Adherence predictors in an Internet-based Intervention program for depression

Internet-delivered psychotherapy has been demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of depression. Nevertheless, the study of the adherence in this type of the treatment reported divergent results. The main objective of this study is to analyze predictors of adherence in a primary care Internet-based intervention for depression in Spain. A multi-center, three arm, parallel, randomized controlled trial was conducted with 194 depressive patients, who were allocated in self-guided or supported-guided intervention. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were gathered using a case report form. The Mini international neuropsychiatric interview diagnoses major depression. Beck Depression Inventory was used to assess depression severity. The visual analogic scale assesses the respondent’s self-rated health and Short Form Health Survey was used to measure the health-related quality of life. Age results a predictor variable for both intervention groups (with and without therapist support). Perceived health is a negative predictor of adherence for the self-guided intervention when change in depression severity was included in the model. Change in depression severity results a predictor of adherence in the support-guided intervention. Our findings demonstrate that in our sample, there are differences in sociodemographic and clinical variables between active and dropout participants and we provide adherence predictors in each intervention condition of this Internet-based program for depression (self-guided and support-guided). It is important to point that further research in this area is essential to improve tailored interventions and to know specific patients groups can benefit from these interventions.     

<Emphasis Type="Bold">Ultrahigh temporal resolution of visual presentation using gaming monitors and G-Sync</Emphasis>

Vision unfolds as an intricate pattern of information processing over time. Studying vision and visual cognition therefore requires precise manipulations of the timing of visual stimulus presentation. Although standard computer display technologies offer great accuracy and precision of visual presentation, their temporal resolution is limited. This limitation stems from the fact that the presentation of rendered stimuli has to wait until the next refresh of the computer screen. We present a novel method for presenting visual stimuli with ultrahigh temporal resolution (<1 ms) on newly available gaming monitors. The method capitalizes on the G-Sync technology, which allows for presenting stimuli as soon as they have been rendered by the computer’s graphics card, without having to wait for the next screen refresh. We provide software implementations in the three programming languages C++, Python (using PsychoPy2), and Matlab (using Psychtoolbox3). For all implementations, we confirmed the ultrahigh temporal resolution of visual presentation with external measurements by using a photodiode. Moreover, a psychophysical experiment revealed that the ultrahigh temporal resolution impacts on human visual performance. Specifically, observers’ object recognition performance improved over fine-grained increases of object presentation duration in a theoretically predicted way. Taken together, the present study shows that the G-Sync-based presentation method enables researchers to investigate visual processes whose data patterns were concealed by the low temporal resolution of previous technologies. Therefore, this new presentation method may be a valuable tool for experimental psychologists and neuroscientists studying vision and its temporal characteristics.     

Functions of Aggression and Peer Victimization in Elementary School Children: the Mediating Role of Social Preference

This study examined whether social preference was a mechanism that explained the relation between proactive and reactive aggression and peer victimization. Participants were 494 children in grades 2–5. Proactive and reactive aggression was assessed via a self-report measure and indices of social preference and peer victimization were assessed via a peer nomination inventory. Data was collected during the fall and spring of two academic years. The relations among aggression, social preference, and peer victimization varied as a function of aggression and gender. For girls, reactive aggression was a significant negative predictor of social preference. Findings also revealed social preference mediated the relation between reactive aggression and peer victimization for girls. This pathway did not hold for boys. There was some evidence that proactive aggression was negatively associated with peer victimization, but only for girls. Findings from the current study suggest social preference may be a key mechanism through which reactive aggression is associated with future victimization for girls. Boys’ aggression was not related to subsequent peer victimization. Future research and intervention efforts should consider gender differences and the function of aggression when investigating children’s peer victimization experiences.     

Implicit alcohol and smoking associations among young adult heavy drinkers: Associations with smoking status and alcohol-cigarette co-use

Implicit memory associations may play a role in motivation to use alcohol and cigarettes, but the relationship between implicit associations and co-use of alcohol and cigarettes is currently unknown. This study provided an initial examination of alcohol and smoking implicit associations among young adult drinkers who were either nonsmokers or relatively light smokers (i.e., 10 or fewer cigarettes per day) as a function of smoking frequency and daily-level alcohol-cigarette co-use. Drinkers (n?=?129) completed alcohol-arousal and smoking-valence variants of the implicit association test as well as a daily-level assessment of past 90-day alcohol and cigarette use. Smokers were grouped according to whether they reported daily or nondaily smoking frequency. Results showed that although implicit alcohol-arousal associations did not differ between smokers and nonsmokers, stronger implicit alcohol-arousal associations were observed for nondaily smokers relative to daily smokers after controlling for drinking frequency. Further, implicit positive-smoking associations were stronger for smokers relative to nonsmokers. Within the subgroup of nondaily smokers, more frequent co-use of alcohol and cigarettes was associated with stronger implicit positive-smoking associations when controlling for total drinking and smoking frequency. The findings suggest that implicit alcohol and smoking associations may be linked with smoking patterns (daily vs. nondaily) and co-use of alcohol and cigarettes among young adult drinkers who are not heavy smokers, highlighting the need for more research on the role of implicit associations in the co-use of cigarettes and alcohol.     

Friendship Selection and Influence Processes for Physical Aggression and Prosociality: Differences between Single-Sex and Mixed-Sex Contexts

The present study examined to what extent selection and influence processes for physical aggression and prosociality in friendship networks differed between sex-specific contexts (i.e., all-male, all-female, and mixed-sex classrooms), while controlling for perceived popularity. Whereas selection processes reflect how behaviors shape friendships, influence processes reveal the reversed pattern by indicating how friends affect individual behaviors. Data were derived from a longitudinal sample of early adolescents from Chile. Four all-male classrooms (n = 150 male adolescents), four all-female classrooms (n = 190 female adolescents), and eight mixed-sex classrooms (n = 272 students) were followed one year from grades 5 to 6 (M _age = 13). Analyses were conducted by means of stochastic-actor-based modeling as implemented in RSIENA. Although it was expected that selection and influence effects for physical aggression and prosociality would vary by context, these effects showed remarkably similar trends across all-male, all-female, and mixed-sex classrooms, with physical aggression reducing and with prosociality increasing the number of nominations received as best friend in all-male and particularly all-female classrooms. Further, perceived popularity increased the number of friendship nominations received in all contexts. Influence processes were only found for perceived popularity, but not for physical aggression and prosociality in any of the three contexts. Together, these findings highlight the importance of both behaviors for friendship selection independent of sex-specific contexts, attenuating the implications of these gendered behaviors for peer relations.     

What a car does to your perception: Distance evaluations differ from within and outside of a car

Almost a century ago it was first suggested that cars can be interpreted as tools, but consequences of this assumption were never tested. Research on hand-held tools that are used to manipulate objects in the environment suggests that perception of near space is extended by using tools. Literature on environment perception finds perception of far space to be modulated by the observer’s potential to act in the environment. Here we argue that a car increases the action potential and modulates perception of far space in a way similar to how hand-held tools modulate perception of near space. Five distances (4 to 20 meters) were estimated by pedestrians and drivers before and after driving/walking. Drivers underestimated all distances to a larger percentage than did pedestrians. Underestimation was even stronger after driving. We conclude that cars modulate the perception of far distances because they modulate the driver’s perception, like a tool typically does, and change the perceived action potential.     

The experience of meditation for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and their caregivers – a qualitative analysis

There is a lack of studies about psychological interventions for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and their caregivers. We investigated the experience of a meditation training program tailored for ALS needs. People with ALS (pALS) and their caregivers that joined a meditation program for ALS were interviewed at the end of the program. Verbatims were analyzed with a qualitative approach. Both pALS and their caregivers reported a positive impact on their psychological well-being, promoted by an increase in acceptance and non-judgmental attitude. Furthermore, coping strategies seem to improve, with a positive effect on resilience skills. The ALS meditation training program seems to be an effective psychological intervention for the promotion of well-being in pALS and their caregivers.     

Assessing two competing approaches to the psychology of moral judgments

This paper brings together the social intuitionist view of the psychology of moral judgments developed by Jonathan Haidt, and the recent morphological rationalist position of Terry Horgan and Mark Timmons. I will end up suggesting that Horgan and Timmons have offered us a more plausible account of the psychology of moral judgment formation. But the view is not without its own difficulties. Indeed, one of them might prove to be quite serious, as it could support a form of skepticism about understanding our own motivating reasons.