Age Differences in Risk: Perceptions,Intentions and Domains

Although it is commonly assumed that older people are more cautious and risk averse than their younger counterparts, the research on age differences in risk taking is mixed. While some research has found that older adults are less risk seeking, other research has found the opposite or no differences. One explanation is that age differences vary across risk domains. In two studies, we surveyed three adult age groups ranging in age from 18 to 83 on their risk perceptions and intentions of risky behaviors across several domains. Our studies showed that compared with young adults, older adults tend to see more risk in behaviors in health and ethical domains but less risk in behaviors from the social domain. A similar pattern occurred for participants' intentions of engaging in the risky behaviors. Older adults rated risky behaviors from health and ethical domains as less enjoyable and less likely to produce gains than young adults, whereas they rated risky behaviors from the social domain as more enjoyable, less unpleasant, and less likely to produce losses than young adults. These results suggest that age differences in risk preferences may vary across domains and may result from differing motivations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Activation During Observed Parent–Child Interactions with Anxious Youths: A Pilot Study

Parent–child interaction paradigms are often used to observe dysfunctional family processes; however, the influence of such tasks on a participant’s level of activation remain unclear. The aim of this pilot project is to explore the stimulus value of interaction paradigms that have been commonly used in child anxiety research. Twenty-nine parent–child dyads with clinically anxious (n = 16) and non-anxious (n = 13) youths engaged in a series of tasks (threat and non-threat) used in previous studies of parenting and youth anxiety. Heart rate (HR) data, as an indicator of physiological activation, were collected across tasks, and participants rated the perceived representativeness of their interactions in the laboratory to their usual behavior at home. Significant HR changes were observed for both parent and child. Change in child HR from baseline to non-threat task was smaller than change in HR from baseline to threat tasks. Change in parent HR from baseline to ambiguous situations tasks was smaller than changes from baseline to other threat tasks. Differences in HR change between anxious and non-anxious children were explored. Participants rated laboratory interactions as similar to those experienced in the home. Results suggest that presumably emotionally-charged discussion tasks may produce increased activation compared to tasks that were designed to be more neutral. Implications for future research and limitations are discussed.     

Ecstasy Use,Outcome Expectancies,and Sexual Risk Taking

Ecstasy has become one of the most widely used illicit drugs in Australia. This study investigated outcome expectancies as possible motivating and maintaining factors in ecstasy use and sexual risk‐taking behaviour. A sample of regular ecstasy users (N = 220) from Sydney and Canberra, Australia, was recruited for structured face‐to‐face interviews. They also completed an Ecstasy Expectancy Questionnaire. Seven of eight subscales significantly differentiated regular users from non‐users. Interestingly, light and heavier users held similar outcome expectancies, except that light users endorsed items on the sexual enhancement subscale more strongly than heavier users. Further investigation showed that the level of sexual risk taking observed in this sample was high, with the majority of participants reporting multiple partners, “casual” sexual encounters, sex under the influence of substances, and inconsistent condom use. Using logistic regression analyses, a key finding was that positive sex‐related ecstasy outcome expectancies were associated with involvement in disinhibited sexual behaviour under the influence of ecstasy. These effects persisted after statistically controlling for the frequency of ecstasy use. The findings suggest that sexual risk taking is related not only to the disinhibiting properties of ecstasy but also to beliefs that users hold about the effects of the drug.     

Shades of Joy: Patterns of Appraisal Differentiating Pleasant Emotions

Abstract

Pleasant experience appears to be less emotionally differentiated than unpleasant experience. For instance, theories of emotion typically posit the existence of six or seven unpleasant emotions but often posit only one or two pleasant emotions. The present study is an attempt to systematically examine the differentiation of pleasant emotional experience. Subjects were asked to recall pleasant experiences that were associated with particular situational appraisals—appraisals of effort, agency, and certainty were systematically manipulated—and to describe their appraisals and emotions during these experiences. The results indicated that positive emotions, and their associated appraisals, are somewhat less differentiated than negative emotions, but nonetheless provided evidence of considerable differentiation among six pleasantly toned emotions (interest, hope/confidence, challenge, tranquillity, playfulness, and love). Each of these latter emotions was experienced differentially across the appraisal conditions, and was characterised by a distinct pattern of appraisal.     

Job Demands and Resources among Healthcare Professionals during Virus Pandemics: A Review and Examination of Fluctuations in Mental Health Strain during COVID-19

The present article examines how job demands and resources are related to indices of strain among healthcare professionals during virus pandemics. The article also presents the results of a study examining the relationships between COVID-19 demands (e.g., lack of personal protective equipment, concerns about infecting family members), resources (meaningful work, social support), and mental health strain within a sample of emergency medicine personnel over six consecutive weeks. COVID-19-related demands and hours worked were hypothesized to be positively related to mental health strain, whereas meaningful work and social support were hypothesized to be negatively related to mental health strain. Hours worked the prior week were hypothesized to exacerbate the positive relationships between COVID-19 demands and mental health strain, whereas the resources of meaningful work and social support were expected to buffer the relationships. Multilevel models controlling for mental health strain the prior week revealed that COVID-19 demands, along with hours worked, were each related to higher mental health strain during the week. Hours worked magnified the within-person relationship between personal COVID-19 demands and mental health strain. In contrast to the hypotheses, social support and meaningful work were not related to mental health strain. Discussion focuses on the implications of the findings for healthcare professionals.