Canis familiaris) performance in two-way object choice experiments in which subjects had to find hidden food by utilizing human pointing. The interpretation of results has led to a vivid theoretical debate about the cognitive background of human gestural signal understanding in dogs, despite the fact that many important details of the testing method have not yet been standardized. We report three experiments that aim to reveal how some procedural differences influence adult companion dogs’ performance in these tests. Utilizing a large sample in Experiment 1, we provide evidence that neither the keeping conditions (garden/house) nor the location of the testing (outdoor/indoor) affect a dogs’ performance. In Experiment 2, we compare dogs’ performance using three different types of pointing gestures. Dogs’ performance varied between momentary distal and momentary cross-pointing but “low” and “high” performer dogs chose uniformly better than chance level if they responded to sustained pointing gestures with reinforcement (food reward and a clicking sound; “clicker pointing”). In Experiment 3, we show that single features of the aforementioned “clicker pointing” method can slightly improve dogs’ success rate if they were added one by one to the momentary distal pointing method. These results provide evidence that although companion dogs show a robust performance at different testing locations regardless of their keeping conditions, the exact execution of the human gesture and additional reinforcement techniques have substantial effect on the outcomes. Consequently, researchers should standardize their methodology before engaging in debates on the comparative aspects of socio-cognitive skills because the procedures they utilize may differ in sensitivity for detecting differences.     

The role of sound intensity and stop-consonant voicing on McGurk fusions and combinations

The present paper argues that generalisation is conservative. Our goal was to experimentally study the links between knowledge generalisation and the storage of contextual elements. The knowledge domain, very simple chess configurations, allowed subjects, novices in chess, to acquire micro-expertise based on the analysis of a single source problem. In the first experimental phase, subjects had to analyse a source problem. We induced two modes of source-problem encoding: In the first group, subjects were given explanations focused on the sequence of elementary solving steps; in the other group they were given the general principle relevant to the category of problems in question. Subjects had then to solve different tests (solving isomorphic problems, recall tests, similarity tests) designed to answer two questions: The first question was to test whether the experimental manipulation in the two groups had in fact generated knowledge that varied in abstractness; the second question was to determine whether generalisation is accompanied by storage of surface features of the source problem. Results show that the knowledge generalisation is conservative. Subjects who generalise their knowledge have a better memory retention of context-dependent elements than the other subjects.