The Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale: measurement invariance, stability, and validity in three countries

There is accumulating evidence that individual differences in stress reactivity contribute to the risk for stress-related disease. However, the assessment of stress reactivity remains challenging, and there is a relative lack of questionnaires reliably assessing this construct. We here present the Perceived Stress Reactivity Scale (PSRS), a 23-item questionnaire with 5 subscales and 1 overall scale, based on an existing German-language instrument. Perceived stress reactivity and related constructs were assessed in N = 2,040 participants from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany. The 5-factor structure of the PSRS was found to be similar in the 3 countries. In the U.S. sample the questionnaire was applied using 2 modes of administration (paper-pencil and computerized), and measures were repeated after 4 weeks. Measurement invariance analyses demonstrated full invariance across mode of administration and partial invariance across gender and countries. Scale scores differed between countries and genders, with women scoring higher on most scales. Overall, reliability analysis suggested good stability of PSRS scores over a 4-week period, and validation analysis showed expected associations with related constructs such as self-efficacy, neuroticism, chronic stress, and perceived stress. Perceived stress reactivity was also associated with depressive symptoms and sleep. These associations were particularly strong when individuals scoring high on perceived stress reactivity were exposed to chronic stress. In sum, our findings suggest that the PSRS is a useful and easy-to-administer instrument to assess perceived stress reactivity.     

Feeling Good Despite EDS: The Effects of a 5-Week Online Positive Psychology Programme for Ehlers–Danlos-Syndromes Patients

Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy - Ehlers–Danlos-Syndromes (EDS) is a group of hereditary, chronic and potentially disabling conditions. Few studies have tested the effects of...     

The “Longing for Interpersonal Touch Picture Questionnaire”: Development of a new measurement for touch perception

Touch is a crucial factor of physiological and psychological health in humans. A lack of touch in contrast is associated with adverse implications on mental health. A new “Longing for Interpersonal Touch Picture Questionnaire (LITPQ)” was developed and tested for its concurrent, predictive, discriminant and face validity as well as its relation to psychological distress. Six different types of touch were depicted and touch frequency and touch wish concerning different interaction partners assessed. A sample of 110 participants aged 18–56 years completed the LITPQ as well as an existing touch deprivation questionnaire and a questionnaire on mental health. Frequency and wish for touch were higher for close interaction partners than for strangers. For 72.7% of the participants, their touch wish exceeded the reported touch frequency. The LITPQ correlated moderately with the existing questionnaire for touch deprivation and was independent of relationship status or gender but positively correlated with depressiveness, anxiety and somatization. Measuring longing for touch is a very complex task considering the many aspects of subjective touch perception and confounds in the method of self-report of touch. In our view, the LITPQ provides promising insights into this matter.     

Maternal and infant characteristics connected to shared pleasure in dyadic interaction

The aim of the study was to analyze which maternal factors (depressive symptoms, effect of life events, maternal sensitivity and structuring) and infant characteristics (temperament, social withdrawal symptoms, interactive behavior, genotype, gender) contribute to shared pleasure (SP) in parent–infant interaction. Participants were 113 mother–infant dyads. The mothers filled in the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the Infant Behavior Questionnaire, and the Life Events Questionnaire. The dyads were videotaped in a free-play situation, and the videos were analyzed using the Alarm Distress Baby Scale and the Emotional Availability Scales. The infants were genotyped for four genes involved in emotion regulation. The occurrence and duration of SP (SP-MD) in mother–infant interactions were analyzed from the videotapes. Higher maternal sensitivity and depressive symptoms, better infant responsiveness, and the infant having the GG variant of the gene tryptophan hydroxylase isoform 2 (TPH2) -307 were associated with the occurrence of SP. Lower level depressive symptoms, better maternal structuring, and greater infant involvement were associated with the longer duration of SP. Those dyads where the mother and infant were best able to read each other's positive cues and to respond to them were more likely to experience mutual positive affect, as seen in SP.     

Decrease of prefrontal-posterior EEG coherence: loose control during social-emotional stimulation

In two experiments we aimed to investigate if individual differences in state-dependent decreases or increases of EEG coherence between prefrontal and posterior cortical regions may be indicative of a mechanism modulating the impact social-emotional information has on an individual. Two independent samples were exposed to an emotional stimulation paradigm in which the participants were invited to get involved and sympathize with the persons they were watching (study 1) or listening to (study 2), and who were expressing sadness or anxiety. The two studies yielded consistent results. Higher scores in trait absorption and in the propensity to ruminate were associated with decreased EEG beta coherence during the stimulation, whereas coherence increased in individuals low in absorption or rumination. Coherence changes did not predict to which degree the participants felt infected by the displayed emotions, but in individuals showing decreased prefrontal-posterior coupling during the stimulation, feelings of sadness and anxiety had a greater tendency to persist. The findings suggest that more loose prefrontal-posterior coupling may be related to loosening of control of the prefrontal cortex over incoming social-emotional information and, consequently, to deeper emotional involvement and absorption, whereas increased prefrontal-posterior coupling may be related to strong control, dampening of emotional experience, and not letting oneself become emotionally affected.     

Salient material properties and haptic volume perception: The influences of surface texture, thermal conductivity, and compliance

We investigated the influences of surface texture, thermal conductivity, and compliance on the haptic perception of the volume of small cubes. It was hypothesized that an object containing highly salient material properties would be perceived as larger in volume than the same object without these properties. Blindfolded subjects were asked to explore pairs of cubes differing in their material properties and to select the one with the larger volume. The results showed that, counterintuitively, a smooth cube was perceived as being significantly larger than a rough cube of the same physical volume, with average biases of about 19 %. Furthermore, cubes with a higher thermal conductivity were perceived as significantly larger than cubes with a lower thermal conductivity (average bias of about 7 %). In addition, the magnitude of the bias in this condition was not changed by increasing or decreasing the temperature of the test objects, suggesting that the effect of thermal conductivity could not be attributed directly to the heat flow. Finally, a hard cube was perceived as significantly larger than a soft cube of equal physical volume, with an average bias of about 25 %. These results reveal that the studied material properties have significant and consistent influences on the haptic perception of volume. The observed biases provide an indication of the levels at which the processing of haptic information on volume and material properties occurs.     

Creativity and schizotypy from the neuroscience perspective

Behavioral research has revealed that some cognitive features may be similar between creative and psychotic/schizophrenic-like thoughts. In this study, we addressed the potential link between creativity and schizotypy at the level of the brain by investigating functional patterns of brain activity (using functional magnetic resonance imaging) during creative cognition in preselected groups with low versus high psychometrically determined schizotypy. Our findings revealed an association between the originality component of creativity and reduced deactivation of right parietal brain regions and the precuneus during creative cognition, congruent with the idea that more-creative people may include many more events/stimuli in their mental processes than do less-creative people. Similarly, the high-schizotypy group showed weaker deactivation of the right precuneus during creative cognition. The fact that originality and schizotypy show similar functional brain activity patterns during creative ideation (i.e., reduced deactivation of the right precuneus) strongly supports the contention that similar mental processes may be implicated in creativity and in psychosis proneness.     

Communicative intentions in wild chimpanzees: persistence and elaboration in gestural signalling

We examine evidence for communicative intent during conspecific interactions in wild chimpanzees (Budongo Forest, Uganda), focusing on persistence in gestural communication. Previous research indicates that great apes have large gestural repertoires and produce gestural communication in a flexible and intentional manner, including the production of gesture sequences. Although there is a lack of consensus on the form and function of sequences, there is some evidence that sequences are produced when signallers fail to receive any response from a recipient. Here, we provide first systematic evidence for communicative persistence in wild chimpanzees. Rather than examining only the presence or absence of a response, we used the most commonly observed response to assign meanings to gestures and examined sequence production in relation to response congruency. Chimpanzees ceased communication if successful, but persevered when unsuccessful. Chimpanzees repeated gestures when a response partially matched their goal but substituted the original gesture when a response was incongruent. Persistence was also mediated by recipient intent to respond, with more sequences produced within competitive than affiliative contexts. Gestures within sequences were homogenous in semantic meaning and signallers continued until the response matched the assigned meaning of the initial gesture. Gestural sequence production was not primarily affective; gesture intensity (in terms of modality) did not increase within sequences. Chimpanzee gestural sequences emerged to achieve specific outcomes; given variability in recipient behaviour following initial gestures, signallers were flexible in their persistence towards these goals.     

Restore and protect motivations following shame

Shame has been found to promote both approach and withdrawal behaviours. Shame theories have not been able to explain how shame can promote such contrasting behaviours. In the present article, the authors provide an explanation for this. Shame was hypothesised to activate approach behaviours to restore the threatened self, and in situations when this is not possible or too risky, to activate withdrawal behaviours to protect the self from further damage. Five studies with different shame inductions and different dependent measures confirmed our predictions. We therefore showed that different behavioural responses to shame can be understood in terms of restore and protect motives. Implications for theory and behavioural research on shame are discussed.