An atypical anxious‐impulsive pattern of social anxiety disorder in an adult clinical population

An atypical subgroup of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) with impulsive rather than inhibited traits has recently been reported. The current study examined whether such an atypical subgroup could be identified in a clinical population of 84 adults with SAD. The temperament dimensions harm avoidance and novelty seeking of the Temperament and Character Inventory, and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale were used in cluster analyses. The identified clusters were compared on depressive symptoms, the character dimension self‐directedness, and treatment outcome. Among the six identified clusters, 24% of the sample had atypical characteristics, demonstrating mainly generalized SAD in combination with coexisting traits of inhibition and impulsivity. As additional signs of severity, this group showed low self‐directedness and high levels of depressive symptoms. We also identified a typically inhibited subgroup comprising generalized SAD with high levels of harm avoidance and low levels of novelty seeking, with a similar clinical severity as the atypical subgroup. Thus, higher levels of harm avoidance and social anxiety in combination with higher or lower levels of novelty seeking and low self‐directedness seem to contribute to a more severe clinical picture. Post hoc examination of the treatment outcome in these subgroups showed that only 20 to 30% achieved clinically significant change.     

Trajectories of Adolescent Psychopathic Traits

There is growing evidence that psychopathic traits are stable across the adolescent developmental period. Yet, no previous studies have examined the longitudinal course of these traits across adolescence. In this study, we examined joint developmental trajectories of grandiose-manipulative traits, callous-unemotional traits, and impulsive-irresponsible behavior and how these trajectories were related to changes in parental behavior and delinquency over time. Participants were 1,068 adolescents from a community sample, who were followed annually over 4 years. Overall, our results showed that a four-class latent class growth model best represented the developmental pattern of adolescent psychopathic traits. Although the majority of adolescents showed low or moderate initial levels that also decreased over time, there was a small group of adolescents who, despite significant decreases in two out of three dimensions, still maintained relatively high levels on all three dimensions. We also found that parental behavior and delinquency developed differently for the groups over time, with the high-decreasing group engaging in more delinquent behavior over time and experiencing more negative parental behavior than any other group. In sum, our findings suggest that there is a group of adolescents at particular risk for negative development.     

Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Utrecht Grief Rumination Scale

Two different types of ruminative coping, depressive rumination and grief rumination, negatively influence bereavement outcome. Although grief-specific rumination is likely to be relevant in the bereavement context no internationally validated scale to measure grief rumination exists. Therefore, the current contribution aims to validate the Utrecht Grief Rumination Scale (UGRS), a scale developed to measure grief-specific rumination, in an English sample. Psychometric properties of the English UGRS were compared with those in a Dutch sample. 204 British adults (89 % women, 11 % men), bereaved on average 16 months ago, and 316 Dutch adults (88 % women, 12 % men), bereaved on average 12 months ago, filled out online questionnaires. Different types of rumination (grief rumination, brooding, reflection, trait rumination) and symptoms of psychopathology (anxiety, depression, complicated grief) were measured. A correlated five factor model provided the best fit for the UGRS. Multi-group comparisons showed that the factor structures of the English and Dutch version of the UGRS were highly similar across language groups. The UGRS showed excellent reliability. Results further supported the construct, convergent, divergent and concurrent validity of the English UGRS. The psychometric properties of the Dutch UGRS corroborated these findings. The UGRS appears a valid instrument to assess grief-specific rumination in international research and may have potential applicability as a clinical instrument to assess rumination in individuals with problematic grief.     

Effects of Individual Differences on Applicant Perceptions of an Operational Assessment Center

Knowing to what extent applicant reactions are related to stable individual differences and not only to characteristics of a selection procedure is important for the design and administration of the selection procedure and for dealing with applicants. The aim of this study was to explore relationships between individual differences (Big Five, core self‐evaluations, trait affectivity, and general mental ability) and applicants' perceptions of an operational assessment center (AC). Data from 294 applicants revealed that individual difference variables explained significant variance in their perceptions of the AC, even after controlling for self‐rated and actual performance. Based on these results, the nature of the applicant pool should be considered for designing selection procedures, dealing with applicants, and for research purposes.     

Salience network response to changes in emotional expressions of others is heightened during early adolescence: relevance for social functioning

Adolescence is a unique developmental period when the salience of social and emotional information becomes particularly pronounced. Although this increased sensitivity to social and emotional information has frequently been considered with respect to risk behaviors and psychopathology, evidence suggests that increased adolescent sensitivity to social and emotional cues may confer advantages. For example, greater sensitivity to shifts in the emotions of others is likely to promote flexible and adaptive social behavior. In this study, a sample of 54 children and adolescents (age 8–19 years) performed a delayed match‐to‐sample task for emotional faces while undergoing fMRI scanning. Recruitment of the anterior cingulate and anterior insula when the emotion of the probe face did not match the emotion held in memory followed a quadratic developmental pattern that peaked during early adolescence. These findings indicate meaningful developmental variation in the neural mechanisms underlying sensitivity to changes in the emotional expressions. Across all participants, greater activation of this network for changes in emotional expression was associated with less social anxiety and fewer social problems. These results suggest that the heightened salience of social and emotional information during adolescence may confer important advantages for social behavior, providing sensitivity to others’ emotions that facilitates flexible social responding.     

Consequences of the American States’ Legislative Action on Immigration

Over the past decade, US states have responded to federal inaction on comprehensive immigration reform by increasing their output of immigrant policies, both beneficial and restrictive. Although there is a growing empirical literature focused on predicting such activity by states, less is known, especially on a broad scale, about the state-level consequences associated with the policy tone states adopt toward immigrants. To better understand the consequences of restrictive immigrant policies, we created a restrictive score for each state year between 2005 and 2014 and employed linear regression with panel-corrected standard errors to investigate effects on immigrant-related demographics, economic factors, and political participation. We found that states with higher restrictive policy tones do experience reductions in the number of foreign-born residents, including Hispanics and those with limited English proficiency, a goal of many state legislators who favor restrictive policies. States with restrictive policy tones showed reductions in unemployment and poverty rates as well, which are also professed goals for restrictive policy activity. Mediation analyses suggested that the effects of restrictive policy scores on economic conditions are indirect, being exerted through the percentage of a state’s population that is foreign born. Finally, though much attention is focused on the expected increase in Latino political clout, restrictive policy tone was not predictive of increased voter registration or voting in states that pass these types of policies. If anti-immigrant policies are inducing those who oppose these policies to mobilize politically, it must be in an arena outside of voting.     

Finding a Balance: Reconciling the Needs of the Institution,Patient, and Genetic Counselor for Optimal Resource Utilization

The current practice of cancer genetic counseling is undergoing widespread change and scrutiny. While there are clinical resources for genetic counselors (GCs) regarding the delivery of cancer genetic services, there is limited literature regarding effective management of a genetic counseling clinical program. We have developed administrative tools to manage a large team of GCs at a single academic medical center over a period of increasing demand for genetics services, with the initial aim of decreasing wait time for urgent genetic counseling visits. Here, we describe the three main elements of the clinical operations: Balancing patient volume between GCs, scheduling tracks for both routine and urgent appointments, and a team of triaging GCs to ensure appropriate patient referrals. For each of these elements, we describe how they have been modified over time and present data to support the utility of these strategies. The preliminary evidence offered here suggests that these tools allow for an equitable distribution of patient volume between team members, as well as the timely and accurate scheduling of urgent patients. As a result of the experiences presented here, other genetic counseling programs grappling with similar issues should be aware that it is possible to shift clinical operations to serve certain patient populations in a more timely fashion while keeping both providers and GC staff satisfied.