A Configurational Perspective on the Theory of Planned Behaviour to Understand Employees' Change‐Supportive Intentions

This study aims to deepen the understanding of the psychological processes involved in the formation of change‐supportive intentions by adopting a configurational perspective. To investigate potential configurations in relevant psychological processes suggested by the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991 ), classical linear analytic methods are supplemented by the application of two case‐centred methods: latent profile analysis (LPA) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The study uses data from two measurement times drawing on employees of a city council (t1: N = 1,589; t2: N = 1,524) undergoing complex and continuous organisational changes. While the case‐centred results from LPA and fsQCA generally accord well with the results from regression analysis, they consistently highlight the relevance of configurational patterns. Specifically, LPA and fsQCA reveal that different combinations of change‐related attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control relate to the presence or absence of high supportive intentions. These results provide valuable insights for fostering employees' change‐supportive intentions. Moreover, the present study demonstrates that case‐centred analytical methods can essentially enrich research and theory‐building in change management as well as in the field of behavioural intention formation in general.     

Enhancing Emotion-Regulation Skills in Police Officers: Results of a Pilot Controlled Study

Police officers are routinely exposed to situations that elicit intense negative emotions; thus, officers have a particularly strong need for effective methods of regulating such emotions. The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether a manualized emotion-regulation training (Integrative Training of Emotional Competencies; iTEC; Berking, 2010a) can improve the emotion-regulation skills of police officers. First, self-reports of 9 emotion-regulation skills were assessed in a sample of officers (N = 31) and compared to those of a matched community-based control group. Then, the effects of the training on the emotion-regulation skills of officers were evaluated in a time-staggered design with a waitlist control condition. Results indicate that, compared to controls, officers have difficulties in accepting and tolerating negative emotions, supporting themselves in distressing situations, and confronting emotionally challenging situations. The training significantly enhanced successful skill application, especially some skills with which officers reported difficulty applying. These findings suggest that a focus on emotion-regulation skills may be an important component for programs aimed at preventing mental-health problems in police officers.     

Similarity of anthropometric measures for male ultra-triathletes and ultra-runners

Previous research concluded that Triple Iron ultra-triathletes were close to runners in anthropometry. We assessed similarities in anthropometry between 64 Triple Iron triathletes who competed over 11.4 km swimming, 540 km cycling, and 126 km running versus 95 100-km ultra-marathoners. Variables of anthropometry such as body mass, body height, length and circumferences of limbs, skin-folds and body fat, and training such as volume and speed were compared between ultra-triathletes and ultra-runners. The Triple Iron triathletes completed their race distance within 2811 min. (SD=379) and the 100-km ultra-marathoners within 691 min. (SD=117). Triathletes were younger, had higher body mass, shorter legs, higher circumference of upper arm and thigh, lower sum of skin-folds, and lower percent body fat compared to runners. Weekly training volume was higher for triathletes, and weekly hours in running and weekly kilometres in running were higher for runners. In the Triple Iron ultra-triathletes, the sum of eight skin-folds correlated to total race time. The circumference of upper arm, the sum of eight skin-folds, and percent body fat correlated with time in the running section .42, .47, and .43, respectively. In the 100-km ultra-marathoners, the sum of eight skin-folds, the skin-fold thickness of thigh, percent body fat, weekly running hours, and weekly running kilometres correlated with race time .55, .40, .56, -.50, and -.51, respectively. However, in the triathletes, none of these training variables was significantly correlated with race time. In the ultra-marathoners, the sum of eight skin-folds, the skin-fold thickness of thigh, percent body fat, weekly running kilometres, and speed in running during training were related to race time (correlations of .55, .40, -.28, and -.51, respectively). Overall, the ultra-triathletes were not similar to ultra-runners in their anthropometric measures and training variables.     

Thought suppression and memory biases during and after depressive moods

Previous research indicates that formerly depressed individuals engage in high levels of thought suppression that can mask depressive cognitions. However, suppression may also ironically foster a vigilance for unwanted thoughts that promotes uncertainty about ambiguous information and distorts memory. The present study tested this possibility. Formerly dysphoric, currently dysphoric, and never-dysphoric participants listened to a series of statements describing life events that were positive, negative, or ambiguous. In a subsequent recognition phase, participants reviewed a series of statements and rated each for the likelihood that it had been presented earlier. The recognition list included positive and negative disambiguated versions of the original items. Compared to the never-dysphoric group, formerly dysphoric individuals were more likely to endorse negative disambiguations. As predicted, this bias was associated with higher levels of thought suppression and greater uncertainty about the meaning of ambiguous situations, suggesting an ongoing conflict between positive and negative thoughts.     

Depolarization-initiated endogenous cannabinoid release and underlying retrograde neurotransmission in interneurons of amygdala

The depolarization is also important for the short-term synaptic plasticity, known as depolarization-induced suppression of excitation (DSE). The two major types of neurons and their synapses in the lateral nucleus of amygdala (LA) are prone to plasticity. However, DSE in interneurons has not been reported in amygdala in general and in LA in particular. Therefore, we conducted the patch-clamp experiments with LA interneurons. These neurons were identified by lack of adaptation in firing rate of action potentials. In this study, we show for the first time a transient suppression of neurotransmission at synapses both within the local network and between cortical inputs and interneurons of the LA. The retrograde neurotransmission from GABAergic interneurons were comparable with that of glutamatergic pyramidal cells. That is the axonal terminals of cortical inputs do not posses selectivity toward two neuronal subtypes. However, the DSE of both types of neurons involve an increase in intracellular Ca²⁺ and the release of endogenous cannabinoids (eCB) and activation of presynaptic CB1 receptors. The magnitude of DSE was significantly higher in interneurons compared with pyramidal cells, though developed with some latency.

…I made experiments on myself and my assistant, using smaller doses, and not repeating them so often… — Clouston 1870

The biological actions of endogenous cannabinoids (eCB) occur by binding to the CB₁ and CB₂ receptors throughout the whole body (Ameri 1999; Pertwee 2006; Hill et al. 2007; Yoshida et al. 2011). The density of CB₁ receptors in the amygdala is comparably high in mammals (Herkenham et al. 1990).Amygdala similar to hippocampus is important for memory formation and often studied to elucidate plasticity at cellular level using the classical paradigm of Pavlov that continuously serves as a substrate (Pavlov 1927; Bliss and Lomo 1973; Rogan et al. 1997). The amygdala not only receives, but also sends behavior underlying signals into other regions (Racine et al. 1983; Aggleton and Mishkin 1984). While the role of hippocampus is crucial for memory formation, those associated with many different kinds of emotions are mainly modulated by the amygdala (Bucherelli et al. 2006; Fujii et al. 2020). The memory enabling substrate is a long-term potentiation (LTP) of neurotransmission into the postsynaptic neurons (Rogan et al. 1997; Kodirov et al. 2006).The short-term synaptic plasticity in the form of depolarization-induced suppression of either excitation or inhibition (DSE and DSI) has been reported in several regions of the brain (Alger et al. 1996; Kano et al. 2009; Ivanova and Storozhuk 2011). We have discovered DSE in the lateral amygdala (LA), specifically at cortical inputs into the pyramidal neurons (Kodirov et al. 2010).Despite the extensive studies on DSE and DSI, there are only three papers on interneurons that we are aware of. Two of them describe the presence of these phenomena: One study was carried out on parvalbumin immunoreactive interneurons of the stratum radiatum in the hippocampus (Ali 2007) and another on cerebellar stellate and basket cells (Beierlein and Regehr 2006). However, none of the cortical interneurons exhibited DSI despite the presence of a functional and cannabinoid-sensitive inhibitory inputs (Lemtiri-Chlieh and Levine 2007). The retrograde neurotransmission (Llano et al. 1991) takes place via the release of two natural ligands of endogenous cannabinoids anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol (Urbanski et al. 2009). These ligands also suppress the evoked excitatory neurotransmission when applied exogenously in vitro (Ameri et al. 1999; Ameri and Simmet 2000; Lemak et al. 2007).Since DSE in interneurons has not been reported in amygdala and we demonstrated the existence of DSE in pyramidal cells of LA (Kodirov et al. 2010), we then studied the same phenomenon in regard to interneurons; the main question was whether or not does depolarization-induced mobilization of eCBs from the two types of postsynaptic LA neurons cause similar retrograde modulation of cortical inputs? Subsequently, DSE between the presynaptic terminals and interneurons was shown, and we found that its properties are similar to those in pyramidal cells of LA. Our study documents the participation of endogenous cannabinoids of interneurons in DSE.