Association between the Five Factor personality traits and perceived stress: is the effect mediated by general self-efficacy?

Ill-health resulting from chronic stress is influenced by personality traits leading to different ways of appraising and coping with life's daily hassles. Using a large population sample the study aimed to investigate possible associations between perceived stress and the personality dimensions of neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, and to explore the role of general self-efficacy (GSE). A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Denmark, in 2006-2008. Men and women (N=3471) aged 18-69, were randomly sampled in the suburbs of Copenhagen. We used the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Negative associations were found between perceived stress and extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness - the latter initially non-significant - whilst neuroticism had a positive association. The associations with agreeableness and openness became positive and significant, respectively, when GSE was included. All five personality-stress models were mediated by GSE, with extroversion and conscientiousness having the strongest mediating effect. The strongest stress-association was found for neuroticism. GSE was shown to change the impact and interpretation of the personality dimensions on perceived stress. These results indicate that GSE is an important factor to consider in the link between personality and perceived stress.     

What we say and what we do: the relationship between real and hypothetical moral choices

Moral ideals are strongly ingrained within society and individuals alike, but actual moral choices are profoundly influenced by tangible rewards and consequences. Across two studies we show that real moral decisions can dramatically contradict moral choices made in hypothetical scenarios (Study 1). However, by systematically enhancing the contextual information available to subjects when addressing a hypothetical moral problem-thereby reducing the opportunity for mental simulation-we were able to incrementally bring subjects' responses in line with their moral behaviour in real situations (Study 2). These results imply that previous work relying mainly on decontextualized hypothetical scenarios may not accurately reflect moral decisions in everyday life. The findings also shed light on contextual factors that can alter how moral decisions are made, such as the salience of a personal gain.     

Anxiety attenuates awareness of emotional faces during rapid serial visual presentation

Anxiety limits normative perception and impacts the interaction between key neurophysiological systems, possibly by decreasing recruitment of goal-oriented processes and increasing recruitment of stimulus-driven processes. Previous studies examining the impact of anxiety on emotion processing commonly lack a sample with levels of anxiety comparable to a clinical population. Many also fail to control for co-occurring symptoms like depression. The current study used rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) with two emotional targets, comparing healthy controls to a group of individuals with symptom levels comparable to anxiety disorder patients. The results showed a modulatory effect of anxiety; the high anxiety (HA) group showed an enhanced impairment in detecting the second of two emotional targets relative to the low anxiety (LA) control group. Though there were no group-specific effects on the attentional blink or repetition blindness, there was a significant interaction of group with first and second target valence. Notably, HA individuals showed deficits (where LA individuals showed benefits) when the same emotion was presented twice. Further, when the first target was neutral, second target detection was especially impaired in HA individuals. Correlational analyses confirmed perceptual limitations were related to anxiety, but not depression, positive affect, or negative affect. The current results, along with past findings, suggest that clinical anxiety leads to deficits in overall cognitive control, increased difficulty inhibiting attention to distractors, and impairments in rapid, intuitive emotion processing.     

Gut feelings and the reaction to perceived inequity: The interplay between bodily responses, regulation, and perception shapes the rejection of unfair offers on the ultimatum game

It has been robustly demonstrated using the ultimatum game (UG) that individuals frequently reject unfair financial offers even if this results in a personal cost. One influential hypothesis for these rejections is that they reflect an emotional reaction to unfairness that overrides purely economic decision processes. In the present study, we examined whether the interplay between bodily responses, bodily regulation, and bodily perception ("interoception") contributes to emotionally driven rejection behavior on the UG. Offering support for bodily feedback theories, interoceptive accuracy moderated the relationship between changes in electrodermal activity to proposals and the behavioral rejection of such offers. Larger electrodermal responses to rejected relative to accepted offers predicted greater rejection in those with accurate interoception but were unrelated to rejection in those with poor interoception. Although cardiovascular responses during the offer period were unrelated to rejection rates, greater resting heart rate variability (linked to trait emotion regulation capacity) predicted reduced rejection rates of offers. These findings help clarify individual differences in reactions to perceived unfairness, support previous emotion regulation deficit accounts of rejection behavior, and suggest that the perception and regulation of bodily based emotional biasing signals ("gut feelings") partly shape financial decision making on the UG.     

Shared Decision-Making Among Caregivers and Health Care Providers of Youth with Type 1 Diabetes

The present study aimed to examine perceptions of shared decision-making (SDM) in caregivers of youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Interview, survey data, and HbA1c assays were gathered from caregivers of 439 youth with T1D aged 3–18 years. Caregiver-report indicated high perceived SDM during medical visits. Multivariable linear regression indicated that greater SDM is associated with lower HbA1c, older child age, and having a pediatric endocrinologist provider. Multiple logistic regression found that caregivers who did not perceive having made any healthcare decisions in the past year were more likely to identify a non-pediatric endocrinologist provider and to report less optimal diabetes self-care. Findings suggest that youth whose caregivers report greater SDM may show benefits in terms of self-care and glycemic control. Future research should examine the role of youth in SDM and how best to identify youth and families with low SDM in order to improve care.     

Association between the Five Factor personality traits and perceived stress: is the effect mediated by general self-efficacy?

Abstract

Ill-health resulting from chronic stress is influenced by personality traits leading to different ways of appraising and coping with life's daily hassles. Using a large population sample the study aimed to investigate possible associations between perceived stress and the personality dimensions of neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, and to explore the role of general self-efficacy (GSE). A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Denmark, in 2006–2008. Men and women (N=3471) aged 18–69, were randomly sampled in the suburbs of Copenhagen. We used the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Negative associations were found between perceived stress and extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness – the latter initially non-significant – whilst neuroticism had a positive association. The associations with agreeableness and openness became positive and significant, respectively, when GSE was included. All five personality-stress models were mediated by GSE, with extroversion and conscientiousness having the strongest mediating effect. The strongest stress-association was found for neuroticism. GSE was shown to change the impact and interpretation of the personality dimensions on perceived stress. These results indicate that GSE is an important factor to consider in the link between personality and perceived stress.     

Rating Procedures for Improving Identification of Exposure to Potentially Traumatic Events When Using Checklist Measures

Research has shown peer victimization to have strong lasting effects on adolescents’ mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among religiousness, forgiveness, and mental health in the context of peer victimization. We hypothesized that religiousness and forgiveness could be protective factors against negative effects of peer victimization on internalizing symptomatology and emotion regulation. Participants were 127 adolescents between 12 and 18 years old and their primary caregivers. Results of structural equation modeling analyses show that religiousness might not be a strong protective factor in the context of peer victimization and that certain dimensions of forgiveness (specifically benevolence motivations) might actually exacerbate the effects of peer victimization on internalizing symptomatology rather than acting as a protective factor.     

Verbal Sexual Coercion Experiences,Sexual Risk,and Substance Use in Women

Research has linked sexual assault, substance use, and sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk in women. Sexual assault by means of verbal sexual coercion (VSC) is more common than sexual assault by means of physical tactics, but VSC is rarely assessed independently. In addition, past work has established global connections among substance use, sexual assault history, and STI risk; however, assessing substance use during sexual behavior is less common. This study examined the relations among VSC, STI risk behavior, and substance use and attitudes. We hypothesized that women with larger numbers of VSC experiences would report more frequent sexual risk behaviors and substance use and attitudes. Participants with larger numbers of VSC experiences reported larger numbers of anal sex partners, more frequent penile–vaginal sex and sexual activity after substance use, and stronger sex-related alcohol expectancies. These findings suggest that VSC is associated with higher levels of STI risk in women.